Chapter 86 Giving the Villagers a Chance
Seeing the family's excited state, Wan Qiqi was speechless for a moment.
Clearly, Chen Lizheng hadn't finished speaking.
If they really wanted to arrest her, they should have brought people from the county government, not just him alone.
She should be happy that this family spoke up for her, but she couldn't be happy at all, because they were really stupid!
Chen Lizheng was interrupted halfway through his sentence by one person after another, leaving him unable to finish his sentence despite his mouth being open for a long time.
In the end, he simply gave up and let them finish speaking before he spoke.
He turned his head to look at Wan Qiqi, a little curious. How did she manage to go from being despised by everyone to being protected by her family?
It's hard to tell that these people's concern is genuine.
Chen Yongnian, in particular, seemed determined to take the man along and beat him up first.
Wan Qiqi rubbed her forehead, closed her eyes and remained silent for a long while before calling out loudly, "Mother, husband, second brother, third brother, shall we listen to what Village Chief Chen has to say first?"
Everyone quieted down, their eyes fixed on Chen Lizheng.
Wan Qiqi sighed and looked over as well.
Chen Lizheng then continued, “The magistrate originally intended to punish you, but later, for some reason, he suddenly asked me and Physician Sun about you. We then truthfully reported what you had done during the plague. The magistrate, considering that you had reformed, did not punish you. His merits and demerits canceled out the reward for your family’s treatment of the plague.”
He had intended to let the matter rest, but then he remembered that he had promised to reward those who actively fought against the plague, and now that her family had received nothing, he felt he should explain that it wasn't him, the village head, who had been greedy.
Chen Yongliang immediately replied, "As long as they don't arrest the eldest sister-in-law, the reward doesn't matter."
He thought to himself that the reward he received was probably less than what he had earned helping his sister-in-law with her business today, so why should he accept it?
Chen Yongnian breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Lord Village Head, this is what we should do."
Although there was no reward, everyone felt it was fine, at least the magistrate didn't blame them.
Li Chongniang sat to the side listening without interrupting or mentioning the loss of the reward.
In the past, she would have jumped up in a panic.
Actually, it wasn't that she didn't care about the reward, but rather that she felt that with her sister-in-law around, there was nothing she wouldn't have.
After all, the eldest sister-in-law is now keeping her word. When she woke up this morning, she indeed saw her husband holding 50 coins.
Chen Lizheng looked at the family's harmonious atmosphere and felt very comfortable staying there. He picked up the bamboo cup on the table and took a sip.
Then, a hint of surprise flashed across his face. "This is the sweet soup you sell?"
Wan Qiqi replied obediently, "Yes, this is honey pomelo syrup. If the village chief likes it, I'll have my husband get you a bottle so you can take it back for your wife and son to try."
Chen Lizheng took another sip; the fruit pieces tasted slightly sour, and there were other things mixed in with them.
He looked down and saw finely chopped grapefruit peel soaked in honey. He couldn't help but exclaim, "How can such a sour grapefruit and its peel be made into something so delicious? Wonderful! Wonderful!"
Wan Qiqi smiled and said, "Actually, there are many delicious foods in the mountains, but they require investment in processing."
She pushed the honey grapefruit jam in the bamboo jar in front of Chen Li, saying, "Nowadays, everyone lives in poverty, sticks to old ways, and is unwilling to take risks. They can only rely on God to feed them, putting themselves in a dilemma. I was just bold and took some risks to do it."
Chen Lizheng nodded, agreeing with her statement. He had also had this thought, but dared not take the risk.
He is the village head. If he is chosen correctly, he will lead the whole village to prosperity; if he is chosen incorrectly, he will make the whole village even worse off.
He was naturally pleased that someone was willing to try it.
He asked, "I heard you're buying pomelos for 3 coins each?"
Wan Qiqi nodded and added, "Yes, pomelo peel is also acceptable, 1 coin each."
Chen Lizheng asked, "Then tomorrow I'll have Sanyuan take some people to collect them. Can you guarantee we can get them?"
Wan Qiqi understood what Chen Lizheng meant. "Of course, we'll keep our word. However, we can't just pick any kind of fruit. We can't eat unripe pomelos."
Chen Lizheng replied with a smile, "Of course."
Then he asked, "Will you lose money?"
“I only need to buy some rock sugar; the honey is what I collected in the mountains.” Wan Qiqi paused, then continued, “I will arrange the honey myself. Chen Lizheng, please don’t let everyone take any risks.”
She thought that if she bought the honey for 300 coins and sold it for 400 coins, she could earn 100 coins per pound, which would be a good deal.
However, without professional beekeeping attire, harvesting honey is an extremely dangerous activity.
This also reminded her that she should get a beekeeping suit similar to what she has now, so that she can collect honey more easily and not keep using the same honey from last time.
Chen Lizheng thought about it and realized that it was a dangerous matter and he really couldn't go.
A couple of years ago, some people tried to make some money this way, but they were stung by bees and their bodies swelled up, eventually leading to their deaths.
As the neighborhood chief, he has to consider more things than the average person.
"Alright, if you encounter any difficulties, just tell me and I will do my best to help."
Chen Lizheng felt that this was a good thing for the village's development and that it was worth promoting.
Suddenly, he remembered something and asked, "Qiqi, do you know anyone in the county government?"
Wan Qiqi shook her head.
"That's strange!" Chen Lizheng muttered. "I heard that someone spoke up for you in front of the magistrate, which is why the magistrate came to question you... Never mind, it's good that this matter is cleared up. I'll have someone make arrangements for it tomorrow."
"Hmm." Wan Qiqi seemed to be deep in thought.
Her intuition told her that this matter must be related to Wan Ziyan.
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