Chapter 273 Setting up a trap
Mrs. Luo and Tian Fugui found Cao more pleasing to their eyes than ever before. The fact that she could beg Tong Huaqiong for a job showed that she had some face in front of Tong Huaqiong.
If she asked, Tong Huaqiong might ask for less.
Tong Huaqiong sneered and said to Cao: "You make it sound so easy, but I have to pay you to clean up your son's ass?"
Mrs. Luo and Tian Fugui felt disappointed.
Tong Huaqiong said with embarrassment: "I also know your family's situation, but I can't give you money unjustly. What should I do if you can't pay it back? Do you think this will work?"
Seeing that Tong Huaqiong was halfway through her words, Tian Fugui said hurriedly, "You tell me, you tell me! I will agree to anything I can do."
Tong Huaqiong said: "I'm just afraid you won't agree."
Mrs. Luo grabbed Tong Huaqiong as if she had seen a savior, and said, "Dashu Niang, please tell me quickly. As long as Chunwang can be saved, I will agree to it even if I die."
Tong Huaqiong laughed and said jokingly: "Your bones are worthless. But your daughter-in-law and granddaughter are valuable!"
Mrs. Luo wondered how two money-losing items could become valuable.
Cao raised her head and looked at Tong Huaqiong steadily.
Chunni, standing in the shadow of the door, had her heart beating like a drum.
Tong Huaqiong said, "Chunwang's mother is capable, more capable than most men. I heard that Chunni would spend thirty taels of silver to make her a child bride in Heilongtan. So I said they are valuable. If they are valuable, give them to me and come to work in my house. When will you give me seventy taels of silver? No, it's eighty taels. Sister Luo, you still owe me ten taels."
"They work in my house. When their wages have been deducted to pay off the eighty taels of silver, I will let them go."
After Tong Huaqiong finished speaking, she looked at Luo Pozi and Tian Fugui with a forced smile.
If you don't agree, then Chunwang's theft of the jade pendant will never be covered up.
Whether they protect Chunwang or give Cao and Chunni to her, as long as they are not stupid, they will make a choice that will satisfy Tong Huaqiong.
"Okay, Chunwang's mother and Chunni will go to your house to work." Tian Fugui abandoned his wife and daughter without hesitation.
Mrs. Luo nodded. She thought Tong Huaqiong's idea was good.
As long as the grandson can be saved, sacrificing the daughter-in-law and granddaughter is nothing.
It’s a pity that the two of them can’t take home the money they earned from Tong Huaqiong, and Chunwang won’t be able to eat meat every day from now on.
"Okay then, Taohua, take out the contract."
Tong Huaqiong glanced at Gu Taohua, and Gu Taohua took out two pieces of paper from her arms.
No one in the Tian family could read, so Mrs. Luo and Tian Fugui had no idea what was written on it.
Gu Taohua read the above content, saying that the Tian family owed Tong Huaqiong eighty taels of silver and was willing to let Cao and Chunni work to pay off the debt.
Mrs. Luo smiled bitterly in her heart, fearing that Widow Tong would be well prepared when she came, and would take advantage of Chunwang's theft of the jade pendant to get her daughter-in-law and Chunni to work for free.
What a dark heart!
Tong Huaqiong didn't care at all what Mrs. Luo thought. Anyway, the jade pendant was really stolen by Chunwang, so it didn't matter who broke it.
Gu Taohua took out the ink seal and asked Cao to put her fingerprint on it.
Mrs. Luo muttered, "They are all illiterate. Why don't we ask the village chief to be a witness?" Tong Huaqiong glared and asked, "Do you want the news of your grandson's thief to spread?"
Mrs. Luo was so frightened that she dared not say a word anymore.
As the head of the family, Tian Fugui pressed his fingerprints and also asked Cao to press her fingerprints.
Isn't it only natural to pay off your son's debts?
"Chun Ni, what are you doing standing there? Come over here and put your fingerprints down." Tian Fugui spotted Chun Ni at the door and started cursing.
Chunni walked in and pressed her handprint without hesitation, her heart beating wildly.
"It's all your fault. Why didn't you try to persuade your brother when he was arguing with the county magistrate's son?" Tian Fugui was about to hit Chunni.
Gu Taohua reached out and pushed Tian Fugui away.
"Watch out, Mrs. Cao and Chunni will be my family's hired workers from now on. Only my family members can beat them. You guys can't beat them. If they are beaten up, they won't be able to work. Then let Chunwang pay off the debt." Gu Taohua said viciously with her hands on her hips.
Tian Fugui looked embarrassed and withdrew his hand.
"Taohua is right. Your wife and daughter are members of my family. If you hit them, you are slapping me in the face. Don't look at me as kind and easy to talk to. I will fight back if I am slapped in the face." Tong Huaqiong said.
The corners of Mrs. Luo's mouth twitched. She wondered if Tong Da Jiao had any misunderstanding about her and was so kind and easy to talk to.
He had a dark heart and quietly captured the two laborers of the Tian family.
Cao was at a loss until she finished pressing her fingerprints. Has she become a slave of the Gu family now?
Tong Huaqiong seemed to see through Cao's thoughts and said to her, "It was not someone else who sold you to me, but your mother-in-law and your husband."
Cao had nothing to say.
She could only comfort herself that Tong Huaqiong would not be harsh on the people who worked at home.
As long as she works hard, she won't have to worry about not earning eighty taels.
"Chun Ni, you and your mother will be mine from now on. No one in the Tian family can beat or scold you at will, do you understand?" Tong Huaqiong said to Chun Ni.
Chunni nodded.
She remembered!
"Come to my house tomorrow morning to pick corn to feed the pigs." Tong Huaqiong raised the contract in his hand and walked out of the yard with Gu Taohua.
Not long after leaving the Tian family, Chunni caught up with Tong Huaqiong.
"Grandma Tong, Aunt Taohua, I know you came to my house to save me." Chunni knelt down in front of Tong Huaqiong, the moonlight penetrating the tears on her face.
Tong Huaqiong pulled her up and said, "The reason I helped you is that you are willing to save yourself. You are so smart at such a young age. I like smart people, and I also like people who fight for themselves."
"If they bully you in the future, you just fight back, understand? Just like today." Tong Huaqiong said.
Chunni nodded and said firmly, "I know. I will."
Tong Huaqiong took out twenty taels of silver and said to Chunni, "I'll save these twenty taels of silver from your father and grandmother for you."
Chunni stared blankly at the silver under the moonlight, and suddenly kowtowed to Tong Huaqiong.
Tong Huaqiong left in the moonlight.
"Mom, you know what, Chunni is very smart and ruthless." Gu Taohua said.
"It's all because of the pressure from my family." Tong Huaqiong said.
Today's incident made Tong Huaqiong look at Chunni with a new respect, and also made her determined to pull Chunni out of the quagmire.
The jade pendant was a trap set up by Tong Huaqiong with the cooperation of Chunni.
Chunwang stole the cheap jade pendant from Liu Yanhong's waist, and Liu Yanhong didn't notice it until he got home.
It was Chunni who revealed to Tong Huaqiong what Chunwang had done.
Tong Huaqiong asked Chunni to break the jade pendant into two pieces, and Chunni did so without hesitation.
This is why there is a story about a broken jade pendant that needs silver to repair.
If it weren't for Chunni's self-help spirit and courage, Tong Huaqiong would not have been able to control Tian Fugui and Luo Pozi so easily.
Now Tong Huaqiong allows Cao and Chunni to work for her while ensuring that they are not bullied at home.
It can be said to kill two birds with one stone.
As for those who signed the contract, they were not slaves at all, but hired workers.
Since Mrs. Luo and Tian Fugui were illiterate, they made them mistakenly believe that Cao and Chunni were "sold" to Tong Huaqiong.
As for what will happen to Cao and Chunni in the future, Tong Huaqiong can't think that far ahead.
Cao still has illusions about the Tian family and an inseparable mother-son relationship with Chunwang. If Cao dares to dig a hole for the Gu family and cheat Chunni for the sake of the Tian family, Tong Huaqiong will abandon her without hesitation.
As for Chunni, Tong Huaqiong believed that she no longer had any feelings for the Tian family.