Master Wu knew that his eldest son had always been very opinionated.
He asked, "What do you think?"
His son replied, "Xiao Hanzheng doesn't have a good relationship with the people from the Xiao family's old residence.
"I heard that they are selling their land and house. They want to go to the capital to look for Senior General Weiyuan."
He curled his lips. "Knowing the old Xiao family's personalities, if they knew that Xiao Hanzheng and Shi Qingluo earned 600 taels of silver from us, they would definitely make a fuss."
Ever since he had set his eyes on these little black balls, Xiao Hanzheng and Shi Qingluo's backgrounds became his top investigating priority.
If Xiao Hanzheng wasn't a xiaosanyuan who was highly regarded by his teacher and hadn't had a senior general as his ex-father, he wouldn't have used his silver to buy it.
He would send some men to act as bandits, then kill them after snatching their goods.
He would then take it as if nothing had happened.
Furthermore, now that they had a new county magistrate with the family name Mo, who came with an excellent portfolio.
He believed that Xiao Hanzheng and Shi Qingluo wouldn't preemptively tell others that they had earned 600 taels of silver from the Wu family.
How about him helping them to spread the news?
Not only would the old Xiao family target Xiao Hanzheng and his wife, the thieves would also target them too.
Master Wu smiled sinisterly and agreed, "This is a good idea. Arrange for someone to tell the old Xiao family."
His son nodded. "Alright."
In the village.
Xiao Hanzheng and Shi Qingluo left the chief's house.
Coincidentally, the villagers had finished their farm work and were returning home.
When they met people who liked to gossip, they couldn't help but ask why they went to the chief's house.
Xiao Hanzheng shared how he had received 600 taels of silver and that his family wanted to buy land to build a house.
This was the decision made by him and his wife.
If they were to tell the others about it personally, the Wu family wouldn't cause more trouble. This would also prevent the villagers' imaginations from running wild.
The villagers who passed by were all shocked when they heard this.
They were even more dumbfounded. 600 taels of silver were a lot of money.
Had Elementary Scholar Xiao married a golden doll?
As for what the old Taoist priest left behind that could be sold for 600 taels, no one was that curious or surprised.
After all, he was an old immortal. How could the things he left behind not be worth anything?
Fortunately, Xiaxi village had good folk customs. Most of the villagers were honest and unpretentious.
Especially with Xiao Hanzheng's unlimited potential as an elementary scholar, his status was completely different from everyone else.
Even if he did not look down on others, they still respected him naturally.
Therefore, although the villagers envied him, most weren't jealous.
Soon, this news spread throughout the village.
It sparked another commotion.
Everyone felt that Xiao Hanzheng's wife was not only blessed but was also a golden doll.
Why didn't they think of marrying her back then?
In the Xiao family's old residence.
When Old Lady Xiao and the others heard this, their eyes turned red with jealousy.
"That wretched girl is too amazing. She already has 600 taels from selling the things left behind by that old immortal."
Mdm Wu rolled her eyes and urged the old lady, "Mother, they didn't have the money to buy our house and land before, but now they have it.
"We haven't signed the contract for the land we sold. It's still not too late to go back on our words."
Mdm Wang and the others also felt that it made sense.
The main reason was that they still wanted to rip off Xiao Hanzheng and his family. Ultimately, this was 600 taels of silver.
Old Lady Xiao stood up. "I'll go look for Zheng'er now."
Mdm Wang and Mdm Wu also stood up and seemed prepared to tag along.
Who knew that just as they reached the door, they would run into Shi Qingluo and Xiao Hanzheng who happened to come to the old residence.
Old Lady Xiao gave a rare kind smile. "Zheng'er, you're here. Come in and sit down."
They thought that Xiao Hanzheng and Shi Qingluo had obtained 600 taels and wanted to take the initiative to buy land and the old residence.
All of them were thinking, how should they take advantage of them?
Minimally 300 taels of silver? 400 taels of silver were ideal.
Who knew that once they sat down, Shi Qingluo would be the first to say, "I suggest that you sell the old residence and land separately quickly."
Old Lady Xiao frowned. "Why do you want to sell them separately? If we sell them together, we can still redeem them when we come back in the future."
Shi Qingluo looked at her with a gaze that said, "Why can't y'all think from another perspective?
"If you sell everything to one person, General Xiao could send someone to threaten him. He will immediately buy back the house and the land and find an excuse to return you to the village.
"If you sell them separately to a few different families, when houses are occupied and the plots of land are used for farming, he can't possibly threaten to buy back the land and evacuate those staying in the house one by one, right?
"This would attract gossip. He wouldn't do such a thing."
Not only did she cut off the Xiao family's backup plan, but she also had to prevent this scumbag father from sending people to redeem the land and the old residence.
He would take advantage of the loopholes to send them back to the village if possible.
Old Lady Xiao's smile froze, this seemed to make sense.
"I actually want to sell it to you." She was still unwilling.
Shi Qingluo sneered, "We are all brilliant people. Do you think we are stupid enough to buy the old house and land from y'all? Do you think we will let you come back to be demons in the future?
"Forget about our 600 taels. We want to buy the mountain to build a house and renovate our current house to become a tofu workshop. This money is barely enough."
She said straightforwardly, "Don't be blinded by the small money in front of you. We only have 600 taels. Who knows how many sets of 600 taels are waiting for you in the general's residence?
"Your precious son and daughter-in-law spend 10 to 20 taels of silver for a meal. They spend 30 to 40 taels of silver on food every day.
"Our 600 taels of silver aren't enough for them to eat for a month.
"So you have to be more visionary."
She and her young husband had expected that once they released the news that they earned 600 taels of silver, the troublemakers from the Xiao family would either be demons again or be exploited by the Wu family.
It would be better if she and her husband came and suppressed the matter personally.
Even if the Wu family wanted to do something bad, they would still punch the old Xiao family in their faces.
Upon hearing Shi Qingluo's words, the Xiao family members changed their focus from envying the 600 taels of silver to the extravagant duo in the general's residence in the capital.
Xiao Hanzheng added, "Grandpa, eldest uncle, third uncle, all of you know me well. My money isn't that easy to take."
The old Xiao family remained silent. They almost forgot that he was also ruthless and black-hearted.
In the past, before breaking off the kinship, they couldn't control him.
Instead, he even punished them.
It was indeed not easy to eye on his money.
Shi Qingluo also added with a smile, "The general's residence still has mountains of gold and silver waiting for you to spend. 600 taels of silver are nothing.
"You can't let General Xiao and his wife take advantage of this loophole and find an excuse to get you back.
"If you really have no other places to live and sustain your daily expenses, the general won't dare to chase you out with the filial piety wildcard.
She threatened again, "If you want me to continue generating ideas and turning the general's residence into your world, you are so smart, you should know how to choose right?"
The people of the old Xiao family looked at each other.
What the wretched girl said made sense.
Most importantly, they still had to rely on her for ideas.
Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to win against those two black-hearted and unfilial people.
Old Master Xiao gave Old Lady Xiao a look.
Old Lady Xiao endured the pain and said through gritted teeth, "Alright, we'll sell them to a few more families separately."
Actually, they had already made a deal with several families.
They initially wanted to go back on their words, but now it seemed that they still couldn't.
Compared to the general's manor and mountains of gold and silver, 600 taels were nothing.
Cough cough, her heart still ached!
Shi Qingluo threw her a look of praise and coaxed her, "I admire your decisiveness and intelligence, old lady. In the future, you will be the highest-ranking old lady in the general's manor."
Old Lady Xiao was praised so much that she puffed out her chest proudly. "Of course."
Of course, she was a smart person.
Otherwise, how could she have given birth to a son who was a general and a grandson who excelled academically?