Jiang Wanwan took the rice back to the Jiang family home, and after having Jiang Liu arrange for its distribution, she left the matter alone.

She told Qi Zhao what she had found out.

A short while later, a commotion was heard coming from outside the courtyard.

Jiang Wanwan and Qi Zhao exchanged a wary glance, then cautiously hid inside the courtyard gate, wanting to find out what was going on.

It was a false alarm; it wasn't one of Su Mu's men.

It turns out that it was just a fight between the families of Jiang Tietou, Jiang Dayong, and Jiang Dali.

The three families, young and old, were fighting fiercely. Amidst the cursing and swearing, Jiang Wanwan got to know some juicy gossip.

It turned out that Su Wan'er demanded that each of the three families pay 120 taels of silver, or she would cut off one of their arms if they failed to pay within five days.

The reason these three families fought was because Jiang Dali embezzled some silver. This angered Jiang Tietou and Jiang Dayong.

Because he needed to gather so much silver, Jiang Dali couldn't possibly share the embezzled silver with the two men. If he couldn't raise enough silver himself, wouldn't he also lose an arm?

Don't even think about it!

Jiang Dayong and Jiang Tietou wanted to sell the oxcart, which all three families owned, for money, but they couldn't find it. It turned out that Jiang Dali had hidden the oxcart long ago.

Therefore, the two families of Jiang Dayong and Jiang Tietou hated Jiang Dali extremely, and the two ganged up on Jiang Dali.

Jiang Dali's wife, Liu Sanniang, naturally couldn't just stand by and watch her husband get beaten, so she rolled up her sleeves and got to work too.

Seeing this, Jiang Dayong's wife, Feng Xiuer, was not to be outdone and rolled up her sleeves to fight with Liu Sanniang.

Jiang Zhuzhu and Zhang Cuihua naturally couldn't just stand by and watch Jiang Tietou get beaten, so they both joined the fray.

As a result, all three families joined the battle.

Some were pulling hair, some were pinching people, and some were slapping people; the scene was quite lively.

Former best friends turned into bitter enemies; this is quite a dramatic turn of events.

Jiang Wanwan happily bought a big bag of sunflower seeds at the mall and watched the show while eating them.

Hit them! Hit them hard!

Jiang Wanwan squatted in the distance, occasionally saying a few words about the offering of fire.

The villagers learned the whole story amidst the quarreling and insults between the three families.

It turns out that the thief that robbed Old Jiang's family was actually the work of these three! Seeing that Old Jiang's family had made a fortune through the mosquito coil business, the three of them, including Jiang Tietou, had evil intentions, but they didn't expect that the secret recipe they stole was a fake one.

On their way home, the three were not only severely beaten by the townspeople, but Baibaoxuan also demanded that each of the three families pay him 120 taels of silver, or else he would break one of their arms.

The village chief, having learned the whole story, was furious.

He wanted to expel all three families from the village immediately, but Jiang Wanwan stopped him.

It wasn't that Jiang Wanwan was soft-hearted, but rather that she still needed Jiang Dali's oxcart to help her family distract the men in black.

“Village chief, since Baibaoxuan has already punished the three of them, let’s leave it at that for now. It’s not too late to punish their families later.”

After being persuaded by Jiang Wanwan, the village chief decided to drop the matter and temporarily refrain from punishing the three families.

Two days later, the locust plague swept across the entire Daqi region, no longer limited to villages like Dashui Village and those in the surrounding areas. The locusts completely destroyed the rice and other crops that were almost ready for harvest. Grain prices skyrocketed, multiplying several times over.

Instantly, everyone in Daqi felt insecure. Officials and the wealthy scrambled to buy grain. Ordinary people, however, had too little silver to buy any and could only pray that the disaster would end soon and that a drought would not occur.

A dark cloud hung over Anyang County, and the entire county was no longer as vibrant as it used to be. Because of this natural disaster, people's anger and resentment had increased considerably.

So, on a dark and stormy night, Baibaoxuan was burned to the ground.