Chapter 19: Visiting

  Aunt Cao heard He Huan say that she was willing to take her to "earn" silver, and immediately lit up her eyes. After a moment, she pretended to be generous and said: "I know our family is short of silver, I am also a member of the family, so I should..."

  He Huan was impatient with her beating around the bush and spoke bluntly: "Aunt Cao, many things are mutually understood. Let me put it straightforwardly - I want to go to Third Uncle's house to 'borrow' some silver. No matter how much we borrow, you won't be left out of the benefits. Are you willing to come with me?"

  Cao looked at her and shook his head repeatedly, "Your third uncle will definitely not lend it."

  "I'm taking you along precisely so he'll have no choice but to lend."

  Cao's expression changed, and he sneered: "Big sister, your great-uncle's body is not yet cold, and your third uncle has already taken away the valuable things, shouting for a division of the family property. Do you think he is a good person?"

  "Aunt Cao, just say it, are you willing to make a bet with me? If I win, you can get the silver, if not, you won't lose anything either. What do you say?"

  Cao thought for a moment and nodded in agreement. After a brief discussion, they decided to go visit He Pinghai, He Huan's third uncle, early the next morning.

  After lunch, Zhang Bo returned from the government office and told He Huan that not only Lin Hu, but also other constables, had never heard of a hoodlum with the surname Xie in Jizhou City. As for the ruffians who intercepted the horse carriage, even Lin Hu found it strange that his subordinates all said those people looked unfamiliar. Doesn't everyone know that constables are the most familiar with local ruffians? Were these people dropped from the sky or something?

  He Huan felt more and more that something was off, his worries growing. He had thought that Xie San sneaking into the Shen household was just to take advantage of the opportunity to steal valuables. But thinking back on it, if things were really so simple, why would he go to such great lengths to create chaos and prepare the servant's clothes in advance?

  The next day after breakfast, He Huan and Cao Shi followed their original plan and took a cow cart to He Baihai's home.

  He Bai Hai and his two older brothers, He Bai Chu and He Bai Xian, were not born to the same mother. He suspected that their birth mother's death was related to Wei Shi, so he had a bad relationship with his two older brothers. When He Bai Chu was alive, he more or less had the self-awareness of an elder brother and treated He Bai Hai's family fairly, but unfortunately, people are not always content with what they have. He Bai Hai always felt that the first and second branches were working together to squeeze out the third branch. During He Bai Chu's lifetime, he was already secretly manipulating things and embezzling silver from the common fund. After his older brother passed away, he directly used the name of dividing the family property to take away most of the valuable things.

  Unlike the dilapidated He family old house, the new mansion built by He Baihai for his own family may not be luxurious and grand, but it is also elegant and exquisite. Blue bricks and red tiles, white walls and ancient trees, it's a typical small rich family at first glance. He Huan stood in front of the shadow wall, looking around with her eyes raised.

  "Miss, this way." The servant wanted to lead He Huan towards a side house.

  He Huan rushed to the main house, craned her neck and looked around. "Hey, isn't that Third Aunt? I'll go pay my respects to Third Aunt first." Before she had even finished speaking, she took off running towards the main house. "Third Aunt, your niece is paying her respects," she said respectfully, making a bow to Zou Shi, then smiled shyly, "The last few times your niece came to visit you, unfortunately you were never home."

  Zou's smile froze, stiffly replied, maybe just coincidentally. He Huan hastily nodded in agreement, laughing: "I naturally know that Third Uncle and Third Aunt can't keep me out of the door."

  "This is natural." Mr. Zou nodded repeatedly, and unconsciously glanced at the woman beside him, then urged He Huan: "You're here to find your second sister, right? Go quickly." After that, he beckoned to the maids outside the door, indicating for them to "escort" He Huan out.

  He Huan didn't make things difficult for her, smiling and nodding, she made a curtsy to Zou Shi and the woman beside her before taking her leave. She stayed in He Xin's room for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, was coldly ridiculed a few times, then had a maid escort her back to the main house.

  Zou sat on the armchair, looking up and down at He Huan with a displeased expression: "Huan'er, your clothes are so faded that you can't even see the patterns clearly, and this hairpin is also about to break into two pieces. Although Third Aunt isn't an outsider, you're also a big girl now, let me tell you what's good for you."

  "Third Aunt, my clothes are clean, I just changed into them before leaving. Although the hairpin is a bit old, it's still usable. We've run out of silver at home to buy rice, this is already my best set of clothes and accessories."

  Zou was even more displeased and coldly said: "What were you wearing at the Shen's house two days ago?"

  "Third Aunt also said it was two days ago. We all need to eat, so we can only pawn the valuable things. By the way, I came by ox cart today and haven't paid for the fare yet. I think, since Second Sister invited me, Third Aunt should pay for the fare." He Huan said with a sense of reason.

  Zou always thought He Huan was a pushover. She looked at He Huan in surprise, just as her daughter He Xin strode into the room and said loudly, "Mother, I didn't invite her, she came on her own..."

  "Second sister, have you forgotten? More than half a month ago, in front of the cosmetics shop in the east of the city, you didn't say it like that." He Huan tilted her head and thought for a moment, "I remember you said so." She coughed lightly and imitated He Xin's tone, speaking loudly with an air of superiority: "Elder sister, after some days I will get married, my future husband is the second son of the richest family in Ling City, when that time comes, you come to drink at my wedding banquet, don't wear tattered clothes..."

  Zou glared at her daughter and scolded in a stern voice, "Who allowed you to speak nonsense outside? How did I teach you?"

  He Xin's tears welled up in her eyes instantly, shaking her head repeatedly. "Mother, she was talking nonsense, I never said that."

  "You're still lying!" Zou's expression became even more displeased. "If you didn't say it, how would your elder sister know about Ling City?"

  In an instant, He Xin's tears fell even more fiercely.

  He Huan gazed coldly at the mother and daughter in front of her. The words spoken earlier were indeed from He Xin's mouth. At that time, she told the real He Huan that it was her bad luck that killed her father and mother, and this life would not be able to marry well, and later might even be sold by her family as a slave or servant, which is nothing to fear, but rather being reduced to becoming a pig or dog in the next life.

  Since then, the real He Huan has been living in fear and is even more obedient to the Wei and Cao families. It can be said that He Xing also had a "contribution" to He Huan's decision to hang himself.

  He Huan said to Mrs. Zou, "Third Aunt, my second sister and I grew up together since childhood. She can find a satisfactory husband, and I am truly happy for her. Do you think I'm an outsider, so my second sister's joyful event has to be kept from me?"

  Zou's face turned even uglier upon hearing this. The marriage between the Lü family of Ling City and their family had not yet been settled. She scolded her daughter to retreat, using the excuse of drinking tea to scrutinize He Huan with the corner of her eye.

  He Xuan smiled and took two steps forward, sitting down under the Zou family's main seat, saying word by word: "Third Auntie, do you want to know what Second Sister said to me that day?"

  "Ah, Huan'er, your second sister is still a child, and she's straightforward and outspoken. She treats you like an older sister, that's why she speaks without reserve. You're the older sister, you should be more considerate." Zou Shi dryly laughed twice, then loudly instructed: "Qingtong, bring over ten taels of silver." After that, she continued to complain to He Huan: "These past few years, pirates have been a scourge, everyone's life has been difficult. We're like a copper coin that can't even be split in two to make do." She let out a deep sigh.

  He Xiang laughed and continued: "Third Aunt, I'm truly happy for Er Mei, that's why I accepted her invitation to come over and congratulate her. The Lü family of Ling City is known far and wide, they may not have much else, but they have a lot of silver. As long as Er Mei marries into their family..."

  "Ah, Huan'er, matters of marriage are decided by one's parents and the words of a matchmaker, and also require fate. Although you and Xin'er are sisters, there are some things that an unmarried girl like you shouldn't be speaking about carelessly. From what I know, the Shen family places great importance on a woman's virtue." Mrs. Zou said this with a hint of disdain and mockery in her eyes. In her opinion, He Huan was simply delusional, a toad thinking it could eat swan meat, to think she had the qualifications to marry Shen Jinglun.

  I know that these chapters are all less than 3,000 words. I'll make up for it by adding an extra chapter later to compensate for the insufficient word count. The whole story is actually very complicated. When I first started writing, each chapter was around 2,000 words. But when I posted them, I changed them all to 3,000 words per chapter, which took several days to revise. Later on, I found that there were too many internal monologues, so I revised it again, resulting in every chapter being less than 3,000 words. To be honest, I didn't have the energy to rework each chapter to meet the 3,000-word requirement, so I just posted them as is. Please forgive me.