"It's really… all my fault!"
Ye Qingyu felt powerless. This family doted on their daughter so much that they could sell their son.
Sigh!
"Big sister, you just said that being a long-term laborer is very scary. Is that true? Father, Mother, and Brother told me that he could eat his fill at the landlord's house. He could still have half a tael of silver for his monthly salary. He just had to work obediently. What you said is different from what they said."
Ye Qingfeng frowned and said with a conflicted expression.
"That's because Father and Mother didn't want you to worry and lied to you! They even told me that my first younger brother went to learn craftsmanship from a carpenter. If his going to work as a long-term laborer was so good, why would Father and Mother lie to me?
Moreover, half a tael of silver a month is also a lie. If he could really earn so much, our father would have gone himself. How could he let our brother go? This must be because our father is a bigger breadwinner, so he has to work outside to earn more money. Don't you think this makes sense?" Ye Qingyu said.
"Aiyaya, that makes sense!" Ye Qingfeng nodded vigorously and panicked. "Big sister, what should we do? Will Big Brother be fine?"
"Qingfeng, come here." Ye Qingyu thought for a moment and pulled him into her room. She opened the red wooden box at the head of the bed and found her dowry.
"Let's go to town and find Father and Second Uncle. We'll sell the dowry and redeem our brother."
"Big sister, are you really going to sell it? But if you sell it, you won't be able to buy such a good wedding dress when you get married in the future," Ye Qingfeng said.
"What do you think is more important, our brother or this dowry?" Ye Qingyu looked at him with a straight face.
"Of course… Big Brother is more important!" Ye Qingfeng looked excited. "Big sister, how much can your dowry be sold for?"
"I can't say for sure. Altogether, there might be ten taels," Ye Qingyu said uncertainly.
"Wow! Ten taels, that's an acre of high-grade farmland! Can we really sell it for so much?! Then… are we going to town now?" Ye Qingfeng was excited but also a little nervous as he counted with his fingers.
"Big Brother signed a flexible contract. Landlord Li's family only gave us one and a half taels of silver. After we redeem Big Brother, wouldn't we still have eight and a half taels left? Apart from the money to get medicine for Grandpa, this money is enough to last us for more than half a year! Big sister, is that right?"
"Yes, let's go to town now." Ye Qingyu couldn't help but smile when she saw how happy he was.
"However, my body is too weak. I can't walk to town. Go and ask if the Zhao family's ox cart goes to town. Let's take a ride."
"Big sister, I don't have to ask. The Zhao family's ox cart goes to town at this hour every day, but we don't have the money to take a ride!" Ye Qingfeng spread his hands, his face filled with worry.
When villagers took the ox cart to town, they usually paid one copper coin per person. Rich families were willing to pay this fare. Those whose families were not rich chose to walk to town on foot.
However, Ye Qingyu was weak and could not walk for too long, let alone walk for two hours. If she wanted to go, she had to take an ox cart.
This fare… was indeed a worry.
Ye Qingyu thought for a while and her eyes suddenly lit up. She bent down and rummaged through the red wooden box again. This time, she found a white handkerchief with a red plum embroidered on it.
This handkerchief was given to the original owner by Liu Junsheng three years ago. The original owner kept it as a treasure and had never used it once.
Ye Qingyu took it out and sniffed it. Not only did it not smell strange, but there was also a faint incense smell.
"Qingfeng, take this handkerchief and quickly find Meizi from the village officer's family. Tell her that this was bought for 20 copper coins. Now, I'll sell it to her for 10 copper coins. I haven't used it before," Ye Qingyu said.
"If she doesn't buy it for ten copper coins, lower the price again. No matter what, sell it for at least two copper coins. The money for our ox cart ride will come from this handkerchief."