Seeing how well Old Lady Chen had managed to govern these people, Old Man Chen was filled with admiration.
That's quite something; they actually came up with this brilliant way to extort money.
In order to better cooperate with Old Chen in extorting more money, he followed suit and looked around.
Seeing an oxcart run over his woodpile, he immediately perked up, pointed at the oxcart, and started yelling at the top of his lungs.
"Hey, hey, how did you drive that? Didn't you see my woodpile?"
"Look, the firewood has all been crushed. How are we supposed to start a fire now?"
The driver was so angry at Old Man Chen's unreasonable behavior that he almost lost his temper. "I say, old man, the firewood isn't even crushed into dust, so why can't it be burned? Aren't you just making trouble for no reason?"
"Hey, young man, what are you saying? You think you're right to damage my firewood? If you don't give me an explanation today, you're not leaving with your oxcart."
“Yes, that’s right. Don’t bully honest people. Let me tell you, we old folks aren’t afraid of anything, except people who speak softly. You’re bullying us like this, this isn’t over yet.” After saying that, Old Mrs. Chen gave Old Mr. Chen an approving look.
Old Chen, now emboldened by the approval, sat directly on the oxcart, saying, "Stop talking nonsense. You damaged my woodpile, so you have to give me an explanation, or this isn't over."
By this time, many villagers had gathered around to watch the spectacle, and they began to discuss the long line of oxcarts.
"I thought Qing was just talking casually, but I didn't expect her to actually build a house."
"Yes, at first we thought it was going to be a mud-brick house, but it turns out it's going to be a brick and tile house."
"You're wrong. They're not just building brick and tile houses, they're building a large mansion with three courtyards and three entrances."
"What does 'three in and three out' mean? Does it mean going in three times and coming out three times? What kind of house is this, going in and out so often?"
"You don't even know this? You're such a country bumpkin. The three-in-three-out is when you go in through the main gate, there's a courtyard, then there's a second gate, then another courtyard, then another gate, and then yet another courtyard. Do you understand now?"
"This house has so many doors and so many courtyards, it's huge!"
"That's right, wealthy families and officials all live in houses like this."
Upon hearing this, the villagers gasped in astonishment, their expressions shifting instantly from spectatory to envy.
"In just a few days, Qing'er has earned so much silver and built such a big courtyard. It's truly remarkable."
"What's so strange about that? They can produce over a hundred catties of brown sugar a day. At a hundred coins per catty, that's ten taels of silver a day. How could they not get rich!"
"Yeah, those old man and woman Chen are really unlucky. They bet on the wrong horse, pinning all their hopes on their third son. Now that Qingya is so successful, they're probably regretting it to death."
“What’s the use of regretting it? Old Mrs. Chen took advantage of the Zhan Shan family’s honesty back then, dividing the family and severing ties. She did all sorts of bad things. Now that Qing’er is rich, they can’t benefit from it at all.”
"You're right. I think the old couple is a bit desperate now, otherwise they wouldn't be acting like this in someone else's car."
"They're deliberately causing trouble, trying to extort money from Qingya!"
"They get more and more inhumane as they get older; it's so immoral."
“That’s right. If she could do anything right, Chen Ruolan wouldn’t have been ruined by Fan Tong.”
"Old Mrs. Chen definitely couldn't swallow this humiliation, so she deliberately made trouble for Qingya."
"It has nothing to do with her family, this is just nonsense!"
"Who says otherwise? This is clearly meant to annoy Qing. If it were me, I would have given her a good fight without saying a word, and then let's see if she would still dare to cause trouble."
"Don't brag like that. What kind of person is Old Mrs. Chen? If you dare to poke her with a single finger, she'll try to extort money from you."
"Alright, alright, you all stop talking. Qing'er is here. Let's go over and see how to resolve this."
******
Chen Qingqing had just returned to the sugar shop and hadn't even settled in when she heard that Old Man Chen and his wife had caused trouble for no reason, which made her furious.
Living next to someone like that will inevitably lead to a lot of trouble in the future.
But she wasn't afraid. She just wanted Old Man Chen and his wife to see her improve her life day by day and reach a height that they could only look up to.
There's a saying that goes, "You ignored me back then, but now you can't afford to miss me."
The best way to get revenge on evil people is to live a better life than them, leaving them far behind.
Chen Qingqing hurried over with the messenger and saw the old man and his wife sitting ostentatiously on the oxcart, and she felt utterly contemptuous.
She suppressed her anger and walked closer, speaking coldly.
"What are you two doing? Get off the oxcart right now, or I won't be responsible if you get hurt."
Old Mrs. Chen curled her lip in disdain, putting on a rogue-like expression, "Who do you think you are? You think I'll just come down if you tell me to? Let me tell you, if you really run into me, I'll make you support me for the rest of your life."
"Yes, you can try moving it. Anyway, we're fine. If anyone hurts my old arms and legs, I'll... I'll sit on your kang (heated brick bed)." Old Chen shamelessly chimed in.
Upon hearing this, the villagers watching couldn't stand it any longer.
An elderly man shouted, "Chen Zhonghou, can't you have some decency and do something decent? This place is 800 feet away from your home. What business is it of yours? Why are you stopping people from working? You're just causing trouble. You won't be in the right anywhere."
"Exactly! They're building a house, why are you two so envious and eager to join in? You're just making things difficult for them!"
Old Mrs. Chen glared at me, gritted her teeth, and started cursing, "Stop your nonsense! What do you mean it's none of my business? These piles of bricks are blocking my feng shui! If you don't give me an explanation, they can forget about building their house!"
With a dark expression, Luneng couldn't help but speak up, "Auntie, if you find it an eyesore to have the bricks unloaded here, we can move them to the side. Please don't make things difficult for our employer."
"Stop with the belated flattery. Where were you all before? You should have asked me first when you were unloading the cart. Now it's too late. This isn't over until you give me five taels of silver to buy some medicine."
"You, you, you, you're trying to scam me!"
"I'm just trying to extort you, what can you do about it!" Old Mrs. Chen gritted her teeth and glared.
Luneng shook his head and sighed, "Miss Chen, what do you think we should do about this?"
"Master Lu, don't worry, I'll handle this."
"You brat, if you want to build a house, give me the money right now, or you can forget about doing any work." Old Mrs. Chen said smugly.
Chen Qingqing's anger surged, and she waved her hand at the people behind her, "This land is the village's main road, everyone keep working, I'll take responsibility if anything goes wrong."
......
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