Your House Is on Fire

Old Madam Zhou didn't argue further and left with her people.

Zhou Wanwan watched her retreating figure and said, "Old man, you're definitely up to no good."

Sure enough, the next day all the nearby villages knew that Liu Family Village had robbed Zhou Family Village of its belongings.

Lin Shouyi rushed over early in the morning, driving his oxcart, and asked, "Where's Wanwan?"

Liu Su'e said, "What's wrong? Wanwan is still sleeping!"

"Oh my! This Little Ancestor has quite the nerve. Everyone in Zhou Family Village is saying you robbed several cartloads of their grain."

They even stole several hundred taels of silver from them! You'd better think of a solution quickly!

"Everyone outside is going crazy, they're just trying to cause trouble for you!" Lin Shouyi was so anxious he was pacing around in circles.

Zhou Wanwan finished dressing and came out, saying, "Uncle Lin..."

"Wanwan, the news is out everywhere now. I'm afraid you've been targeted by those thieves."

Especially the mountain bandits; if they were targeted, it could mean the extermination of their entire families.

"Don't underestimate those mountain bandits," Lin Shouyi said.

Zhou Wanwan sighed and said:

"Uncle Lin, please also tell others that Zhou Family Village has hidden a lot of grain, and the hilltops are full of grain."

By simply keeping an eye on the people in their village, you can find the grain they've hidden in various places.

We may not be real, but as long as Zhou Family Village is real, even more people will be watching them.

Actually, everyone knew what happened that day after asking around, but Zhou Family Village had indeed been constantly buying grain during this period.

Moreover, what Zhou Wanwan said was true, and soon the news that there was grain on every hilltop in Zhou Family Village spread everywhere.

Old Madam Zhou was so angry that she trembled all over:

How did that brat know we had hidden food on the mountain?

This way, we can't get the grain at all; if we try, we'll be discovered."

Zhou Maolin was also furious. "What are we going to do now? You have no idea how many people are watching us. I can't even go out to get some goods now."

"Don't worry, our grain is all hidden in the mountains, it won't be lost, what are you afraid of?" Old Madam Zhou.

"We need to find a way to teach her a lesson. She's just a little girl; we can handle her."

"I remember you have a nephew who's quite good-looking. He's about 10 years old, isn't he about to get married?" Old Madam Zhou said, looking at Zhou Maolin.

Zhou Maolin frowned and said:

"You mean the one in the city? No, no, no, that nephew in the city is no ordinary person."

"Although he's only ten years old, he's already passed the preliminary examination for the imperial examination. How could he possibly look down on Zhou Wanwan?"

Old Madam Zhou looked at him and said:

"Zhou Wanwan is different now than before. She has both food and money at home. Wasn't it her who took your money?"

"And I suspect that brat has more than just this. You'd better think this through."

Zhou Maolin gritted his teeth and said, "I understand. I'll have someone say so. Once we get her in the house, we can do whatever we want with her."

He hated Zhou Wanwan to the core. Old Madam Zhou looked at him and said:

"Luckily, our Zhou Family Village still has some stored grain, otherwise we really wouldn't be able to get through this. Don't worry!"

Once this drought is over, our Zhou Family Village will definitely become the wealthiest village, and then we'll buy more fertile land.

When those people realize they can't make ends meet, they'll sell all their fertile land.

"At that time, one or two bags of grain might be enough to buy a lot of fertile land."

That was exactly what Old Madam Zhou was planning, so she had to work hard to earn money.

In the early stages, Zhou Family Village bought a lot of cotton and grain, and when those people could no longer make ends meet, they slowly sold them off little by little.

Zhou Wanwan doesn't have time to bother with them; she's too busy every day.

It's too late to plant sweet potatoes now; the winters here are several degrees colder than in Northeast China, making it impossible to grow any crops.

There's not much greenhouse technology available now, so poor people usually just stay home during the winter.

So Zhou Wanwan had people start collecting tree branches, both oak and birch branches, she needed them all.

The people from Liu Family Village brought over all the tree branches from their homes, and Zhou Wanwan started having them burn large quantities of Silver Frost Charcoal.

No matter the time, Silver Frost Charcoal is always in high demand and priceless.

Because they live in a remote area, they don't have any Silver Frost Charcoal at all. Wealthy families usually need Silver Frost Charcoal, so they have to buy it from the capital.

However, if you buy it from the capital, the price will be different, so Silver Frost Charcoal is still quite valuable.

Most wealthy families don't care about this.

Liu Dalang looked at Zhou Wanwan and said:

"Wanwan, our Silver Frost Charcoal is ready. There's a good amount this time."

We filled eight baskets in total. Shall we go sell them tonight?

Zhou Wanwan shook her head and said:

"Let's hide these away first. We need them ourselves, and the Silver Frost Charcoal isn't fetching a good price right now."

We can leave it there for now and sell it when it gets colder. I was just testing the waters before.

I also plan to make some lower-quality charcoal, so that every household can use it in the winter.

Liu Family Village has nothing good about them except that they are very obedient. They do whatever Zhou Wanwan says without any effort.

After Zhou Wanwan finished making the arrangements, she saw Lin Shouyi rushing over. Zhou Wanwan looked at him and said, "Uncle Lin, what's wrong now? Has things gotten worse again?"

Lin Shouyi shook his head and said:

"Oh no, Wanwan, your house is on fire, and everything in the house is gone."

Oh dear! I don't know what happened, you guys should go back and check it out.

Zhou Wanwan led a group of people back, only to find that her house had been burned to the ground.

Shen Dalu, leaning on a cane, chuckled and said, "Oh my! Your house caught fire? Hahaha, you must have done too many bad things."

Zhou Wanwan kicked his crutch hard, and he fell to the ground. Zhou Wanwan squatted down and said, "Ouch! How did you fall like that? Poor thing, did you do too many bad things?"

"Zhou Wanwan, you little bitch, believe me or not, I'll kill you!"

Zhou Wanwan stared coldly at him and said, "Shen Dalu, you know what I'm capable of. You dare to burn down my house? Do you believe I'll burn you to the ground?"

Shen Dalu stammered, "Don't talk nonsense. I didn't burn down your house at all. It wasn't me."

Zhou Wanwan scoffed coldly, "Is that so? Whether it's you or not, I know perfectly well."

After saying that, he turned and left.

She walked around the house, saw a few clumps of flowers nearby, touched them, and said, "Lilacs, did you see anyone come into our house?"

The lilac flower burst into tears with a "waa".

"Help me... Waaah... It was the people next door who did it."

They climbed over the door and stole our grain, boohoo...

I had a fever all night last night, it burned me to death.