Farm Tough Girl
Chapter 342 - 342 343 Great Effort_1

Chapter 342: Chapter 343: Great Effort_1 Chapter 342: Chapter 343: Great Effort_1 Lai left the Wang family and made a show of leaving the village, only to sneak back shortly thereafter and went directly to Muniang’s home, bringing her the news.

“Lady, I went to great lengths to help you out. Had it been anyone else, I wouldn’t have bothered creating such a fuss. Their shabby house has been smashed to pieces by us; the loss in silver would be enough to sell Qingmei several times over,” Lai touted her deeds after describing the Wang family’s plight, then began to boast about her achievements.

Muniang smiled, “Of course, I’ll keep Lai’s kindness in mind. Qingya.”

Understanding the cue, Qingya immediately brought out a bag of silver and handed it to Lai. Lai weighed it in her hand and smiled even more broadly, “It’s never troublesome dealing with a smart person like you, Lady. If there’s anything in the future, just come straight to me, Lai. I won’t claim to have much clout elsewhere, but in this little Chatu Town, I certainly have some skills. Please, never stand on ceremony with me!”

“Of course, I wouldn’t have asked my servants to buy from you otherwise. Now don’t stay too long, it’s still early—hurry back quietly, and don’t be seen,” the Lady said.

Lai quickly agreed, “Of course, that’s natural. We in this line of work know these basic rules. I’ll be on my way.”

After seeing Lai off, Qingya then said, “Lady, what should we do about Miss Qingmei? Now she definitely can’t return to the Wang family; she needs to be given a place to go.”

Muniang thought for a moment and then said, “Given Qingmei’s current state, we definitely can’t send her far away. After all, she’s still young, and being on her own out there is out of the question. If she’s to stay in Chatu Town, she must sever ties with the Wang family.”

“Are you suggesting marrying off Qingmei?”

Muniang glared at her, “She’s only twelve, how could she get married?”

Qingya touched her nose and giggled, “Then what else could we do?”

“I do have a method, but it depends on whether Qingmei is willing. She’s too young to marry, for sure. If she’s to sever ties with the Wang family, we might as well exploit the situation and ‘sell her off’ directly, to a trustworthy family as a maid. It would only appear to be that way on the surface, in reality, it would be more like fostering.”

“Wouldn’t it be easier for you, Lady, to buy her directly?”

“That won’t do. If I were to ‘buy’ Qingmei, the Wang family would surely create a commotion at my door, accusing me of stealing their child. It would be pointless. Better to sell her to some trustworthy outsider who could help raise her until she came of age and then find a good family to marry into.”

Qingya thought it made sense and then suggested, “Why not have Lord Lu help out? After all, the Liangs wouldn’t dare cause a scene at his place. We could say that Qingmei was stolen from Lai and sold into the human market, only to end up being bought by Lord Lu’s Mansion. With Qingmei at Lord Lu’s Mansion, Lady, you would be at ease.”

Muniang’s eyes sparkled, thinking the idea was rather good. With Qingmei staying at Lord Lu’s Mansion for a couple of years, she would be able to learn to read with Tianniu and the others, something the child had always aspired to. Besides, Lord Lu was known for his integrity; this should be more than acceptable.

“Then prepare the carriage; I’ll make a visit in person.”

Muniang went to explain the situation to Qingmei, fearing that she might resist the idea of being ‘sold into servitude,’ but to her surprise, Qingmei became delighted at the prospect of joining Tianniu and the others at Lord Lu’s Mansion.

It turned out that Lord Lu was easy to talk to. His impression of Muniang was already very favorable; his daughter was particularly fond of her. Moreover, after hearing about Qingmei’s ordeal from Muniang, he too felt a great deal of sympathy and agreed to the proposal.

“In that case, I’m very grateful to Lord Lu,” said Muniang, “but truth be told, I didn’t really want to sell Qingmei into servitude. I just wanted her to stay here for a few years. To outsiders, she might appear as a servant; internally, however, I hope Lord Lu will take good care of her. After all, the child has suffered too much from a young age, and life hasn’t been easy for her.”

How could Lord Lu fail to grasp Muniang’s implication? “Rest assured,” he replied. “I’m well aware of the situation. When the time comes, I’ll arrange for her to serve by Qi’er’s side as a maid and even allow her to study alongside Qi’er. That should be nice enough.”

Muniang smiled, relieved. “Thank you, Lord Lu!”

Qingmei’s residence in Lord Lu’s Mansion turned out to be a place of comfort. At least she didn’t have to live in fear anymore. Muniang visited her now and then and found her spirit had greatly improved. However, Lord Lu sometimes appeared rather helpless because, despite his orders for her not to work, she was harder working than anyone else and couldn’t be stopped.

In just a few months, summer was upon them again. The watermelons in the fields were highly productive this year. Both Dongxing Building and the fruit shop were overjoyed. Today, seizing the opportunity, Muniang raised the price quite a bit, yet both establishments readily agreed.

“Lady, this watermelon was just chilled in the well and brought out. Would you like to eat some first?” Qingya brought in a watermelon.

Muniang was reclining on a soft couch reading a book and sighed at the sight of the watermelon. Erliang loved chilled watermelon the most. Now that they had a watermelon crop at home again, he just had to be away.

“Are you thinking of the master again, Lady?” Qingya asked tentatively.

“I have no idea what the situation is like over there. The letters he sends me all say that everything is fine, and he doesn’t mention a single thing that’s bad. It’s maddening,” grumbled Muniang.

“The master probably doesn’t want to worry you, Lady. As long as the letters say all is well, it shouldn’t be too bad, right?”

Muniang retorted sharply, “At least he’s still alive, isn’t he?”

Qingya couldn’t help but laugh. The Lady’s grudges against the master were too deep. When he returned, he was certainly going to suffer.

Suddenly, a white dove fluttered onto the windowsill. Muniang almost leaped up from the soft couch, hurriedly captured the pigeon, and extracted the letter from the bamboo tube on its leg to read it closely.

Qingya was dumbfounded. Was the Lady perhaps too excited?

A smile burst across Muniang’s face. “Is there good news?” Qingya inquired.

Muniang looked up, smiling. “He says he might be able to return in another month or two. The conflict has subsided, and now it’s just the final wrap-up,” she replied.

Qingya also sighed with relief. “Thank goodness, the master can finally come back safely.”

But Muniang suddenly frowned and said, “However, he says that although they have repelled Qilian Kingdom, the border remains unstable. It’s possible some resentful enemy soldiers might slip in and attack the civilians. Our Chatu Town isn’t far from the border, so there could be a danger. It’s not certain, but we still need to be careful.”

Startled, Qingya exclaimed, “Could there really be such a thing? There’s been no official notice from the authorities.”