The Wealthy Eldest Sister Rules Supreme

“Leave, all of you leave!”

“A group of ingrates, each one worse than the last. When Fushun Tower was thriving, you all refused to leave. Now that Fushun Tower has fallen on hard times, you can’t wait to abandon ship and fly to better shores. Shameless!” Feng Yongkang was full of resentment, throwing his broom and apron to the ground and stomping on them with fury.

You are all worthless!

Get out, go far away from here!

Everybody pushes a falling wall; even the lowest tries to bully him!

Despicable, utterly despicable!

And the culprits who got him in this mess are just a few individuals!

Chai Zhengzhen, Zhang Yongchang, and that wretched girl Zhuang Qingning, I’ll deal with you all yet!

Feng Yongkang clenched his fists.

All the workshops are working in an orderly manner.

Awhile ago, Mrs. Qian had stolen broth from the tofu shop and sold it for money, only to be punished by the county magistrate and ordered to compensate Zhuang Qingning ten taels of silver. The news of this incident gradually spread throughout the village.

The villagers who heard about this incident were all extremely angry.

Even though the tofu shop belongs to Zhuang Qingning, who gets the lion’s share of the profits, because she operates so many workshops, everyone in the village benefits. However, selling the goods to outsiders, allowing them to compete with Zhuang Qingning, threatens the livelihoods of all the villagers who earn their living by working there.

Everyone understood Mrs. Qian’s selfishness, and their anger at her only deepened.

Some honest villagers even went to Mrs. Qian’s house to curse her.

The disgraced Qian family had no choice but to pack up their belongings, sell their house and farmland, and return to Mrs. Qian’s maternal home overnight. Although Mrs. Qian was punished and compensated Zhuang Qingning, the villagers were still angry about her deceitful behavior and worried that more people might follow in her footsteps. They vowed that if anyone else did such a foolish thing, they would no longer report it to the authorities but would break the culprit’s legs themselves.

Zhuang Jingye frowned deeply at their words.

Breaking legs and arms sounded violent. If people from other villages heard about it, wouldn’t they say that his village had barbaric customs? And then, what about the marriage prospects of the young men and women in the village? Everyone was just so thoughtless.

Breaking their arms or legs would just be an inconvenience for a few days, would that actually teach them a lesson?

Take that bastard Zhuang Ruman. Even after he was stabbed with a manure fork, he only rested for a few days before returning to his old ways, didn’t he?

So, you see, it’s not enough just to break their legs, you have to beat them within an inch of their lives without actually killing them. Beating them to death would require compensation, but leaving them half-dead would not entail any penalty and would still teach them a lesson.

But even if you beat them half-dead, you don’t need to announce it publicly, as this would only make the village appear barbaric.

That’s not good at all.

You should just keep things under wraps and handle matters discreetly.

Zhuang Jingye felt that this was a reasonable approach, but he was worried that some villagers wouldn’t understand this. So, he blew his bamboo whistle to summon everyone under the locust tree and at the entrance of the village’s ancestral hall, where he gave them a thoughtful talk as a reminder.

‘Village chief, there’s no need for you to say anything. We already understand.” “Indeed. The workshops may belong to Miss Zhuang, but we all share in their bounty. If anyone tries to sell the workshop’s recipes and hampers Miss Zhuang’s business, that person would be turning against the whole village and must not be tolerated.”

“Exactly. The village chief doesn’t need to worry about us having such malicious thoughts. After all, people who do bad things always get found out eventually. Look at Mrs. Qian’s example. Who would dare to walk the same path?”

“Not only will we not do such a thing, but if anyone dares to, I’ll be the first one to strike them down.”

“So will l!”

“Me too!”

A group of people were clamoring and making statements.

Despite the chaos, it was clear that everyone hoped that the workshops would only thrive more with time.

The people in this village are easy to educate.

Zhuang Jing stood by, a satisfied smile spreading across his face as he watched the understanding villagers.

Excellent leadership from the village chief combined with the upright thinking of the villagers was the perfect mix, indeed.

The Dog Days were in full swing. The stifling heat, the deafening cicada song, and the lack of any breeze made one sweat at the slightest movement.

Hot weather made the workers in the workshops drenched in sweat.

Concerned that the workers might suffer from heatstroke, Zhuang Qingning instructed Zhuang Yutian to get a prescription for a heat-clearing soup from Zhuang Wencheng and had it boiled for everyone to consume. Sugar-watered mung bean soup was also made readily available, and water was sprinkled on the grounds every day to cool the place.

Zhuang Qingning also gave instructions not to work during high noon, but only in the cool hours of the morning and evening.

In addition, Zhuang Qingning also increased everyone’s wages by twenty percent, calling it a high-temperature subsidy.

With Zhuang Qingning’s thoughtful arrangements and the assuring increase in wages, the workers became more motivated and their work even more efficient. After several busy days, one morning, as Zhuang Qingning had just opened the door and was about to begin her morning cleaning, she noticed a carriage stationed in front of her house.

As she was wondering, someone lifted the carriage curtain.

“Mr. Fan?”

It was Fan Wenxuan, dressed in his formal robes, looking at ease. He was a far cry from the desperate man she had encountered during his journey. If Zhuang Qingning hadn’t memorized his appearance, she would have almost failed to recognize him.

“Miss Zhuang still remembers me.” Fan Wenxuan stroked his beard and chuckled, explaining his visit, “Today is a day off for my students, so I’m free. I remember that I never got the chance to thank you for your help last time, so I decided to come and express my gratitude.”

“Mr. Fan is too polite.” Zhuang Qingning showed her respect and invited Fan Wenxuan into the courtyard and offered him a cup of tea.

“These are the characters and books that I’ve been organizing for children to learn and I’ve asked a student to copy out a set for you. It will come in handy when you are teaching your sister.”

“Also, about the matter of the girl’s academy, I got a chance to make a visit. It happens that the principal was absent, and the enrollment for the new students will be in August. We can still talk about it then. I will pay another visit and talk it over with the principal.”

“You don’t have to worry about your sister’s schooling in the girl’s academy. Leave it to me.”

Fan Wenxuan sounded very confident, which warmed Zhuang Qingning’s heart.