Chapter 24
I Transmigrated Into a Novel and Became the Vicious Stepmother of Five Cute Babies
Compensation
As soon as she finished speaking, the child immediately rubbed his feet against the soles of his shoes and snorted provocatively at Mo Ruyue.
However, he didnât expect that he would completely confess without beating himself up. His father was so angry that he couldnât help but hit the back of his head.
âQin family, even if our child did something wrong, youâve tied him up with a net and rope for half a day. Your anger should have subsided by now. If you have anything to say, let the child out first.â
Another pair of parents couldnât bear to see their children suffer and couldnât help but ask Mo Ruyue to let them go.
âOf course, Iâll let them go, but I canât just let them go like this. They have to apologize and compensate me. If I donât make them pay the price and teach them a lesson, will they continue to bully me even more?â
Mo Ruyue would not compromise under pressure. She had always been amenable to coaxing but not coercion. Even if there was a soft approach, she had to show her sincerity. Otherwise, she would not be persuaded by force or persuasion.
âCompensation? What compensation?â
This time, more than one pair of parents widened their eyes. They had to compensate for a childâs prank? He only killed a few wild rats. Not to mention that he didnât hurt anyone. He didnât even lose a hair on the Qin familyâs chickens, ducks, and animals. What compensation was there to pay?
âThis well in my house was personally made by my childrenâs father when he was still alive. Although it was not in my own courtyard, it was written in his name, Qin Ming. In the past, whenever any of you came over to fetch water, it would be convenient for everyone.â
âPreviously, it was easy to clean up the fallen leaves and branches that were thrown into the well, but now that dead rats were thrown in, who would be willing to drink the water in the well? Whoever can drink it in public doesnât have to pay.â
Mo Ruyue came up with a straight punch, and the parents all shut their mouths.
Someone had said before that it would cost a lot of money to dig such a well in the village. There were a total of three wells in the village. One was in the village headâs courtyard, which he used with his own money. One was donated by the villagers to be shared by everyone. The last one was made by Qin Ming out of his own pocket in order to save his wife and children from the pain of queuing up to get water, but it was also open to the villagers to use.
Now that a dead rat had been thrown into the well, it was basically equivalent to the well being abandoned. It was not a loss to the villagers, but it was definitely a loss to the Qin family.
âThen tell us, how do you want us to compensate you? Iâll say this first, if you want to ask for an exorbitant price, donât say anything. Itâs impossible.â
The parents didnât speak. After a while, one of the men took the lead in expressing his attitude. With one person expressing his opinion, the others also echoed one after another.
âThatâs right. We wonât allow you to ask for such an exorbitant price. If itâs not too bad, weâll just pool our money together and give it to you.â
âThatâs right. If you want to use this opportunity to extort money, donât even think about it!â
âNo! Whoeverâs child threw the dead rat should pay for it. Other people didnât throw it, so why should they pay for it together?â
Before Mo Ruyue could say anything, this childâs parents had an internal conflict. After all, they were taking money out of their own pockets, so they naturally had to haggle over every single detail.
âHey, how can you say that? Your child also had a dead rat in his hand. Itâs not that he didnât want to throw it away, but he didnât have the time. If the Qin family didnât stop him, your child wouldnât have been able to escape!â
âHmph, who cares if he wants it or not? If he didnât throw it away, then he didnât throw it away. If we donât need to pay for it, then donât even think about taking a single cent out of our pockets.â
The two naturally divided factions began to quarrel intensely over who would compensate who and who would not. They even talked about some old matters, which made the villagers who had nothing to do with other things listen to the gossip.
Mo Ruyue lost her patience after listening to two sentences. It didnât matter if they were willing to do this kind of dog-eat-dog thing. She had to pay the compensation first. She still had to go back and continue to pack up her prey. She was going to sell them at the restaurant tomorrow to make money.
She was still holding a long piece of rope in her hand. Seeing that those people were arguing with each other and couldnât hear the others, she twisted the rope in her hand and threw it hard.
âXiuâ paâ sounds were heard as the hemp rope was pulled out in the air, causing an explosive sound.
Everyone was also stunned.
The few couples who were quarreling also stopped and looked at Mo Ruyue in surprise.
âI donât care how you guys fight. I donât have time to waste with you guys. If you really donât want to compensate me, thatâs fine. If you canât control your own children, Iâll do it. But you better shut your mouths and donât make me discipline you too. â
Mo Ruyueâs cold eyes swept over them. Anyone could tell that she wasnât just saying those words.
Some of them wanted to refute her, but when their eyes met hers, a chill rose from their hearts as if they were being stared at by a beast. They quickly turned their eyes away and closed their mouths at the same time.
Seeing that Mo Ruyue wouldnât back down an inch, the matter seemed to have reached a deadlock. In the end, it was the parents of the children who yielded.
âAlright, alright. Whatâs the big deal? Is it worth getting so angry over? Itâs just compensation. Donât talk about who should pay or not. Since youâve been caught red-handed, then just admit your bad luck. â
Hearing the meaning of his words, he was still unwilling, but in the end, he compromised. Even the other husbands silently acquiesced.
The families had a final discussion and sent a representative to negotiate with Mo Ruyue. They gave a number that they had discussed.
âQin family, how about this? We should compensate you, but we donât have much spare money. Why donât we compensate you first and write you an IOU for the rest?â
Mo Ruyue raised her eyebrows. She didnât say âyesâ or âNo.â She seemed to be waiting for him to finish.
âThat... This well has been dug for a few years. If we want to compensate, we canât do it at the original price, right? We discussed that each family would pay 100 copper coins, so itâs 800 copper coins, which is almost one tael of silver. Itâs a lot.â
Mo Ruyue still didnât say anything. Her mocking gaze made the veins on the manâs forehead pop out, and he almost turned hostile again.
He really didnât know where a widow got the courage to fight against so many people. Even if she had taken advantage of them now, was she not going to live in the village and interact with the villagers anymore?
However, Mo Ruyueâs gaze was cold and firm from the beginning to the end. She did not waver because of his words and expression. In the end, the man still took a deep breath and said, âQin clan, for our first time, weâll first... First compensate you with a hundred copper coins. Just tell me if itâs okay or not.â
He said everything in one breath. He didnât look directly into Mo Ruyueâs eyes but stared at the spot an inch in front of her toes, waiting for her answer.
âDonât let me hear this kind of excuse for a beggar a second time.â
Mo Ruyue finally opened her mouth as she wished, but what she said made the manâs heart sink.
As expected, she didnât agree.
In fact, he knew that if the same thing happened to him and someone dared to make such a suggestion to him, he would never let it go.
âThen tell me, what do you want?â
He wanted to be ruthless, but when he met Mo Ruyueâs gaze, his boiling blood and courage seemed to have been doused with a basin of cold water and could no longer boil.
The imposing manner in his words was released, and even his waist collapsed, no longer standing upright.