Chapter 24: Lan Niang vs Qin Lan, Who Wins?

  Those women next to her thought to themselves that this was indeed a reasonable statement and there was nothing wrong with it.

  Hurry up and tell Xiaozhao to go up the mountain, that's the village chief, your father-in-law has already agreed, now you're still opening this mouth and want to take Xiaozhao's share, this is not right.

  These women are now making very reasonable and fair comments about right and wrong.

  Several old women listened to Lan Niang's words, nodding their heads incessantly. They looked at Qin Lan, another formidable figure in the village, wondering what else she had to say. Then they also started chatting with Qin Lan, trying to get along well with her.

  These clever women began to make their own calculations.

  Now that one family has set a precedent, why can't several others follow suit?

  Why not, knowing the truth is still recorded in the village, regardless of whether the village chief acknowledges it or not, but on that book there is indeed a record of this, this is an undeniable fact, this is a solid and true fact.

  Why would they know, haha, actually can't blame them for it either.

  At first, they still had a little mind to secretly test the village chief's tone, thinking of letting him get rid of these people and drive them out of the village. However, the other party had already paid the head tax when they just arrived, and it was possible to drive them away, but who would pay for this? It couldn't be the villagers, that's absolutely impossible.

  So, this matter is quite troublesome. Now that Lan Niang and Qin Lan are competing with each other, comparing their strength, these two women who usually get along so well, how can they miss this opportunity? Missing it would be a pity!

  There was an old woman who ran a grocery store at the entrance of the village and winked at him.

  That old woman was the one who peeked and saw that it was lively, she was obviously a sensible person, and immediately sent her five-year-old grandson to whisper in his ear.

  Only to hear her grandson still murmuring in a soft voice: "Really going to give me candy to eat, grandma?" Very puzzled and incomprehensible, looking at his own grandmother who usually doesn't like him eating sweets, today seems to be unusually abnormal, he looked at her with suspicious eyes, plus many distrusts.

  "Smelly brat, here, first take a small piece of candy, and then we'll talk later, bring the person over, and I'll give you more!"

  The old woman hastily gave him a slap on the head, then quickly stuffed a piece of candy into his hand and urged him.

  He's usually very careful, afraid that eating too much of this kind of thing is bad for his body. But he's fine, playing with the village kids every day. Others would say to him: "Your family runs a grocery store, don't they? There are so many delicious candies there, go get some and we'll play with you."

  This useless thing actually did it, stole a few handfuls of sugar, and was finally caught by her and chased all the way through the village.

  It's all right now. People see that this kid is pitiful, listened to their words and did this thing, was beaten up, and just let them play together.

  He often thought about the sugar here, either eating it himself or showing off in front of his group of friends, with a crooked mind all day long.

  Now that she has taken the initiative to give it to him, he is still not convinced. You say she is anxious or not, but just as the heavy drama is about to begin, the audience here hasn't arrived yet, and she is getting anxious, just waiting for that kid to bring people to her quickly.

  These several women were full of spirit and stared straight at Qin Lan without letting go, watching how she would respond to Han Niang's provocation.

  Actually, Lanniang didn't mean that, she just thought it was time to let her own daughter move back down the mountain. But all the mothers-in-law were staring at her with two bright and piercing eyes, shining like lights, as if they were waiting for her to do something for them. She felt a headache coming on, with a sense of being put on trial.

  Lan Niang glared at these nosy old women, muttering to herself in extreme annoyance. She knew that previously they had been delighted when her own daughter was driven up the mountain, but now, with their knowing expressions, they were trying to curry favor with her and get on her good side - wasn't this ridiculous?

  How did this group of women come up with this?

  Lan Niang was extremely disgusted with these people who were jealous and gloated over others' misfortunes, and had a strong sense of schadenfreude.

  But now is a critical moment, and she can't afford to be at odds with these people. She still needs to ask if she can move back in or not.

  "Tell me straight out, give me a clear answer. If we're going up the mountain, then stop collecting millet. What's wrong with you? You only know how to take and not give back. Are you still thinking about that share of ours? I'm saying, Qin Lan, isn't your heart a bit too black?"

  Isn't this Qin Lan herself putting a gun to her own head? Who can blame, wanting to take it back but not letting her daughter move down the mountain, what kind of logic is this!

  Lan Niang coldly stared at Qin Lan and asked her, "Do you know if she is your own daughter?" What kind of words are these?

  Qin Lan saw that Han Niang had asked this, and wanted to know if she should go back down the mountain. She glanced at the group of women who loved to gossip, and knew that every year around this time when they were harvesting wheat, something would inevitably happen.

  She slowly turned her gaze back, staring at Ling's eyes, under the pressure of her intense gaze, she smiled calmly with a city accent:

  "That's impossible, living on a mountain is not something I can decide." He shook his head and ignored the fierce Lan Niang.

  Lan Niang was furious, she naturally knew that this wasn't her decision, but why did Qin Lan still want to go to their own home and ask for a share of the wheat harvest, these villagers were all good-for-nothings.

  Look at Qin Lan, pretending to be a city girl with her fake accent and hairstyle, trying to show off her elegance in front of me. It's infuriating, like a fire that can't be extinguished. Is she trying to provoke me?

  That group of gossipy women heard that Lan Niang wanted to let Zhi Xiao move down the mountain, but in fact they were unwilling. Now their hearts are also conflicted, but Qin Lan seems very stubborn and refuses to back down one step. Doesn't this mean that they will have to hand over not even a single grain of wheat?

  They're worried about this now.

  Moreover, they also got angry with Lan Niang. They decided to wait and see, they just wanted to know if the amount of millet in the Zhi Xiao family could be reduced. As for Zhi Xiao returning to live at the foot of the mountain, they were unwilling, but now they had to care about this family, which was very contradictory.

  The old women opened their eyes wide, staring intently, the village was not big, and during this standoff, several more villagers joined in to watch, whispering to ask what was going on now.

  Among these newcomers, there was an old woman who had heard the previous gossip of these women, and she began to frown deeply, secretly pondering in her heart.

  This is Li Dazhuang's wife, one of the siblings who came up the mountain with Huan Erni and Mu Tian.

  Lan Niang ignored the chatter of this group of women. On the side, muttering non-stop, angrily and unfairly towards Qin Lan, the good daughter-in-law of the village head's family, who was talking about something that had nothing to do with her.

  "That's good, since you're asking about the household registration of our village, you should give us a reasonable explanation. If you accept it, it means you acknowledge that Xiaozhuang is a part of our village, isn't it, Qin Lan?" Lanniang asked.

  Qin Lan saw that many people had already gathered around, thinking that she couldn't keep arguing with Han Niang like this indefinitely, lest those good-hearted women nearby would take advantage of the situation and stir up more trouble. She glanced at Han Niang, somewhat displeased:

  "Lan Niang, actually this is not something we can decide on our own. It has already been arranged by the higher-ups and they have already reported the number of people going."

  She made it very clear to Lan Niang that your family is one that cannot be missing, if you are missing, then Lan Niang is not recognizing the situation and will go against those officials upstairs.

  Lan Niang couldn't help but hear her meaning, but before she could rush to speak, Li Dazhuang's wife, who had been watching from the side for a while, interrupted:

  "Lan Niang, you've made a deal and that's it. This isn't something you can just shrug off. Do you want to welch on the deal? Are you thinking of letting your family be ostracized in the village?"

  Everyone quickly cast their eyes on Li Dazhuang's wife, resentfully blaming this sudden emergence of a bad woman who ruined their business. They thought to themselves: Your family is naturally not lacking in that little bit of grain, and if there is no grain, you can use money instead. You have taken so much silver from the mother of two young children, what are you afraid of?

  Li Dazhuang's wife actually meant to say that, originally she had no opinion on whether the Zhixiao family should come down from the mountain or not, but now it was different. A few months ago, the Zhixiao family's mother-in-law, Niang Lan, took in those two people who were driven out of their own home, Erni and Mutian, and brought them to the mountain, wasn't that going against her family?

  The couple had long been prepared to drive the two children out of the house, knowing that no one in the village would take them in. With the two children gone, they could go far away and she would never have to see them again, nor worry about their presence. The villagers would soon forget about this incident, and life would go on as usual for them.

  But now this Lian Niang not only lets these two little ones live on the mountain, but also uses her brain to let Zhi Xiao come back and live, and these two little ones on the mountain will still follow him down the mountain!

  How can she tolerate this? This is something she absolutely won't allow. If so, wouldn't that mean they would have to see them every day, and let the villagers gossip about their family every day?

  Lan Niang's anger surged, and Li Dazhuang's wife's light and airy words pierced through, also heavily pounding on Lan Niang's chest, thoroughly giving her a strong dose of medicine.

  Could it be that just now when Qin Lan heard that they were not going to get along, she went up without leaving any emotions, and she began to worry about how her family would live in this mountain village.

  Although it's not enough to shock those people on top, for this little thing, they can also find one less thing.

  Now this old woman is coming along with the village head's daughter-in-law to stir up trouble at her own home, but now she can't make any rebuttals.