The Wealthy Eldest Sister Rules Supreme

Chapter 515: Chapter 502: Intimidation

Mrs. Wang may be fierce, but she’s not blindly so. She knows who can be upset and who can’t, what can be done and what can’t.

After being threatened with Chu Jinnian’s official position, Mrs. Wang felt scared, and naturally, she wouldn’t make any more trouble.

Looking at Mrs. Wang’s frightened appearance, Zhuang Wencheng knew that his approach was not wrong.

“Also, don’t forget to arrange my wedding matters, mother. If it’s good and all parties are satisfied, we can set it.”

“Alright, alright, I’ll start arranging it right now,” Mrs. Wang hastily agreed. “Starting to arrange your matter early will show that I didn’t concentrate only on Miss Sui. Those prior words can be considered as a joke, so nobody will investigate further.”

“That’s the matter.” Zhuang Wencheng breathed a sigh of relief once more.

After finishing speaking, Zhuang Wencheng let out a big yawn.

He didn’t sleep a wink all night, and he just talked about a lot of things. Now, he was genuinely sleepy.

“You did not sleep last night, go and get some sleep right now. I will make a bowl of cabbage and shredded pork noodles for lunch. I will call you when it’s done.”

Seeing Zhuang Wencheng’s tired face, Mrs. Wang felt heartbroken. She led him into the house, tidied up the bedding for Zhuang Wencheng, telling him to rest immediately, and she hurried to instruct her eldest daughter-in-law to roll the noodles.

—-

As the saying goes, once Laba Festival is over, it’s time for the New Year.

Entering the twelfth lunar month and after the Laba Festival, the New Year’s atmosphere gradually thickened.

There was not much work in the fields, those who had to buy New Year’s goods bought New Year’s goods, and those who needed to make New Year’s clothes made New Year’s clothes. Some people who made a living outside gradually began to return home, and many workshops also began to stop their operations, all to reunite with their families and have a peaceful and prosperous year.

The workshops run by Zhuang Qingning were even busier as the New Year approached, instead of stopping.

Tofu was an essential item for every household during the New Year. They needed it to fry tofu slices, make tofu balls, steam buns, etc. Each household had to reserve twenty or thirty catties.

As for tofu skin and century eggs, they were two must-haves cold dishes when there was a lack of vegetables in the winter in the north, during the period from New Year’s Eve to the eighth day of the New Year. Whether it was for family dinners or entertaining aunts, nephews, and all relatives, the demand for them was enormous, and supply fell short of demand.

Even if Zhuang Qingning had asked all the workshops to increase production and stock up goods early in the winter, there was still a shortage at this time.

Zhuang Qingning had no choice but to call on the people in each workshop to continue working and produce overtime.

As for continuing to work, the villagers had no problems at all. On the contrary, they were more than happy.

After all, at this time, there was no more farming work in the fields. If they stayed at home idle, they would chat about trivial things. After a whole day, the gain was probably a few more pots of tea and a catty of sunflower seeds, ending with a mouthful of bubbles.

How good it is to work here, earning one more day’s wages for every extra day of work! As New Year was approaching, earning more money could buy several more catties of meat. Isn’t that great?

Moreover, Zhuang Qingning gave an extra 20% hardship allowance as the New Year approached. The more people worked, the more money they earned. Naturally, there was no one who found it troublesome to make money, and all of them were enthusiastic about working.

While the workshops were busy, the shops in town were also busy.

Many things were in shortage and couldn’t be sold normally. Except for supplying to places like Ruyi Pavilion and other restaurants and bun shops, other things could only be recorded in order of requests for how much tofu each family wanted, how much dried tofu each family wanted, and how much tofu skin each family wanted. When the goods arrive, they would distribute them in order of the original requests.

Basically, as soon as they opened the door in the morning, the delivered goods would be distributed clean. The remaining time, Zhang Xiangrong and his family were busy selling hot and sour noodles.

Miao Hongjin of Miao Village came over once, and he brought a cart full of goods.

“This is wild vegetables sent from Aunt Zhang’s family. They’re clean, and dried after being washed. You just need to soak them in warm water before eating.”

“This is a chicken given by Zhao’s family, a young rooster, less than a year old, not small, and tender. It’s packed in a cage. You can feed it for a few days or kill it whenever you want to eat.”

“Oh yes, this is lamb from Mrs. Wei’s family. They slaughtered a sheep and chopped off these two lamb legs. You can make lamb soup or something in winter to nourish your body.”

“This is a cake given by Ge’s family, which is said to have been bought from the Jishunzhai Cake Shop in the city by their male family member who works there. We can’t get it here; Ge’s family wants you and Miss Sui to try it.”

“…”

Miao Hongjin moved the goods from the cart into Zhuang Qingning’s courtyard one by one, introducing to Zhuang Qingning who each item was from.

As Zhuang Qingning watched the goods piling up like a small mountain, she laughed, “Everyone is being too polite…”

“It’s not a matter of politeness, it’s what they should do,” said Miao Hongjin. His excitement caused his nose to turn slightly red. “In the past half year, the workshop has turned our entire village around. Everyone is very grateful.”

“Everyone originally wanted to pay you a New Year’s visit since they hadn’t seen you, Manager Zhuang, for a long time. But the workshop is very busy at the end of the year. Plus, we were worried that it would be too chaotic if too many people came at once and you could not handle it. In the end, we decided that I should come alone and bring everyone’s intentions with me.”

“Oh, yes, this is from my house.” Miao Hongjin carefully took out something carefully wrapped, unwrapped the layers of oil paper outside, revealing the ink inside. “I didn’t know what to send, I thought the necessities, the food, the clothes you have everything, sending more would be a burden.”

“Then I thought that Miss Sui seemed to be learning to read and write, so I decided to send something practical and planned to buy some stationery. When I went to the shop, the shopkeeper said that this ink is a very good thing, so I bought some. I wonder if it can be used.”

“Thank you, Village Chief Miao.”

Compared to the cold treatment she received from the Feng family earlier, Zhuang Qingning now felt even more moved by the gratitude and care she received from the people of Miao Village. When she felt that her efforts had paid off, she felt that her previous hard work was indeed worthwhile.

She was also touched by the warm feelings of these simple villagers, “Village Chief Miao, please thank everyone for their gifts for me, I have accepted them all and I like them very much.”

“I’m glad you like them, I’m glad.” Village Chief Miao, knowing that the workshops and shops opened by Zhuang Qingning may look small, but they make money. He was initially worried that the gifts they brought wouldn’t meet Zhuang Qingning’s standards. But seeing Zhuang Qingning so delighted made him breathe a sigh of relief.