Lu Sheng had the children stay at home, while she prepared to go to the village entrance to buy some pork belly.
At the village entrance, a few people were selling items under a row of big trees. They sold ingredients like vegetables, tofu, and poultry.
When Lu Sheng arrived there, she realized that besides pork, beef was also sold here.
She was living in an era where agriculture was of paramount importance. Cows could not be casually killed.
If a domesticated cow died, the family had to report it to the officials before it could be sold.
Of course, there were still beef-sellers in the market, but they were a minority
"Aunty, how much is the beef?"
The beef-seller was a forty-year-old lady. She looked unfamiliar to Lu Sheng and seemed to be a foreigner in Liu Yue Village.
Seeing someone ask about the beef, the aunty hurriedly explained, "Lady, my cow died because it was too careless when it went underwater. It got trapped by the partially-submerged seaweeds and drowned. Don't worry, I've already reported this to the officials. If you want, I can sell this at twenty taels for a pound."
A pound for twenty taels, it goes for thirty at the market.
Lu Jiang and Lu Xin were too skinny. She had to buy two beef bones to cook a pot of soup for them. This would replenish the nutrients in their bodies.
"How much is the beef bone and steak?" Lu Sheng asked.
The aunty replied, "If you want the beef bone, it's five taels for two bones and ten taels for one steak."
Lu Sheng nodded and bought a steak and two beef bones. Lastly, she bought twenty pounds of beef, intending to make beef jerky.
She ended up spending six hundred taels.
After that, she went to the next stall to buy two pounds of pork belly, some vegetables, and tofu before she headed home.
"Did the Lu Family strike it rich? She spent a few hundred taels at once, without even blinking."
A few village ladies were shocked.
The wife of the village head, who was buying tofu, explained, "Madam Liu was always quite thrifty. She must have saved quite a good amount after all these years. She definitely has a few hundred taels."
Hearing her words, the rest did not speak further.
When Madam Liu's presence in the past, Lu Sheng could not even bear to get more meat.
Now that she was in prison, Lu Sheng spent six hundred taels at one go.
If Madam Liu were to learn this, she might be angered to death in the prison.
Before Lu Sheng reached home with her items, she heard a familiar crying sound from afar.
She frowned and hurried back to her house.
"Since your parents can't get out of the prison, you have no one else to raise you. Uncle has found you a good family. You should be happy."
When she reached the entrance of the courtyard, Lu Sheng saw Lu Daming and Madam Zheng, together with a few people who were uniformly dressed, in the courtyard.
One of them was dragging Lu Jiang.
Lu Sheng kicked open the door of the courtyard, immediately attracting everyone's attention.
When Lu Daming and Madam Zheng saw the items she was holding, their eyes lit up.
"Little Sheng is back?" Madam Zheng laughed. "You've returned at the right time. Your uncle has decided to sell this brat for ten taels."
Lu Sheng placed the items on top of a pile of wood and turned around. She coldly and expressionlessly spoke. "Let go of him."
"Second Sister, they… want to take Brother away!"
Lu Xin ran over and hugged Lu Sheng's legs, grievously crying out.
One of the men coldly answered. "They have received the money. I'm only here to get the boy."
"They?"
Lu Sheng's gaze swept across Lu Daming and Madam Zheng. Then, she laughed. "Who are they? We are only distant relatives. What right do they have to sell my brother?"
Lu Daming's face darkened, and he unhappily replied, "Lu Sheng, don't forget that he's the son of your mother's murderer."