Making A Fortune Through Hunting To Support My Wife - Chapter 5

Old Lady Xu sat in the main hall, her heart drumming like a frantic beat, rising and falling with an unsettling sense of instability.

Unable to sit still, she shot a vicious glare at Song Yu, who stood silent in the shadows. If it weren’t for this girl refusing to hand over her dowry money to pay back the elder and younger Wang women and settle this matter first, how could they have let outsiders witness the Xu family’s humiliation?

Family matters should be discussed behind closed doors. At most, for the sake of her paying the debt, they could have just ordered her around a little less in the future.

Just as Old Lady Xu rose from her seat, unable to endure it any longer, Xu Jing finally returned, appearing at the threshold of the hall.

However, she didn’t come empty-handed. She was carrying a blue cloth bag that hung heavy in her grip, possessing a noticeable weight.

Old Lady Xu had sharp eyes. The moment she saw the blue bag, her face drained of color, and she nearly tumbled from her chair in shock.

Xu Jing handed two taels and two hundred wen to the Wang women, smiling as she said, “This is all the money left in the house. Here is two taels and two hundred wen. As for the remaining one tael and eight hundred wen, I will find a way. Give me a few days’ reprieve, and I will surely pay you back. How does that sound?”

This world did not belong to any era in history, but Xu Jing had already learned the currency exchange, one tael of silver was worth one string of cash, and one string was roughly a thousand wen.

According to current living standards, an average farming household with decent labor could save about five to six taels of silver a year. If they bought expensive items, they’d save even less.

The Elder Wang family had five sons, plenty of labor, so they naturally saved more than the average household. Furthermore, because Old Lady Xu had once accidentally saved a scholar from their family, the Elder Wangs had been generous enough to lend the Xu family four taels.

As for the Xu family, with only the original host and Old Lady Xu working the fields year round, saving one or two taels was considered a good harvest year.

Normally, the elderly and the young should have saved some assets, but because the harvests were good two years ago, Old Lady Xu had gritted her teeth and purchased one mu of paddy field and two mu of dry land, spending most of her multi-year savings.

Coupled with the fact that recently, the original host had been made a scapegoat and paid out a lot of compensation, plus the costs of the wedding, the family’s already thin foundations were exhausted, leaving them with significant external debt.

This was why the silver in Old Lady Xu’s hands was terrifyingly meager.

Elder Wang’s eyes lit up at the sight of the blue bag, but she quickly frowned. Seeing her mother-in-law hesitate, the Younger Wang woman’s mind whirred. She snatched the money bag, her face twisting with dissatisfaction.

“No! We said four taels, so it’s four taels.”

A shrill scream pierced everyone’s eardrums.

“Xu Jing! I see you’ve rebelled against heaven! You’ve learned to steal the family’s money! Oh, my heavens! This old woman worked so hard for this house, toiling away, and now you, you scoundrel, are taking my coffin money to pay debts…”

Old Lady Xu’s wail directly choked back the Younger Wang woman’s complaints.

Xu Jing, however, seemed to have expected this. She turned around, her face still maintaining a faint, indifferent smile.

“Grandmother, all the family’s money is with you. I thought this was public family money. If you truly don’t have it, we’ll just mortgage the family fields. That will surely be enough to pay back Auntie Wang.”

At the mention of “mortgaging the fields,” Old Lady Xu’s howling and cursing stopped instantly.

Like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, she bolted from her chair. Leaning forward, she waved her withered but strong arms and lunged at Xu Jing.

“Good! Xu Jing, you’ve really grown up! You dare plot against the fields!”

Xu Jing knew that the fields were Old Lady Xu’s lifeblood, an untouchable existence. She had prepared herself before speaking.

Quick on her feet, she retreated while simultaneously grabbing Song Yu, pulling her out of Old Lady Xu’s range of attack.

Releasing Song Yu gently, the warmth of the slender figure vanished, though a lingering heat remained where their arms had touched. Xu Jing nodded to the startled Song Yu, giving her a reassuring look.

This all happened in a flash. It was so fast and sudden that even the two Wang women were dazed.

Old Lady Xu was already fuming. Failing to hit Xu Jing only made her angrier, nearly causing her to faint from rage.

“Auntie Wang, you see it too. Our family really has no money left; we’d have to mortgage the fields. If you can give us seven days’ grace, I am willing to add another two mace of silver as interest for the delay. What do you think?”

To prevent Old Lady Xu from lunging again, Xu Jing kept an eye on her movements while retreating and spoke loudly to the Wang women.

Hearing that Xu Jing would provide an extra two mace of silver as interest, Elder Wang was instantly tempted. But remembering the two taels of silver promised by Song Lian’er, the words of refusal stayed on her lips.

“No! Today we must…”

Xu Jing raised her eyebrows and increased the offer: “Four mace of silver, how about that? Any more, and we’ll have to ask the village elders to appraise the land for mortgage. Then you won’t get these four mace, Auntie Wang.”

Elder Wang naturally wanted to profit from both sides, but the task Song Lian’er assigned had to be done.

Beside her, Younger Wang nudged her mother-in-law with her elbow, signaling her to stay quiet for a moment.

“Fine. Four mace of silver for a seven days delay. But Xu Jing, does your word count?” Younger Wang glanced at Old Lady Xu, whose face was turning increasingly livid.

“Naturally it counts. I am, after all, the only male heir in this house.”

Xu Jing spoke calmly, her words carrying a subtle underlying meaning.

A flicker of stiffness crossed Old Lady Xu’s fierce face. Ordinarily, she would have insisted she was the head of the household.

Perhaps out of extreme anger turning into resentment, Old Lady Xu didn’t scream about Xu Jing being foolish for giving away four mace for nothing. Instead, she sat back down, stared at Xu Jing with her old eyes, and let out a cold sneer.

“Four mace? You think silver is that easy to earn? Don’t even think about touching my fields. You find your own way to pay your Auntie Wang. Regardless, this money was spent on you anyway. It saves this old woman from toiling for this family only to be blamed, or worse, losing her coffin money.”

Xu Jing hadn’t expected her to agree so readily, no, rather, she had simply dumped the “pot” of debt repayment onto Xu Jing’s head.

It seemed that using the Wang women to suppress Old Lady Xu’s arrogance was a success.

Xu Jing hadn’t missed the glances and movements between the two Wang women earlier. Though she didn’t know what they were hiding, having survived the apocalypse, she smelled the scent of a conspiracy.

Xu Jing raised her brow and turned to the Wang women, smiling. “Auntie Wang, you heard her. My word counts. The remaining silver will be delivered to you in seven days.”

Looking at Xu Jing’s gentle smile, Elder Wang didn’t feel warmth; instead, a chill ran down her spine. A thought surfaced. This youngster looks easy to get along with, but is like a “smiling tiger” from the operas kind on the outside, but with a deep, unpredictable mind that swallows people whole.

“Fine. But these four mace… talk is cheap. It’s better to find a mediator so both families can be at ease.”

Younger Wang took over for her mother-in-law, steering the conversation in a new direction.

Elder Wang was stunned by her niece’s words but quickly realized the plan.

Finding a mediator meant making the Xu family’s debt public. This would fulfill Song Lian’er’s wish to humiliate the Xus while also securing the interest for the delay. It was killing two birds with one stone.

Xu Jing’s brow twitched slightly. She noticed the subtle expressions flowing between the two. Her lips curled; she would eventually uncover the secret behind this.

“Yes, yes, we must find a mediator to bear witness.”

“Fine. I have no objection,” Xu Jing replied.

The sword drawn atmosphere gradually stabilized with Xu Jing’s final words. However, even without the confrontation, the harmony from when the Wang women first arrived could not be restored.

Old Lady Xu was exhausted from anger today. Out of sight, out of mind, she went back to her room with a cold face, no longer speaking of entertaining her “old sister.” From now on, she and Elder Wang were no longer sisters, but enemies who had bared their teeth.

Xu Jing sat composedly, chatting with Elder Wang, while Younger Wang went out to find a mediator. Song Yu continued with her chores.

In fact, back when Old Lady Xu had exploded, the commotion had already attracted several nosy women. With Younger Wang’s deliberate exaggerations outside, the Xu family’s troubles spread through the village like seeds in the wind.

“The Xu family isn’t acting right. Borrowing money to marry a wife and then wanting to dodge the debt… no honest family would do such a thing. I’m ashamed for them.”

“Exactly. Our family would never do that. I say the Wang daughter-in-law is the capable one, not only getting them to agree to pay but even squeezing out extra interest.”

Someone gave a thumbs-up to Younger Wang, who was at the center of the crowd. Younger Wang felt smug but waved it off.

“Oh, I’m not the capable one. It’s my mother-in-law who has the silver tongue and can keep the Xus in check.” The wrinkles at the corners of her eyes bloomed with pride she couldn’t hide.

A group of people arrived noisily at the gate of the Xu courtyard. Since the gate was open, they swarmed in.

In the hall, Xu Jing, who was having a “pleasant conversation” with Elder Wang, heard the noise and looked out the door.

Younger Wang led a plump middle-aged woman with thick lips and glinting eyes through the crowd.

Xu Jing had a slight impression of her: Big Mouth Auntie Li, one of the leaders of the village gossip mill.

The fact that Younger Wang sought her as a guarantor confirmed to Xu Jing that there was something “ghostly” behind this debt collection. Usually, villagers would seek respected elders as guarantors, not a sharp-tongued woman known for spreading rumors.

“Oh, Xu Jing, Sister Wang, you’re both here. I don’t see Sister Xu? Didn’t you say you wanted us to be mediators?”

Before Xu Jing, the host, could speak, Auntie Li scanned the room and spoke first with a smile. Her meaning was clear, the Xu family’s public representative had always been Old Lady Xu. Even though Xu Jing was married, her words carried little weight.

Xu Jing adjusted her sleeves, stood up, and smiled at Auntie Li. “My grandmother isn’t feeling well and is lying down. I can handle the matter with Auntie Wang.”

Auntie Li had heard some inside details from Younger Wang, and she knew Xu Jing.

Who was Xu Jing? Someone who usually looked at people through heavy bangs with a gloomy gaze, lonely, arrogant and unsociable. The one the village’s only scholar had cursed as a “stinking bug in the gutter” for “toad wishing to eat swan meat.”

Although she hadn’t seen Xu Jing pestering the scholar with her own eyes, through her friends’ vivid descriptions, her already poor impression of Xu Jing had turned into disdain.

Seeing the person before her now, tall, clean, well-groomed, and gentle in manner, she seemed a world away from the person in her memory. It was as if she had been replaced.

Auntie Li’s impression shifted slightly.

“You? Can you make the decisions? Xu Jing, a word spoken is a nail driven. This involves silver, if you agree, you must pay.”

“I can naturally make the decisions,” Xu Jing nodded. She shifted her gaze and asked with a smile, “Does Auntie have a set procedure for being a mediator?”

“Procedure? I’m here as the mediator today, and I’ve brought everyone as witnesses. In seven days, if you pay Sister Wang two taels and two mace in full, the matter is settled.”

“If you can’t pay…” Auntie Li intentionally slowed her voice, turning to the whispering villagers before smiling at Xu Jing. “At that time, don’t blame me for being heartless when I take you to the Village Chief to mortgage your land.”

The Xu family was destitute, there were few valuables in the house. Only the three mu of paddy and three mu of dry land were worth anything.

As expected, they are after the land.

Xu Jing nodded. “Don’t worry, Auntie. My word is my bond. In seven days, the money will be repaid.”

At this point, Xu Jing looked outside and raised her voice.

“However, when the time comes to pay, I ask Auntie to spread the word as well. Let everyone know that our Xu family keeps its promises and will not bring shame to the Xu clan. And let no one think of throwing filth at my family anymore.”

Though she was speaking to Auntie Li, her words were directed at the crowd outside. Her ears were sharp, she had already heard the villagers speaking ill of them, likely due to Younger Wang’s earlier framing.

The villagers, who were already gossiping, erupted like a boiling pot at Xu Jing’s words.

“Keeping promises? Those words sound awfully refined. Did he learn that from the scholar?”

“Who cares? Two taels and two mace is no small amount for his family. Xu Jing has a big mouth to claim he can produce that in seven days. I see the Xu land going to the Wangs.”

“Just wait for the joke. The old woman of the Xu family guards her land like her own heart. It’s strange she didn’t come out to make a scene today.”

The villagers didn’t believe in Xu Jing. Not a single soul in Dayue Village did.

This news grew legs and spread through half the village like wildfire. As the protagonist, the Xu family was subjected to wild exaggeration. Under the influence of “three people make a tiger,” the debt incident had already become distorted.

“Nonsense! Absolute nonsense! How could the Qian woman allow Xu Jing to run wild outside!”

“Xu Wu, Xu Liu, go to Xu Jing’s house at the end of the village. Bring Xu Jing and your Great Aunt here. I want to question them.”

The second uncle of the main Xu branch took a puff from his dry tobacco pipe. Upon hearing the news from his youngest son, he sat in his hall and slammed the pipe heavily on the table, his beard fluttering in anger.

The Xu clan in Dayue Village might not be as large as the Wang or Li families, but they had deep roots with dozens of kinsmen and held significant influence. In some matters, the authority of the clan leader and elders was even greater than that of the Village Chief or the government.

Xu Jing knew nothing of this, and even if she did, it wouldn’t change her decision.

Although she hadn’t bought everything she wanted at Meihua Town, she had enough materials to craft a decent recurve bow.

Yes, Xu Jing’s confidence in repaying the debt within seven days came from her trump card.

She was going to hunt in the Dayue Mountains. With the sharp observation and tracking skills she had honed in the apocalypse, combined with the weak flicker of wood element power in her chest, she had enough to step into the depths of the mountains that the villagers found so terrifying.