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The stepmother of the Wan family couldn’t help but stare at the large carriage and tugged on Old Man Wan’s arm, whispering, “Look, look! I wonder which rich family’s carriage has come to our little valley.”
Old Man Wan glanced over and scoffed, “It’s nothing special—no fine horse or carriage. It’s not some rich family. Come on, let’s hurry and go to the third son’s house.”
“Alright, alright,” she replied, but couldn’t resist looking back at the carriage a few more times.
What she didn’t expect was that the person driving the carriage wasn’t just any stranger—it was none other than Tan Yiliang, the eldest son of Wan Chunmei.
She quickly tugged on Old Man Wan again and said, “Old man, look! Isn’t that your eldest grandson?”
Old Man Wan, quite impatient, lifted his gaze and was stunned for a long time. “That’s… that’s Yiliang… how is he driving a carriage?”
The stepmother of the Wan family hurriedly released her hold and said, “Come on, let’s go ask him!”
With that, she quickly ran ahead.
Tan Yiliang, seeing that he was about to reach the village, urged the horse forward to speed up.
The Wan family’s stepmother ran behind, shouting, “Yiliang! Yiliang! Yiliang!”
Hearing the voice, Tan Yiliang turned around to look and, spotting the annoying step-grandmother, lashed the reins twice, urging the horse to go faster.
The stepmother, gasping for breath, saw she couldn’t catch up and became frustrated, shouting angrily, “Tan Yiliang! Are you deaf or something?! Stop right now!”
Whether he heard or not, Tan Yiliang only sped up, the distance between them widening.
In her panic, the stepmother of the Wan family misstepped and tumbled down the slope.
“Ah! Old woman!” Old Man Wan shouted in alarm.
Tan Yiliang, hearing the shout from a distance, didn’t look back and continued speeding toward home.
After the stepmother of the Wan family tumbled down the slope, she continued to roll all the way down and eventually landed in a stinking cesspool, where she got completely stuck.
This cesspool was stagnant water, often used by mischievous children as a place to relieve themselves. Over time, it had turned into a foul-smelling pit of waste.
When the Wan family’s stepmother fell in, she had an unfortunate full meal of it. When she was finally pulled out, every time she spoke, there was a distinct, unpleasant odor emanating from her.
Old Man Wan, disgusted, was preparing to take her to his daughter’s house, the third’s family.
Meanwhile, Tan Yiliang had already arrived home.
He practically jumped off the carriage, running frantically to the door. Without hesitation, he kicked it open, shouting, “Father! Mother!”
Old Tan, who had been tidying up the dishes, was startled by the sudden crash and quickly turned around, saying, “What are you making all this noise for?”
Panting, Tan Yiliang quickly stepped forward and said, “Father, Mother, we sold the Lingzhi mushrooms!”
Wan Chunmei, who had been nursing Little Qiyue, hurriedly put the child down, then picked her up again as she asked, “Sold it? How much did you sell it for?”
Old Tan also stopped what he was doing and looked at Tan Yiliang expectantly.
Tan Yiliang rushed inside, quickly grabbed a bowl of water, and drank it in large gulps before saying, “We sold it for four hundred taels of silver.”
“What? How much?” Old Tan thought he had misheard.
Tan Yiliang squinted his eyes and smiled widely, “Four hundred taels! Four hundred taels!”
With that, he pulled out the silver notes from his chest and carefully placed them on the table.
Old Tan was completely stunned. His body trembled as he slowly looked up at Tan Yiliang and asked, “Yiliang, is this silver really real?”
Tan Yiliang picked up the silver notes and handed them to him, “Father, take a look, it’s real.”