100: A Deal 3

A Deal 3

Qi Qingyao looked at the middle-aged man opposite her, a fake smile adorned her face as she casually dissected the situation. "The fact that you questioned the source of my money proves that you doubt my integrity as a person. You baselessly assumed that I would be unrighteous and, with that, reached the conclusion that I had stolen the money. A normal person would not doubt other people without solid proof. Only someone who is unrighteous would assume that other people are of the same ilk. This happened because you made assumptions about other people's motives and actions based on your own crude beliefs. Uncle Zhang, if you ran out of money, would you steal it from others?"2

The statement was flawless and sounded plausible. Flustered, Zhang Tieyuan said, "What lies are you spreading here?"

Ma Sanye, who was right there beside them, could not stop clicking his tongue in surprise.

Had Qi Qingyao always been so shrewd since she recovered from being a fool? She was so eloquent and sharp with her words. She was even better than him! 

Dabao was about to applaud his mother.

Erniu looked at her mother with admiration.

Xiaobao, on the other hand, tilted his head, blinking his large eyes in confusion.

"Uncle Zhang, you yourself would know if I'm lying." Qi Qingyao sat down calmly. She said, "I thought that making a deal with you should be fine, but if you're an unrighteous person, I'm now afraid that you'll be shameless and refuse to admit that you sold your properties to someone else after you've spent all the money. Then you'll come to give me trouble. This isn't worth it for me. That's why I called the deal off—I don't want the extra trouble."

"You…" 

Zhang Tieyuan could not bring himself to mull over Qi Qingyao's barrage of words. All he knew was that the 100 taels were out of his hands now. He hurriedly said, "I don't care. You've already said it before. You were willing to buy my land for 100 taels!"

Before Qi Qingyao could say anything to that, Zhang Tieyuan turned to Ma Sanye and asked for his help anxiously, "Village Chief, you heard her then. You have to help me!"

"Uh…" Ma Sanye looked pensive. He could not say anything in reply.

Old Yang interrupted them sharply, "Old Zhang, you should stop pestering Qi Qingyao with your unreasonable demands. You were the first to question the source of her money and now you're forcing her to make a deal with you. You were so aggressive. Do you really expect her to proceed with the deal?"

"But she agreed to it!" Zhang Tieyuan was somewhat exasperated. He had completely forgotten that he was the first to attack Qi Qingyao. His mind had been completely clouded over by the 100 taels...

Looking at how her father was about to go mad over the 100 taels, Zhang Cuiyun called after him anxiously, "Father…"

Zhang Tieyuan was so furious that he pushed Zhang Cuiyun to the floor.

Qi Qingyao interjected on time, saying, "I have an idea. I like to gamble too. What if we make a bet with your daughter as the wager?"

"What do you mean?" Zhang Tieyuan's mind blanked out.

Qi Qingyao, with a serene and mysterious smile on her face, said, "We'll play dice and see who gets the bigger number. One match will suffice. If you win, I'll give you 2 taels. If you lose and have no money at all, you'll give me your daughter. What do you think?"

Zhang Tieyuan's eyes lit up.

He had nothing to lose in this bet.

When he looked like he was about to agree, Zhang Cuiyun tried to refuse immediately. "Father, no, I don't want to be the wager."

"Stop babbling. Don't you trust your father? I'm very skilled at playing dice." Zhang Tieyuan said to his daughter. He then turned to Qi Qingyao, confidently stating, "I'll make a bet with you! If I win, you'll give me 2 taels. If I lose, my daughter is yours." This was an opportunity to get an extra mouth in the house out of the way.

"Father!" Zhang Cuiyun was so anxious she could cry. 

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