Green Lotus Peasant Girl

119

As the two of them walked towards the village, Li Qinghe asked curiously, "Did they spend a lot of money?"

Anyway, the money that Zhou Chengkang brought was used to buy snacks, fabrics, and embroidery thread for her wife and the child. He didn't spend any of the money on himself.

"They spent quite a bit," Zhou Chengkang whispered as he led Xiyu. "With so many people living in the inn, they had to eat and drink. Also, the silver that the eldest brother found earlier was all returned. Some of it was used to buy jewelry, and your sister-in-law even went and pawned it. They said they bought it for seven or eight taels of silver, but they only got four taels in the end. Altogether, they spent more than twenty taels."

"They should still have some left over from before, and they also sold the house later on..."

Li Qinghe raised her eyebrows. "They should still have some left over?"

"They might have some left, but not much," Zhou Chengkang said casually. "They have skills, and as long as they have tools, they won't starve."

That's true. They could earn quite a bit from selling tofu in a year.

The atmosphere was still good. Mei Hua was quite happy. Although money was spent, the person was rescued. Zhang Haiyao was also happy. She went home for two days when they went to the county town this time, and she could continue to visit in the future. Li Qingmiao didn't care, but it was always a good thing when someone returned safely after being away for almost two months. The only unhappy person was probably eldest brother Zhou.

He sat in the corner, silently eating and hardly speaking. He gobbled up his food and had become much thinner, probably having suffered a lot.

When someone asked him a question, he would answer with just one sentence, never initiating conversation.

Although it didn't matter to the others that he didn't like to talk, they felt uneasy that after all the effort to save him, he didn't even say a thank you.

But then again, he was their eldest brother, what more could they do?

At most, they would just have less contact with him in the future.

After finishing their meal, Li Qinghe helped clean up the dishes and planned to go home.

But suddenly there was a commotion from the main room. It was Mrs. Zhou's voice, with anger and confusion, "If you don't go, what are you going to do?"

Then it was eldest brother Zhou's rough voice, "I will farm. After the division of property, those lands are enough to support our family."

When Li Qinghe and her husband entered the room, they saw Mei Hua crying with her face covered, and Xili was also scared. The child had been taken care of by Mei Hua recently. Although they didn't mistreat her while they were in the county town, she was infected with the tense atmosphere, and was now on the verge of tears, with red eyes.

Mei Hua saw Xili and hugged her, and the mother and daughter cried together.

"What happened?" Zhou Chengkang asked, "It's good news that the eldest brother came back. He has survived a near-death experience this time. We should just live our lives well from now on."

He never said such words before. Luckily, he met the county magistrate and told him that eldest brother Zhou was innocent and didn't commit murder. Thanks to his intervention, the investigation was conducted in detail, and the truth was brought to light. The county magistrate was a patient man who believed in the importance of justice. If it had been someone else in his position who was quick to judge and eager to convict, eldest brother Zhou would never have returned home.