Chapter 7: Cutting off the Road to Retain Her (2/2)

It was pouring with rain on this day. In the past, it was the best time for all the guys to drink and to have some fun at home. However, since Cui family received the jewelry of Xie Mengxuan, they were urged to estimate the price of it in the city. They had intended to go to the town, but the pawnshop there was too small in scale to have anyone experienced. As well they were afraid of being deceived. As a result, they decided to go to a bigger place.

At first, they planned to set off on a sunny day. Whereas, too many people were eager to know the value of these things.

Prompted by the villagers, Aunt Cui’s son, Cui Zhuang went to the city when it was raining and came back in the evening. He was a strong man who did well in farm work. Whoever happened to have other things to do in the village would turn to him for help.

Cui Zhuang returned to his home with the jewelry in his arms. Upon arrival, he dashed to the table and drunk a large bowl of tea and then said in an anxious voice, “Hurry up! Hurry up! Close the door!”

Shocked by his anxiety, Aunt Cui hastened to call the head of the village and quickly closed the door. She asked eagerly, “My son, what happened? Is anyone chasing you?”

“No, no.” Cui Zhuang gasped and swallowed hard. “Mum, do you know how valuable these things in my arms are?”

“How much?” asked Aunt Cui. Excited though she was, she didn’t dare to give a blind guess. But according to the appearance of Cui Zhuang, these things might be very valuable.

Alert while looking around, Cui Zhuang held up one finger with his eyes wide open.

Looking at him for a while, Aunt Cui stuttered, “One hundred taels in total?”

This was the highest price she could imagine. With three taels of silver, they could live a good life for a whole year. One hundred taels were quite a huge sum of money.

To her surprise, Cui Zhuang shook his head and said, “One hundred taels for a piece of jewelry. Here’s seven hundred taels in total.”

“Oh, My Lord! How valuable they are!” Aunt Cui marveled and immediately took the jewelry out of the package to observe. Gradually she calmed down while her eyes were still bright with a smile on her face.

Aunt Cui, as a woman, old though she was, still loved the jewelry like hairpins and earrings. She could not help putting one on her head and watching her reflection in the washbasin. She smile, “When the idiot brought the girl back, I’ve noted her valuable jewelry, but I didn’t expect them to be such good things.”

It could be inferred from her words that she envied that girl and had great affection for these jewelry. When she knew that these could be changed to so much money, she no longer hesitated because she preferred silver after all.

Cui Zhuang was looking at these jewelry as if he had seen the real silver ingot. He rubbed his hands and said, “Mum, are we really going to share these with others? Our family is still suffering a deficit.”

The deficit he said was that the village chief had embezzled the money of the village for his own affairs. Moreover they borrowed a lot of money in the past years. The family had been suffering a loss, but others didn’t know.

Aunt Cui rolled her eyes at Cui Zhuang and said, “You don’t have to remind me. I certainly know that. You need to marry a woman someday, and your dad is the village head. So we can't live worse than others. Since they don't know the actual price, we’d better tell others that these things are worth one hundred taels in total. Each family should get about three taels. The money left can be used for everyone to have a banquet together.”

Finally the village head who had been smoking quietly uttered, “It’s inappropriate. We can’t deceive others.”

Cui Zhuang became anxious at his words. Aunt Cui rolled her eyes with anger, “We are not telling a lie. This is the first-come-first-served principle. It’s only us who know the real price. With five hundred taels or so, we’re going to live a wealthy life. We can make up for the money you have taken from the village, and our son can also have a wife. There is no need for us to work so hard by then. Later we might as well do a small business to save some money and leave this place. Do you want to stay here for a lifetime?”

What she said moved the village head. He had been ambitious when young, but failed to realize his dream and led such a terrible life.

“Wait, Mum, there’s someone else who knows the value of these things.”