Li Guangping opened the wooden box, counted out twelve "Da Tuan Jie" bills, and handed them to Tian Jing. "This is one hundred and twenty yuan. If the money for the ointment isn't enough, come ask me again."
"No need," Tian Jing said, shaking the "Da Tuan Jie" bills in her hand. "What happened today is settled. Tomorrow, I'll go to the county town with Li Zhengguo. We will repay what we owe your family. Once everything is settled, the two families will be completely clear."
"You don't owe us, and we don't owe you. It's best if the two families mind their own business. Otherwise, if you fall into my hands again, I'll make you sell everything you own to compensate."
Turning, she pulled Li Min away. She had seen about thirty-four yuan left in the wooden box. Whether Li Guangping had brought the box intentionally or not, she didn't care.
She could extort once using Li father's matter, but she couldn't do it a second time. Therefore, it was better to be clear. From now on, she would use her own methods.
Clear?
Li Guangping felt both relieved and heavy. It couldn't be cleared. He owed his cousin a life. This thought had been weighing on his heart, making him feel a sense of relief when he heard the finality in Tian Jing's words.
Had they finally fallen out? They should have fallen out long ago. The more his cousin's wife and Zhengguo didn't hate him, the more guilty he felt. It was better for them to hate him. Yes, it was better!
As Tian Jing walked out of the crowd, she saw Li Zhengguo standing outside, holding a kerosene lamp.
Back at the Li family's house, Li mother had already prepared dinner: warm pumpkin cakes and braised pork.
Oily and meaty, Tian Jing had no objections. After all, for her mother-in-law's health, being able to cook hot dishes was an improvement.
After dinner, Li mother habitually took a walk to aid digestion. Since she had been able to walk on her own for the past two days, she enjoyed a stroll after meals. She thought of the medicinal tea her son had brought her the night before. She couldn't help but feel it was the tea's effect.
So, she urged, "Zhengguo, hurry and boil water to make me that medicinal tea. Didn't you say to drink it every other day?"
Li Zhengguo looked at Tian Jing. Seeing her nod, he went to the kitchen to boil water.
Tian Jing, pulling Li Min along, walked with Li mother at the entrance. "Mother-in-law, I hinted at Li accounting using father's matter and asked for one hundred yuan compensation for Li Min's facial injury, and twenty yuan for the scar removal ointment."
"In the end, I also said that after we buy things tomorrow to repay him, our family and his will be completely clear, and we'll mind our own business from now on."
Li mother stopped walking. After a few seconds, she resumed, "Good. Clear. We'll mind our own business. You said you would be in charge, so you call the shots."
Her daughter's facial injury pained Li mother, but she felt that fighting and scratching faces was common in the countryside. Who didn't have a few faint scratches on their face?
So, her daughter-in-law had done so much, and got justice for her daughter. One hundred yuan was a lot for her daughter's facial injury.
But it was far from enough for a life. A life could not be measured by money.
Back then, the eldest and second brothers had wanted to make a fuss, wanting compensation. She thought that no amount of money could bring back her husband's life.
She had stubbornly believed that by not crying or making a scene, she could make that cousin live with guilt.
At first, the cousin and his wife visited from time to time, but then they stopped coming.
Later, Minmin often went to borrow things, and the situation soured.
She also began to resent her cousin's family. But time had passed. If she didn't make a fuss then, how could she speak up afterward?
This wasn't just about not repaying loans. Since her daughter-in-law had avenged them, let it be settled.
"Now that you have money, buy whatever you need to buy tomorrow. Don't be shy. Once it's spent, others won't covet it."
Li mother's words brought a smile to Tian Jing's face. She had the same thought. "Mother-in-law, this is Li Min's money."
"Didn't you say you paid to help her settle this matter?"
Li mother turned her head to look at Tian Jing. "This money is hers to settle her own affairs. From now on, she will rely on you."
Tian Jing then looked at Li Min. "Has your mind changed?"
"No," Li Min shook her head. "I just want to follow my sister-in-law and eat my fill."
"So capable." Tian Jing taunted her.
"Indeed." Li Min shamelessly accepted the compliment.
After drinking the medicinal tea her son had brought, Li mother walked around for a bit before retiring to her room.
Li Min took away a basin of hot water. Only Tian Jing and Li Zhengguo remained in the kitchen. Li Zhengguo continued to oil the wheels under the light of the kerosene lamp.
"Li Zhengguo."
"Hmm?"
"Are you angry?"
"Angry about what?"
"That I used your father's matter to mock Accountant Li."
"No, you did an excellent job. One hundred yuan was very appropriate. We've gotten this out of our system, and the guilt remains in his heart."
One hundred yuan had dealt a blow to Accountant Li's family, just as the medical expenses for his father had strained their own family. It wasn't an exorbitant price.
It not only avenged his sister but also settled the score from back then. His father was a righteous man, and his mother cared about appearances.
But that family didn't even offer to pay for medical expenses, let alone mention it. That grievance had been truly stifling. As a man, he hadn't found an opportunity, but his Sweetie had seized it.
Li Zhengguo was sure he hadn't spoken to Sweetie about his father in the past few days, and his mother and sister wouldn't have mentioned it either. The complex grievances between them couldn't be explained by a few words from outsiders.
Sweetie probably didn't even realize she had slipped up. This little scatterbrain, if she didn't have him by her side to help, she would have been found out long ago, wouldn't she?
Seeing that the water in the pot was hot, he put down his work, got up to fetch some water, and said to Tian Jing, who was staring at the kerosene lamp, "Let's go back to the room and wash up before sleeping. We have to get up early tomorrow."
"Okay." Tian Jing got up. "This kerosene lamp is quite useful. Should we buy one too? Oh, and we need to buy kerosene. Remember to bring a bottle."
"Got it. I'll get all the things we need to bring ready in a moment."
After washing up, Tian Jing lay on the kang, still carefully pondering what to buy tomorrow.
As she was thinking, she suddenly felt something was off. Wasn't she planning to be just a visitor, a passerby? How had she started managing the Li family's affairs as if it were her own home?
Was it Li mother's fragility?
Or Li Min's awkwardness after discovering Zhang Fangcao's true nature, and her quick trust placed in her?
Or perhaps Li Zhengguo's silent support?
Had her path taken a slight detour? Even if it was to repay the favors of the Li family for the original owner, there was no need to consider herself a part of the Li family.
Her heart, which had remained vigilant in the Tian family, had fallen into complacency in the Li family?
Looking back, she realized that the biggest reason for reaching this situation was that the three members of the Li family trusted her, letting her bumble along and scheme.
And she was always thinking about how to cook food. After eating, she would feel sleepy. Life was too comfortable, so comfortable that it made her body and mind lazy. When her body became lazy, her mind actively started thinking about the Li family's future.
Forget it, she'd take it as it comes.
In the next few years, who knew what changes might occur? She would live in the present. Even as a passerby, she would live each day well.
Having comforted herself, Tian Jing was embraced by the warm quilt and drifted off to sleep, completely unaware of the slip-up she had made today.