Yu Changhe wanted to visit Jiang the Hunter's home, and Yu Xiaolian naturally intended to follow him.
But Mrs. Sun asked Yu Xiaolian to go home and make a fire for her, so Yu Xiaolian couldn't go.
When Yu Changhe returned from Jiang the Hunter's house, his face didn't look good. Mrs. Sun asked him what happened, but he didn't say and just ate his porridge silently.
That night, as Yu Changhe lay on the kang lost in thought, he suddenly felt his knee become scorching hot and painfully itchy. He abruptly sat up, startling Mrs. Sun, who quickly got up and asked him what was wrong.
Yu Changhe clutched his injured knee, his face full of agony.
It was itchy, incredibly itchy, as if a thousand worms were crawling inside his knee.
"My leg..." Yu Changhe exhaled deeply, "My leg is so hot, so itchy..."
Behind the curtain, Yu Xiaolian whispered to herself, could it be that today's dose was too much?
Mrs. Sun, illuminated by the moonlight, touched Yu Changhe's leg, "Where? Where does it itch?"
Yu Changhe grabbed Mrs. Sun's hand and placed it on his knee, "Here!"
Mrs. Sun's surprise turned to joy, "Your leg has regained sensation?"
Previously, Yu Changhe's injured leg had no feeling below the knee, so this improvement brought both Yu Changhe and Mrs. Sun to tears of joy.
Mrs. Sun even suggested that they should go to Huichun Hall in the town the next day to have it checked.
The next day, Yu Xiaolian was left home to watch over the house.
Mrs. Sun took Yu Changhe and some completed embroidery work, borrowed Jiang the Hunter's ox cart, and went to town.
It looked like she couldn't go to Huichun Hall to sell ginseng today!
Early in the morning, Mrs. Sun and Yu Changhe changed into fresh clothes before going to town. The dirty clothes they took off lay on the edge of the kang, and with nothing else to do, Yu Xiaolian decided to go to the river to wash them.
Just as she was about to leave with the clothes, Yu Ziyi blocked her way, "Where are you going? You're not allowed to leave the house today. Grandma told me to watch over you."
Yu Xiaolian didn't expect that with Mrs. Sun and Yu Changhe gone, Grandma Yu would start being difficult.
Yu Xiaolian pushed Yu Ziyi hard, "Why can't I leave the house? You're being overly controlling!"
Yu Ziyi was pushed aside and shouted, "Grandma, Yu Xiaolian is not obeying; she insists on going out!"
Upon hearing this, Grandma Yu promptly came out of the house, pointed at Yu Xiaolian, and said sharply, "Today, the matchmaker is bringing the Qi Family girl to visit. You, little jinx, cannot be here."
She then turned and said to Yu Changfu, "You and Brother Yi lock her in the vegetable cellar. Let her out after the Qi Family leaves."
Yu Changfu, who always listened to Grandma Yu, grabbed Yu Xiaolian by the collar as if she were a little chick, easily taking her to the backyard. Yu Ziyi led the way, quickly opening the wooden board covering the vegetable cellar.
With a thump, Yu Xiaolian was thrown into the pitch-black vegetable cellar by Yu Changfu.
"Is it dark? Tell me if you disobey again, there are man-eating rats in there that'll scare you to death!"
Yu Ziyi gleefully covered the vegetable cellar with the wooden board, thus blocking the last ray of light from Yu Xiaolian.
But Yu Xiaolian wasn't afraid of a mere vegetable cellar; she dared to enter the grave of the Grass Witch, so what was a vegetable cellar?
She took out a flashlight from her space and shone it around.
The vegetable cellar was about two meters deep, three meters wide, with only a few moldy wooden boards inside and nothing else. Rural vegetable cellars are usually used to store food after the autumn harvest, and it's not the season yet.
Suddenly, a fat and large rat scurried across Yu Xiaolian's foot, causing her to step back several times, her foot landing in a soft soil pit made by rats.
Oh, what is poking my foot?
Yu Xiaolian pulled out her foot, bent down, and shone the flashlight on it, immediately finding it humorous.
Buried here was a jar with several silver ingots wrapped in cloth, a gold ingot, and some broken silver. It turned out this was Grandma Yu's hiding spot for money.
To Yu Xiaolian's surprise, Grandma Yu had quite a stash. Yu Xiaolian counted three ten-tael silver ingots and a gold ingot, which were likely what Yu Changhe had handed over to Grandma Yu. There were also a dozen or so pieces of broken silver.
Struck it rich, Yu Xiaolian unashamedly took all of Grandma Yu's hidden money.
Humph, that's what you get for locking me up!
You'll regret it dearly!
Placing the silver coins into her space, Yu Xiaolian took out a diary and tore out a piece of paper, finding a pink fluorescent pen and wrote several large characters, "Deep in the vegetable cellar next to the rat hole,
The Land God builds his home.
But alas, the silver coins are insufficient,
Borrowing your silver to help."
After writing, Yu Xiaolian went to the toy shelf, took a toy Slow Sheep from a Pleasant Goat gift box, wrapped it and the paper in the original silver cloth, put them back in Grandma Yu's jar, and covered it with soil.
This money was probably hidden by Grandma Yu for Yu Changyu's dowry, and Grandma Yu would never imagine that the money she had painstakingly saved over half a lifetime could end up in Yu Xiaolian's hands.
Hehe, Grandma Yu wasn't wrong; she truly was her little nemesis!
Yu Xiaolian stayed in her space, eating and drinking, enjoying pork jerky, beef jerky, sunflower seeds, and coffee, occasionally glancing at the several silver ingots on the cash register, her eyes smiling happily!
Until close to noon, when Yu Xiaolian heard sounds from outside, she emerged from her space. The cellar's lid had already been opened, and Yu Changhe peeked in, calling her name.
Yu Xiaolian responded, "Dad, I'm here."
Yu Changhe lowered a wooden ladder for Yu Xiaolian to climb up.
Just after climbing out, Grandma Yu angrily said, "The Qi Family won't leave until after lunch. Why did you let her out so early? Do you intentionally want to ruin your third brother's marriage proposal?"
Mrs. Sun protected Yu Xiaolian behind her, angrily speaking, "Mother, whatever happens, you shouldn't throw a ten-year-old child into a vegetable cellar. What if something happened? Besides, the Qi Family girl has been so picky and demanding with conditions, if it falls through, it's not Xiaolian's fault."
Grandma Yu pointed at Mrs. Sun, shouting furiously, "You... you're cursing Old Three, not wanting to see him succeed."
Yu Changfu hurriedly came to the backyard, "Mother, don't argue with sister-in-law; there are guests in the front yard, you need to be with them."
Grandma Yu remembered that Mrs. Cao was busy with lunch, indeed she couldn't let the Qi Family sit alone in the house, so she turned and left.
Yu Changhe asked, "Xiaolian, are you okay?"
"Dad, there are big rats in the cellar, it's really scary. I never want to go down there again."
Although Yu Xiaolian wasn't afraid, she had to play the part; what ten-year-old girl wouldn't be scared being thrown into a pitch-black, rat-infested cellar? It wouldn't be normal.
Mrs. Sun hugged Yu Xiaolian, "Don't be afraid, you got dirty again, I'll take you inside to change clothes."
Yu Xiaolian and her family of three just went inside when Yu Changfu, from outside their door, spoke in a muffled voice, "Mother says, make sure Xiaolian stays inside; Old Three's fiancée is afraid to meet her."
Yu Changhe replied in a deep voice, "Understood, won't go out."
Mrs. Sun pouted, "They haven't married yet, but they call her Old Three's fiancée already. They are really afraid of not being able to marry the Qi Family's daughter!"