The Spirited Daughter-in-law and the Mountain Man

The expression of the crowd had somewhat eased, as Ding Er suggested, “I think we should refrain from returning them.”

Liu Xiaohong wasn’t inclined to let Su Qingyue off so easily, “Su Qingyue’s teeth aren’t as yellow as they used to be, but they aren’t much whiter either. It might not be the effect of this so-called medicinal paste.”

Su Qingyue was unfazed, “If not the medicinal paste, then what? Can you bring forth another explanation?” In reality, she hasn’t yet used the medicinal mud toothpaste. Her teeth were not inherently yellow and have only whitened recently due to brushing with salt.

“How would I know what you’ve used?”

“What I used was medicinal mud toothpaste.” Su Qingyue stated without a change in her expression, “If you all don’t trust me, at least you should trust the example of Qian Family’s sister-in-law. You all saw it with your own eyes. If you won’t trust yourself, why would you trust someone else? Even a sage makes mistakes, let alone a woman like me. I truly want to change. You can all ask around, this morning Aunt Zhang wanted to give me fifty copper coins, I didn’t take any. Also, just now, Li family’s second son wanted to give me an extra three cents, I didn’t accept that either. The gravest situation was that Granny Sun came to my house to claim her debt, the six taels of silver that I owed due to my recent injury. I still have four taels and 790 cents left to repay. I made a deal with Granny Sun this morning; she will come to claim her debt tonight, I will give her an extra ten cents, adding up to five taels in total. She doesn’t even supply an IOU, and yet I did not default. Doesn’t this prove the sincerity of my renewed intentions?”

“Su Qingyue speaks of matters that are all well known to us.” Li Cai said with a smile, “It’s normal for a woman to make a few mistakes. Just think about Xiao Family’s three sons who cannot manage to get up once fallen. If she were unscrupulous, she could have run away a long time ago since nobody could stop her. She wouldn’t wait until now.”

“Yes indeed, who hasn’t made a few mistakes before? My deadbeat husband always spends all our money drinking and whoring in the brothel, it really gets on my nerves…” a woman chimed in.

Another one added, “Su Qingyue has really changed for the better recently, being quite decent. I figure she has accepted her fate, accepted to be the Xiao Family’s daughter-in-law.”

Su Qingyue nodded, “Yes, I have accepted my fate, hence I behave properly. If any of you want to return the goods now, feel free to do so.”

“We won’t return them, we won’t…” everyone waved their hand in dismissal.

Liu Xiaohong was agitated, “Dear neighbours, do not trust her. Who sells a jar for several taels of silver, already selling it for over a hundred copper coins…”

That was a true statement. Su Qingyue agreed in her heart but said, “How can it not be possible? It depends on the situation. The house of my family, the Xiao’s, is almost being seized, there’s no food left for dinner, who knows, I might be sold off tonight. Under such circumstances, who wouldn’t sell off their valuables? It seems to me you’re just being envious because you didn’t manage to buy the medicinal mud toothpaste, and now others did.”

“I wouldn’t want to buy your things…” Liu Xiaohong instinctively refuted.

“See. You harbor so much hatred for me.” Su Qingyue didn’t get angry, “Liu Xiaohong really wishes the worst for my family. I’m capable of exchanging the medicinal mud for some food. Everyone gains something from the bargain, so how does this affect you?”

Qian Family’s sister-in-law, the most eager to seize advantages, said, “The wife of the Xiao Family’s right. She’s already at this point, suffering some loss is only to be expected. I have used the medicinal mud toothpaste, and even after all this time, my mouth still feels clean. I’m not returning it. Liu’s girl, you should stop stirring things up.”

Listening to his sister-in-law’s words, everyone else also started saying,

“Exactly, it’s only a two cent item, there’s really no need for any returns….”