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Chapter 279: Chapter 279: Not Even Fit for Dogs to Eat
Lin Jiayi panicked all of a sudden, the accusations of the last few people gave her a bad premonition.
Li Hongmei was someone who sold cooked meat, and the sisters Li Hongmei and Li Dongmei looked very alike.
Which is to say that the cooked meat wasn’t bought from them, it was very likely bought from Li Hongmei.
"Big brother, aunty, you’ve recognized the wrong person, please take another look. We’re really not the people who sold you the cooked meat. Isn’t the person older than her?"
She pulled Li Dongmei over for everyone to see, afraid that they would mistake them for Li Hongmei and beat them up.
These people, however, were not buying her story, "Even if it isn’t her, you’re still not off the hook. Don’t think I don’t know that you’re all from the same family. Maybe you deliberately had her sell spoiled meat yesterday, and today you let her hide and switch people to sell, deceiving us common folk. Villagers, don’t listen to her nonsense, if we don’t get compensated today, we’re taking action..."
"That’s right, I’ve seen it, their goods are all the same."
"Not only are their goods the same, I also know they’re from Xiaoqingshan Village."
......
Seeing their covers blown, they couldn’t hide anything anymore, Lin Jiayi in desperation covered her belly and cried out in pain, "Ouch".
Li Dongmei, struck by a moment of inspiration, immediately supported Lin Jiayi, speaking anxiously, "Sister-in-law, what’s wrong with you? Are you having an upset pregnancy? What should we do? You’re so far along, such upset won’t cause complications, right?"
After all, faced with a pregnant woman, these people, although wanting compensation for medical expenses, didn’t want to cause a fatality.
Seeing Lin Jiayi holding her belly and crying out incessantly, the more timid ones had already begun sneaking away, fearing a delay might implicate themselves.
Even the few who were leading the crowd didn’t dare to act recklessly, they eventually left some harsh words and took everyone away.
Lin Jiayi waited until all was quiet before looking around.
Li Dongmei cautiously asked, "Sister-in-law, what should we do now? Should we continue to sell?"
"Sell what? Let’s pack up and go home."
Li Dongmei now heeded her sister-in-law’s words very much, precisely to say, after Li Hongmei married Ma Dazhuang, she recognized reality.
In this family, no matter how much her mother dotes on her, her mother is getting old, and cannot be relied upon at crucial moments.
If her sister-in-law had the intention to trick her, her mother would be powerless to help.
Especially regarding marriage matters, she doesn’t want to follow her big sister’s old path.
Therefore, in the family, even if she looked down on this sister-in-law, she dared not oppose her like before.
After the family started the cooked meat business, she saw her sister-in-law in a new light.
Lin Chuxia became prosperous, and even Sun Lanlan who was good friends with her managed to marry a city man.
If her brother and sister-in-law became prosperous, wanting to marry a city man would be a piece of cake for her, right?
Li Dongmei obediently packed up the stall, shouldered the carrying pole, and walked home with Lin Jiayi.
By the time Lin Jiayi and Li Dongmei got home, Li Hongmei had already returned.
The carrying pole used for the meat was under the big tree in the yard.
Lin Jiayi quickly stepped forward and lifted the cover cloth, only to see that the basket was still half full of meat, which seemed to be emitting a faint stench.
Lin Jiayi’s face immediately darkened, and she went inside to confront Li Hongmei.
"How come you returned with so much unsold goods? And leaving it in the yard, with the weather so hot outside, won’t that spoil all the meat?"
So much meat in the basket, worth so much money, Lin Jiayi felt distressed just looking at it.
"I said from the beginning that you should sell with us, but you insisted on selling by yourself. This is the result of your own selling? I bet you took the goods somewhere to slack off, right?"
Li Hongmei rubbed her sore shoulders with disdain, "How is this my fault? Don’t you know what smell your cooked meats give off? Even dogs wouldn’t eat them."
"You’re full of shit..."
"Enough, stop arguing," Old Mrs. Li came into the room and interrupted Lin Jiayi before she could say more, "Hongmei, if you can’t sell things properly why don’t you learn from your brother and sister-in-law? Don’t be so disrespectful."
Li Hongmei is her daughter, and she knew her the best.
She had never done any manual work since she was little, let alone sell anything. She’s never been able to save face.
Yet because she had promised her that the money from the meat sales would be hers, that was why she took on so much stock.
Li Hongmei fell silent; she had indeed suffered a lot these past few days.
Standing there like an idiot, she simply had no idea how to start a conversation.
After great difficulty, she sold a few items, and today someone even came to complain saying the meat she sold gave them an upset stomach.
If she didn’t run fast, she would have been beaten.
But to have her admit she was wrong to the person she disdained the most was even harder for her to utter.
Old Mrs. Li just gave her a way out.
She kept silent, but Lin Jiayi couldn’t let it go.
"I told her before to sell with us for a few days, but she insisted she could do it alone, and took so much stock. Doesn’t she know that the meat will go bad in such hot weather if it doesn’t sell?"
"What are you yelling for? Is it my problem if it goes bad? It’s just you guys don’t have the ability."
Li Hongmei was already displeased inside, and now being scolded by Lin Jiayi, whom she disliked the most, made her lose her temper.
Lin Jiayi was infuriated, her chest heaved, "We don’t have the ability? If we don’t have the ability, then why do you stick around? The meat from the day before yesterday was reheated today; you said you didn’t have leftovers, yet you took a lot yesterday and claimed you sold it all. Today you took new stock again. You say you sold out every day, but why is there still so much left in the basket? The meat is almost spoiled and you still sell it to others, are you happy only after ruining the family business?"
The prospect of damaging the business worried Old Mrs. Li too.
Although she doted on her daughter, she also wanted to live a good life.
Since they began selling cooked food, life at home was noticeably better, and she could eat meat every day.
She hadn’t had enough of the good life yet.
"What’s going on here? Hongmei, why aren’t your meats selling? Are they really spoiled as your sister-in-law said?"
"No..." Before she could say anything else, Lin Jiayi pointed at Li Dongmei, "You tell her."
Old Mrs. Li wouldn’t believe anything she said; she wanted to hear it from her own daughter.
Li Dongmei, of course, did not want to lose the good life they had, and she wanted to marry a city man just like Sun Lanlan.
She immediately said, "Just now when my sister-in-law and I were selling meat, someone said they got a stomachache from our meat. It must have been the meat my sister sold."
"You’re talking nonsense, how can you say it was me who sold it? I’m saying it’s you guys who sold it, it was my brother who sold it," Li Hongmei immediately refused to accept that accusation.
Even if she did sell it, she couldn’t admit it; those people would still want compensation.
Lin Jiayi knew she wouldn’t admit it, "It doesn’t matter if you don’t admit it, you shouldn’t try to sell the meat anymore, I can’t afford to keep you. Also, that basket outside smells so bad it can’t be sold, you have to compensate me for the cost of that meat." 𝓷ℴ𝓿𝓹𝓾𝓫.𝓬ℴ𝓶
Since they started selling cooked food, Lin Jiayi became more assertive.
After living together for so long, couldn’t she see her little sister-in-law’s intentions?
She was just taking more stock to make sure when it’s sold, she gets her cut.
The more she took, the more she skimmed off the top, and there were always excuses ready at Old Mrs. Li’s.
In that case, it’s better not to employ her.
Just like Lin Chuxia’s shop, why not hire a few employees and be the boss rather than rely on these two sister-in-laws who couldn’t be instructed?
