The wicked sister-in-law is in charge; meals include fish and shrimp.

Chapter 34 Summoning the Villagers

Xie He's anger had subsided considerably. Wen Luozhi ran over and took her arm, her voice sweet and cloying, "Mom, I was wrong, please don't be angry, okay?" She then rubbed against Xie He's face like a kitten.

Xie He was completely exasperated, wanting to laugh but desperately trying to keep a straight face. "Aren't you going in to have some water and rest? We'll be gathering at the village entrance soon."

Wen Luozhi responded in a cheerful voice and whispered a few words in her ear.

Then, with a serious expression, she took the basket from her back and pulled her into the house.

"Xiao Si, close the courtyard gate! Lock it! Then everyone follow me inside."

The people in the courtyard were a little confused as to why she had suddenly become so serious, but they obediently followed her into the house.

Children can't keep secrets, so he was sent out to play with that burrow of wild rabbits.

Once everyone was gathered, Wen Luozhi took out the two ginseng roots from her sleeve.

The others held their breath in surprise and fear, while Wen Luozhi remained calm.

Wen Muchuan carefully picked up a plant with both hands, his voice trembling as he asked, "Girl, this... did you find this on the mountain?"

He gently cradled the ginseng in his calloused hands, his breathing becoming much lighter, as if afraid the ginseng would grow legs and run away.

"My dear, am I seeing things?" Xie He carefully picked up another plant, her forehead sweating with nervousness.

The brothers and their two sisters-in-law naturally knew what these were, and they reached out to protect the two ginseng plants, afraid that they might fall and break if they weren't careful.

Wen Luozhi flicked a stray hair from her forehead and said proudly, "That's right! I dug it up! It was still glowing at the time!"

The group gasped simultaneously upon hearing this. A ginseng that glows? It's probably become a spirit!

Xie He gently put down the ginseng in her hand, then took the two ginseng roots from Wen Muchuan and wrapped them up.

She cleared her throat and warned everyone present, "You all better keep your mouths shut!"

The group nodded in agreement. If others found out that their family had such a treasure, there would definitely be no peace!

"Also, since your little sister found this, it belongs to her! She can decide how to deal with it!" Xie He's warning gaze swept over each of them.

Everyone except Wen Zizhou thought it was fine.

Now that this family has become one, whatever Wen Luozhi does will ultimately be good for the family, and that's enough.

Wen Zizhou was not satisfied with Xie He's words. He shamelessly said, "Mother, people say that those who see it should get a share. Since everyone saw it, shouldn't she give us a share too?"

"Don't you all agree?" he asked, looking at the others in the room.

"Third Brother, you're skinny but you're thick-skinned," Wen Zixun said sarcastically, showing him no mercy.

Wen Ziming's face was expressionless, showing none of his usual kind and gentle nature.

Wen Zizhong snorted and thought to himself that this thing was as unreliable as ever.

Wen Zi'an brandished his fist and warned, "Third Brother, if you try to steal Little Sister's things, I'll beat you up."

"You good-for-nothing brat!" Wen Muchuan and Xie He glared at him and said in unison.

"Third brother, you mustn't bully your little sister," Li Chunxing, who was usually timid, said to him with a frown.

Yang Guilan scoffed, "Third brother can go dig up a couple himself; we won't even ask you for them."

She used to be the laziest person in the house, except for her sister-in-law. I never expected that this girl would be even lazier than her, lying on the bed all the time and even stealing Xiao Hu's snacks.

So lazy and greedy!

"Alright, alright! I was just kidding!" Wen Zizhou sat down in annoyance, thinking to himself that he didn't know what kind of spell the little devil had cast on the family so that they all had to protect her! This made him, the third son, seem quite superfluous.

Wen Luozhi was exasperated; this third son was really hard to save!

She pushed the cloth bundle towards Wen Muchuan and Xie He, saying, "Father, Mother, there are still many places in the family where we need money."

"We'll sell the smaller one, and then you can keep the larger one."

After Wen Luozhi finished speaking, the couple quickly waved their hands.

“Daughter, I told you this is yours! How can you take it out and sell it for money!” Xie He said.

How can you just sell something so valuable? They won't starve even without that money!

"Instead of leaving it lying around, we should let it make the most of its value. Mother just said to listen to me!" Wen Luozhi puffed out her cheeks, pretending to be angry.

After much persuasion to no avail, the couple finally had no choice but to give in and listen to their youngest daughter.

Wen Luozhi thought that once she had this money, it would be like having a so-called start-up fund, making everything she did much easier and freeing her from any constraints.

Making money by running a stall with one's family is too slow, and there are many uncertainties like today.

Today, Wen Zizhou didn't buy any ingredients and can't cook anything tomorrow, so he can't set up his stall. After discussing it, the family decided that Wen Zian and Wen Zixun would accompany Wen Luozhi to town to sell the ginseng tomorrow.

Outside, gongs and drums began to beat. The family calmed their excitement and headed towards the village entrance.

Ninety percent of the villagers had already gathered under the big tree. Once everyone was there, the village chief cleared his throat and said to everyone, "I've gathered you all here today to tell you something important that will ensure we have enough to eat!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the villagers under the big tree erupted in cheers.

"Village chief, just tell me what it is! As long as it's not illegal and we can eat our fill, we'll do it!" It was Old Sun who spoke. He had a white cloth tied around his waist, and his thin, bony body looked like he was about to collapse.

"Yes! Nothing is worse than going hungry! We'll do anything as long as it's not illegal!"

The others in the crowd echoed their sentiments; everyone was terrified of hunger and just wanted to fill their stomachs! They were afraid of starving to death; they were terrified of death!

The village chief raised his hand to signal them to be quiet. Once there was no sound, he took out the potatoes he had prepared beforehand and said, "This is the important thing I'm about to tell you."

He stepped down from the low stool, stood in the middle of the crowd, and held up the potato in his hand. "This thing in my hand is called a potato. This is what caused the villagers to vomit and have diarrhea before."

The villagers took a few steps back in fear, and one of them said in a trembling voice, "Village chief, although we want to have enough to eat, this is too much..."

The village chief knew what he was going to say, because he had thought the same thing before he ate it.

He broke open a potato and said, "We've all misunderstood it before; this is a good thing!"

Then he started talking about potatoes, stopping occasionally to answer questions from villagers before continuing.

……

"Village chief, if it's really as good as you say, we're willing to give it a try!"

After one villager took the lead, the same voices echoed from the crowd.

The village chief said with a smile, "Right now, only Wen Lao Er's family in our village has seeds."

"Anyone willing to plant can go to his house to get seeds, and write an IOU for whatever amount they take, paying him back at harvest time."

"We won't force those who don't want to plant, but right now we can't let go of any chance to survive."

As the village chief spoke, tears welled up in his eyes, and Old Sun understood his good intentions best.

He pulled his eldest grandson to Wen Muchuan's side, tears welling in his eyes, and said, "Young Wen, I'm entrusting this to you! I'll come to your house in a little while to get the potato seeds!"

Wen Muchuan supported him tightly and said, "You should go back and rest in peace. My son will come to my house to get the seeds in a little while! Don't say it's a loan, we'll give them to you for free!"

On his way back, he learned about the starvation deaths in the village. He felt only sympathy for the family and wanted to help them if he could.

The others didn't say a word when he said he'd give it to Old Sun. Everyone knew what kind of situation Old Sun's family was in. If they were going to take advantage of even this small thing, they'd be worse than animals.

In the end, it was determined that out of the thirty households in the village, only the Wen family's old house and that lazy bum Laizi didn't farm.

Each family sent a representative to Wen Luozhi's house to collect seeds. Lai Zi, feeling bored, went back to sleep with his pants down.

In the end, only the old family remained, watching the villagers who had gone to collect the seeds with disdain.

"Pah! What a bunch of starving ghosts who only listen to the village chief's bragging!" Qian Zhaodi, sporting panda eyes, spat on the ground.

She felt uncomfortable just thinking about how the village women had surrounded Xie He and thanked her.

Xie He used to be nothing more than a younger sister-in-law whom she could bully and trample on at will, but now that she has received so much love and respect from so many people, she feels uncomfortable no matter how she thinks about it.

Wu Hong's back was still aching terribly. She glared venomously at Wen Luozhi's family before clutching her waist and heading back.

The remaining people thought Qian Zhaodi made sense. This thing called potato couldn't possibly be that good. It was definitely a scam, and they weren't going to fall for it!