“Yes!”
“Why you—”
“Butler, invite the Miss and her husband in!”
Mistress Tong nervously waited for Tong Yu Er and Miao Chu He’s arrival. Even though Nanny Liu relayed Tong Yu Er’s message to her, she was still worried that Miao Chu He might not want to be involved. Now that they were here, her heavy heart was slightly comforted as she let out a breath of relief. Who cares about what her husband thinks? She gave instructions to their butler and briskly explained to Master Tong, “The fact that Chu He is willing to come proves his goodwill. Master, I do not care about what happened before. I only know that my son is in the hands of kidnappers and I don’t even know what kind of suffering he’s going through! Our son-in-law is a scholar. Perhaps he has some ideas on how to save our son! If you do not wish to see him, you may leave. Whatever it is, no one is stopping me from seeing my daughter and son-in-law! What are you waiting for? Go and welcome them!”
It was rare to see Mistress Tong’s tough side, but whenever she became tough, she was very formidable. The butler was dumbstruck. He quickly accepted her instructions and hurried out. Meanwhile, Master Tong’s lips twitched. He did not like the arrangement at all, but no words left his lips.
Asking him to leave? The Mistress must have lost her mind! This was his house, so why should he leave?
“He’ll think of a solution?” Master Tong scoffed, “I think he might be here just to watch the commotion!”
“Why you—” Mistress Tong was enraged upon hearing that, “Our Yu Er isn’t someone with that terrible foresight! Her choice of partner is definitely a good one!”
Master Tong’s eyes widened in anger, “Her choice of partner? Then it must be my foresight that’s terrible! I chose the wrong man for her!”
Mistress Tong turned away and ignored him, which could have been an affirmation of his statement.
Master Tong was so angry that he almost stood up and left, but he suddenly remembered that he owned the place. If he left, it would look as if he was evading them, so he kept himself seated firmly.
“Father! Mother!” The two were arguing when Tong Yu Er and Miao Chu He hurried inside. Stepping into her familiar home as her eyes fell onto her parents, Tong Yu Er got teary all of a sudden when she also thought of her brother.
“Yu Er!” If she could not fight back her tears, how could Mistress Tong hold hers back especially when she was older and more emotional? Mistress Tong got up and pulled her daughter into a hug. Both mother and daughter sobbed as they held each other.
Nanny Liu waited for a moment before comforting them.
“You’re finally here!” Mistress Tong wiped her tears, forcing a smile as she greeted Miao Chu He and invited him to have a seat. She also instructed her maids to bring them tea.
Miao Chu He greeted them and took a seat. He secretly glanced at Master Tong, and as expected, Master Tong’s expression was not very friendly. Seeing that he did not greet them and acted as if he did not see them, it was good enough that he had not ordered his servants to chase them out.
“Mother, Yi Er— has there been any more news?” Tong Yu Er asked immediately.
Mistress Tong sighed heavily before explaining the situation to them briefly. She shot a look at her husband and said, “Ever since it happened, both of us panicked and we don’t know what to do! Gosh! Your father has to personally hand the ransom money to the kidnappers tomorrow. I—”
“This is unacceptable!” Tong Yu Er got worried, “Father is already old now. How can he go? We don’t even know what kind of people they are. What if something happens?”
Miao Chu He added, “Yu Er is right. We should discuss this over again properly—”
“What is there to discuss?” Master Tong snapped, “I will deliver the money! Otherwise, what would we do if our son got hurt?”
“Father, you should report this to the authorities—”
Tong Yu Er had not finished her sentence yet, but both Master and Mistress Tong exclaimed at the same time, “NO!”
Tong Yu Er was startled. On their way here, she discussed it with Miao Chu He, and both of them agreed that the best course of action was by reporting it to the authorities. With Miao Chu He’s current status, the magistrate county would take this very seriously, but they did not expect such a huge reaction from her parents.
“Those people are vicious! They said that we cannot tell anyone or else they will hurt your brother! Yu Er, we cannot do that!” Mistress Tong blurted out.
Master Tong huffed, “It will be too late if we leave this to the authorities! If they have any ability to take care of this, they wouldn’t have allowed those refugees to wander around here! The child that was kidnapped isn’t their family, so why would they pay attention to this? If we were to wait for them to benefit from this before sending help, we can forget rescuing my son. I’m warning you, this is a matter that only concerns the Tong Family. You both can stay out of the decision making!”
Tong Yu Er and Miao Chu He exchanged glances in embarrassment. Then, Tong Yu Er softly replied, “Yes, sir.”
“You’re right!” Miao Chu He sighed and muttered, “There’s been a lot of issues going on. The authorities might be too busy. They might not be able to help us. Even if we report it, we can hardly trust them. In this case, I will go in your stead tomorrow!”
The three from the Tong Family were startled by his decision.
Master Tong did not expect him to say that. He felt slightly shocked and apologetic inside but quickly returned to his usual manner. Proudly, he said, “There’s no need! They want a member of the Tong Family to go. I will save my son!”
Tong Yu Er bit her lip. She could not help feeling upset as she thought that it was very unfair for her husband.
“What do you mean? How is our son-in-law not a part of this family? However, oh dear, Chu He, I don’t think I could forgive myself for sending you to face danger! This problem is really— ugh!” Mistress Tong sighed.
“Let me go.” Miao Chu He smiled lightly, “Ma’am, I married Yu Er, so Yi Er is my brother-in-law now. I must do this! Don’t worry about me, I will be careful! Sir, the entire Tong Family depends on you for everything. You cannot take this risk, so let me go instead. If they just want money, I think there shouldn’t be too big of a problem.”
Master Tong did not say anything, while Mistress Tong could not bear letting him go, but she did not know what to say. Tong Yu Er was put in a difficult position as she could not take any of their sides.
“Chu He, we’ll go with your idea. You, you must be careful!” Tong Yu Er felt as if her heart had been stabbed, but she had to say what was best for them. She looked at her husband and thought: As long as he can get Yi Er back, as long as he comes home safely, I’ll follow him to the end of the world. Even if he betrayed me or let me down, I’ll never leave him and never complain about him…
“Don’t worry!” Miao Chu He nodded.
Mistress Tong sighed again as her tears welled up, “Chu He, I’m sorry! We—”
“Ma’am, you’re exaggerating! There’s no need to apologize to me! This is my responsibility, you don’t have to feel sorry!” Miao Chu He said hastily.
Mistress Tong sighed softly and nodded without a word as she thought: He’s right. If it wasn’t for the old man’s grudge, Chu He would be our right and proper son-in-law. As the son-in-law, it’s justifiable for him to go such lengths for us.
Mistress Tong forced a smile, “You must have had a difficult journey. Go on and have some tea. Have you eaten? I’ll have someone send some food!” She instructed Nanny Liu to bring them to the guest rooms.
“Father, mother, you both should get some rest too! We’ll talk about this again tomorrow!” Tong Yu Er nodded before leaving with Miao Chu He.
“I don’t care what you think!” Mistress Tong sighed at Master Tong after her daughter and son-in-law left, “It doesn’t matter if Chu He can get Yi Er back tomorrow. I have already accepted him as our son-in-law! If you can’t bear seeing our two families being related, you can ignore us!”
Master Tong glared at her. He huffed quietly but said nothing.
On the other hand, now that the drought had passed, many different businesses in the market started flourishing again. Everyone expected that the food prices would inflate, but no one knew how high the prices could go! There was no one who dared to spend as much as they did before the drought. They also restricted their desires for luxurious food.
因此大半天下来，两人的生意只有从前的一半多一点儿，过午之后，更是少人问津，于是没等多久，便收拾了东西回家了。
Because of that, business had not been going very well compared to before. In the afternoon, there were lesser people, so Miao Cui Lan tidied up the stuff and headed home not long later.
Arriving at home, Miao Cui Lan felt that it was weird when she did not see Tong Yu Er. She asked Xiao Xue and Lu Xiao Shu about it, but as expected, the two girls knew nothing about it. Instead, Nanny Xu was the one who gave her an explanation.
Miao Cui Lan doubted her a little, but when she returned to her room to count their earnings for the day, she was shocked to see a letter in her room. Hurriedly, she ran out to get Lu Zhong.
Xiao Xue and Lu Xiao Shu were listening to their conversation too, and now, the entire household had a heavy heart.
Miao Cui Lan could not help be really sorrowful. She had just mentioned that they could take advantage of people’s anxiety and economic depression earlier today. Thinking back at that, it made her feel even worse.
Lu Xiao Shu said after observing the situation, “Mother, it’s good that our family is fine. Why should we care so much about them? Uncle ought to accompany auntie home to show his concern. Who knows if they’ll come home tomorrow or the day after tomorrow? Oh, no! Perhaps they would come home in the middle of the night later! Anyway, that Master Tong doesn’t seem to be fond of uncle. He might have already chased uncle out of their house with a stick!”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” Miao Cui Lan was angry but she was slightly humored as well. She tsked, “As a girl, you should watch what you’re saying!”
“I’m not wrong though! That’s the truth! Master Tong acts unreasonably whenever he sees my uncle. Now that he’s having an issue, and uncle visited them— perfect timing! It would be a great excuse for him to vent his anger!” Lu Xiao Shu said, unconvinced.
“Why you!” Miao Cui Lan raised her hand and wanted to give her a slap, but she sighed and gave up. She decided to just ignore the girl, and turned to Lu Zhong worriedly, “What should we do? I’m very worried about Chu He and his attitude! This won’t do, I’m going to check on them!”
Miao Cui Lan immediately went back to her room to change her clothes.
“Cui Lan!” Lu Zhong pulled her back and said, “It’s only right that Chu He goes over there. At this moment, Master Tong would probably be in a mess. How would he still keep his grudge? Just relax! Besides, Chu He is a Juren. No one would dare to do anything to him! They could be there, but if you go over there as a sister-in-law, what would they think of us? Our family relationship has always been awkward. If you go there now, do you think they’d have time to accommodate another guest?”
“But I—”
“Mother! I can go!” Lu Xiao Shu raised her hand and ran over pleadingly, “Mother, why don’t you send me? I can go ask about their situation!”
