The Wealthy Eldest Sister Rules Supreme

Chapter 559: Chapter 546: Watching the Bustle

It was Widow Liu who got beaten up.

Not only beaten, she was held down on the ground, stripped of her clothes, and slapped multiple times continuously.

Even her house was smashed into pieces, not leaving anything intact. Even the iron pot she used for cooking and the jar she used for storing water were shattered.

As for the reason she was beaten, it was because Widow Liu had charmed a man named Guo Sanhuai from a neighboring village.

Guo Sanhuai was an honest man who worked in the county town on a daily basis. Due to his honesty, combined with his skilled carpentry work, many people sought out his services and paid him a fair wage.

Because of this, Guo Sanhuai managed to earn quite a bit of money throughout the year, leading a fairly prosperous life. Widow Liu set her sights on him. She found an opportunity to approach Guo Sanhuai, purposefully pressed her body against his and then screamed that Guo Sanhuai ogled her because she was attractive and wanted to take advantage of her. She made a scene on the spot.

Guo Sanhuai, being honest and straightforward, had never encountered such a situation and was scared to death. In the end, he was coerced and deceived by Widow Liu. He was forced to give her 150 coins each month in order to put the matter behind them.

Guo Sanhuai was intimidated by Widow Liu, he had to comply and took out the stipulated money from his wages every month to give to Widow Liu. He also begged her not to let word get out, for it would ruin his reputation.

150 coins were not a small sum and Guo Sanhuai gave his wages to his wife, Mrs. Fang, to manage. Suddenly losing such a large amount of money, Mrs. Fang naturally questioned him. After interrogating him several times, she learned of Widow Liu’s shameless behavior. In a fit of rage, she gathered her family members to seek out Widow Liu.

Mrs. Fang was known to be of a violent and resolute nature, and she had many family members. None of her family members were pushovers, and this matter was what married women feared and hated the most. So they were all filled with righteous indignation, wishing they could drown Widow Liu in a pig cage right away.

Unfortunately, they were outsiders in the village, and even though they were outraged, they couldn’t resort to such action. They could only beat up Widow Liu severely, humiliating her completely to vent their anger.

Thanks to the ruckus caused by Mrs. Fang, Widow Liu’s tactics were all exposed, and those who had been scammed by Widow Liu stood up one after another, denouncing her for her black-heartedness.

Widow Liu became the street mouse that everyone wanted to hit.

It was heard that Widow Liu could no longer stay in the village due to shame. She was getting ready to pack up and leave.

Originally, Mrs. He had been feeling depressed because of Zhuang Yonghe’s affairs. She sought out her sister-in-law for advice, but was told not to say or do anything for the time being.

Mrs. He initially wondered why Widow Liu should be let off so easily, but now she fully understood.

Widow Liu had committed so many evil deeds and naturally made quite a few enemies. There was no need for them to get involved. Someone else would definitely teach Widow Liu a lesson.

Mrs. He’s family was neither powerful nor influential. If the matter escalated, they might not be able to deal with Widow Liu, who was known to be as tough as a meat grinder. It would only stir up trouble. Furthermore, Zhuang Yonghe would not fall for this trap. So they might as well wait and watch the drama unfolding.

Now, the drama was exciting to watch.

With the matter weighing on her mind finally resolved, Mrs. He was in good spirits. She chopped more pork tenderloin into the meat stuffing, added some water, and mixed in some lard, making sure that it would be oily and delicious when eaten.

She made even more dumplings during the wrapping session, planning to send some to Zhuang Qingning’s house later.

Seeing Fan Wenxuan and others today, who liked eating country food, they would presumably appreciate these wild vegetables. She prepared more as a token of thanks for their usual care of Zhuang Mingli.

Thus, the dumplings made by Mrs. Wen and Mrs. He had way too many to be finished at noon, they had to keep some for frying to a golden brown at night.

In the next few days, dumplings stuffed with wild vegetables and pork, buns stuffed with wild vegetables and pork, cold mixed wild vegetables, wild vegetable noodles, and a wide variety of wild vegetable dishes constantly appeared on the table.

Although they were all wild vegetables, when Zhuang Qingning prepared them, they were so savory and delicious that it was impossible to get tired of them.

Even Chu Jinzhou, after coming over every day, kept asking which kind of wild vegetable dish he would be eating today.

As her cooking skills were recognized and the dishes she made were always fully consumed, Zhuang Qingning felt a sense of achievement. She was more motivated to cook, trying to prepare the wild vegetables in different ways to satisfy the appetites of the children.

After feeding them like this for several days, Shang Chengen came by, brimming with excitement.

Of course, his purpose was to talk about the dried noodle workshop.

Shang Chengen had found a suitable piece of land, located in Shijiazhuang, next to Qingshi Town.

The area around Shijiazhuang had fertile land, producing plenty of wheat and corn. The villagers were mostly honest and straightforward people who made an honest living as farmers. It was just that, since the establishment of the dynasty, whether it was the wheat in the north or the rice in the south, they had been reaped bumper harvests year after year. Therefore, both wheat and rice were unable to fetch a good price.

Because of this, despite working hard on the fields, the people of Shijiazhuang did not earn much money. Life was quite a struggle, and they were always trying to find odd jobs during the slack farming season.

In other words, there would be no problem with the supply of wheat flour, and there was no shortage of labor.

Hearing this, Zhuang Qingning nodded slightly in understanding.

“Furthermore, as I mentioned earlier, both the well water and spring water in the vicinity of Qingshi Town are excellent. Noodles made with this water will surely taste better than those made by Manager Zhuang.”

Shang Chengen brought over a small jar he had carried from Shijiazhuang, poured a bowl of water, and placed it in front of Zhuang Qingning, “Manager Zhuang, taste it. Isn’t the water good?”

Zhuang Qingning picked up the bowl and took a sip, “Yes, it is indeed good, as Manager Shang said. The water is slightly sweet and has no other taste. Whether for making noodles, soup, or tea, this water is excellent.”

“Indeed.” said Shang Chengen, “Tea made with this water tastes even better to me than the renowned spring water in Lu. It’s just that this place isn’t famous, so not many people know about it.”

“With flour, labor, and good water. It’s indeed a good idea to set up the workshop here.” said Zhuang Qingning, “Now we need to choose the right spot for the workshop and it would be good to meet the village chief of Shijiazhuang.”