Quick Transmigration: The Green Tea Mistress's Guide to Seduction - A Master's Handbook

"If they're gone, they're gone. Who knows if they're dead or in jail?" The servant said, his tone rather unfriendly.

Xie Lao Er had prepared so many ways to ask for money, but he never expected that there would be no one to fight him.

"When did he leave?" Xie Lao Er asked.

"It's been about a month," the servant said, looking at Xie Lao Er. "Anyway, I don't know what he did wrong, but quite a few people have come knocking on our door lately. Are you related to them?"

"No," Xie Lao Er denied repeatedly, startled.

"We came here to collect our debt, but who knew this bastard had already run away!" Xie Lao Er wanted to curse him out loud.

"The debt collectors have been coming lately, but there's no one around anymore. You've come all this way for nothing." The servant shook his head and left.

Xie Lao Er stood there for a long time, then whispered to Xie Qingyu, "I'll go in and see if there's anything left."

Xie Lao Er's idea was that he couldn't come for nothing.

However, once inside, it was almost completely empty.

Forget about valuables.

They must have taken it from the beginning.

Only some large items were left behind, such as beds or tables.

But they can't take these with them.

Unable to find anything to take with him, Xie Lao Er brought out a bucket with carvings on it, which looked different from the ones commonly used by villagers.

"What bad luck, everything's gone. This bucket is still pretty good, let's take it back." Xie Lao Er said, but Xie Qingyu could tell that there must be something else in the bucket, as it rattled as it walked.

Unable to find the person, the five taels of silver were gone just like that.

Xie Lao Er felt only bad luck.

"Where do you live? Take me there and see if your father left anything behind," Xie Lao Er asked Xie Qingyu.

“Father doesn’t have the money to buy a house here, so we’ve been living in one of the houses from that family,” Xie Qingyu said.

“It was rented,” Xie Qingyu added.

"What?" Xie Lao Er almost jumped up when he heard this.

"That family has no one who is related to your father, right?" Xie Lao Er was not very bright to begin with, but after hearing Xie Qingyu's words, he immediately thought of what the servant had just said.

Lately, people have been coming to my door, but I don't know who they are.

"Hurry up." Xie Lao Er was anxious now. He grabbed Xie Qingyu and immediately found a car to take them back. The two of them left without even having breakfast.

The donkey carts over there can only take two people to the city; they won't take them any further in.

Because they were a little late, they got back quite late, and now they refuse to take them home even if they hire a donkey cart.

In the past, Xie Lao Er might have been more inclined to take Xie Qingyu to stay at any inn in town, but now it was different. He was extremely anxious and just wanted to get home as soon as possible.

After much persuasion, we finally found a ride from the city to the town.

However, once they reached the town, there were no donkey carts available to take them back to the village.

It was getting dark, and no one wanted to hire a car at that time.

The key issue is that walking back is also very unsafe.

Xie Lao Er knew best the dangers of traveling at night, especially with Xie Qingyu by his side.

What he feared more was that someone was following him.

Xie Lao Er stood by the roadside trying to come up with a solution, but Xie Qingyu's attention was not on him.

She was listening to the sounds around her.

A deep, resonant voice was speaking to another person.

"Then I'll send it over tomorrow morning."

"Alright, our manager has already told us. You can just deliver it directly." The waiter's voice was cheerful. "Then you can go back now, as our shop is about to close. Deliver it tomorrow morning, so it won't interfere with your lunch break."

"Ah."

Xie Qingyu immediately recognized that it was the male lead's voice.

Considering the male protagonist's identity, the current situation is not difficult to analyze.

"Then how are we going to get back?" Xie Qingyu asked softly.

"We have no choice but to walk back." Xie Lao Er sighed, looking around with a tense nerve.

"I wonder if anyone is going the same way... It might be a little unsafe for the two of us to walk alone at night."

Xie Qingyu's words struck a chord with Xie Lao Er.

Suddenly, his eyes lit up.

"Wait, someone's here!" Xie Lao Er's voice was tinged with excitement.

"Brother!" Xie Lao Er's movements were faster than his voice. "Are you going back up the mountain today?"

Tu Shen looked in the direction Xie Lao Er had come from, while Xie Qingyu turned slightly to the side, as if she were looking in their direction.

"Who are you?" Tu Shen's voice was somewhat wary.

“I’m from Dafang Village, my surname is Xie. I met you when I went up the mountain before. Are you a hunter from the mountain?” Xie Lao Er asked.

Tu Shen was tall and imposing, making him easy to remember.

"Hmm, what's the matter?" Tu Shen withdrew his gaze from Xie Qingyu and looked at Xie Lao Er.

"Are you going back? I mainly want to find someone to go back with. It's getting late, and it's a bit inconvenient for me to walk home at night with my niece." Xie Lao Er was quite sociable, and he didn't sound obsequious when he spoke.

"Go back." Tu Shen only said these two words.

Xie Lao Er was delighted to hear this.

"Then we'll go with you."

Tu Shen didn't say anything, he just nodded.

Xie Lao Er beckoned Xie Qingyu over.

It wasn't that he completely trusted Tu Shen, but at this moment, having someone as tall and strong as Tu Shen by his side made him feel more at ease.

"You even brought a cart?" Xie Lao Er asked, looking at the wheelbarrow that Tu Shen had pulled out from somewhere.

“I brought some things with me when I came,” Tu Shen said.

Living on the mountain makes it inconvenient to go up and down. This time, he brought down game for many people, and could only use a cart.

"Let's go then." Xie Lao Er certainly wouldn't be picky at this point.

It was already dark when the three of them left the town.

Xie Lao Er often walked at night when he was out fooling around, which shouldn't have been an obstacle for him.

But perhaps because he was scared, he walked with a bit of a stumble.

Xie Qingyu wasn't affected much; she was already blind and couldn't walk very fast anyway.

They hadn't walked for very long when Tu Shen suddenly stopped.

"Why don't we let her get in the car? It's too slow going like this; we won't get back until late at night."

Xie Lao Er paused for a moment, then looked troubled.

“I can push it,” Tu Shen added.

"Okay, come on, sit down quickly, don't waste time," Xie Lao Er urged.

He kept looking back while he spoke, as if I felt a little unsafe.

Upon hearing this, Xie Qingyu groped her way to the side of the car and tried to get on, holding onto the edge of the car.

Just when I tripped over the protruding wheel and almost fell, a hand caught my arm.

A large hand gripped Xie Qingyu's arm, helping her to steady herself.

"Thank you," Xie Qingyu said, roughly pointing in one direction.

Tu Shen didn't say anything, but he felt that his subordinate's arm could break if he used a little more force, so he could only protect him a little to prevent him from falling.

He only withdrew his hand after Xie Qingyu got on and settled in.

The wheelbarrow was difficult to push, but in Tu Shen's hands, it was effortless and even very stable.

Xie Qingyu felt a little drowsy sitting up there.

Tu Shen remained silent, simply pushing the cart.

Even when pushing the cart, Xie Lao Er couldn't keep up with his pace.

A brute.

Xie Lao Er silently evaluated in his heart.

Very powerful.

"Second Uncle, we didn't get the debt back this time. Is Grandma going to sell me to that person?" Xie Qingyu's voice suddenly rang out in the quiet night.

Xie Lao Er was still fuming because of this trip and had nowhere to vent his anger. When Xie Qingyu asked him this, he said matter-of-factly, "Isn't this a marriage that was arranged for you? They don't mind that you're blind and their family owns a restaurant. You won't have to do any work."

In Xie Lao Er's mind, marrying Xie Qingyu off to him was already a done deal.

That's two taels of silver.

Five ounces are all gone, two ounces will do too.

His perfectly good daughter didn't even have two taels of silver when she got married.

"But that person... that person is no good. Buying me back isn't the same as marrying me. Second Uncle, I beg you. Can you keep me here? I can work." Xie Qingyu was on the verge of tears, seemingly terrified.

"Which restaurant?" Tu Shen suddenly interjected.

"You know, the biggest restaurant in the next town, the one with the only son who's still unmarried, has taken a fancy to my niece. Just imagine how much trouble that will cost. If she marries into the town, she won't have to work anymore," Xie Lao Er said.

Tu Shen frowned. "Fang Tian?"

"Yes, you know him?" Xie Lao Er asked.

“We’ve delivered wild game to their family,” Tu Shen said.

"Fang Tian... is sick." Tu Shen hesitated for a moment, and could only vaguely say that he was sick.

Xie Lao Er immediately understood what he meant.

"That's alright, as long as it doesn't affect having a baby. His family can give two taels of silver. They originally said it would be five taels to marry my daughter, but who knew they would take a fancy to my niece when she came in. What kind of situation is this?" Xie Lao Er felt heartbroken about the five taels of silver.

If only Sister Qiu could be chosen.

"You'd still marry someone even if they're sick?" Tu Shen couldn't help but look at Xie Qingyu.

She didn't turn around, but in the moonlight you could see her trembling shoulders; she must have been crying silently.

"A daughter is like a tree that grows up and can't stay at home forever. Besides, there's nothing else to give her. Although she's pretty, she's blind. Who would want to marry her as a proper wife?" Xie Lao Er could only try to distract himself by talking more.

Before we could finish speaking, they had already arrived.

Tu Shen parted ways with them some distance from the village entrance, as he didn't need to pass through the village to get back to the mountain.

For the rest of the journey, Xie Lao Er led Xie Qingyu home in silence.

They did not notice that after they left, Tu Shen did not go up the mountain, but instead pushed the cart back along the original route.

It was already late at night when Xie Lao Er and Xie Qingyu entered the house.

Granny Xie knew they were coming back, so she hadn't closed the door yet.

Xie Lao Er led Xie Qingyu around the village several times before returning.

They were afraid that someone was following them.

After entering, Xie Lao Er slammed the door shut.

Hearing the sound, Granny Xie came out from inside, her face beaming with joy. "You're back?"

"Mother!" Xie Lao Er's voice still carried a hint of panic.

"What happened? Did you bump into someone? Did you recognize her?" Granny Xie asked.

"No..." Xie Lao Er recounted what had happened on the way.

When Granny Xie heard Xie Lao Er say that people often went to that courtyard, she was very surprised.

"You haven't told anyone about your relationship, have you?" Granny Xie asked.

"No, I didn't know that was where my elder brother used to live. I only said we were going to collect a debt," Xie Lao Er said.

Granny Xie was furious. She thought about how she hadn't gotten her five taels of silver back and might have gotten herself into trouble for no reason. She started to dislike Xie Qingyu intensely.

"Hey, Mother, keep your voice down, don't make too much noise." Xie Lao Er pointed outside.

Granny Xie was genuinely afraid that someone was following her.

"I knew I shouldn't have let you go. That bastard of yours, I don't know what trouble he got into. Not only did he send back a burden, but he's also going to bring disaster to the whole family. He deserves to die!"

Granny Xie spoke through gritted teeth in anger; if Xie Laoda were in front of her now, she could have bitten off a chunk of his flesh.

"The most important thing now is to get rid of her as soon as possible." Xie Lao Er quietly pointed at Xie Qingyu, "I'm afraid someone might recognize her."

Granny Xie originally wanted to say that since the five taels of silver were gone, she should treat Xie Qingyu harshly.

Hearing Xie Lao Er's words, he immediately realized what was going on.

"I'll go ask the matchmaker tomorrow morning," said Granny Xie.

Normally, the woman wouldn't take the initiative in this kind of situation, especially since she had already agreed to such a significant discount.

But things are different now; Xie Qingyu might become a menace if she stayed in their home.

If it weren't for the noise, Granny Xie would have really wanted to give Xie Qingyu a good beating right now. That troublemaker brought trouble back with her.

Even without hitting her, she pinched Xie Qingyu twice.

But every time she made a move, Xie Qingyu would scream, leaving her only able to glare at Xie Qingyu with hatred.

"What if they don't agree?" Xie Lao Er asked anxiously. "I don't think his mother would even be willing to pay two taels of silver."

"If they agree, let them take the person away immediately. If they don't agree, I'll find a human trafficker and take the person away no matter where they're sold," said Granny Xie.

She was already very upset about losing two taels of silver instead of seven.

There's just no other way.

As they had agreed, Granny Xie indeed went out early the next morning.

Xie Qingyu came home late yesterday and got up late as well.

But when she woke up today, Sister Qiu was still in the room.

"You're awake?" Sister Qiu's voice carried a hint of flattery and sympathy.

Xie Qingyu knew almost immediately where her sympathy came from.

"Grandma went to the matchmaker this morning... It's all my fault." Qiu Jie's voice was choked with sobs.

She felt pressured, burdened by Xie Qingyu's kindness towards her and the things Xie Qingyu was about to face.

"It's alright," Xie Qingyu reassured her.

Her voice was a little hoarse from just waking up, making people mistakenly think she had been crying.

Qiu felt even more guilty.

"I'll help you escape. Go to the city and find your father," Sister Qiu whispered.