Oh no! Seven kids at the start, all yellow and skinny.

Chapter 23 Breaking up

The expressions on the faces of those around them went from complicated to shocked. The first to react was the village chief: "Xia Xiaoyue, is it really you who wants to sell Er Ya and San Ya?"

"Uncle, I..."

“Sister Xiaoyue, you said that Er Ya and San Ya are worth ten taels of silver. That’s when I started to have doubts. If they were really going to work, how could they be paid so much all at once?” Yunyi added at the right moment. “Sister Xiaoyue, I treat you like my own sister. Why would you want to harm me and my child?” As she spoke, tears fell down her face.

People around started talking about it.

"No wonder you're wearing silver earrings and silver bracelets."

"Yes, Lishu Village isn't any richer than our village. Liu Laosi has an old mother at home, and I heard she drinks black soup (Chinese medicine) every day."

"Yes, back then, Liu Daneng took a liking to Xiaoyue at first sight and gave five taels of silver as betrothal gifts alone. That was the absolute maximum. At the time, Liu Laosi's wife said that she had emptied her family's savings."

"Obviously, those silver earrings were from children who were sold. I wonder which family was so unlucky."

"Damn it, how could someone do such a despicable thing?"

"Stay away from her from now on."

……

"Fang Yunyi, you're talking nonsense!" Xia Xiaoyue heard the surrounding chatter and immediately flew into a rage, even losing her temper. She yelled, "You're the one who thought they were a burden and wanted to sell them. I was just kindly helping to contact buyers. You're going back on your word! You..."

Snapped!

Just then, a slap sent the person sprawling to the ground, and the sound abruptly stopped.

"Xia Xiaoyue, did you really contact people to sell people?" The one who hit the man was Xia Xiaoyue's father, Xia Fugui.

"Dad, don't hit him!" Xia Guanshi hurriedly went over to protect her daughter. "Let's talk this out. Maybe it's a misunderstanding."

"What misunderstanding?" Xia Fugui took a deep breath. "How long has Tianyin's wife been in the village? Does she even know about Baixianglou?"

People around quickly shook their heads. Not to mention Fang Yunyi, many of them had never been to the county town and didn't even know about Baixianglou.

Xia Guan was speechless.

“Sister-in-law,” the village chief said, “this is no small matter. If…” He glanced at Xia Xiaoyue, “if she really gets involved in these things, our village’s reputation will be ruined.”

Xia Guanshi's expression changed.

The expressions of those around them changed as well. After all, if the reputation of the villagers was ruined, it would affect the marriage prospects of their sons and daughters in the future. In severe cases, no one might even be willing to marry into the village.

"I'm innocent! It's all that bitch Fang Yunyi's fault! She framed me!" Xia Xiaoyue said, getting up and running away. She had to leave Xia Family Village. As long as she got back to town, everything would be fine. She wasn't going to stand there dumbfounded and get beaten up.

He had only run two steps when his knees buckled and he collapsed to the ground.

Yunyi's eyes flashed, she glanced at Lao Quan, and then walked over: "Xia Xiaoyue, if you say I'm wronging you, then report it to the authorities and let the officials investigate whether you have any connection with Baixianglou."

Xia Xiaoyue's face immediately turned pale.

The village chief's expression was also not good. He took a deep breath and said, "Tianyin's family, I will definitely give you an explanation for this matter, but shouldn't we be more cautious about reporting it to the authorities?" In fact, he was most worried that if Xia Xiaoyue was really involved in human trafficking, it would directly affect his son's career.

Yunyi didn't want to break ties with Xia Xiaoyue so quickly, but she felt that it was unacceptable for Xia Xiaoyue to take advantage of her just because they had a good relationship. She had to sever ties with her, otherwise, what if she got implicated? What if Xia Xiaoyue, being a heartless person, tricked the children away?

It's better to break things off now. In the future, everyone will know that you and she don't get along, so no one will associate her with anything she does, and the kids in the family won't easily believe her.

Having achieved his goal of turning against the village chief, he gave the village chief face and said, "Leave this matter to Uncle Village Chief."

The village chief sighed, called over a few people, and locked Xia Xiaoyue in the ancestral hall. He would interrogate her after dinner.

No one had any objections.

Soon, Lao Quan packed up his things, put the pig's head and the remaining meat into a bamboo basket, and left.

Everyone took the meat home and went to cook.

Meanwhile, the twenty-odd people who were building Yunyi's house gathered together and began construction.

There are stones and trees on the mountain, but bricks and tiles need to be purchased. This morning, Xia Guozhong went to Lijia Village in person to order bricks and tiles from Old Li of the brick kiln. The first batch will be delivered by tomorrow at the latest.

After tidying up at home, Gao Shunfang, the village chief's wife, brought several women to the construction site, where they were responsible for cooking.

Although the village chief's family was relatively well-off, they were still somewhat stunned when they saw the rice and flour that Yunyi took out.

"Yunyi, are you going to use these?"

“Yes, everyone does heavy work, so naturally we need to eat well. How about we make steamed buns or steamed rice?” Yunyi smiled. “I’ve saved twenty catties of meat, and I’ll stew it all tonight.” The wild rabbits and pheasants are still alive and won’t spoil, so we can eat them tomorrow. As for the offal, she can clean it up and braise it later to eat slowly.

The other wives who helped were all speechless, but also secretly pleased. They naturally ate together, as they hadn't eaten white flour or white rice in years and were sick of cornmeal.

Gao Guihua nodded and said nothing more. This girl had changed; she seemed to know what she was doing.

For dinner, the main dish was steamed buns made from a mixture of wheat flour, corn flour, and black flour, accompanied by stewed pork with cabbage, potatoes, and eggplant.

These are all-natural foods for law firms, prepared without any fancy methods. They're simply stir-fried in oil and then stewed with water, and the aroma can be smelled from miles away.

"Dad, when did Mom's cooking become so delicious?" Xia Qiang couldn't help but mutter.

"What? Have I been starving you?" Gao Guihua shouted after hearing her eldest son's words.

Xia Qiang quickly shrank his neck.

"Sister-in-law, this is a compliment to your cooking skills," Xia Kui replied with a smile.

"You bunch of scoundrels! Didn't Yunyi make me put in so much oil? Twenty pounds of pork, all stewed in one pot, how could it not smell delicious?" Gao Guihua said with a hint of heartache. "After you eat, you have to work hard. Anyone who slacks off will not be allowed to put meat in the pot next time."

"No way, we guarantee we'll do a perfect job," someone chimed in.

Everyone laughed heartily, but their work didn't slow down at all. Some continued to lay the foundation, some felled trees, and some quarried stones. In short, they were working with great enthusiasm, even more so than when tending to the crops in the fields.

After all, even if you worked like a father to take care of the farmland, you could barely make ends meet after paying taxes all year round. But building a house is different now. Not only do you get fifty coins a day for your labor, but you also get meat to eat.