Su Jinfeng cried and said that in the afternoon, she had taken Xiaokang to the real estate agency to rent a house. As she was negotiating with the agent, she turned her head, and Xiaokang had vanished.
She searched for a long time near the real estate agency but couldn't find him, so she guessed that Xiaokang might have returned to Lü Dapeng's house.
When she rushed to Lü Dapeng's house, she saw that it was crowded with people, all pointing and discussing something.
Su Jinfeng pushed through the crowd and saw that the courtyard was a scene of bloodshed.
Lü Dapeng lay on the ground, his tongue cut out and his hands severed. A few kind neighbors were helping him stop the bleeding.
Madam Pan also had her tongue cut out, her eldest son was missing, and her younger son lay in a pool of blood, a cleaver stuck in his neck.
Some said that after Su Jinfeng's younger son returned, he went to the kitchen to get a cleaver to attack Madam Pan, but Madam Pan snatched the cleaver and instead chopped at his neck.
Bai Sheng and Lu Ye exchanged a glance. The Dong family had indeed made a move, but no one expected Su Jinfeng's younger son to run back. Perhaps it was all fate.
Lü Dapeng deserved it. He was just an unknown minor official, his status low, and he was also brainless and untalented. It was laughable that such a person would try to enter the Dong family's noble circles just by fawning and flattering.
Those who had been in officialdom for a long time, who were not shrewd and sophisticated? To get on their boat, one must at least have some value of utility, otherwise, they would only be a small chess piece that could be crushed at any time.
Madam Pan was merely the niece of a servant in a prominent family, yet she thought she was so great and acted so arrogantly. In the end, she could only reap what she sowed.
As an ordinary person, one must see clearly and understand their position to live longer.
As for Su Jinfeng, the situation was as it was, and she had no other recourse but to face it.
Bai Sheng asked Aunt Ding to take Su Jinfeng to wash up, eat something, and rest for a few days.
The Dong and Zhou families could not enlist Bai Sheng's help, so they had to temporarily cease their activities.
Bai Sheng and Lu Ye, however, were formulating a detailed revenge plan, waiting for the opportune moment to slowly erode their enemies, without anyone noticing or knowing.
The seasons changed, and in the blink of an eye, it was one month before the New Year.
This year, the family from Hongshu Village was coming to the capital to celebrate the New Year, so preparations were being made early, and household matters were being arranged.
Feng Pingyuan and Zhao Dazhuang asked Gǎmèi's family, Xiao Ma's family, and Zhúgān's family to help look after their homes and workshops.
To facilitate the management of the village, the two of them transferred the positions of village assistant to Gǎmèi's father, Xiao Ma's father, and Zhúgān's father, allowing the three of them to manage the village collaboratively.
Considering that Lu Hao and Liu Shi were pregnant and not suitable for long journeys, and that at the end of the year, the refugees on the road would be even more frenzied in robbing money and food, Bai Sheng decided to personally pick them up and also send Gǎmèi back to Hongshu Village for the New Year, as she had not been back for two years.
Wang Dafang, Xiao Ma, Zhúgān, and the others all planned to stay in the capital, so Bai Sheng did not need to worry about them.
Since Bai Sheng had decided to pick them up and send them off personally, there was no need to set off many days in advance. The workshop of "Hong Fen Jia Ren" could operate until the seventeenth day of the twelfth lunar month before taking the New Year holiday, so Bai Sheng sent them a letter in advance.
Upon hearing that the Madam was personally sending her back for the New Year, Gǎmèi jumped for joy.
She had earned a lot of money over the past two years, and she wanted to take it all back to honor her parents, and also buy many gifts for her family.
Taking advantage of the shop's day off, she dragged Qingfeng with her to go shopping.
The academy had let out for the New Year holiday a month early, so Qingfeng had plenty of time.
Qingfeng wondered why girls usually went shopping with their girlfriends, and why Gǎmèi insisted on dragging him, a man.
Lu Hua, Lu Yin, Ding Xiang, and the other young ladies knew Gǎmèi's "ambition" and all shook their heads, saying they were busy and that Gǎmèi bought a lot of things, and Qingfeng, being stronger than them, could help carry the items.
Qingfeng found these explanations quite reasonable, but he was a little afraid that Gǎmèi would get too close to him.
Gǎmèi always liked to stay close to him, link her arm with his, and hold his hand. Sometimes, whether intentionally or unintentionally, she would rub her chest against his body.
This made his heart pound like a drum, and his cheeks flushed like fire.
This Gǎmèi girl was really... didn't she know that girls should be reserved?
However, Qingfeng sometimes felt that Gǎmèi, so fiery and enthusiastic, was also... cute. His mind couldn't help but recall the thrilling feeling of touching her, and thus, Gǎmèi appeared in his mind more and more often.
Tian Dou and Tie Zhu, upon hearing that their families were coming to the capital for the New Year, let out joyous "ao aos," scaring the three silly dogs into whimpering and hiding with their tails tucked between their legs, thinking they had somehow offended their little masters again.
On the seventeenth day of the twelfth lunar month, Bai Sheng and Lu Ye called Gǎmèi aside.
"Gǎmèi, your uncle and I have just learned a translocation technique that allows us to instantly move to a distant place. To get to Hongshu Village faster and avoid the hardship of travel, we've decided to take you with us by translocation. The prerequisite is to first knock you unconscious."
Gǎmèi's eyes widened in surprise, "Madam, can you really... instantly translocate to Hongshu Village?"
Bai Sheng and Lu Ye exchanged a glance and nodded, "However, this translocation technique must be kept absolutely secret, and no one can be told, otherwise it will endanger our safety. Gǎmèi, can you keep a secret?"
Although very shocked and disbelieving, when Gǎmèi heard that it would endanger the Madam and the Uncle's safety, she immediately nodded profusely, "I'll keep it secret, absolutely secret. Don't worry, Madam, Uncle. Even if a knife were at my neck, or if I had to go through mountains of knives or cauldrons of oil, I wouldn't say a word to anyone else!"
"Not even your parents or siblings. You must completely forget about this, as if it never happened. If anyone asks, you can say it took half a month by carriage from the capital to Hongshu Village to get home," Lu Ye instructed sternly.
Gǎmèi nodded repeatedly, "Mhm, nothing happened. By carriage, took half a month. I remember."
Bai Sheng smiled, "Have you prepared your things? We'll set off tomorrow morning."
"I'm ready, Madam. When will you knock me out?" Gǎmèi was excited to be knocked unconscious for the first time.
"When we set off," Bai Sheng smiled slightly.
The next morning after breakfast, Gǎmèi put the silver she had earned over the past two years into a cloth bag and carried it on her back. Then, she brought the gifts she had bought for her family to the Madam's room, closed the door, and quietly waited for the Madam to knock her out.
When Gǎmèi woke up again, she found herself lying in a carriage. The carriage was filled with various parcels and luggage. The Madam was squeezed among the parcels, sitting opposite her with a smile.
"Madam, have we arrived?" Gǎmèi asked, sitting up.
"Look out the window," Bai Sheng said with a smile.
Gǎmèi opened the carriage curtain and found that they were already on the unfinished road to Hongshu Village.
"We've really arrived!" Gǎmèi exclaimed. "Madam, is it still the eighteenth day of the twelfth lunar month today?"
"Of course it is!"