Transmigrated as a Stepmother: Time to Bring the Family to Prosper!-Chapter 278 - 277: The Living King Yan Is Right Before Your Eyes

Chapter 278: Chapter 277: The Living King Yan Is Right Before Your Eyes

"Ah-choo!"

In the stationery factory, Qin Yao stood in the middle of the courtyard and fiercely sneezed under the scorching sun.

Liu Bai and Liu Fei, who were listening to her talk about the carriage drivers from nearby villages, looked at her in surprise.

Liu Fei asked with concern, "Third Sister-in-law, have you caught a heat cold?"

Heat cold referred to a summer cold.

Although Liu Fei thought the chances of his formidable third sister-in-law catching a heat cold were almost zero, he couldn’t help but worry—what if?

Qin Yao waved a hand. "I’m fine, just a bit itchy in the nose; maybe some sawdust got in."

Qin Yao frowned slightly and instinctively covered her chest, her heart racing with an inexplicable sense of foreboding.

Just as she was about to suppress this inexplicable feeling, her ears suddenly twitched.

"Did you hear the sound of Old Huang’s hooves from my house?" Qin Yao asked the two.

Liu Bai and Liu Fei shook their heads. No, they hadn’t.

Something was wrong! Qin Yao’s brow furrowed; she did hear it. It wasn’t her imagination.

She quickly handed the list to Liu Bai, exited the stationery factory’s gate, and looked towards the village entrance. No one was in sight, but the sound of galloping hooves was getting closer.

Liu Bai and Liu Fei felt something wasn’t right with her and followed her out. Liu Fei exclaimed, "Seems like there really is hoofbeats; could it be that Third Brother has returned?"

"So soon?" Liu Bai glanced at the sky. "It’s still half an hour till noon. Seems like Third Brother sold the grain quite smoothly."

But Qin Yao couldn’t smile. She didn’t hear the sound of wheels, only hooves, which didn’t seem like the posture of returning after selling grain.

Just as she was guessing, a grey silhouette appeared on horseback on the dirt road into the village.

Liu Bai wondered, "Is that Third Brother?"

Qin Yao shook her head, "It’s Ah Wang, the new servant at my house. He can ride a horse, huh?"

But now wasn’t the time to wonder if he could ride because, in the blink of an eye, a man and horse had arrived in front.

Seeing Qin Yao and the other two, Ah Wang quickly reined in the galloping Old Huang in front of the stationery factory’s gate, got off the horse, and knelt before Qin Yao, anxiously saying:

"Madam, our grain has been robbed!"

Upon hearing the news, Qin Yao helplessly found her first reaction was speechless.

"Liu Ji, that good-for-nothing!"

Ah Wang advised, "I know you’re very angry, Madam, but please don’t be angry yet."

Because there’s even more infuriating news behind it.

Qin Yao asked, "Where is Liu Ji?"

Old Huang and Ah Wang were able to return, indicating he was still alive.

Ah Wang hung his head and said, "Master is now hiding in a safe place, but there were many of them, and Ah Wang couldn’t get the grain back alone. Not only did they rob our grain, but they also smashed the cart, and Master... he also..."

Liu Bai worriedly asked, "What happened to Third Brother?"

"Master didn’t listen to me and refused to run at the first opportunity, got into a fight with them, and was surrounded and beaten by seven or eight thugs. All his money and clothes were stripped off..."

He rushed in to save him, but it was a terrible sight.

But he survived, his tenacity astonishing.

At this, Ah Wang bowed his head even lower. "I failed to protect my master; please, Madame, punish me!"

Qin Yao exhaled towards the sky, then rubbed her forehead, taking a deep breath. She couldn’t endure this at all!

They dared to steal her grain; they must be tired of living!

Qin Yao, her face stern, instructed, "Big Brother, Fourth, gather the people, grab weapons, and let’s get our people and grain back!"

Liu Bai and Liu Fei immediately complied, rushing into the factory, shouting, "Everyone from Liu Family Village, come out!"

Upon hearing how a clan member was bullied, particularly Miss Qin’s husband, everyone, whether from Liu Family Village or not, rushed out, armed with saws, chisels, big clubs, whatever they had, ready to fight at Qin Yao’s command!

Qin Yao picked up a more than one-meter-long, thirty-pound long nail used for stone-breaking and easily lifted it: "Follow me!"

Everyone hurried up. It was not an exaggeration to say that they responded to her call like an echo.

Ah Wang followed Qin Yao, witnessing the whole process, his expression finally breaking. At that moment, he didn’t know whether to be glad he hadn’t provoked her or to sympathize with those at the grain store.

By the time the village chief heard the news and rushed to persuade the clansmen not to be impulsive, a mighty crowd of fifty or sixty had already followed Qin Yao to Jinshi Town.

The remaining female workers clenched their fists angrily, determined that if the factory didn’t need guarding, they would have followed Qin Yao in a heartbeat.

The village chief swallowed discreetly, quickly dispatching Uncle Jiu, who had just been using the toilet and missed out, to check on things. They definitely didn’t want anyone getting killed.

One hour later.

The refugees by the roadside in Jinshi Town were all startled to see a group of villagers armed with weapons, led by a fierce-looking young woman, aggressively appear on the main road.

Her powerful aura made passersby shrink back in fear, not daring to beg or block her way, wishing they could turn into ants to escape her notice.

Then, glancing at the dozens of pounds of long iron nails in her hand, shimmering with cold light, which she skillfully twirled in her palm, blocking any gap, fear gripped onlookers.

The whistling wind scraped past their ears, their cheeks stinging with pain.

They couldn’t imagine what a fracture and flesh destruction it would be if this long nail struck one’s body.

The group arrived before the makeshift shelter of the grain store. The thugs at the store were clearly shocked.

Qin Yao asked Ah Wang, "Is it them?"

Ah Wang nodded in confirmation.

Qin Yao understood, and before the thugs could react, she hurled the heavy long iron nail forward, shouting, "Smash their store for me! Distribute all this black-market grain to the surrounding refugees!"

Behind her, Liu Bai, Liu Fei, and the others responded in unison, and fifty or sixty people surged forward. The ten thugs at the store’s entrance found themselves powerless to fight back.

Any who held their ground were brought down by Qin Yao’s iron nails, one leg at a time. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

The fierce-looking thugs knelt one by one, as villagers from Liu Family Village uncovered grains from under the straw mats around the store, causing the nearby refugees to hold their breath in anticipation.

Qin Yao kicked a knife-wielding clerk away and turned back shouting to the refugees, "What are you waiting for? Take the grain!"

"Come on, take it!" Liu Fei and Liu Qi tossed a bag of grain towards the refugees, inviting them warmly.

Finally comprehending their opportunity, the refugees scrambled to grab their share of grain and ran off in fear of being identified and later retaliated against, covering their faces as they fled, indifferent to what they grabbed as long as they got their share.

The store clerk, pinned under Qin Yao’s foot, watched in despair as the villagers helped the refugees empty their store and smash the money box, screaming in terror and trying to intimidate with threats:

"This belongs to Mr. Wu! Who dares touch Mr. Wu’s things!"

Qin Yao thought to herself, "I don’t care about your Mr. Wu or anyone else," and slapped the clerk’s mouth with her hand, "Shut your mouth!"

The clerk’s head veered sideways, dazed by the unexpected slap, seeing stars, feeling something oozing in his mouth. He spat out a garbled mess of flesh, finding two yellow teeth therein.

Looking at the woman behind him, the clerk trembled all over, feeling like the King Yan was right before him.