Qiao Mei glanced sideways at Zhang Cong. It seemed that he still had not learned his lesson as he still dared to take the initiative to talk to her.
“Who’s your younger sister?” Qiao Mei rolled her eyes and said.
“You’re Li Gui’s daughter, so of course we’re siblings, hahaha…” Zhang Cong said awkwardly.
“Stop trying to claim to be my relative. Doesn’t your leg hurt enough?” Qiao Mei said.
“…” At this point, Zhang Cong did not dare to talk to Qiao Mei anymore. It had not been easy for him to recover from his leg injury and he was going to get married in a few days. It would be a joke if he were to get married with a limp and a bruised face.
Zhang Cong looked at Li Gui with a smug expression. He had to extort some money from Li Gui today so that his wedding would be taken care of. This would also prevent that old thing, Zhang Qian, from being so concerned about the family having money for him to get married. He was already marrying his third wife and he still wanted to buy wedding items. How shameless.
“Isn’t Cong Cong getting married soon, so we are here to buy a red blanket. You should express some form of concern for him since he is getting married,” Old Madam Zhang said as she looked at Li Gui.
“Zhang Cong is getting married? Who’s so unlucky to marry him?” Qiao Mei said mockingly.
“You! What are you saying! Little girl! Don’t interrupt when adults are talking! You ill-bred thing! I wonder who brought you up!” Old Madam Zhang scolded.
Last time, I was outsmarted by this little girl. Now we are in the county city and there is no one around Qiao Mei to speak up for her. There is nothing a little girl could do and this time, I am going to teach her a good lesson.
Qiao Mei had been brought up by her grandfather since young. She did not get angry when she heard Old Madam Zhang pass comments about her, but if her grandfather was being bad-mouthed, then no one could blame her for showing no mercy.
“Should you be considered as an elder? A filthy mouth cannot utter decent language. The last time, you came to our village to extort money, and now, how do you intend to extort money this time?” Qiao Mei crossed her arms and looked at Old Madam Zhang.
The shopkeeper also did not know what to do as he did not know what kind of grudges these people had. It was fine if they just quarreled, but if they got into a fight, his shop would be trashed. However, he had been listening to their conversation out of curiosity and he found it really funny that a city dweller had gone to extort money from a villager. If word got out, people would laugh their heads off.
Seeing the shopkeeper snickering behind the counter, Old Madam Zhang’s face turned red with anger. Not to be outdone, she said, “Who’s extorting money! Which eye of yours saw me extorting money! That’s the food expenses your mother paid us back for her children! What do you mean we extorted money!”
“That’s right! The money you gave us last time! It’s short by 80 dollars!” Zhang Cong said from the side.
“You guys are really good at lying through your teeth. I gave you all 100-dollar bills, a total of six notes. Everyone in the village saw it clearly. How can it be short by 80 dollars?” Qiao Mei smiled at Zhang Cong.
Zhang Cong was lost for words for a moment. Old Madam Zhang glared at Zhang Cong angrily. He did not even know how to round up the figure. It looked like they would not be able to get this sum of money from Qiao Mei in the future.
“Li Gui, you should control your daughter. She has such a sharp tongue. How can she talk to me like that?” Old Madam Zhang vented her anger on Li Gui, who did not dare to retort.
Looking at how timid Li Gui was, Qiao Mei did not know how to advise Li Gui. She was going to leave in a few days. If the Li family or the Zhang family came around during her absence, she wondered how Li Gui and the children would be able to deal with it. Yet, she could not possibly help Li Gui to solve these problems for the rest of her life.
Qiao Mei fell into deep thought.
“Back… back then we already gave you all the money. You can’t deny it. It’s 600 dollars,” Li Gui said shakily.
“The 600 dollars are for the four children’s food expenses. Shouldn’t you contribute some money for Zhang Cong’s wedding?” Old Madam Zhang looked at Li Gui arrogantly.
“This… I don’t have any money to give him anymore. I’ve already given you all my money. I still owe other people money that I haven’t repaid,” Li Gui said.
“Owe money? You’re the one who owes money, not the Zhang family, so make sure you pay it back yourself. You have to contribute some money for Zhang Cong’s wedding, so go borrow some more,” Old Madam Zhang said.