Contentment with modest wealth

Chapter 9: They pulled off his underwear.
Lu Jia looked at Zhang and Li, who were struggling, and said, "Li Er, you don't really think my uncle wants your family's things, do you?"

"What do you have that the Zhang family doesn't have?"
He's just trying to fool you!
"Everyone knows what kind of person you are. If I were to tell you this, wouldn't the Zhang family be afraid of being exposed and having their reputation exposed for the rest of their lives?"

"It's time for their daughter Ru to get married. I heard they want her to marry into a good family and marry into a higher social class. If the Zhang family really does that, Ru won't be able to marry at all, let alone marry into a higher social class. With such an irresponsible father, it'll be a problem if she can even get married."

"What reason does he have to force me to marry you? You're the one who's stupid. Even now, you still think you can control the Zhang family?"

Although Li Er was furious, he had been beaten to a pulp tonight and couldn't show any power anymore. He left after saying a few harsh words.

Upon hearing Lu Jia's words, his suppressed anger suddenly surged up again!

He pointed at Zhang Qi: "Do you think I, Master Li, am a fool? Let me tell you, he's after our family's storeroom!"

"Storage?" Lu Jia narrowed her eyes. "What storage?"

"It's that unused storeroom of ours located at the foot of the city wall!"

Li Er couldn't take it anymore. He was actually called stupid by this young girl? How could that be? He wasn't stupid at all!

To prove his point, he shouted it out in one breath:

"He wanted to buy my family's storeroom, but my father refused to sell it. No matter how much he pleaded and begged, it was no use. Later, when he saw that I was already twenty years old and still not engaged, he proposed to marry me!"
"He assured my dad that he could definitely get it done, the only condition being that we get that warehouse, only then will my dad agree!"

Li Er roared, and the crowd erupted in uproar.

"Master Zhang, I never thought you were this kind of person! You'd even sell your own niece, you're not human!"

"Exactly! For a warehouse, they even betray their own people. Back then, it was the Xie family who helped the Zhang family get rich, but instead of remembering their kindness, they even tried to sell their granddaughter! Bah! Be careful, even the old master of the Xie family won't let you off the hook in the afterlife!"

The onlookers roared with curses, but Lu Jia's eyes gleamed in the darkness, as if she had only heard the word "warehouse" in Li Er's words.

"uncle?"

She raised an eyebrow and turned her face towards Zhang Qi.

Zhang Qi was completely unprepared for Lu Jia to provoke Li Er into saying those words!

Now things are really messed up. Originally, he and Madam He could insist in front of everyone that this marriage was a matter of the uncle and aunt caring for their niece. But Li Er has revealed the truth, and he can no longer continue with this idea no matter what!

Everyone in Shawan knows his purpose in arranging this marriage. Even if Li Er tries to take advantage of Lu Jia again in the future, he will probably be blamed!

He gritted his teeth and glared at Lu Jia, feeling as if his heart was being tossed back and forth between ice and fire tonight.

Without thinking twice, he yelled at his servants, "Men! Take Master Li back!"

He couldn't deny what Li Er had confessed, nor could he deny it!
Undeniably, the spittle of the entire city could drown him. Just as Lu Jia had said, Zhang Ru, who was about to get married, was not only unlikely to marry up, but even getting married at all was a problem.

If they deny it, who knows what other interesting things Li Er might say!
Why not get rid of him now, or let him pull your underwear down?
"What's the rush, Uncle?" Lu Jia said. "At least let him finish what he's saying. — Li Er, if you don't explain this clearly, I won't believe you."

“The Zhang family has everything they need, why would they lack a storeroom? If you’re going to lie, at least make it believable.”

Li Er sneered and rolled up his sleeves: "Last month, the imperial court issued an edict ordering all provinces to rectify river transport and adjust the waterways for cargo ships. I heard that the document issued by the Ministry of Revenue has reached the Tanzhou Prefecture government. The Tonghuomen Wharf outside the prefectural city has suffered from disasters for years because the river is not wide. In recent years, more and more cargo ships have been docking at our Shawan Wharf. This time, it is said that all the merchant ships at the Tonghuomen Wharf will be moved here!"

"In this way, our Shawan will be the largest wharf on the Xiangjiang River within the entire jurisdiction of Tanzhou Prefecture!"

"Nowadays, businesses that have received advance notice are afraid that others will find out, so they are secretly expanding their warehouses everywhere. When the Zhang family heard that our Li family had a large warehouse, they came to our door and begged us to buy it."

"But our Li family doesn't lack the money from selling the warehouses, and besides, we need it ourselves. So Zhang Qi came up with the idea of ​​bringing us together, and even invited me to the ship to see you—"

"You brat! Listen to me carefully, all of this was started by your good uncle, not by me. If you have any grievances, remember to go find the Zhang family!"

Li Er glanced at Lu Jia, then gritted his teeth and glared venomously at Zhang Qi.

Zhang Qi was so angry that he could barely breathe.

This is just great.

Everything was stripped bare!
He gritted his teeth and looked at what was in front of him. The once spacious courtyard was now crowded with people. He had been soaked in the rain all night, and his usual glamorous appearance was long gone. His clothes were half-wet from the drizzle, and his hair was also wet. Along with the mud he had rubbed off when he was beaten earlier, he looked extremely disheveled.

Looking at Lu Jia now, she was clean and comfortable, and even looked at him with a meaningful gaze.

His gaze was direct, as if he could see right through a filthy gut, making Zhang Qi feel so embarrassed that he felt as if his underwear had been pulled down, and all his anger surged to his head!
He roared and waved his hand, "Get out of here, all of you get out of here!" Lu Jia had been staring at Li Er since he heard his words, and when she heard his powerless rage, she twitched the corner of her mouth and said, "You're the one who should get out, aren't you, Uncle? This is our Xie family's territory."

The neighbors chimed in again: "That's right, this is the Xie family. What are you Zhang family members doing here, putting on airs? You bullied a widow and her children, do you intend to blatantly take over their home?"

Zhang Qi was so angry that he almost fainted. He realized that he hadn't gained any advantage at all throughout the night. His vision blurred and he nearly passed out!

Fortunately, a nearby servant noticed and quickly helped him up, then turned to call for the others: "Quickly help the master back! Something bad has happened to the master!"

Hearing this shout, Zhang Qi, who was still somewhat conscious, was completely enraged and fainted.

Xie Yi, who had been hiding inside the house, waited until they passed the east wall, then immediately chased after them, pulled the door shut, and added a few more bolts to it.

He then grabbed a carrying pole from the corner of the wall, returned to the yard, and slammed it down heavily in front of Li Er: "You get out too!"

He was only twelve years old and not very strong. Li Er was with men, so he wouldn't have taken him seriously at all. But after suffering setbacks tonight, he had lost his edge. Now, seeing Xie Yi's imposing presence, he found him quite intimidating.

Despite feeling aggrieved, he had lost face completely tonight and was also in pain, so he had no intention of getting entangled with these troublemakers any longer. He waved his hand, and the people who had left earlier brought over a simple sedan chair and moved him into it.

After they all dispersed, Lu Jia and Qiu Niang approached Li Daoshi and the others: "Thank you all for your help. We have made ginger soup and prepared some food. You've been standing in the rain for so long, so please come inside and have a cup of tea."

Everyone waved their hands.

Qiu Niang usually taught her children to treat others kindly, and the family had long since cultivated good karma outside. So, they thought it was only natural for everyone to help them back home. After giving them a few words of advice, they all went back home.

Lu Jia and Qiu Niang escorted them to the street and only returned home after watching them walk away.

After closing the doors and windows, they sat around the fire pit, and Li Chang also came in through the back door.

"I just saw that bastard Li Er smash up the Zhang family's gate when he passed by the street corner, and the Zhang family didn't say a word."

Qiu Niang quickly served him the glutinous rice she had saved. Li Chang declined twice, but eventually gave in to the many activities that evening and started eating.

Xie Yi happily picked up the earthenware pot to make ginger soup for everyone: "This time, we not only vented our anger, but also put an end to the Zhang and Li families' plans. We've finally passed this hurdle. It's a pity that we didn't beat them enough. We should have beaten them so badly that they'd never be able to get back up for the rest of their lives to make up for the injustice my sister suffered!"

Qiu Niang took the ginger soup he handed her: "You should tone it down! That's enough."

Xie Yi and Li Chang exchanged a glance, then simultaneously shrugged and stuck out their tongues as they looked at Lu Jia.

Lu Jia, holding the ginger soup, said leisurely, "We've already fought, why worry? Things will work themselves out."

“I’m not afraid of the Li family,” Qiu Niang sighed. “I heard that the new county magistrate is a newly appointed Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) who was sent down from the capital to gain experience. He probably wouldn’t stoop to associating with local bullies. We’re in the right in this matter. If the Li family dares to use force against us, the government can’t just turn a blind eye.”

"Besides, they don't do business that loses money. We're penniless, so even if they know this is a trap we set, they can't squeeze any money out of us."

“Li Er has already beaten Zhang Qi so badly tonight, the Li family can’t pretend they didn’t beat him. Besides, if they want to vent their anger, they should go after the Zhang family. Wouldn’t that be much more worthwhile than bullying us?”

Qiu Niang had lived in the capital with Xie Zhang for many years and had met many officials, so she naturally had some experience. He sighed again at this point:

“What I’m afraid of is the Zhang family. That couple is in cahoots and their actions are becoming more and more shameless. They’ve suffered a loss this time, and I’m really afraid they’ll try to get revenge.”

Those who have nothing to lose are fearless. Having fallen to this state, what else can she not lose? The only thing she can't lose is her two children, especially Lu Jia, who is a woman, she absolutely cannot let anyone harm her.

"Don't worry." Lu Jia twirled the rough pottery cup in her hand. "He will definitely come."

When everyone heard the first two words, they thought she was going to comfort Qiu Niang. But when they heard the whole sentence, they all craned their necks in surprise.

"What kind of talk is that? You know he'll come looking for you, and you're still so calm?"

Xie Yi was speechless.

Tonight's whole affair was arranged by Lu Jia from beginning to end, which is surprising enough in itself. After all, they grew up together and they know each other well.

Although Lu Jia was not weak in the past, there was no precedent for dealing with the Zhang family so smoothly. Tonight's method of beating the dog was too skillful, and one had to admire it!
After Li Er exposed the Zhang family's shady dealings, everyone thought Lu Jia would seize the opportunity to crush the Zhang family in front of everyone, but unexpectedly she didn't!
Not only did they not come, but they were actually waiting for the Zhang family to come and settle accounts?

What is she up to? How come her younger brother can't understand it at all?
“If he doesn’t come knocking on my door, how am I supposed to collect my profits?” Lu Jia said slowly, holding her soup bowl. “After all, for me, beating the dog is just breaking even.”

(End of this chapter)