Chapter 62: Free Ride

The rumors outside were nothing to Shen Yijia, so she naturally ignored them.

She continued going up the mountain to hunt.

Although she didn’t encounter any more wild boars, she still managed to hunt other animals.

When the villagers saw Shen Yijia walking in and out of the mountain with prey in her hands, they realized that Shen Yijia was skilled, so they stopped gossiping. The people in the old residence were so angry that they did not sleep well for a few days.

Early this morning, Shen Yijia carried the prey she had accumulated over the past few days into the carriage and prepared to sell them in town.

Madam Li had to marinate those that were accidentally killed and keep them at home to eat. The rest of her prey were all injured but alive.

Winter was coming, so everyone in the family had to prepare their cotton clothes and blankets in advance. They also had to stock up on food.

Madam Li’s embroidery work was also done, and she planned to go with Shen Yijia.

Before setting off, Shen Yijia specially went to the An family to ask about the restaurant that collected prey. Auntie Tian also wanted to sell embroidery, so she joined them in the carriage.

The carriage drove all the way to the village entrance, where an ox cart was parked. It was already full.

There were a few women standing beside the ox cart. It seemed like there wasn’t enough space.

There were only a few ox carts in the village. After all, not everyone went to town every day. Not everyone was willing to pay two copper coins for a cart.

Usually, everyone would discuss when they would go into town, then arrange for an ox cart to bring them to town at the same time. Today’s ox cart happened to belong to the old residence, and the driver was Song Erlin.

Shen Yijia ignored him and was about to go over when a woman stopped her.

“Hey, big sister, are you heading towards the town too? I’m going the same way, may I hitch a ride?”

Once she opened her mouth, and the other women who did not manage to get a seat in the ox cart were also tempted.

The people who had gossiped about Shen Yijia were too ashamed to speak up, but they didn’t leave either. They all thought that if Shen Yijia promised to bring someone else, they would be able to hitch a ride too.

The thick-skinned villagers opened their mouths. “That’s right. We’re all from the same village. You’re going anyway, and the carriage is empty anyway. Why don’t you bring us along? We’ll remember your kindness.”

Shen Yijia glanced at those people and stopped the carriage.

The women looked delighted. They did not expect to save money on the ox cart and get a free ride on the carriage.

They all fought to get into the carriage.

Shen Yijia reached out and stopped the woman in front. She asked in confusion, “Why do I need you to remember my kindness? Would you send me food or clothes in return?”

After saying that, she rolled her eyes and pointed at one of the women. “You were the one who said that you wanted to chase us out of the village the other day. Now you want to take my carriage? Aren’t you afraid of being implicated by our family?”

“And you, you and you.” She pointed out a few more. “Yesterday, I heard the two of you gossiping about me together. Have you forgotten?”

She remembered very clearly. Although she didn’t care about the rumors, she wasn’t a fool. She wasn’t about to help someone who wanted to trample on her reputation.

She had ignored them previously because she was not good at arguing with others. She did not think it was necessary to fight them yet.

Of course, she wouldn’t go easy on them if they went overboard.

With that, Shen Yijia ignored the women and raised her whip. The carriage started moving again and quickly disappeared from everyone’s sight.

The women were left stunned and ashamed. Why did she stop the carriage if she wasn’t going to agree to their request?

“I just wanted to remind all of you to stop being so shameless.” Shen Yijia thought.

“Pfft, what’s so great about having a carriage? They’re still forced to settle down in this poor village.” A woman cursed angrily.

Regaining her dignity, the woman called out to the others indignantly, “Let’s go. We have legs. It’s not like we can’t reach the town on foot.”

“It’s indeed great. We have two carriages, not just one. It’s just that Uncle Yang is using the other one right now.” Shen Yijia thought.