Chapter 266: Chapter 258: My Lan-zi

The cart driver nodded eagerly and pulled a small money bag from inside his robes, holding it out to Bai Zhi. "Miss Bai, the Shopkeeper told me to give you this for the produce. It’s five taels of silver. He said this will be the price from now on."

Uncle Hu’s eyes went wide with shock. "Five taels?"

The driver grinned from ear to ear. "That’s right, five taels! I was shocked myself. A hundred jin of taro for five taels of silver! I have to go home and tell my wife. We’re planting taro next year."

Bai Zhi accepted graciously. While the price was indeed much higher than market value, the four recipes she had given the Diner Inn for free were priceless.

The Diner Inn could earn back countless five-tael payments with those four recipes. This deal was a win-win for them both.

’This Boss Chen is a man of his word!’

Hu Feng helped the driver load the taro onto his cart, then hitched up their own family’s horse-drawn cart.

The two carts left Huangtuo Village, one after the other.

No sooner had Bai Zhi left than Old Mrs. Bai and Liu showed up. They went first to the wooden cabin where Bai Zhi and Zhao Lan lived. The door was open, and an unfamiliar young woman was squatting by the entrance, washing clothes.

Liu strode forward. "Where’s Zhao Lan?"

Zhao Su’e looked up and saw two women eyeing her with hostility. She quickly stood up and addressed them, "Aunt Lan isn’t here; she stepped out for something. Are you looking for her?"

Liu walked up, circled Zhao Su’e, and looked her up and down. "Who are you? And what are you doing here?"

Zhao Su’e said hurriedly, "I’m just staying with Aunt Lan temporarily. My child is sick, and we had nowhere else to go. Miss Bai was kind enough to take my family in for a few days so my child can recover."

Liu snorted. "She certainly is charitable, isn’t she? Having enough money to help out complete strangers!"

Old Mrs. Bai shot Zhao Su’e a cold glare, as if the woman had been eating food from the Bai Family’s table.

"Let’s deal with that later. First, we find that damn girl and get the money," Old Mrs. Bai said, pulling Liu toward the Hu Family’s home up ahead.

At this moment, only Hu Changlin was in the Hu Family’s courtyard.

"Hu Changlin, where are our Lan and Zhi?" Old Mrs. Bai asked, forcing a dry smile as she stood at the courtyard gate and called out to Hu Changlin inside.

’*Our* Lan and Zhi?’

Hu Changlin almost burst out laughing. It was the most ridiculous thing he’d heard in his life.

"Do you need them for something?" Hu Changlin retorted.

Liu said, "Of course we do! Why else would we be here so early in the morning?"

Hu Changlin shrugged. "Tough luck. Zhi has gone to the city. She won’t be back for a while. It’ll probably be dark by the time she returns."

The color drained from Liu’s face. She shoved the gate open and stormed into the courtyard. "What about Zhao Lan, then? Is Zhao Lan here?"

Hu Changlin shook his head. "She’s at work. No idea when she’ll be back." In reality, Zhao Lan and A Wu were at the construction site handing out breakfast to the laborers, far too busy to deal with these two harpies.

Liu glanced at the old woman. "Mother, what do we do now?" Old Mrs. Bai had promised to pay for Dazhu’s leg treatment but was reluctant to part with her own silver. She had planned to borrow from Bai Zhi and Zhao Lan, but now they were both gone. What were they supposed to do? Dazhu had already fainted from the pain twice.

The old woman was anxious, too. Dazhu was, after all, her favorite son, Xiao Feng’s father. She didn’t want anything to happen to him, but she only had a few taels of silver left in her box—money she was saving for Xiao Feng’s education.

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