Contentment with modest wealth

Chapter 5 Go find your biological father

It's absolutely true that Li Er was a lecher.

Lu Jia remembers it clearly: on the day she fell into the water, she saw this bastard from afar at the bow of the boat. Noticing that something was wrong with his eyes, she immediately went into the cabin.

Who knew that Li Er still saw half of Lu Jia's face? He ordered his men to make a ruckus and shout. When Lu Jia refused to go out, he jumped onto the bow of the boat. If he hadn't been so shameless, how could the boat have capsized?

The key point is that after she fell into the water, Li Er still chased after her relentlessly, jumping into the water and shouting to save her. He didn't care about his own character; he grew up by the river but couldn't swim. The waves he created instead pushed Lu Jia away and knocked her to the bottom of the boat. She couldn't flip the boat off the top for a long time, so it's no wonder she fainted.

In short, lust is a knife hanging over Li Er's head!

Having suffered this ordeal, Lu Jia must seize upon his weaknesses and teach him a lesson.
Not to mention that it was because of this bastard's collision that Lu Jia in her previous life had no choice but to embark on that bloody path.

"Mother, breakfast is ready."

Carrying the food to the main room, Lu Jia's steps became lighter upon seeing the familiar scene.

The door was slightly ajar, and through the crack, one could see Zhang Qiuniang sitting on the edge of the bed, staring blankly at something in her hand.

Hearing her name called, Zhang Qiuniang immediately wiped her eyes, then paused for a moment before standing up abruptly: "You're awake? When did you wake up?"

"She woke up a long time ago, took her medicine and ate something, and is now completely recovered." Lu Jia couldn't help but feel excited when she saw her mother, but in order not to give herself away, she could only try her best to control herself.

She bent down and laid out the bowls and oil dishes, saying, "I don't see much food left at home, just these. We'll make do with this for now."

Qiu Niang was originally worried about her illness, but when she saw how agile she was, she was surprised and overjoyed. It seemed that she was not only fully recovered, but also much calmer and more experienced than before.

Before she could even pull him aside to ask more questions, upon hearing Lu Jia's words, and looking at the bland taro in the bowl, and then at her bright and beautiful daughter, she couldn't help but sit back down, letting out a long sigh with tears in her eyes.

Lu Jia let out two soft "yo-yo" sounds and handed over a handkerchief: "I've been learning to cook from you since I was little. Even if it tastes bad, there's no need to cry, right?"

Qiu Niang waved her hand away and scolded, "Stop being so glib!"

But this interruption stopped her tears, and her sighs became much lighter: "I just feel sorry for you. You shouldn't be suffering here with us."

"What are you saying?" Lu Jia grabbed a taro, dipped it in sugar, and took a bite. "Isn't this how everyone lives? I heard that Chunni'er's family on the east street can cook a whole pot of porridge from a single sweet potato."

"However, if you feel wronged, find me a rich and powerful stepfather tomorrow, and take me to eat and drink the best food."

The last bit of resentment Qiu Niang had was instantly wiped out by this brat.

She slapped Lu Jia on the back: "All you do all day is make fun of your mother!"

As she spoke, she didn't forget to push the bowls and plates over a bit with her other hand, so that even if it was just simple food, Lu Jia could have a full meal.

Since the Tang and Song dynasties, the Jiangnan region has been known as a land of plenty, with the saying "When Suzhou and Huzhou are prosperous, the whole country is well-fed." In the present dynasty, with favorable weather and geographical conditions, the situation has gradually shifted to "When Huguang (Hubei and Hunan) are prosperous, the whole country is well-fed." Today, the abundant grain production in Hunan has reached all parts of the country, boosting the trade of goods between the north and south, as well as the water transport in various regions within the province.

Nestled along the wide Xiangjiang River, the major wharves in Tanzhou Prefecture have thrived for over a century.

The Zhang family is a large family that has lived in Shawan County, Tanzhou Prefecture for generations, and has been running a rice shop at Shawan Wharf for generations.

However, Zhang Hong's family line was not prosperous, and after his father's early death, he suddenly took over the family business and had to close several shops due to his lack of business acumen. Fortunately, he had good fortune and received strong support from the Xie family patriarch, a large merchant family in Tanzhou Prefecture, during his most difficult time, which gradually helped him to build his fortune.

Before the old man passed away, Zhang's sons swore at his bedside that they would treat their sister's family well. However, as soon as the funeral was over, these scoundrels turned their backs on them. The eldest son Zhang Qi's wife, He Shi, even locked all the doors that led to the Zhang family, citing the reason that it was not easy to guard the door. Furthermore, when the old man was on his forty-ninth day memorial service, He Shi had someone throw away the offerings that Qiu Niang had brought.

Zhang Qiuniang had had enough and resolutely severed ties with the Zhang family. However, in the next two or three years, Zhang Qi and He Shi would find excuses every now and then to extort money from the Xie family. One day they would say that the Zhang family had paid for Xie Yi's expenses, and the next day they would say that the Xie family owed the Zhang family something.

Qiu Niang, being the eldest daughter, still had her pride. At first, she was unwilling to argue with them and simply paid the small amount of money she was asked to pay.

Unexpectedly, they went even further, taking advantage of the fact that Xie's mother and her two children had no relatives in Shawan except the Zhang family. In the end, they even managed to steal the rice shop that Zhang Hong had left for them, a widow and her orphan, to make a living!

The Xie family was weak, and Zhang Qiuniang had children who were her Achilles' heel. Unable to fight them, she could only hope to avoid trouble by spending money. As a result, the family became poorer and poorer.

Thinking about all this, Qiu Niang felt even more guilty and remorseful.

Thinking about how the Zhang family is now targeting Lu Jia, Zhang Qiuniang felt an indescribable regret. If she hadn't been so cowardly, her daughter wouldn't have had to suffer like this.

Thinking of this, she wiped away her tears, and as if steeling her heart, sniffed: "Girl, do you still remember how you got to Shawan?"

“I remember,” Lu Jia nodded, seeing Qiu Niang’s solemn expression. “My father and mother rescued me from the desolate mountains and brought me to Shawan.”

How could she forget that autumn night when she was five years old, when Jiang took her out of the city under the pretext of resting, and that night she sent someone to impersonate her father Lu Jie to pick her up, lead her out of the city, and make her lose her way in the wilderness, and then abandoned her?

“If I hadn’t been lucky enough to meet my parents who happened to be traveling south with my young son, Yi Ge’er, and we hadn’t been caught in a downpour and had to take shelter at a hunter’s house at the foot of the mountain, I would have been eaten by wild animals ten years ago.”

Zhang Qiuniang was surprised that she remembered everything, and tears immediately streamed down her face. Then she took something out of her sleeve and handed it to Lu Jia with trembling hands: "Since you still remember, then you should take this and go to the capital to escape for your life!"

“This jade was taken from your neck years ago. I could tell it was no ordinary object back then, but you wouldn’t say a word. We were afraid it would implicate someone important, and we couldn’t bear to leave you there, so we took off the jade, adopted you as our daughter, and brought you all the way to Tanzhou.”

“You were born to be a noble and unparalleled young lady. You should have lived a life of luxury and married a powerful and wealthy man of equal social standing. You shouldn’t have to suffer with us. Now that Zhang Qi is doing nothing right, you should hurry back to the capital! Go back to the life that belongs to you!”

Lu Jiahun scoffed: "Once I'm registered with the Xie family, I'm a member of the Xie family. Where else can I go?"

In her previous life, Qiu Niang had advised her to leave in the same way. She thought that returning to the capital would bring her wealth and glory, but little did she know that it would be a pit of fire.

This time, Lu Jia would never choose the same path again.

"Silly girl!" Qiu Niang's eyes were bloodshot with anxiety. "If you don't leave, I can't protect you! Besides, your family is looking for you!"

Hearing this, Lu Jia finally raised her head. "How did you know?"

Qiu Niang said with tears in her eyes, "A while ago, a few people came from the capital, saying they were inquiring about the whereabouts of their eldest daughter. I listened to them secretly, and the characteristics of the young lady they described and the time and place of her disappearance were exactly the same as yours."

"Later, I took this jade to Tanzhou Prefecture to inquire about it. It turned out that they were looking for the daughter of Lu Jie, the current Minister of Rites. The jade you wore around your neck back then belonged to the Lu family!"

"I never expected that while I was still struggling with this, this would happen to you! I didn't even have a chance to tell you."

"Girl, you are a young lady from a noble family. Your mother is the principal wife of a noble family, and your father is a high-ranking official in the court and a favorite of the emperor!"

"You don't need to suffer the humiliation from the Zhang family and people like Li Er here! I'll go borrow money from Aunt Li next door right now. You take this jade and hurry to the capital to find your biological father!"

As Qiu Niang spoke, she stood up.

Lu Jia pressed her down with both hands: "What does the person you were looking for, the one you mentioned earlier, look like?"

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(End of this chapter)