Qiao Mei weighed her options and asked Wang Qin, “How much do you want?”
The neighbors around her all felt that Qiao Mei was still too young and had fallen into Wang Qin’s trap. How could she really want to give Wang Qin money? Auntie Dong was also anxious, afraid that Qiao Mei would suffer a loss, and looked at Qiao Mei worriedly.
No matter whether the villagers thought that Qiao Mei was stupid, even Wang Qin thought that Qiao Mei was really going to give them money. She did not know how much money Qiao Mei had earned, but she had actually seen Qiao Mei’s wedding gift with her own eyes.
“800 dollars!” Wang Qin looked at Qiao Mei smugly. The neighboring villagers standing around scolded Wang Qin for being heartless when they heard that.
A villager standing at the side scolded, “Wang Qin, you’re so shameless! You didn’t take care of the child for even a day and you dare to ask for 800 dollars to stay in her house for free!”
Wang Qin did not know who said it, but she turned around and shouted, “It’s none of your business!”
“So you think this house is worth 800 dollars.” Qiao Mei looked around the house. The Qiao family members were all lazy people. This village was full of mud houses which needed to be repaired regularly to be kept in an acceptable condition. There were many people in the Qiao family and they did not even have enough to eat, let alone be able to raise livestock. The pigsty had long collapsed and there was not much clean space in the courtyard.
Wang Qin looked at Qiao Mei and said, “That’s right! We even used the best soil for this house! You even ate at our house before! We even helped you plow this land, otherwise it wouldn’t be usable anymore! It’s worth 800 dollars! We’ll leave if you pay up!”
Qiao Mei smiled even wider and her sweet voice made every word she spoke sounded coquettish. Qiao Mei said happily, “Then give me 800 dollars and I’ll sell this house to you.”
The people around her all burst out laughing. Wang Qin was stunned. She did not expect Qiao Mei to set her up and replied in exasperation, “No way. Look, this place doesn’t look like it’s worth 800 dollars. At most it’s worth 50 dollars!”
Auntie Dong looked at Wang Qin with disdain. This woman could even go back on her word when she had just said that this place was worth 800 dollars. She said mockingly, “Wang Qin, aren’t you an accountant, how come you don’t seem to know how to calculate. You can’t even tell the difference between 800 dollars and 50 dollars.”
As soon as Auntie Dong finished speaking, the people around her burst out laughing. Wang Qin’s face also turned red and she forgot about maintaining her image as she pointed at Auntie Dong and scolded, “Dong old woman, what do you know! You can’t even manage your own affairs! If I say this house is worth 50 dollars, then it’s worth 50 dollars!”
Auntie Dong was so angry that she wanted to go forward and put up a fight. Auntie Wang and Auntie Fu, who were next to her, were all ready to stand up for her. Auntie Dong was a very helpful person in the village and she would help anyone who had any problems. Everyone had a good relationship with her.
Qiao Mei stopped Auntie Dong and said to Wang Qin, “200 dollars!”
Wang Qin thought about it and still felt that it was too much. “100 dollars! There’s no room for discussion!”
Qiao Mei could not be bothered to say anything more to her and finally said, “150 dollars, or I’ll tear down the house!”
Wang Qin really could not argue with that and could only agree to what Qiao Mei said in the end. However, she did not want to bear the full amount and wanted the Qiao family to pay it. After all, she was not the one who made the written agreement back then.
Wang Qin gritted her teeth and said, “Alright…”
“Alright, send it to the brigade tomorrow! Uncle Zhao will give you the agreement then! It’s settled then, 150 dollars!” After saying that out loud, Qiao Mei left.
When the villagers saw what happened, they also dispersed and went home to discuss this matter in private. Wang Qin usually walked around the village proudly just because she was the village accountant. She was haughty and looked down on everyone, and her high and mighty manner made everyone unhappy. Today, everyone felt appeased to see her behaving like a shrew.
Qiao Gui threw down the shovel in his hand and watched as Qiao Mei and the others left. He was so angry that his face turned red. When he looked at his wife, he was even more furious. Although they had managed to keep the house, they still had to give 150 dollars. They did not have so much money at home.
At night, the Qiao family gathered together and everyone looked at Qiao Zhuang without saying a word. When Qiao Zhuang heard about what happened today, he could not think of any good countermeasures. Seeing that no one said anything, Wang Qin asked Qiao Zhuang carefully, “Father, are we really going to give her 150 dollars?”
All these years, Qiao Zhuang had been able to act like a tyrant because the village accountant was his daughter-in-law. Therefore, he was polite to Wang Qin and did not beat or scold her like he did to his other daughters-in-law.
The Qiao family members all had their own thoughts. The third daughter-in-law, Jiang Ye, was usually the most simple-minded. She only stayed at home to do housework, so she was straightforward and spoke bluntly. When she heard that Wang Qin wanted 150 dollars from the family, she said enviously to Wang Qin, “Why should we give it to you when everyone in the family needs money. Where can we find 150 dollars, especially since you agreed to the price yourself.”
Qiao Zhuang looked fiercely at his third daughter-in-law. Qiao Wang was the smartest son in the family and very good at reading someone from their body language, and he knew how to curry favor with Qiao Zhuang. However, Jiang Ye did not manage to give birth to a boy and they only had a daughter, causing him to have very little standing in the family. When he saw Qiao Zhuang’s expression, he went up to his wife and slapped her.