The Evil Mother-in-law: Torment Children, Work Hard, Be Rich!-Chapter 232: The Desperate Struggles of the Malicious Supporting Female Character

Chapter 232: Chapter 232: The Desperate Struggles of the Malicious Supporting Female Character

Tong Huaqiong saw Mrs. Yu enter and thought to herself that the brothers Xu Yong and Xu Jin were likely about to have internal conflict.

Internal conflict is good; the more divided these brothers become, the better it is for the stability of Qinghe Bay.

Having been an observer from the sidelines, from when Xu Yong wanted to drag her into the mess to when he dared not provoke her and began tearing into Xu Zaohua, Tong Huaqiong suspected that Xu Yong and Mrs. Yu were not merely making baseless accusations against Xu Zaohua.

This was Xu Zaohua’s prescription.

It made sense; Xu Zaohua had barely shown off for two days in the village before hastily retreating, eager to grab credit for a stable position in the Zheng Family.

For Xu Zaohua, there was no greater achievement than solving the corn blight.

Once she solidified her credit for solving the blight, not to mention County Magistrate Liu, even the Magistrate might become her supporter.

With official backing, how could the Zheng Family not hold her in high regard?

The temptation was too great—no wonder Xu Zaohua took the risk, launching the pesticide formula without verifying its effectiveness or whether it would ruin the crops.

However, Xu Zaohua was destined not to be the female lead in Tong Huaqiong’s world. Whether it was in Tong Dajiao’s era or Tong Huaqiong’s world, she was always the scheming female villain, trying her hardest to leap forward.

Being a scheming villain, fate wouldn’t grant her any special advantages.

So, her formula failed.

Nonetheless, Tong Huaqiong felt that Xu Zaohua should be punished, as her greed had caused significant losses to many farming families.

While Xu Zaohua enjoyed riches in the Zheng Family, these affected farming families had to pay the price for her greed.

Why should Xu Zaohua escape unscathed?

Hence, the moment everyone gathered in Xu Yong’s courtyard, Tong Huaqiong had already instructed Gu Dashu to report to the county government.

Tong Huaqiong believed that simply having Xu Yong and Xu Zaohua compensate the farmers was too lenient. In addition, reporting to the authorities would escalate the matter, especially ensuring that the news of Xu Zaohua’s fake medicines deceiving villagers became widespread; this way, Xu Zaohua would think twice before targeting Tong Huaqiong again.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Tian became increasingly angry when she saw Mrs. Yu speak up.

This sister-in-law had always relied on Xu Jin’s wealth, constantly showing off in front of other sisters-in-law.

Especially since Mrs. Yu was the mother of the main culprit, Xu Zaohua, Mrs. Tian couldn’t vent her anger on Xu Zaohua, so she increasingly directed her rage towards Mrs. Yu.

"We are falsely accusing Zaohua without proof, and you have the nerve to say that. Let me ask you, what did Xu Zaohua say when she wanted to make the medicine? She said the Zheng Family had connections and money, and that only she could make the medicine. Now your daughter indeed made the medicine, but it was a fake that caused harm, not only deceiving her own uncle but also other families."

"The idea came from your daughter, so why should my family clean up her mess?"

Mrs. Tian retorted against Mrs. Yu with her hands on her hips.

Unwilling to back down, Mrs. Yu shouted back, "Whose idea was it to make the medicine? Wasn’t it your husband’s idea? I think my Zaohua was deceived by your husband, using her as a stepping stone to become the village head again."

Xu Yong moved through the crowd, letting the two women argue fervently.

Tong Huaqiong watched coldly, feeling contempt for Xu Yong.

At this moment, Xu Yong, the grim reaper of crops, remained hidden, allowing two women to confront each other. What kind of man was he?

"Besides the front yard’s three granaries, my eldest brother’s family dug a large pit in the backyard storing plenty of corn; you can go dig it up."

"All the grain from Zaohua’s family is in the side room; you can go pack it."

After the two sisters-in-law started to tear into each other, they exposed each other’s family assets to everyone.

The affected villagers were not polite. Since they knew where the granaries of the Xu Yong and Xu Jin brothers were, they had to go take it.

After all, their corn was damaged, and they deserved compensation.

Not only should Xu Yong compensate, but having Xu Zaohua’s family compensate on her behalf was also justified.

Furthermore, there’s safety in numbers; if everyone goes to grab the grain, even if the county magistrate arrives, he can’t reprimand everyone.

They couldn’t possibly be left starving in winter.

"Let’s go get the grain."

Someone shouted from the crowd, and the affected villagers from the neighboring villages rushed into Xu Yong’s and Xu Jin’s granaries.

Worried that if they went late, there’d be nothing left to grab.

Especially the villagers from Guazhou Bay were most excited; earlier, while searching Xu Yong’s house, they had already seen the heaps of grain stored everywhere.

This was why, when they saw Xu Yong, they didn’t lay a hand on him; instead, they were willing to negotiate because his grain was more important than his life.

The grain in the three major granaries was enough to share among the people of Guazhou Bay.

Xu Yong stood up, did not care about his twisted ankle, and ran towards his granary.

Mrs. Tian, meanwhile, rushed to the granary in the backyard to block everyone.

"Who dares to steal my grain? I’ll chop them up!" Xu Yong yelled angrily, ignoring the pain in his foot as he got up.

He had three granaries full of grain, all forced out of the villagers as tribute during his village head tenure.

With such a large amount of grain, even in a disaster year, there would be no worry.

If this amount of grain was seized, it would be as if a knife were stabbed into Xu Yong’s heart.

"Are you all bandits, robbing our family’s grain? Village head, village head, aren’t you going to do something?" Mrs. Tian shouted hoarsely in the backyard. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Previously, no one knew where Xu Yong’s underground storage was located, but Mrs. Tian rushing into the backyard exposed the target instead.

Xu Yong and Mrs. Tian couldn’t stop the frenzied and agitated disaster-stricken villagers.

The doors to the granary were slammed open.

Among them, the curious villagers from Qinghe Bay were stunned when the granary was opened; they knew Xu Yong was greedy as the village head of Qinghe Bay, forcing them to swap land and food was standard practice, but they never knew Xu Yong was this greedy.

A huge pile of food was stacked in the granary.

Many villagers remembered the famine years when every household had poor harvests, surviving by begging and gnawing on tree bark, yet Xu Yong never took out his grain to help everyone.

Seeing the villagers from Guazhou Bay grabbing baskets, jars, and buckets to collect the grain, even the villagers from Qinghe Bay couldn’t resist wanting to take some.

This grain originally belonged to the villagers of Qinghe Bay.

Liu Tieshan arrived at Xu Yong’s granary and was also shocked by the sight of the grain.

Xu Yong was excessively greedy.

Xu Yong ignored the angry glares of the Qinghe Bay villagers and hoarsely tried to stop the Guazhou Bay villagers.

But he couldn’t stop them at all.

On one hand, their corn was destroyed; on the other, the offender’s house was full of rice and grain—who wouldn’t be furious?

Liu Tieshan half-heartedly tried to maintain his responsibility as village head and stopped interfering.

What could he do?

The sins committed by Xu Yong and Xu Zaohua should face the consequences.

If he tried to stop it, the villagers’ conflicts might be directed at him as the village head, potentially developing into a conflict between several neighboring villages and Qinghe Bay.

This outcome would be unacceptable.

If Qinghe Bay became besieged by several villages, it would be tolerable in times of peace, but during war or famine, they’d be like meat on a chopping board.

Nonetheless, out of humanitarian concern, Liu Tieshan maintained some order as everyone packed the grain.

"Be careful, everyone, do not cause a stampede."

"Don’t snatch or fight."

"One at a time."

However, Liu Tieshan’s calls seemed to have little effect.

Soon, loud quarrels erupted from Xu Yong’s granary.

Yet, Liu Tieshan couldn’t manage and didn’t plan to intervene; outsiders should be managed by their own village head.

These people divided into two groups, one going to Xu Yong’s house, and the other going to the neighboring Xu Jin’s house.

Mrs. Yu stood at her door, trying to stop villagers from entering the house, but she was outnumbered and couldn’t stop them.

Mrs. Yu felt like crying but had no tears.