Chapter 216 -208: Talking a Good Game

Everyone turned around. Hu Feng shoved aside two villagers who were surrounding Hu Changlin and Zhao Lan, then pulled Bai Zhi straight over to them.

Seeing Hu Feng and Bai Zhi return, Hu Changlin and Zhao Lan both sighed in relief. ‘It’s good they’re here. It’s good they’re here.’

“Our family’s messy affairs? Since when has the Xu Family ever had messy affairs? Stop spouting nonsense.” Xu Laosan glared at Bai Zhi, his eyes bulging.

Bai Zhi sneered. “Your Xu Family’s sordid little secrets? Who in the village doesn’t know? You, Xu Laosan, are sleeping with Xu Laosi’s wife, and in turn, Xu Laosi is carrying on with your wife. Wouldn’t you call that a messy affair?”

When Xu Laosi heard this, he instantly flew into a rage, grabbing his third brother by the collar. “You dared to seduce my wife?”

Xu Laosan was furious, and he shot out a foot to kick Xu Laosi. “You bastard, you’ve got some nerve! You dare touch my woman?”

The two brothers started grappling with each other in the courtyard. The onlookers were completely dumbfounded: ‘The Xu family is this messed up? How did we not know any of this?’

Bai Zhi didn’t even glance at the brawling Xu Laosan and Xu Laosi. Her cold gaze swept over the villagers surrounding them one by one. “What is the meaning of you all blocking our way here? Do we owe you something?”

Although Bai Zhi was young, her gaze was incredibly sharp. Normally, her voice was sweet and soft, but right now, it was as if she were speaking with a mouth full of ice—chillingly cold.

“Zhi, it’s true you don’t owe us anything, but given the current situation, isn’t it a bit much for you to hoard your grain and not sell it?” As soon as Boss Zhao’s words fell, many villagers immediately chimed in, “Yeah! We’re all from the same village, how can you swindle your own people? That’s immoral!”

Bai Zhi was finally seeing what it meant to call black white.

She raised her voice, her gaze coldly fixed on Boss Zhao. “Uncle, you say we’re going too far by hoarding grain and not selling it? Then let me ask you, Uncle, whose grain are we hoarding? Yours, from the Zhao family? Or is it the disaster relief grain from the court?”

Her words left everyone speechless. She continued, “You say I’m swindling my fellow villagers, so I have to ask: did you come to buy rice yesterday? How much? Did you come the day before? And how much then? This rice you bought—did you eat it yourselves, or did it go somewhere else?”

The villagers’ expressions immediately turned awkward. Boss Zhao said, “That’s right, we have been coming to buy rice these past few days, and it’s true our families haven’t eaten this much. But you know how it is, doesn’t everyone have a wide circle of relatives? We have rice to eat, so we can’t just ignore our relatives’ plight, can we? We shared the rice we bought with them, so we don’t have much left for ourselves. That’s why we were thinking of buying some more. The road to town is too long. Since you’re selling it here, we naturally want to give you our business. We’re fellow villagers, after all. It’s convenient for us, and for you too.”

‘My, what a pretty song he sings.’

Bai Zhi started to laugh as she listened. “Uncle Zhao, do you take me, Bai Zhi, for a fool? You people buy low-priced rice from me and turn around to sell it to other villages at a high price. Did you think I didn’t know? I sell my rice cheap as a favor, out of neighborly kindness. I haven’t earned a single copper coin from you, and you should know that in your hearts. Don’t take my kindness for granted and then act all innocent here. I give you a small benefit, and you start acting like it’s what you’re owed.”

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