The Wealthy Eldest Sister Rules Supreme

But it doesn’t matter now, given that women can now hold property, it’s likely that I’ll be accepting more sons-in-law than before. They’ll still be from our village, so we will still be able to help each other out.

“Speaking of which, I’ve been too busy with the farming work at home recently to ask you, but it seems to me that the Zhuang Ruman family has been keeping out of trouble, haven’t they been bothering you anymore?”

“After Zhuang Yuanren returned to the town school, he spent all day repenting in front of his mentor. His mentor also asked me about it once, and I decided, considering that it’s not easy for someone from our village to get an education. Although Zhuang Yuanren is a bit deceitful, the trouble he has is also caused by his parents. As the saying goes, the sins of the fathers should not be visited on the children. So I spoke up for him. Zhuang Yuanren then went to study at the government school in the county town.”

Now, he may like Zhuang Qingning, and disliking Zhuang Ruman and Mrs. Song is a fact, but he has to take into account all aspects of the situation, especially if there are promising ones in the future generation. After all, he cannot deliberately suppress them. Otherwise, it would make him, as village chief, look like he doesn’t understand and know how to manage things.

Feeling powerless, Zhuang Jingye decided to explain his predicament to Zhuang Qingning, hoping for her understanding.

“Uncle, as the village chief, I must make decisions about big and small affairs and balance many factors. It’s impossible for everyone to be satisfied. I understand your position, uncle.”

Zhuang Qingning said: “In recent times, my uncle’s family has been behaving, and there haven’t been any incidents. Uncle, you can rest assured.”

As for why Zhuang Ruman had been quiet recently, Zhuang Qingning had a rough idea.

The first reason was that Zhuang Yuanren was very dissatisfied with his parents, Zhuang Ruman and Mrs. Song, because his plan to study at the county government school had been obstructed. He had returned home twice, each time tearful and full of complaints. Despite their dislike for her, Zhuang Ruman and Mrs. Song still cared more about Zhuang Yuanren’s future, and therefore put away their plots against her for the time being.

The second reason was Zhuang Ruman’s injuries.

Ever since Zhuang Ruman’s bottom got poked by the manure fork, the wound was not healing right because of the dirty fork and hot weather. The medical powder they bought was not very good due to the family’s budget constraint. On top of that, Zhuang Yucheng had beaten him that day, which aggravated his injury, and it has been slow to heal ever since.

But with the summer harvest approaching, and no one in the family except Mrs. Song being capable of doing work, the sight of the ripe wheat in the field ready to fall off was unnerving. So Zhuang Ruman had to bear the pain and work in the field, as a result, his injury never healed properly.

With his injury and all the work that needed to be done in the fields, Zhuang Ruman hadn’t had time to plot anything else.

The third reason was Zhuang Qinghe’s impending marriage. After Zhuang Ruman convinced Mrs. Song to find a marriage match for Zhuang Qinghe, she began searching for suitable candidates. However, many weren’t quite right, either because they considered the house too poor or not poor enough, so till now there wasn’t a clear choice.

As for Zhuang Qinghe, her mind was on Zhuang Wencheng. Listening to Mrs. Song’s plans for her matchmaking, which seemed rather casual, Zhuang Qinghe wasn’t happy. She had quarreled with Mrs. Song several times, got punished by Zhuang Ruman twice, and even threatened to run away from home, causing quite a stir.

With so many things happening at home and Song and Zhuang Ruman already have their hands full, they barely have any energy left to plot against others.

“That’s all for the better. If they disturb you again, don’t retaliate by yourself, just come and find me and I’ll handle it for you.”

Zhuang Jingye promised, puffing out his chest confidently.

Mrs. Song isn’t very smart, and Zhuang Ruman is a troublemaker. Whatever they’re planning, Mrs. Song is certain to charge headfirst into it. Zhuang Qingning isn’t easy to provoke either. If there’s a conflict, it will definitely cause chaos in the village.

Besides, Zhuang Qingning is still an unmarried young woman. While she may not be at a significant disadvantage, any confrontations could damage her reputation. She is also a minor, and a junior in the village, so there are times when she could be at a disadvantage.

For the sake of peace and stability in the village, to help Zhuang Qingning live a better life, and to let others see his authority as a village chief, Zhuang Jingye feels that it is more appropriate for him to stand up and handle such matters.

He will kill a chicken to scare the monkeys, and make those in the village who harbor malicious intentions calm down a bit.

By the way, he could also get into Zhuang Qingning’s good graces. It’s a win­win proposition, and Zhuang Jingye believes it’s doable.

“Okay, from now on, I will only rely on you, Uncle.”

She was well aware of Zhuang Jingye’s personality and intentions. But no matter what his motives were, as long as he was on her side and his actions benefited her, she could consider him an ally.

As for other considerations, she didn’t need to care, and she couldn’t afford to.

“Tomorrow morning, the bean seeds will be delivered to my house. With autumn sowing only a few days away, we have to hurry up with this. Not planting these high-yield beans would be a loss for both the tofu shop and the villagers.”

“OK, tomorrow at noon, I’ll blow a bamboo whistle to gather everyone and discuss this matter,” Zhuang Jingye nodded and said, “But Ning, let me make this clear to you in advance. I will help to the best of my ability. However, in the end, it’s by voluntary decision. Those who are willing will use it; those who aren’t willing, we can’t force them.”

“I understand, Uncle. I’m not the kind of person who doesn’t understand reason.”

Zhuang Qingning rose to her feet: “That settles it then. I’ll notify you once I receive the beans tomorrow morning.”

“The beans I brought today are all here. Just leave them at your place, Uncle. You can calculate how much you’ll need for planting. If it’s not enough, I can bring more tomorrow.”

“Okay.” Zhuang Jingye nodded and stood up to hold Zhuang Qingning back: “It’s almost dinner time. Why don’t you stay and eat with us? I’ll tell your aunt to make more food. We can also call Miss Sui over.”

“Qingsui must have prepared dinner at home already. I’ll go home to eat.”

Zhuang Qingning declined politely and departed after exchanging some pleasantries.

Zhuang Jingye showed her to the door and returned to finish off the remaining slice of sweet melon he had.

The sweet melon tasted crispy and sweet, very delicious indeed.

Yet, Zhuang Jingye was no longer interested in eating the sweet melon at the moment. He took a few beans from the ones Zhuang Qingning had brought and a few of his own, dug a small hole with the shovel, and planted them together by the wall.

To avoid confusing them, he took a lump of lime and marked a circle on the wall where Zhuang Qingning’s bean seeds had been planted.

He would wait a few days to see which batch of beans germinated faster, grew sturdier, and had a higher germination rate.

Having finished this job to his satisfaction, Zhuang Jingye washed his hands and went to enjoy the cool breeze.

The following day, at the crack of dawn when the eastern sky was just beginning to lighten, Zhuang Qingning got up quietly.

She picked up the bags of beans from Xiaowu and, with some care, started piling them against the wall.