Chapter 1567 - 1562: Redeeming Xiao Chu for 100 Silver Taels (Thirty-third Update)

These words exhausted her, making Mu Xiaxia burst into tears once again.

"Don’t cry, I’ll go find him, I’ll go find him now!"

Mu Dajiang said, attempting to head outside, but Mu Xiaxia grabbed his wrist.

"Dad, don’t go! We’re all exhausted. I’ll make a tofu and meat soup for you and mom this noon. Don’t be too sad. Xiao Chu is my brother, and I will definitely find him!" Mu Xiaxia said with determination written all over her face.

"Alright, I’ll have a chat with your mother!" Mu Dajiang replied.

"Hmm!"

Mu Xiaxia went to the kitchen, and Mu Dajiang took Mrs. Liu inside the room.

Mrs. Liu kept mumbling those phrases—

Things like, "If I hadn’t gone back to the house to get the bucket, Xiao Chu wouldn’t have gone missing."

Mu Dajiang sighed deeply, picked up the comb on the dressing table, and started combing Mrs. Liu’s hair.

"Xiaxia’s mother, your hair is all messy like this. I’ll comb it for you, so that when Xiao Chu sees you, he’ll know you’re his mom!"

"I should change my clothes too; Xiao Chu doesn’t like me being dirty, he’s afraid people will look down on me!"

Mu Dajiang spoke sentence by sentence, and without realizing it, tears were streaming down his face.

Mu Xiaxia quickly finished cooking lunch, and when she brought it in, Mu Dajiang had already finished combing Mrs. Liu’s hair and was about to apply rouge and powder for her.

Mu Dajiang’s movements were quite clumsy, but every action was careful and gentle.

Just as Mu Xiaxia was about to speak, she heard her father say, "We’ll dress up nicely so that when Xiao Chu comes back, he’ll spot his mother right away!"

Hearing this, Mu Xiaxia couldn’t hold back anymore. She placed the food on the table in the main hall and then burst into heart-wrenching sobs.

...

On the eighth day of the first lunar month, early in the morning, Mrs. Jin got in touch with the buyer.

She personally carried Xiao Chu to the agreed meeting place.

Xiao Chu was still asleep; since being frightened by Mrs. Jin, he had been having high fevers for several days and was unconscious.

Mrs. Jin didn’t care, as long as he wasn’t dead before the delivery.

She handed Xiao Chu over to a burly man and said, "The child is yours, now the money?"

The burly man tossed a bag of silver to Mrs. Jin and said, "Here’s the silver for you, and your dealings with our master are finished!"

"Of course!" Mrs. Jin picked up the silver from the ground.

The burly man carried Xiao Chu out of the dilapidated courtyard, and only after they were far away did Mrs. Jin follow them outside.

She casually hired a carriage and headed straight to the East City where the fourth family lived.

Mu Xiaxia happened to be at home, and a hint of surprise appeared on Mrs. Jin’s face as she said to Mu Xiaxia, "Xiaxia, there’s news of Xiao Chu!"

"Really?" Mu Xiaxia’s eyes lit up.

"Really!" Mrs. Jin nodded emphatically.

"Where is he? Where’s my brother?" Mu Xiaxia was almost insane with joy.

"I don’t know the exact location, but what I do know is that Xiao Chu was indeed kidnapped by traffickers, it was a man.

They’re planning to sell Xiao Chu now, for a hundred taels! The time is three days from now, at the dock!"

"A hundred taels?" Mu Xiaxia’s face went pale with fear.

"Don’t worry, Xiaxia, your aunt has fifty taels!" Saying this, Mrs. Jin waved the money she got from selling Xiao Chu in front of Mu Xiaxia.

"But fifty taels are far from enough, Xiaxia, can you gather the rest?"

In her heart, Mrs. Jin thought that the fourth family wouldn’t be able to come up with a hundred taels.

Even if she fooled the girl into thinking she was willing to contribute fifty taels, the girl couldn’t possibly gather the other fifty taels.

"Fifty taels..." Mu Xiaxia calculated.

Her mother brought thirty-two taels of silver with her.

They spent two taels on buying things and paying rent.

She had two taels left untouched in hand, making it thirty-two taels, leaving a shortfall of twenty-eight taels.

Twenty-eight taels...

"I have thirty-two taels; I can go to the Red House where I work to borrow some from the landlady and seek help from Grandpa. I should be able to make it!"

Mu Xiaxia’s words foiled Mrs. Jin’s plan.

Thirty-two taels?

How could the fourth family possibly have thirty-two taels?

That’s impossible!!

Mrs. Jin was going crazy; all her carefully arranged schemes, was it all unnecessary?

No, absolutely not!

"Xiaxia, are you sure you can gather it? This isn’t child’s play, they’ll sell Xiao Chu three days from now!" Mrs. Jin said.

"Yes, I can. As long as Grandpa is willing to lend me money, and Red Lady..."

Red Lady was the shopkeeper of Red House, and the clothes from Red House were always expensive.

She must have money, and Mu Xiaxia had already decided to sell herself as long as she could gather the money.

Mrs. Jin’s face didn’t show much joy hearing Mu Xiaxia’s words. She pursed her lips, and though she smiled, it was insincere.

"Thank you, Aunt! I will definitely repay this money, even if it takes the rest of my life!" Mu Xiaxia said.

Mrs. Jin, of course, shook her head faux-sincerely.

"It’s nothing, we’re all family, what’s there to thank?!"

...

Mu Xiaxia went to gather money, first heading to Red Lady to withdraw eighteen taels of silver.

She wrote a bill of sale on the spot for Red Lady, who was originally one of Zheng Zhi’s people, and Zheng Zhi had particularly reminded her to take good care of her, owing her sister some favor.

Red Lady had never troubled Mu Xiaxia, always paying her the highest wages.

She even allowed her unlimited lunch supply, knowing she had a father and brother to care for, allowing her to take lunch home.

So this time, Red Lady did not trouble her either.

She took Mu Xiaxia’s bill of sale, but as soon as Mu Xiaxia walked out, she tore it up in front of the staff.

The staff knew Mu Xiaxia had taken several days off, and not knowing what was going on, asked.

"Is something wrong with that girl, Red Lady?"

"I don’t know, but it seems so! Although today it seems like there’s a turnaround!" said Red Lady.

"I see. I quite like that girl!"

The staff named Liu Cai had worked at Red House for many years and was practically a steward.

When Red Lady wasn’t around, it was Liu Cai who managed Red House.

"Red Lady, why didn’t you ask what happened?" Liu Cai asked.

"If people want to say something, they’ll naturally tell you! Besides, Xiaxia doesn’t like troubling others. Even if I ask her, she might not say!"

"Alright then!" Liu Cai said as he hung his head.

After a while, Liu Cai added, "By the way, can I go see that girl? She’s really been worryingly sad!"

"Worryingly? Or are you lovestruck?" Red Lady teased.

"Red Lady, don’t mock me!"

Liu Cai blushed.

"Alright, alright, like I don’t know what you’re up to? Teaching that girl this and that, warning anyone who dared to give her a hard time!"

"How do you know?" Liu Cai was astonished.

"Who am I, Red Lady? If I don’t know other things, fine, but things happening right under my nose, how could I not know?"