Chapter 700 - 603: Part 2
Chapter 700: Chapter 603: Part 2
The family was barely scraping by, so how could Mo Laoer be willing to part with that kind of money? Second Aunt Mo was instantly thrown into a panic, but all her wailing and crying was useless. Mo Xiaosu had an arrogant temper. It was one thing for her to act like a tyrant in her own home, but she also constantly argued and fought with her in-laws at the Huang Family’s residence. Eventually, Huang Baoshan’s parents couldn’t stand her anymore and kicked both of them out. Now, with Huang Baoshan in jail and Mo Xiaosu about to give birth, Second Aunt Mo had to look after her own family, care for her daughter through childbirth, and worry about her illness. She had no idea how she was going to get through it all!
Mo Xiaosu could eat and drink just fine, but she couldn’t speak a word. Utterly weak, she was paralyzed in bed, waiting for others to serve and feed her. Even though Second Aunt Mo was her own mother, her patience wore thin over time. Besides, Mo Laoer had long since grown to loathe his lazy, good-for-nothing daughter and son-in-law. Mo Xiaobao and Mo Xiaogui had once nearly been crippled by one of Mo Xiaosu’s kicks, so when would be a better time for them to get their revenge? And so, Mo Xiaosu’s hellish daily life, with no escape in sight, began.
This was, of course, Xiao Man’s way of paying Mo Xiaosu back. ’The nastier you are when you run your mouth, the more you’ll suffer for it later!’
’Wu Qin and Mo Xiaosu seem to be good friends. Great. I hope they become the best of sisters, keeping each other company in the Mo Family Courtyard. They can love each other, hate each other, even try to kill each other for all I care. Just as long as they don’t come out and sicken everyone else.’
After dealing with those few noisy crows, Xiao Man’s vengeful spirit had not yet subsided. Deciding to see things through, she figured she might as well use her free time to head straight to Little Wang Village and settle matters there, just to get it off her mind.
Xiao Man cast the Invisibility Technique on herself, leaped lightly from her balcony, and pinched a Speeding Talisman between her fingers. A distance of over twenty li was covered in just a few breaths.
In Dawang Village, only Liang Panqiu deserved to die. The calamity talisman she had placed on her would take effect soon, so there was no need to go and check on her.
Her main targets were in Little Wang Village: the Wang Family and the Zhang Family. She had already placed talismans on Wang Ligao and Zhang Lihua, so they could be ignored for now. But their parents could not be let off the hook!
Mr. and Mrs. Wang were capable people who knew how to make money. Xiao Man couldn’t say how they treated others, but to her, they were utterly cruel and harsh. Mrs. Wang never hit Xiao Man, but she worked her just as mercilessly as Liu Fengying had. Her words were equally venomous, and she could berate Xiao Man until her heart pounded in terror, forcing her to work frantically, too afraid to even eat. Mr. Wang earned a decent living, but when Xiao Man finished her chores in the fields and at home and went with the villagers to the brickyard to load and unload trucks, everyone else received wages except for her. "We’re family, what do you need money for?" Mr. Wang would say. "Do you not eat and drink in this house?"
One of the young wives in the village, seeing that Xiao Man had to ask her mother-in-law just to buy toilet paper and get scolded at length before being given a few dimes, took pity on her. She told Xiao Man not to be so naive, that as a woman, she had to keep some money on her for her own protection. The wife kindly offered to help. When they worked at the brickyard together, she let Xiao Man log her work under her name so she could secretly give her the money later. But Mr. Wang was too shrewd. He soon noticed something was wrong, uncovered the truth, and not only withheld the wages but also banned the kind wife and all her relatives from working at the brickyard ever again.
Thinking back on it, Xiao Man truly could not let that injustice stand.
She circled the Wang Family’s house once, picking up a few palm-sized stones as she went. She carved runes onto them, formed a hand seal to lock them in place, and then drove them one by one deep into the ground beneath the house, setting up a "Bottomless Pit of Gold" array!
In this life, Mr. and Mrs. Wang could still be masters at getting rich, but even if they amassed mountains of gold and silver, it would be for nothing—they could look at their wealth, but never use it! Every time their savings reached a certain point, some incident would occur in the Wang Family that would wipe out every last penny!
They would never even reach the milestone of saving ten thousand yuan, and might even end up drowning in debt. As for building that new house Zhang Lihua was always dreaming of? Forget it.
An array had to be set up at Zhang Lihua’s family home, too, so her mother could "enjoy" its effects for the rest of her life!
Xiao Man secretly went to check on the young wife who had helped her back then. As it turned out, she had just gotten married. Xiao Man left her a secret wedding gift: a Wealth Gathering Talisman.
This Money Gathering Talisman would only be effective for ten years. The woman and her husband were both hardworking, so Xiao Man believed that in a decade, they would surely be able to accumulate some wealth. At the very least, they would be much more prosperous than they had been at the same point in her past life, and the talisman would also ensure the woman herself remained free from illness and pain.
After finishing her work, Xiao Man let out a long sigh of relief. She didn’t linger, turning and speeding away from the village. The Invisibility Technique only wore off a little while after she arrived home.
After lunch, Gu Shaoqin wanted to go to the photo studio in the township market. Xiao Man had planned on accompanying him, but Liang Xiuzhen and Liang XiuZhu arrived. In the end, Gu Shaoqin and Da Zhi went to the market by themselves, while Xiao Man stayed behind to chat with the two sisters and give them the presents she had brought back.
The Liang Family’s new house was also finished. When Xiao Man first returned, she had gone to see the old maple by the river and had spotted the house from afar. It was a three-room building of red brick and large tiles, much sturdier and brighter than their old home of rammed earth with its half-tiled, half-thatched roof. To build it, Uncle Man Cang had borrowed money. However, according to Grandpa, the herbs from their family’s garden were top-grade. Uncle Man Cang and his wife had entrusted their home to Granny Liang and moved up the mountain to meticulously tend to the garden. Their children even stayed there with them during school breaks. With the whole family working so diligently together, they had likely paid off their debts this year and even had some savings.
Today was the twenty-third day of the twelfth lunar month, and the Liang Family had come down from the mountain to prepare for the New Year. The bamboo basket Liang Xiuzhen carried held six air-dried wild rabbits and was half-full of dried wild mushrooms. Liang XiuZhu held two large, free-range roosters raised on the mountain. Grandma had Yu Wumei accept the gifts. Although they had plenty of their own, etiquette demanded reciprocity, so they accepted the offerings brought to their home.
Liang XiuZhu excitedly told Xiao Man, "The day after tomorrow, my family is butchering a pig for the New Year! You all have to come to our place for dinner!"
Xiao Man nodded. "Okay, okay! We’ll be there."
Qiuyan, ever the child, quickly chimed in, "My family is butchering a pig for the New Year too! And a sheep! I’ll invite you all to my house for dinner as well!"
Xiao Man and Liang Xiuzhen exchanged a speechless glance and couldn’t help but giggle.