"Uncle Liu, Aunt Liu, I want to renovate the house. The weather is getting colder, and the only room that's still habitable is drafty everywhere. We can't let the children continue to freeze."
Luo Yu Shi handed over the meat in her hand, "I'd like to trouble you two to help me find someone to build a house with blue tiles. I'll pay ten wen a day, and meals will be included."
Ten wen a day was extremely high wages, even in town, not to mention including lunch. If Old Man Liu's body were still capable, he would have gone himself.
The two naturally agreed, but they didn't take her meat.
Luo Yu Shi didn't push further, only asking Aunt Liu to come over every day to cook lunch for her, which would also be considered wages.
After a simple conversation, Luo Yu Shi returned home.
Six people sleeping in one room was a bit crowded, but they could manage.
Watching her busy making the bed, Shen Yi Min, who was sitting by the head of the bed, had a myriad of emotions flash through his eyes.
After a long while, he suddenly spoke, "The Zhang family won't let this go so easily."
Luo Yu Shi was not a reckless person and of course knew this.
She smoothed out the wrinkles on the quilt, "Don't worry, if I could trap them once, I can do it a second time."
She wasn't someone to be bullied easily. If the Zhang family dared to come knocking, she would make them understand what "regret" means.
Seeing the confident expression on her face, Shen Yi Min's lips curved slightly, even without his own awareness.
...
Almost everyone expected the Zhang family to not swallow their pride easily and waited to see Luo Yu Shi's comeuppance.
But to everyone's surprise, the Zhang family remained silent for several days. Instead, the renovation of Luo Yu Shi's house was proceeding in full swing.
During this period, Luo Yu Shi's entire family was staying at Old Man Liu's house.
Because of his injury, Shen Yi Min took a few days off to recuperate at home.
Although he couldn't move much, he could already get out of bed and walk.
The workers helping to renovate the house were all strong men from the village. With ten wen a day, almost half the village was eager to work. However, Old Man Liu only kept a dozen or so nimble individuals, including Shen Wang, the eldest brother of Shen Wei Du.
Shen Wang wasn't considered diligent, but Old Man Liu, seeing that he was Shen Wei Du's biological brother, included him.
By the time Luo Yu Shi found out, construction had already begun, and it was inconvenient for her to simply dismiss him.
At lunchtime, Luo Yu Shi personally cooked. Every meal had meat, and it was different almost every day. The aroma was more enticing than that of restaurants.
This meat was originally intended for her to make into preserved dishes to sell, but with the three hundred taels of silver from the Zhang family, she naturally didn't have to work so hard.
Within a couple of days, almost the entire village knew that not only would they get wages for building Luo Yu Shi's house, but they could also eat meat every day.
Suddenly, everyone rushed to the old house, asking Luo Yu Shi if she needed more workers.
Of course, besides these people, there were also some thick-skinned individuals who only wanted to freeload, such as Mother Shen and Yang Shi.
Ever since they learned that Shen Wang was working there and eating meat every day, Mother Shen and Yang Shi would come to "visit" Shen Wang around lunchtime and freeload meals.
For the first day or two, Luo Yu Shi could turn a blind eye, but these two became more audacious, starting to take food and other items.
Seeing their behavior, Shen Ting Yi was so angry that she was about to go up and confront them, but Luo Yu Shi stopped her.
She couldn't help but feel confused, but saw Luo Yu Shi smile faintly, "Reasoning is useless against people as shameless as them."
"Then we can't just let it go?" Shen Ting Yi looked indignant, "Freeloading food and drinks is one thing, but they even rummaged through the kitchen. We should chop off their hands and teach them a lesson!"
Looking at her fierce expression, Luo Yu Shi inexplicably recalled the first day she transmigrated, when this little girl threatened to break her legs.
She couldn't help but have a headache.
At only five years old, how could she have such a fiery and fierce personality?
Luo Yu Shi reached out and stroked her head, as if soothing her, "Don't worry, those who take what's mine will have to pay a price."
Shen Ting Yi, who was still angry, awkwardly dodged, "Who told you to touch my head!"
She glared fiercely at Luo Yu Shi, but her blushing cheeks and delicate features made her look incredibly cute.
Luo Yu Shi's hands itched again, but she refrained from acting, "Okay, okay, I won't touch it anymore."
...
Shen Ting Yi was very curious about what Luo Yu Shi meant by "price," and that afternoon, she found out the answer.
She saw Mother Shen and Yang Shi walking from a distance, their faces pale, being supported by several people, trembling. A crowd of onlookers followed behind them.
Upon seeing Luo Yu Shi, Mother Shen immediately sat on the ground, "You wicked and poisonous woman, you actually want to poison us to death! May you die a horrible death!"
With this shout, the workers all stopped, and the onlookers looked at Luo Yu Shi in shock.
Seeing this, Yang Shi also spoke with a pained expression, "Sister-in-law, we knew you were renovating the house and kindly asked your elder brother to help. If you're not grateful, fine, but to poison us just because we ate a few pieces of meat!"
"What's going on? Luo Yu Shi poisoned someone?"
"Their faces are so pale, it looks like they're in pain. Could it be true?"
"That's too cruel! It was just a few pieces of meat, and she wanted to kill them!"
...
The crowd buzzed with discussion, all looking at Luo Yu Shi with condemnation.
Seeing this, Shen Wei Du, who had been clinging to Luo Yu Shi, immediately stood in front of her, glaring fiercely at the onlookers.
Luo Yu Shi found it amusing and also heartwarming, so she quickly pulled the clueless fool behind her.
She looked at the two suffering women with a half-smile, "You say I poisoned you, where is the evidence?"
Mother Shen was sweating profusely from the pain, but her glare at Luo Yu Shi was unwavering, "We didn't eat anything today except for what we ate here. If it wasn't you, who else could it be!"
Luo Yu Shi was amused and about to speak when Shen Ting Wen appeared from nowhere, "But we all ate the same thing, didn't we? And these uncles and older brothers, they all ate the same as us!"
His seemingly innocent words spoke the simplest truth.
Aunt Liu quickly added, "Yes, everything came out of the same pot. We all sat together and ate. How is it that only you two are sick!"
Shen Yi Min stood beside Aunt Liu. His white new clothes gave him an even gentler demeanor, making him look like a refined young scholar.
But what he said at this moment was completely at odds with his appearance, "Grandmother and Eldest Aunt have taken so many things from our house these past two days. Are you perhaps planning to extort money from us even when you're sick?"
Mother Shen and Yang Shi were already in pain, and being retorted by the two brothers made their expressions even worse.
Before they could say anything more, Luo Yu Shi spoke first, "So you're sick, what a coincidence. My medical skills have even been praised by Doctor Chen."
She looked at the pale-faced two with a half-smile, a look that made Mother Shen and Yang Shi involuntarily shiver.
"You... what do you want?"
Yang Shi suddenly had a bad premonition and instinctively took half a step back.