Hearing the voices from inside, the child called Xiaomu immediately became anxious.
"Sister Xiaoyue, I didn't, I just bumped into him, he, he's framing me."
Chen Xiaobei smiled and immediately raised his voice, "Xiaoyue, you are this child's sister, right? He stole ten taels of silver from me. I think you know what ten taels of silver means. If I report this to the authorities, neither of you will escape."
After this shout, there was silence from inside, followed by rustling sounds.
After a short while, a person emerged, leaning on a wooden stick, walking unsteadily. The color of this person's clothes was indistinguishable, and their hair was quite long, nearly reaching their waist. However, it was tangled with many weeds, indicating it hadn't been washed for a long time.
Looking at this person's sallow complexion was truly frightening.
"Cough, cough, cough!" Another bout of violent coughing confirmed for Chen Xiaobei that this was indeed the Sister Xiaoyue the little beggar had mentioned.
Xiaoyue walked up to Xiaomu and glared at him fiercely.
Xiaomu felt a pang of guilt under her gaze and lowered his head. "Sister, you're not well, you should be lying down and resting. Why did you get up?"
Xiaoyue ignored his question and said coldly, "Tell me, what did you do when you went out just now?"
Xiaomu stammered for a long time, and finally, he braced himself and said, "Sister, I already told you, I just bumped into him, and then he accused me of stealing his silver."
Xiaoyue remained expressionless and suddenly asked, "How much silver was it?"
Xiaomu, unaware of the trap, immediately replied, "Ten taels, two five-tael ingots."
Xiaoyue chuckled. Xiaomu instantly realized he might have said too much, and his face turned red.
Seeing this, Chen Xiaobei felt a genuine admiration for Xiaoyue. With just a few words, she had made Xiaomu inadvertently confess. This woman was indeed quite skilled.
Xiaoyue extended her hand towards Xiaomu, "Hand it over."
Helpless, Xiaomu took out his money pouch from his embrace and placed it in Xiaoyue's hand.
"Remember, we can be poor, but we cannot steal. Stealing will make people look down on us."
As Xiaoyue spoke, she called over a little girl standing nearby.
"Yanzi, go return it to him."
Yanzi's tears immediately streamed down her face. "Sister, your illness can't be delayed any longer. The doctor said if you delay further, it might be very serious."
"Brother Xiaomu did this to get money to treat you."
Xiaoyue's eyes widened. "If the money is earned this way, I won't eat a single bit of the medicine you buy."
Wiping her tears, Yanzi still handed the money pouch to Chen Xiaobei.
Seeing the girl called Yanzi crying inconsolably, Chen Xiaobei's heart trembled.
If what this girl said was true, then the Xiaoyue leaning on the cane with a sallow complexion must be gravely ill.
However, from Yanzi's attitude, he could sense that the other party was hiding something.
"Miss Xiaoyue, can you tell me what's wrong? Why are you coughing so badly?"
Hearing this, Xiaoyue fell silent. Meanwhile, Xiaomu cried out, "My sister is seriously ill. The doctor said if she doesn't take medicine soon, she might be in grave danger. But we really don't have money, so we had to resort to this."
Chen Xiaobei's nose twitched.
Life was not easy for anyone. He thought his own life was difficult enough, but these people were facing hardships a hundred times worse. They were coughing like this but could only endure it because they couldn't afford medicine.
Chen Xiaobei collected his thoughts and took out a silver ingot from the money pouch.
He then pressed it into the hand of the girl called Yanzi.
"Miss Xiaoyue, consider this a loan. You must repay me when you recover."
After speaking, he turned and strode away. Not long after, Xiaomu caught up to him from behind.
Xiaomu approached Chen Xiaobei and respectfully bowed. "Young master, thank you very much. May I ask your name?"
Chen Xiaobei smiled faintly and waved his hand. "No need for a name. Anyone who saw this wouldn't stand by and do nothing."
Unexpectedly, Xiaomu persisted, "You just said the money was a loan. If you don't leave your name, how will we repay you in the future?"
Chen Xiaobei thought for a moment. Yes, that made sense. This also showed that these beggars were not inherently bad.
He said in a deep voice, "Alright then, remember this: I'm in Hetou Village, my name is Chen Xiaobei."
With that, he quickened his pace and left.
Chen Xiaobei's destination was clear: the livestock market in the county town, where horses and sheep were sold.
The market was sparsely populated. There were a few stalls selling horses and donkeys, and a few selling pigs and sheep. Beef was truly valuable these days, so it was normal that no one was selling it.
However, after circling twice, Chen Xiaobei discovered an embarrassing problem.
He only had five taels of silver. With this amount, he could barely afford a plain, medium-sized horse.
As for the warhorses, touted by sellers as capable of traveling a thousand li a day and eight hundred at night, their prices reached an astonishing ten taels.
Initially, Chen Xiaobei had planned to buy a horse and a cart.
A single horse was not enough; with a cart, he could take Cui Hongyu and Chen Qiao'er to the county town for a stroll.
Five taels of silver could only buy a donkey cart.
Yes, a donkey.
Although donkeys were not fast, their endurance was decent. Moreover, he didn't need to transport anything too heavy, so a donkey should be capable.
Another point was that donkeys ate less, making them easier to keep than horses.
Considering everything, a donkey better suited his current situation.
After some bargaining, he bought the donkey and cart set for four and a half taels of silver.
With the remaining five hundred wen, Chen Xiaobei bought two wooden buckets and a carrying pole, which would be convenient for carrying water to irrigate the vegetables.
Also, his lard was running low, so he bought another two catties of fatty pork.
As he was leaving the city, he also bought a few meat buns.
Upon returning home, Chen Qiao'er was overjoyed. With the donkey cart and meat buns, she was naturally ecstatic.
However, Cui Hongyu seemed a little disappointed, as she had hoped for a horse-drawn carriage.
Chen Xiaobei pulled her aside and told her everything that had happened in the county town.
"Um, I felt they were quite pitiful, so I gave them five taels of silver. You... you won't blame me, will you?"
Cui Hongyu felt a warmth spread through her heart. Although she wasn't sure if she would have done the same if she were in his position.
However, what Chen Xiaobei had done made her feel the kindness of this man's heart.
From a young age, her grandfather, a doctor, had taught her to be benevolent to all. Wasn't Chen Xiaobei practicing this very principle?
"Husband, I don't blame you. After all, earning money is easier for us than for them."
"A donkey cart can also be used for transportation, and you won't have to work so hard to travel to the county town."
After resting at home for a while, Chen Xiaobei went out. He needed to see to it that the low-lying land he had just contracted was filled with water as soon as possible.
Of course, simply filling it with water wouldn't be enough; he also needed to find a way to introduce fish fry.