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Chapter 870: Chapter 873 Sneaking Around
However, the Xiao family’s tile-roofed house was much better than the other straw huts in the village. Sitting on top was safer and offered a broader view, so he pulled Duo’er closer to the Xiao family’s house.
"There is a ladder right there, I’ll carry you up."
Tan Zhenghong whispered.
The wing room of the Xiao family’s house was only a little over three meters high; he was sure there would be no problem as he held his wife in one arm and grabbed the ladder with the other.
Qiao Duo’er pursed her lips: "This is someone else’s house, do you think it’s okay?"
"Why not? We can even help keep watch over the entrance."
Tan Zhenghong brought out his own logic, since they were not stealing anything after all.
Duo’er nodded in agreement, thereby tacitly accepting Tan Zhenghong’s suggestion.
But it was just a single-story tile-roofed house; for her, it was a piece of cake.
After telling Fat Fat and Fatty, Qiao Duo’er deftly climbed onto the roof.
If it weren’t for her belly getting in the way, she would have been faster.
A full moon hung in the sky, ideal for moon-viewing.
Qiao Duo’er leaned on Tan Zhenghong’s shoulder, looking at the village at night. Her mood became much more tranquil.
She hoped that this scene and these feelings would always be there.
Suddenly, a woman knocked on the courtyard door.
Zheng Shi opened the door surreptitiously, and one could tell from the way the two people looked around that they were up to no good.
"She is in our embroidery room helping with the cooking. Let’s go take a look," Qiao Duo’er instantly recognized the woman who came in.
It was Xu Shi, who had just been hired to help with the cooking in the embroidery room.
Xu Shi looked very honest. Every time she saw her, she was quietly working. How did she get involved with Zheng Shi?
Tan Zhenghong nodded, "You just stay here nicely, and I’ll go take a look."
But Duo’er was not one to sit still. She quietly followed Tan Zhenghong as well.
Above the main room, Tan Zhenghong gently lifted a tile from the roof so they could see what was happening inside.
Inside the room, only a tiny oil lamp flickered, casting a somewhat sinister light on Zheng Shi’s face.
"When are you planning to do it?"
Zheng Shi asked impatiently, she could hardly wait to see the Tan family’s misfortune.
Xu Shi bit her lip and said, "I... I really can’t bring myself to do it."
Many of the people who worked in the embroidery room were acquaintances from the village. If she were to poison them, how could she face living in Big Willow Village afterward?
And those were human lives!
"Then are you willing to watch your son be tortured to death by illness? Just do as I say, and I’ll give you One Hundred Taels of Silver. You’ll be able to take your son to find a better doctor elsewhere; he might not have to die."
"With the rest of the money, you can buy a house somewhere else. You won’t ever have to come back to Big Willow Village. What else are you worried about?"
Zheng Shi tried to convince her. Weren’t these conditions tempting enough?
"But those embroidery ladies are innocent, and I don’t need that much silver!"
Xu Shi wanted to continue arguing her point.
She had only wanted to borrow Twenty Taels of Silver to save her son; she never considered taking a life.
In her opinion, that was a deed that would damage her moral virtue and would eventually bring retribution.
"You earn Three Hundred Wen Money a month in the embroidery room. How many years would it take for you to earn those twenty taels? Who would be willing to lend you that?"
Zheng Shi said with disdain, guessing their family wouldn’t make that much money in their whole lives!
The Yuan family of three, with Xu Shi doing odd jobs in the Embroidery Room while her husband suffered from tuberculosis, barely able to move without a violent coughing fit, and the son they had raised with difficulty was bedridden all day.
Could such a family even think of borrowing silver? Wasn’t lending to them the same as giving it away?
Because they would never be able to repay it, not in their entire lifetime!
