Hu Hongju's face flushed red. She wanted to say something but seemed at a loss for words.
Li Guangping took a deep breath. "Tell me, how will you compensate?"
"First, treat Li Min and buy the best scar removal cream."
Tian Jing held up one finger. The roughness and cracking on it caused the surrounding onlookers to change their minds. This girl, like them, had also struggled.
Li Guangping nodded in agreement. "That's only right."
"Second, due to the time it takes for the wound to heal, Li Min may suffer harm at her in-laws' home for decades."
"She might also be jilted, losing this opportunity to marry outside the village. Moreover, being jilted is a form of long-term damage, and she might even be unable to remarry."
"This kind of long-term damage cannot be compensated by money alone. You can see it from my mother-in-law's withered state."
"Therefore, our demands are not high. We'll grudgingly ask for a hundred yuan in compensation for emotional distress."
*Hiss!*
Everyone gasped. Tian Jing was too ruthless!
A hundred yuan, and she said the demands weren't high? "Grudgingly"? One hundred yuan was enough to marry two daughters-in-law.
"No!" Hu Hongju refused before her husband could speak. "Go ask Huang Sulán to compensate you."
"A person of no integrity! Li Min, let's go. There's no need to argue with such people and waste our breath."
Tian Jing pulled Li Min and turned to leave, scolding Li Min as they walked.
"You're also foolish. You'd rather drink water from Kuhe for sustenance than come to this family to borrow things. A little favor bought your heart and sold your conscience."
"Even the daughter-in-law of this family doesn't respect you. She wanted to disfigure you, and she did, then stood on your shoulders to flaunt her impartiality."
"Hmph! You willingly accepted such a twisted situation, you fool. Hurry back and borrow something else to return to this family. Be careful, borrow a few more times, and you'll have to pay with your life."
The onlookers quickly made way. This young daughter-in-law of Zheng Guo was too formidable. Her words were sharp and barbed, making people feel uncomfortable, yet they could only endure it.
"Wait." Li Guangping quickly called out, "Zheng Guo's wife, wait."
Tian Jing stopped and turned. "Wait for what? Wait to hear your wife tell me to go find the person responsible? Look~"
Tian Jing pointed with her hand behind the parted crowd. "The person responsible is right here."
Li Guangping glared fiercely at his wife, then at his eldest daughter-in-law outside the courtyard. After taking a few steps, he said to Tian Jing in a conciliatory tone, "Don't listen to your cousin-in-law. I am the head of this household."
"Very good," Tian Jing released Li Min and crossed her arms. "In the Li family of Li Zhengguo, I am the head of the household now. Let the heads of the household speak directly. Tell me, is my demand of one hundred yuan for compensation too much?"
"Not at all, not at all. The appearance of a young girl is priceless."
Upon hearing Tian Jing declare herself the head of the Li family from the end of the village, Li Guangping's eyes flickered. He immediately replied to Tian Jing, "Wait a moment, I'll get the money for you."
"Mm," Tian Jing nodded. "After getting the money, we'll go to the doctor for medicine. If the doctor doesn't have it, tomorrow morning, Li Zhengguo and I will go to the county town to buy it."
"You can also ask the doctor how much a bottle of special scar removal cream costs. For Li Min's situation, will one bottle or two be needed? These need to be assessed by professionals. Our words are not definitive."
Li Guangping paused as he entered the house. "Alright, please wait a moment."
He then entered the main room.
Seeing her husband go inside, Hu Hongju hurried to follow. The family only had a little over a hundred yuan left. Was all of it going to be spent?
Li Guangping saw his wife follow him in and directly ordered, "Get the money."
Hu Hongju was reluctant and tried to persuade her husband, suggesting they talk to Tian Jing properly instead of just accepting whatever she demanded.
Seeing she didn't move, Li Guangping extended his hand. "The key."
"Husband," Hu Hongju's expression softened, and her tone became gentle. "Let's talk to Tian Jing privately."
"Talk about what?" Li Guangping glared at her fiercely. "When cousin was injured, he spent so much money. I said I'd compensate him proactively, but you said to wait until they asked. Did they ask? You dragged your feet, and now you don't intend to settle this debt?"
"I said I wouldn't marry Zhang Fangcao, but you insisted Zhang Fangcao was good. I asked you to take good care of the end-of-village family, but you only went a few times."
"Li Min came to borrow things, you gave her a cold shoulder and then whispered a few words to your daughter-in-law. Now something has happened, hasn't it?"
"I was almost called ungrateful by Zheng Guo's wife. What else do you want? Do I still want to save face?"
"You slept soundly in the middle of the night. Did you ever consider my insomnia? From childhood, cousin protected me. When he died, his money was gone too. What was he after? So you and your daughter-in-law could bully his daughter?"
As Li Guangping spoke, tears began to stream down his face. For so many years, ever since his cousin passed away, he hadn't slept a peaceful night.
His heart ached every time he remembered. Now, Zheng Guo's wife intended to collect her debt. He would pay it. Only then could his heart find some peace.
Seeing her husband cry, Hu Hongju stammered, "At the time, we didn't have that much money?"
Li Guangping wiped his face. "Let me ask you, if I had been bitten back then, would the money in the house have been enough for treatment? Would you have borrowed money? And not repaid it? Would life have been as difficult as it is for the end-of-village family?"
Hu Hongju couldn't answer this. After hesitating for a moment, she took out the key, opened the kang cabinet, took out her small wooden box where she hid money, and then used another key to open the small lock on the box.
"There's over a hundred and fifty yuan here. Take it. I don't know if it's enough."
"How is there so little left? Back then, when you said there wasn't enough money, there were over two hundred yuan!"
Li Guangping couldn't believe it. In these few years, not only had it not increased, it had decreased.
"You don't manage a household, you don't know how expensive things are. The family has grown so much, aren't there expenses for food and clothing?"
Hu Hongju calculated the expenses for their grandson's birth, the bride price for their younger daughter-in-law, and the expenses after Da Niu was born.
"Enough," Li Guangping didn't want to hear these tedious matters. "You calculate, and I calculate. I can tell at a glance how much of this has gone to your parents' family. Figure out how we'll live from now on."
Li Guangping snatched the wooden box and walked out.
Outside, after Li Guangping agreed to compensate, everyone's gaze towards Li Min and Tian Jing changed.
This time, the Li family from the end of the village had struck it rich! Over a hundred yuan. The work points in Ku Shan were low; a family wouldn't earn that much in two years even if they didn't eat or drink.
Tian Jing chatted leisurely with Li Min. "Tomorrow, I'll go to the county town with your eldest brother to buy the things our family needs."
"Whatever you owe others, once we've bought them, you'll return them one by one. From now on, don't easily borrow things from people. Once you borrow, your spirit weakens. Just like now, you always look timid when you step into this Li family's house."
"Remember, no matter whose things you borrow, don't borrow from those who have helped you in the past. It will reverse the situation."