Lan Guangxue kicked out hard, hitting Li Chunxiang squarely in the abdomen.

Li Chunxiang collapsed to the ground on the spot, writhing in pain.

Lan Guangxue is known not only for his iron hands, but also for his iron legs.

"Chunxiang, are you alright?" Lan Guangxue broke out in a cold sweat, looking at the woman on the ground clutching her stomach and screaming in pain, at a loss for what to do.

"It hurts...it hurts..." Li Chunxiang's face turned pale.

"Uncle Lan, let's get Auntie to the hospital right away!" the people who had come with them shouted from afar, and none of them dared to come any closer.

Lan Guangxue lifted Li Chunxiang up, and as he left, he said viciously to Xiao Moran and Su Xiaonuan, "Just wait and see who has the last laugh."

Although it was drizzling, a lot of people still came to watch the commotion outside the courtyard gate. After hearing that Lan Guangxue had led people to cause trouble at the Xiao family's house, the news spread throughout the village, and everyone came to see what was going on.

Those young people who came with Lan Guangxue later followed him away.

"Come in, all of you!" Su Xiaonuan called out to the courtyard gate.

Everyone rushed in.

"You all came to see what was going on after hearing the news, so you must know something, right?" Su Xiaonuan didn't mince words. "Your relatives are among the helpers. I, Su Xiaonuan, believe I've never treated anyone unfairly. We make money together, so why are you allowing your families to bully us along with the Lan family?"

Everyone eagerly said:

"Lan Guangxue believes that those rumors are fabricated by you, and that you are trying to ruin his daughter's happiness."

"He also said that Mo Ran was blinded by lust and plotted to ruin his family's entire year's harvest, and that he wants your family to compensate him for the entire year's worth of grain."

"Lan Guangxue is going to recruit a group of temporary workers from the village to work at the mine. They will pay thirty yuan a month. Those people just now are all going to follow Lan Guangxue to the mine."

...

"Okay, I understand." Su Xiaonuan raised her hand and pressed it down.

Everyone quieted down.

"Everyone, I'm not trying to spread rumors about some people, but do you know what it means to work as a temporary worker in a mine?" Su Xiaonuan said.

"Of course, it's going down into the mine to dig coal."

"Do you know how dangerous coal mining is?" Su Xiaonuan said. "Thirty yuan a month, and you're sending your main breadwinner to your death? Is it worth it?"

“No wealthy family would let them do this kind of work where they have to eat in a bloody pit. We’ve been farmers for generations and don’t have any connections. Even if we want to work as temporary workers in the mine, we need someone to introduce us. The monthly income of thirty yuan is indeed very attractive.”

"Everyone, I understand your difficulties. Aren't I trying to find ways to help you all get rich?"

"It's unstable; we don't make much money on rainy days."

"Also, there will come a day when we've harvested all the mountain produce."

"Everyone, don't worry, this is only temporary. I, Su Xiaonuan, guarantee that in the future, earning not only thirty yuan a month, but even fifty yuan a month will be no problem," Su Xiaonuan said confidently. "I'm currently planning this, so please be patient and wait for my good news."

"My dear wife, you can't just fool us, can you?"

“We don’t need fifty, we’ll be satisfied with a stable income of twenty or thirty yuan a month, after all, government employees only get a few dozen yuan a month.”

Aunt Hua squeezed to the front, and as soon as she spoke in a loud voice, everyone turned to look at her.

"Don't worry, Xiao Nuan won't lie to you. I've decided to provide my family's secret recipe for medicinal wine, and Xiao Nuan plans to mass-produce and sell it."

"Tch, your wine is harmful, and you're selling it in bulk."

A knowing laugh erupted from the crowd.

"Everyone, please be quiet." Su Xiaonuan raised her voice. "Listen to me, Aunt Hua's medicinal wine has been improved into a health-promoting wine. After Aunt Hua successfully blends it, everyone can taste it. If it works well, we can register a trademark with the industry and commerce bureau, and then we can open a factory to produce it in large quantities."

The village chief squeezed to the front and asked, "Xiao Nuan, do you and Aunt Hua really want to open a factory?"

"Okay." Xiao Nuan nodded. "Once Aunt Hua's new formula comes out, we can take the health-preserving wine to register."

"Okay, I fully support you." The village chief led the applause. "Everyone, go home. If Xiaonuan helps our village open a factory, then every family can hire one person to work there and get a fixed monthly salary. That's much better than risking your lives in the mine, and you can take care of your families. Don't you think so?"

"Yes." A chorus of responses rang out.

Once again, it was a close call.

After everyone left, Moxi circled around Su Xiaonuan and her brother twice, nodding and swaying his head as he teased them. "Hehe, today I finally know what it means to be a wife who follows her husband's lead."

Su Xiaonuan's face actually turned red.

“What do you know? That’s called telepathy,” Xiao Moran added.

"Oh well, never mind." Moxi threw punches and kicks. "Those moves you two made were so cool! Not only did you turn the tables and make them fight each other, it was so satisfying! Let's see if they dare to bully us again."

"It's true that you can know a person's face but not their heart; you can draw a person's skin but not their bones," Zhang Yulan sighed, shaking her head. "Our two families have always been on good terms. Except for the years when Moran was in the army, Moran helped with almost all the heavy work and farm work at the Lan family's house. As soon as they said they wouldn't help anymore, they turned their backs on us. Tell me, if Moxi and I were at home, wouldn't they bully us to death?"

"Mom, don't worry, they definitely won't dare to come again. The Lan family wants to use temporary coal mine workers to win everyone over. Let them dream on. I'm sure I can lead everyone to make more money," Su Xiaonuan said confidently.

"Xiao Nuan, don't take on too much work for yourself. One person's ability is limited, and you also have your own family to take care of."

"Mom, I know." Su Xiaonuan suddenly felt that Zhang Yulan had a hard time, especially when she heard someone with the surname Lan call her a widow. She felt particularly sad. She didn't realize it before she had a family to support, but now that she was a mother of two, she understood how difficult it was for a woman to raise two children.

The sound of a child crying came from the room.

"Why did you wake up so quickly?" Xiao Moran hurriedly ran inside.

Su Xiaonuan was worried, so she ran inside after her.

Although they weren't her biological children, she already treated them as her own.

The two ran in one after the other and saw Dou Dou hitting Guo Guo, who was crying very sadly.

"DouDou, why did you hit your little brother?"

"Mom, he peed."

"You can't hit people just because you pee!"

"My little brother peed on my head, Mom. Look, my head is covered in pee."

"Oh, it's all my fault!" Xiao Moran slapped his forehead. "I didn't put Guoguo down properly before I went out, otherwise, DouDou wouldn't have peed on his head."

The two had just finished fighting an external war when they immediately plunged into a civil war.

I took the two children off the bed, gave them a bath, changed their clothes, and then replaced all the mattresses on the bed.

Su Xiaonuan lifted the straw mat on the bed and saw that it was covered with straw underneath. She thought to herself, "I have to find a way to improve this. There are so many materials in the countryside, why don't they weave mattresses for them?"