Chapter 24: Compensation

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

As soon as she finished speaking, the child immediately rubbed his feet against the soles of his shoes and snorted provocatively at Mo Ruyue.

However, he didn’t expect that he would completely confess without beating himself up. His father was so angry that he couldn’t help but hit the back of his head.

“Qin family, even if our child did something wrong, you’ve tied him up with a net and rope for half a day. Your anger should have subsided by now. If you have anything to say, let the child out first.”

Another pair of parents couldn’t bear to see their children suffer and couldn’t help but ask Mo Ruyue to let them go.

“Of course, I’ll let them go, but I can’t just let them go like this. They have to apologize and compensate me. If I don’t make them pay the price and teach them a lesson, will they continue to bully me even more?”

Mo Ruyue would not compromise under pressure. She had always been amenable to coaxing but not coercion. Even if there was a soft approach, she had to show her sincerity. Otherwise, she would not be persuaded by force or persuasion.

“Compensation? What compensation?”

This time, more than one pair of parents widened their eyes. They had to compensate for a child’s prank? He only killed a few wild rats. Not to mention that he didn’t hurt anyone. He didn’t even lose a hair on the Qin family’s chickens, ducks, and animals. What compensation was there to pay?

“This well in my house was personally made by my children’s father when he was still alive. Although it was not in my own courtyard, it was written in his name, Qin Ming. In the past, whenever any of you came over to fetch water, it would be convenient for everyone.”

“Previously, it was easy to clean up the fallen leaves and branches that were thrown into the well, but now that dead rats were thrown in, who would be willing to drink the water in the well? Whoever can drink it in public doesn’t have to pay.”

Mo Ruyue came up with a straight punch, and the parents all shut their mouths.

Someone had said before that it would cost a lot of money to dig such a well in the village. There were a total of three wells in the village. One was in the village head’s courtyard, which he used with his own money. One was donated by the villagers to be shared by everyone. The last one was made by Qin Ming out of his own pocket in order to save his wife and children from the pain of queuing up to get water, but it was also open to the villagers to use.

Now that a dead rat had been thrown into the well, it was basically equivalent to the well being abandoned. It was not a loss to the villagers, but it was definitely a loss to the Qin family.

“Then tell us, how do you want us to compensate you? I’ll say this first, if you want to ask for an exorbitant price, don’t say anything. It’s impossible.”

The parents didn’t speak. After a while, one of the men took the lead in expressing his attitude. With one person expressing his opinion, the others also echoed one after another.

“That’s right. We won’t allow you to ask for such an exorbitant price. If it’s not too bad, we’ll just pool our money together and give it to you.”

“That’s right. If you want to use this opportunity to extort money, don’t even think about it!”

“No! Whoever’s child threw the dead rat should pay for it. Other people didn’t throw it, so why should they pay for it together?”

Before Mo Ruyue could say anything, this child’s parents had an internal conflict. After all, they were taking money out of their own pockets, so they naturally had to haggle over every single detail.

“Hey, how can you say that? Your child also had a dead rat in his hand. It’s not that he didn’t want to throw it away, but he didn’t have the time. If the Qin family didn’t stop him, your child wouldn’t have been able to escape!”

“Hmph, who cares if he wants it or not? If he didn’t throw it away, then he didn’t throw it away. If we don’t need to pay for it, then don’t even think about taking a single cent out of our pockets.”

The two naturally divided factions began to quarrel intensely over who would compensate who and who would not. They even talked about some old matters, which made the villagers who had nothing to do with other things listen to the gossip.

Mo Ruyue lost her patience after listening to two sentences. It didn’t matter if they were willing to do this kind of dog-eat-dog thing. She had to pay the compensation first. She still had to go back and continue to pack up her prey. She was going to sell them at the restaurant tomorrow to make money.

She was still holding a long piece of rope in her hand. Seeing that those people were arguing with each other and couldn’t hear the others, she twisted the rope in her hand and threw it hard.

“Xiu” pa” sounds were heard as the hemp rope was pulled out in the air, causing an explosive sound.

Everyone was also stunned.

The few couples who were quarreling also stopped and looked at Mo Ruyue in surprise.

“I don’t care how you guys fight. I don’t have time to waste with you guys. If you really don’t want to compensate me, that’s fine. If you can’t control your own children, I’ll do it. But you better shut your mouths and don’t make me discipline you too. ”

Mo Ruyue’s cold eyes swept over them. Anyone could tell that she wasn’t just saying those words.

Some of them wanted to refute her, but when their eyes met hers, a chill rose from their hearts as if they were being stared at by a beast. They quickly turned their eyes away and closed their mouths at the same time.

Seeing that Mo Ruyue wouldn’t back down an inch, the matter seemed to have reached a deadlock. In the end, it was the parents of the children who yielded.

“Alright, alright. What’s the big deal? Is it worth getting so angry over? It’s just compensation. Don’t talk about who should pay or not. Since you’ve been caught red-handed, then just admit your bad luck. ”

Hearing the meaning of his words, he was still unwilling, but in the end, he compromised. Even the other husbands silently acquiesced.

The families had a final discussion and sent a representative to negotiate with Mo Ruyue. They gave a number that they had discussed.

“Qin family, how about this? We should compensate you, but we don’t have much spare money. Why don’t we compensate you first and write you an IOU for the rest?”

Mo Ruyue raised her eyebrows. She didn’t say “yes” or “No.” She seemed to be waiting for him to finish.

“That… This well has been dug for a few years. If we want to compensate, we can’t do it at the original price, right? We discussed that each family would pay 100 copper coins, so it’s 800 copper coins, which is almost one tael of silver. It’s a lot.”

Mo Ruyue still didn’t say anything. Her mocking gaze made the veins on the man’s forehead pop out, and he almost turned hostile again.

He really didn’t know where a widow got the courage to fight against so many people. Even if she had taken advantage of them now, was she not going to live in the village and interact with the villagers anymore?

However, Mo Ruyue’s gaze was cold and firm from the beginning to the end. She did not waver because of his words and expression. In the end, the man still took a deep breath and said, “Qin clan, for our first time, we’ll first… First compensate you with a hundred copper coins. Just tell me if it’s okay or not.”

He said everything in one breath. He didn’t look directly into Mo Ruyue’s eyes but stared at the spot an inch in front of her toes, waiting for her answer.

“Don’t let me hear this kind of excuse for a beggar a second time.”

Mo Ruyue finally opened her mouth as she wished, but what she said made the man’s heart sink.

As expected, she didn’t agree.

In fact, he knew that if the same thing happened to him and someone dared to make such a suggestion to him, he would never let it go.

“Then tell me, what do you want?”

He wanted to be ruthless, but when he met Mo Ruyue’s gaze, his boiling blood and courage seemed to have been doused with a basin of cold water and could no longer boil.

The imposing manner in his words was released, and even his waist collapsed, no longer standing upright.