A peasant girl traveled through time and space, and she became prosperous

Chapter 317 Severing the Bond Between Blood and Flesh

Wang Baoquan was furious when an accident occurred before he could even finish entertaining his grandson. He was stunned when he saw someone barge in.

"Niu Niu, what's wrong?"

As soon as she entered, she saw Niu Niu lying on the ground with tears in her eyes. Ma Rulan was heartbroken and rushed over to pull Niu Niu up from the ground and hug her in her arms.

"You know her?"

Wang Baoquan was surprised that Ma Rulan came here, and even more surprised that Ma Rulan knew Niu Niu.

"She is my cousin."

After feeling sorry for her, Ma Rulan didn't forget Wen Meijiu's instructions. She quickly helped Niu Niu stand up and explained the situation to Wang Baoquan.

Wang Baoquan circled around Niu Niu and Ma Rulan several times, looking suspicious. After stopping, he pointed at Ma Rulan and asked Niu Niu:

"Is what she said true?"

Ma Rulan's aunt was sold by her maternal grandfather. She lived far away from Ma Rulan's family. The two families had met, but Niu Niu was too young to remember.

Even if Ma Rulan saw Niu Niu, she might not immediately recognize her, let alone Niu Niu who was so young. She guessed it must be her because Wang Baoquan only had one little girl in his family.

With tears in her eyes, Niu Niu looked at Wang Baoquan, then at Pang Hu, and then back at Ma Rulan, who had spoken up for her. Even though she was young, she knew who was good to her.

"Uh-huh."

After a moment's hesitation, she nodded vigorously.

Wang Baoquan looked at Ma Rulan, his dim, yellowish old eyes gradually narrowing.

He pondered that it was Wen Meijiu who first set her sights on the child, and now Ma Rulan had appeared, claiming to be her cousin. Niu Niu didn't seem to know Ma Rulan well. Could it be that Wen Meijiu had failed to negotiate with him and deliberately made up a reason to send Ma Rulan to demand the child back?

With certainty in his heart that this was the case, Wang Baoquan suddenly laughed.

After laughing, Wang Baoquan suddenly said in a deep voice, "Even if she really is your cousin, since she has been bought by my family, she is one of our family members. I have her indenture here, with her signature, fingerprint, and handprint on it. According to the rules, you have no right to take it back."

Wang Baoquan didn't want to release the person, which was something Wen Meijiu had told Ma Rulan beforehand, so she wasn't surprised.

Hiding Niu Niu slightly behind her, Ma Rulan wiped her eyes, her face beaming with smiles, stepped forward, bowed to Wang Baoquan, and said gently:

“I know Grandpa Wang went through a lot of trouble to take in Niu Niu. After all, Niu Niu is still young. According to the laws of our dynasty, she has not yet reached the age of marriage. Minors who sell themselves must have the consent of their parents or immediate family members, otherwise the contract is invalid. My aunt and uncle have passed away. I am my sister’s only relative. I have never agreed to this matter. This contract is not in accordance with the rules and cannot be counted.”

Upon hearing this, Wang Baoquan was surprised. He turned to look at Ma Rulan, a cold snort escaping his lips, and said with absolute certainty:

"I'm afraid Miss Ma has misunderstood. The handprint was not made by Niu Niu, but by your aunt before she passed away."

Upon hearing this, Ma Rulan was furious. Wen Meijiu had told her that when she saw Niu Niu before, her aunt had already passed away.

How could a dead person sign and put their fingerprint on something?

What I fear most is that Wang Baoquan has no bottom line. He had already made thorough preparations and, holding his aunt's finger, pressed his fingerprint onto the already written contract of indenture.

If that's the case, Ma Rulan's wish to take Niu Niu away will likely be completely dashed.

Suddenly standing up straight, Ma Rulan no longer stood on ceremony with Wang Baoquan and said firmly:

"I need to see evidence. Without evidence, I will never admit it. If all else fails, let's go to the village chief and let him judge the matter properly."

Seeing Ma Rulan's tone harden, Wang Baoquan remained calm, reaching into his shirt and quickly pulling out a slightly yellowed piece of paper.

Unfolding the paper, Wang Baoquan confidently held it out to Ma Rulan, pointing to the last red fingerprint.

“This is your aunt’s fingerprint. No matter where you go, I’m in the right.”

"Let me see."

Before Ma Rulan could take even half a step closer, Wang Baoquan quickly folded up the unfolded indenture and hid it inside his clothes.

"I've already seen the item, believe it or not."

Fearing that Ma Rulan might do something outrageous, Wang Baoquan tore up the indenture.

Although she couldn't see clearly whether the handprint on it was her aunt's, it was roughly the same as Wen Meijiu had expected.

"Niu Niu, tell your cousin, was your mother's fingerprint on your indenture?"

Just as Ma Rulan was about to ask Niu Niu a question, Wang Baoquan grabbed her and pulled her away from her.

“Miss Ma, I’ve already been merciful enough by not kicking you out since you suddenly barged in. I hope you won’t cause any trouble here, or I won’t be so polite.”

He raised his pipe and pointed it at Ma Rulan's head, clearly afraid of giving himself away.

"what are you doing?"

Fearing that Wang Baoquan would actually hit someone, Chen quickly stepped forward to stop him.

At this moment, Niu Niu was too scared to speak and huddled up in a ball.

"Get out, get out!"

Wang Baoquan was furious and ordered Ma Rulan to leave.

Staring indignantly at Wang Baoquan, Ma Rulan made up her mind to get Niu Niu back.

However, Wen Meijiu had instructed her that this time she only needed to investigate Wang Baoquan's background and not to have a major conflict with him.

She stomped her foot hard, glanced at Niu Niu with lingering affection, and turned to leave.

Ma Rulan stormed off, and Chen Shi, worried, slowly walked to Wang Baoquan's side, tugged at his sleeve, and whispered:

"Is this okay?"

Wang Baoquan glanced back at Chen Shi and said, "My grandson's maid came with a perfectly legitimate reason. She thinks she can take people away with just a few excuses? Dream on."

Madam Chen knew that her husband was doing this to oppose Wen Meijiu, not simply to spite Ma Rulan.

"Why don't we just send it back? Our grain doesn't grow on trees."

As if someone had stepped on his tail, Wang Baoquan abruptly shook off Chen's tugging and scolded:

"Foolish! Why should I? I traded cornbread for this, who dares to say no?"

"Keep being stubborn, what good will it do us?"

Knowing she couldn't go against her husband's wishes, Chen walked away, muttering to herself.

"Dad, why don't you just listen to Mom?"

Wang Laisuan also felt that this matter was somewhat inappropriate. It wasn't that he pitied Niu Niu, but he felt that he couldn't keep offending Wen Meijiu like this.

"Shut up, you little brat, why are you siding with outsiders?"

None of his family members spoke up for him, which angered him, and he started yelling at his son.

Wang Laishuan was scolded, shook his head, and went to squat down next to his mother.

Seeing that her husband had been scolded, Deng dared not say anything more to her father-in-law and quickly followed her husband over there.

With no one around, Wang Baoquan grew angrier and angrier, and kicked Niu Niu behind him.

"You wild girl, why aren't you serving my grandson properly? I'll beat you to death in a minute."

Niu Niu let out a muffled groan and, with a sob in her voice, crawled back to Pang Hu.