Transmigrated as a Peasant Girl with Prophetic Dreams: Using My Space to Become the Richest Person - Chapter 15

Chapter 15: Zhao Zhaodi Confesses to the Theft

Ten-year-old Yang Shu had no idea that his words would decide Zhao Zhaodi’s fate. Suddenly finding himself the center of attention, his only thought was to prove that he had indeed done a good job of tracking Yang the Third’s family.

He had completed his mission, so he wasn’t afraid to speak up: “Grandpa, Grandma, I followed them. I watched them go up the mountain before I came back.”

As soon as Yang Shu finished speaking, Sun Qiuping immediately followed up: “Did you see them stop midway?”

Yang Shu didn’t even stop to think: “No, they didn’t stop. They went straight up the mountain.”

Sun Qiuping looked at Zhao Zhaodi with a smug smile. “Sister-in-law, you wanted to make the Third’s family the scapegoat so you could swallow all those things yourself. Isn’t that a bit too black-hearted?”

Wang Dani reached out and grabbed Zhao Zhaodi’s hair again. “Well, Zhao Zhaodi! You’ve certainly got some nerve trying to play me for a fool. Are you going to hand over the things or not?”

“Mother, I didn’t! I really didn’t take them! It must have been the Third’s family—they must have stashed the things on the mountain in advance!”

Sun Qiuping let out another snort of laughter. “Sister-in-law, do you think Father and Mother are idiots? If they had secretly moved things up the mountain, they would have just stayed there last night. Why bother coming back? They were headed for the mountain anyway.”

Wang Dani realized this made sense. If Yang the Third had stolen the items and taken them up the mountain in the middle of the night, there would have been no reason for them to return home this morning.

Heaven help her, she had almost been hoodwinked by Zhao Zhaodi again.

Picking up the broom, Wang Dani began raining blows down on Zhao Zhaodi once more.

Zhao Zhaodi shrieked in pain, her eyes searching for help from Yang the Eldest and her children. However, not only did they not help, they silently looked away, leaving her to endure Wang Dani’s beating.

Finally, broken by the pain and fear, Zhao Zhaodi cried out: “Mother, stop! Stop hitting me! I know I was wrong, please stop!”

Wang Dani threw the broom down. “If you know you’re wrong, go get the things back. Move it!”

Zhao Zhaodi’s body trembled. She hadn’t actually stolen the items—where was she supposed to get them from?

Seeing the murderous look in Wang Dani’s eyes, Zhao Zhaodi could only stammer: “The things… I sold the things.”

“What? Sold them?” Wang Dani’s voice spiked. She reached for the broom again.

Terrified, Zhao Zhaodi shielded her head with her arms. “Mother, Mother, don’t hit me! I’ll give you the money! I’ll give you the money!”

Hearing that there was cash to be had, Wang Dani held out her hand. “Hand it over!”

Zhao Zhaodi didn’t even know which items were missing, so she hesitated, unsure of how much money would be considered “appropriate.”

To Wang Dani, this hesitation looked like she was unwilling to pay or was trying to scheme to keep some of the profit for herself.

Thinking this, Wang Dani roared: “How much did you sell them for? Hand it all over! If you’re short even one copper, I’ll beat you to death.”

Zhao Zhaodi gritted her teeth. Thinking that the loss must have been significant for the old couple to be this angry, she named a high price: “One tael.”

“What? Only one tale? Zhao Zhaodi, you dare lie to me? I’ll tear you apart!”

Startled, Zhao Zhaodi quickly changed her tune: “Two… two tales! It was two tales! I remembered something was wrong just now. Mother, don’t be angry, don’t be angry.”

She wanted to cry. She had saved that money for so long, and two taels was her entire life savings. What on earth had been stolen from the house that was worth so much?

Upon hearing “two tales,” Wang Dani was somewhat satisfied. The stolen grain wouldn’t have fetched much, but the most valuable item was likely the wood-cutting machete.

Even if it was old, it was still sharp; it could probably be sold for at least one tael of silver. Combined with the other items, it would total over one tale.

She hadn’t expected Zhao Zhaodi to be able to get two tales for it all.

Suddenly, Wang Dani narrowed her eyes. If Zhao Zhaodi got that much money, could she have stolen other things from the house that they hadn’t even noticed yet?

Under Wang Dani’s scrutiny, Zhao Zhaodi was truly frightened. “Mother, it’s really only two taels. I’m not lying to you.”

If she asked for more, Zhao Zhaodi truly wouldn’t be able to produce it.

“Money. Now.”

Seeing that Wang Dani was no longer violent, Zhao Zhaodi reluctantly reached into a hidden layer in her waistband and pulled out two taels of silver.

This was money she had saved over many years. She never dared leave it in the house, carrying it on her person at all times, and now it was gone in an instant.

The moment the silver left her hand, Zhao Zhaodi broke down in tears.

Wang Dani snapped at her: “Crying, always crying! Do you still have the nerve to cry? Tell me, did you take anything else from this house?”

“No, really, nothing else.”

Having secured the silver, Wang Dani’s mood improved slightly. “Eldest, get this lazy woman of yours back inside and teach her a lesson. If she ever dares to do something like this again, I won’t let either of you off easy.”

Seeing that the matter was resolved, Old Man Yang returned to his room.

Wang Dani followed him in and handed the money over. “Old man, you should have stood your ground today. Hmph, we let the Third get away with two hundred coppers for nothing.”

“Two hundred coppers is enough to feed our whole family for many meals.”

Old Man Yang’s face was dark, full of calculation. “Don’t be in a hurry. Within a few days, the Third will come back begging us. At that point, even if you tell him to eat filth, he’ll probably do it.”

“As for those two hundred coppers, just make him do a few more days of hard labor in town or cut more firewood. He’ll earn it back for us eventually.”

“Hmph! Let this be a lesson to him. Let’s see if they ever dare to defy us again.”

Wang Dani snorted. “If you ask me, even if they come back kneeling and begging, we shouldn’t let them in. They think their wings are strong enough now? We should let them suffer the full measure of it.”

“What do you know?” Old Man Yang countered. “You have to balance tension and release. That’s how you make them more obedient.”

Wang Dani didn’t really understand, but she knew how to stroke his ego. “Yes, yes, you’re the clever one, old man. We’ll do it your way.”

…

While Old Man Yang and Wang Dani assumed Yang the Third’s family was already miserable and full of regret, the reality was quite different. Once they reached the mountain, they had no time to think about anything else.

Their only focus was setting up a shelter before dark and gathering some wild vegetables for soup tonight.

Up on the mountain, with no one else around, Yang Xue no longer needed to pretend to be sick.

Seeing them at a loss for what to do first, she stepped up as the leader.

“Father, go cut some wood to make a door for the cave entrance. We need it to stay safe at night.”

“Alright.”

“Mother, we need to lay dry grass or branches on the floor inside the cave. You take care of that.”

“Okay.”

“Sister, Xiaoyu, Xiaotian—you three are in charge of picking wild vegetables. As for me, I’m the ‘patient,’ so I’ll just wander around nearby. I won’t cause any trouble.”

“Alright.”

With tasks assigned, the family immediately sprang into action.