Lu Family
The old lady lay on the bed, cursing and swearing, "That bastard Chen Xiaomi, I won't let this go."
Tang looked at the old lady and asked, "Mother, what other ideas do you have?"
The old lady, her eyes red, said, "I'll make a scene every day. I refuse to believe that Chen Xiaomi can chase me back every day."
Madam Tang thought to herself: Chen Xiaomi spent a tael of silver to get the old lady to come back. If the old lady keeps bothering Chen Xiaomi every day, she probably won't be able to stand it. Although it's a bit troublesome to make a fuss every day, it's still a solution.
The next day, Tang went to the village to rent an oxcart, but was turned away.
Mrs. Tang said sullenly, "What do you mean by not lending it anymore?"
"These cows can't travel long distances every day, it's too much of a hassle," Aunt Zhang said.
Tang looked at Aunt Zhang and said with dissatisfaction, "It's only been one trip, what's the big deal?"
Aunt Zhang smiled and said, "Our cow was listless when it came back last night."
After arguing with Aunt Zhang for a while, Tang had no choice but to leave dejectedly when she saw that Aunt Zhang wouldn't give in.
"Aunt Zhang, the Lu family came to borrow a cow, but you didn't lend it to them!"
Aunt Zhang smiled and said, "This ox travels a long way every day, it's such a hassle!" Besides, this Tang woman just said she wanted to borrow the ox without mentioning the travel expenses. She kept talking about how successful Lu Chengyu was. But what does Lu Chengyu's success have to do with her? Her family doesn't benefit from it at all.
Lending the ox to Tang would bring no benefit whatsoever, and would only offend Chen Xiaomi for no reason. If the ox were not lent out, there's a chance to get a tael of silver by the end of the year.
Aunt Zhang overheard a villager returning from town say that Chen Xiaomi had asked the village chief to pass on a message to their family, saying that as long as they didn't lend the cow to the Lu family, Chen Xiaomi would give them one tael of silver by the end of the year. Earning one tael of silver with such ease seemed very simple. However, after the village chief returned from town, he didn't say a word to them, leaving Aunt Zhang unsure whether the message was true or not.
Aunt Zhang suspected that the village chief was deliberately favoring the Lu family, so he intentionally didn't tell her about it.
Wang sat at home waiting for a long time before Tang finally arrived. "Where's the cow!"
Mrs. Tang glanced at the old lady and said, "They are unwilling to lend it."
Wang asked somewhat excitedly, "What do you mean by not wanting to lend it?" After Lu Chengyu passed the imperial examination and became a scholar, Wang could do whatever she wanted in the village. In Wang's view, now the villagers were vying to befriend their family. If their family wanted to borrow something from someone, it was a favor to that person. There was absolutely no reason why they couldn't borrow it.
Mrs. Tang said sullenly, "I've been to several households with livestock, but none of them are willing to lend me any." Mrs. Wang is too old to walk to the city on her own.
Wang said somewhat excitedly, "How could we not borrow it? The work in the fields should be finished now, and the livestock should be idle."
"It must be Chen Xiaomi's doing. He must be the one who forbids the villagers from lending us things."
"This guy is truly lawless!" Wang was trembling with anger.
Wang originally thought that now that Lu Chengyu had passed the imperial examination and become a scholar, their family's fortunes should finally turn around. However, she did not expect that the villagers would not give them any face after listening to Chen Xiaomi.
Mrs. Tang said sullenly, "It seems they received a bribe from Chen Xiaomi."
Wang asked, somewhat exasperated, "What exactly did Chen Xiaomi say?!"
Tang hesitated for a moment, then said, "I heard that Chen Xiaomi said that whoever doesn't lend us livestock will receive one tael of silver from him at the end of the year. It is said that Chen Xiaomi asked the village chief to pass on the message."
Wang said angrily, "This is too much! Does having money mean you can do this? Village chief, this is too much! Now that you know Chen Xiaomi has money, you've turned your back on everyone."
Mrs. Tang was also furious, and besides her anger, she was also worried. If the villagers listened to Chen Xiaomi and really refused to lend them the car, it would be inconvenient for them to go to town in the future. The inconvenience was secondary; it would be very embarrassing if no one was willing to give them a ride!
Wang said through gritted teeth, "No, Chen Xiaomi is bullying people too much. I'm going to ask the village head for clarification."
Tang stopped Wang and said, "Mother, let's investigate the matter thoroughly first."
Madam Tang knew her mother-in-law well; she was a woman who couldn't keep her mouth shut and had almost ruined Cheng Yu's reputation before. Madam Tang didn't want to offend the village head unnecessarily. Before, when the old man was still healthy, he could help the old lady clean up her messes, but now that the old man was ill, if the old lady made a mess, there would be no one to clean it up!
Wang said excitedly, "Don't stop me. I don't believe that the village head can be unreasonable."
Looking at Wang's expression, Tang felt a little regretful, but seeing that the old lady was really angry, she was afraid that the old lady would take her anger out on her, so she didn't dare to stop her too much.
The Zhang family.
Zhang Jin looked at Zhang Cheng and said, "Father, I told you long ago that you shouldn't interfere in the Lu family's affairs."
Zhang Cheng, smoking a cigarette, said, "I never expected things to turn out like this."
Zhang Cheng went to the trading company to find Chen Xiaomi, but Chen Xiaomi was unyielding and didn't take Lu Chengyu seriously at all, nor was she willing to give Lu Chengyu any money. Not only that, Chen Xiaomi also asked him to help inform the village not to lend livestock to the Lu family for money. After Zhang Cheng returned, he hesitated for a long time but still didn't talk to the villagers about the money. However, although he didn't say anything, the news still got out.
A farmer with a mule came to the door, asking Zhang Cheng and Chen Xiaomi if it was true that they would get a tael of silver if they didn't lend their livestock to the Lu family. The farmer felt that the tael of silver was practically free money. The village head had received the news but didn't tell them, causing them to miss the opportunity and lose a tael of silver for nothing. It was really too much.
Left with no other choice, the village head could only tell the villagers who came to ask that the matter of the silver was true, but it was hard to say whether Chen Xiaomi was just saying it casually or if it was true or false.
The villagers who came to inquire received confirmation and then left.
As a result, after the news got out, it became known that the village head had said he wouldn't allow the livestock to be lent to the Lu family.
The old lady of the Lu family came to their door, scolding the village head for bullying them by refusing to let the villagers lend their livestock, saying it was too cruel.
Zhang Cheng never dreamed that things would take such a sudden turn for the worse.
Those families with livestock blamed themselves for concealing the matter and not informing them immediately, almost missing out on the money. The Lu family, on the other hand, resented him for not allowing the villagers to lend them livestock, arguing that he must have taken a bribe from Chen Xiaomi.
“The villagers probably won’t lend livestock to the Lu family,” Zhang Jin said.
One tael of silver a year, and a cowherd could only earn a dozen or so coins for a round trip to the city. It was not easy to charge too much to his fellow villagers. But Chen Xiaomi had offered one tael of silver all at once! That was a lot of money for an ordinary villager. Naturally, there was no reason not to accept such free money.
Zhang Cheng said with a dark face, "What Chen Xiaomi did was a bit too much."
Zhang Cheng secretly regretted his actions. His original intention was to mediate between Lu Lin and the Lu family, but things had turned out this way.
Not only did he fail to resolve the conflict between the Lu family and Lu Lin, but he also made both sides hate him. Chen Xiaomi felt that he was biased towards the Lu family, while the Lu family felt that he was trying to curry favor with Chen Xiaomi because she was rich.
Zhang Cheng found himself in a lose-lose situation, but he felt his son was right. He shouldn't have interfered in the Lu family's affairs in the first place; his meddling had led to this mess. Although Zhang Cheng felt some regret, he was used to being in charge and was too embarrassed to admit his mistake to his son.
Chen Xiaomi sat leisurely in the rocking chair. Chen Xiaomai looked at Chen Xiaomi and said, "Big brother, is this chair comfortable?"
Chen Xiaomi nodded and said, "It's still very comfortable."
Chen Xiaomai said with some envy, "Let me lie down for a bit."
"Where's your rocking chair?" Chen Xiaomi asked.
The rocking chair that Lu Lin made for Chen Xiaomai was quite special, with small animals carved on it, adding a touch of childlike fun.
Chen Xiaomai said sullenly, "It was sold by Brother Lin again."
Chen Xiaomi: "..." If the family runs out of stock, people who can't wait for new stock will start picking up Lu Lin's personal stuff. And Lu Lin's personal stuff is often Xiaomai's toys. As a result, Xiaomai's toys are often sold off before she even gets to play with them.
Over time, many people discovered that Chen Xiaomai used fresh produce, ensuring quality. As a result, buyers didn't care whether there were any problems with the product and simply purchased it.
"Boss, boss, something terrible has happened!" Qin Ming ran in and said to Chen Xiaomi.
Chen Xiaomi frowned and said, "What happened? Why are you in such a panic?"
Qin Ming said sullenly, "Our shop has been sued. Someone said that eating our food made them sick."
Chen Xiaomi frowned and said, "How did our food cause stomach upset?"
Qin Ming shook his head and said, "I don't know, but the government has determined that our food was the problem, so they sent officers to arrest you."
Chen Xiaomi: "..." Their shop doesn't really sell food, they only occasionally give away some food as freebies. The last time they gave away food was a few days ago. Now they're saying she got a stomachache? Isn't that nonsense? Chen Xiaomi was arrested and taken to the government office, and the news spread throughout the village almost immediately.
When Old Mrs. Chen heard that Chen Xiaomi had been arrested and taken to the government, she was actually very happy. She shouted in the village that this was retribution, retribution for Chen Xiaomi's unfilial behavior.
Chen Jing was also very happy. After learning that Chen Xiaomi was the boss of Huaxia Trading Company, Chen Jing had been looking forward to Chen Xiaomi falling from her high position. Now his wish had finally come true.
The villagers were filled with anxiety. Suddenly, they started talking about how it was good to be an official. No matter how big the business was, it would be difficult to deal with if the government was watching.
Some villagers were worried that Chen Xiaomi's arrest would affect their future livelihoods, while others were gloating, thinking that Chen Xiaomi had finally fallen from grace.
When Grandma Lu learned that Lu Lin had been arrested, she was also very agitated.
"Cheng Yu!" Tang asked Lu Cheng Yu.
Lu Chengyu shook his head and said, "It wasn't me." However, it was somewhat related to him. The county magistrate's term was about to end, and he wanted to make a quick buck before leaving. So the registrar set up a trap to lure Chen Xiaomi into, which should make Chen Xiaomi bleed a lot of money.
After Chen Xiaomi was arrested and taken to the government office, Lu Lin spent three hundred taels of silver to bail her out. Because she had only been in custody for a short time, Chen Xiaomi did not suffer much.
Fearing further problems, Lu Lin shut down the business.
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