The daily life of a space tycoon raising children, doting on his husband, and farming.

Chapter 226 Surprise
Old Man Wu kept a close watch on the three of them, fearing that there might be some fools in the village who might trick them into releasing the people.

No merchants had ever come to the village to buy medicinal herbs before. How come these people have come here so soon after the Lingyao Pavilion opened?

Old Man Wu felt that these three people were definitely after Shang Wan and might try to harm her.

Their village finally has someone successful who can lead everyone to make money, so shouldn't they cherish him like a treasure? They can't let a few outsiders bully him.

As darkness fell, Old Man Wu guessed that Shang Wan and the others would be back soon, so he ordered his son to tie up the three of them and bring them out, to give Shang Wan an explanation before she heard the news.

The others were just there to join in the fun, mainly to show that they were on Shang Wan's side, and they never intended to sell the medicinal herbs to anyone else.

After hearing the reason, Shang Wan already guessed who was behind it.

Seeing that everyone in the village was looking at her, Shang Wan raised the corners of her lips, her tone neither too light nor too heavy, but firm and resolute.

"It's everyone's freedom to sell their medicinal herbs to whomever they want, and I have no say in that. But there's one condition: anyone who tries to cheat me by substituting inferior herbs for superior ones should give up that idea now. Otherwise, don't blame me for being heartless and turning my back on you."

Shang Wan had said long ago that once people learned the craft, she would welcome them to sell her the herbs they dug up from the mountains after processing, and she wouldn't care if they sold them to others.

But if you were to give her medicinal herbs to someone else, she's not some kind of saint; she wouldn't mind letting the villagers experience her methods.

Upon hearing this, the previously somewhat agitated crowd instantly fell silent. Whether they had such thoughts or not, they all took Shang Wan's words to heart.

Wu Mingli looked around and was the first to speak up: "Manager Shang, we all follow you to make money, so naturally we're all on your side. We wouldn't do anything heartless."

"Yes."

"Yes."

"We're all from the same village, everyone knows what's going on!"

Many people echoed this sentiment.

Whether it's genuine or not, at least at this moment, it sounds comforting.

Lu Chengjing walked to Shang Wan's side and took over the conversation at the right time: "Uncle Wu, we'll take these three back with us."

Old Man Wu quickly pointed to Wu Mingli and the two men standing next to him, "The three of you go and deliver this to the scholar's home."

"Alright!" Wu Mingli grabbed the person and left, and the other two hurriedly followed, not giving Shang Wan and the other person a chance to refuse.

The rest of the people held torches, their eyes fixed on Shang Wan with pleading looks, appearing somewhat pitiful.

"It's getting late, everyone should go home and get some rest." Shang Wan smiled again, her tone softening and sounding very kind. "The pharmacy has closed several big deals, so you'll all be quite busy in the coming days."

"Really?"

"Very good!!"

The group of people were both surprised and delighted. They weren't afraid of being busy; they were afraid of having nothing to do.

No one wanted to stand there any longer; they couldn't wait to go home and tell their families the good news.

Old Man Wu stayed a little longer, and only after most of the people had left did he say to Shang Wan, "Some people in our village get confused easily when people say a few words to them. I've scolded them all. They don't mean any harm, they just don't understand the situation. Don't take it to heart, don't hold it against them. I apologize to you on their behalf."

“Uncle Wu, there’s no need for that,” Shang Wan said. “I’m a results-oriented person.”

As a result, as soon as she returned, the villagers tied up the three men and brought them to her.

Hearing this, Old Man Wu finally felt relieved, as he had been worried about the villagers.

He realized that he had underestimated Shang Wan; the girl was more magnanimous than he had thought.

"Stone, take Uncle Wu back."

"Alright!" Stone lit the lantern and came over. "Uncle Wu, this way, I'll see you off."

·
After the family finished eating, Xiao Huan busied herself preparing Chu Xu's favorite snacks.

The child was leaving, and Xiao Huan was reluctant to part with him. She thought she would make him some delicious food to take on his journey. Chu Xu followed Xiao Huan around like a little tail, calling her "Auntie" sweetly.

The three people who collected medicinal herbs were locked in the woodshed, where Lu Chengjing and Shang Wan interrogated them.

Yuanyuan stood on Little Gray's back, her little hands gripping the window as she looked inside, her big eyes wide open with curiosity.

Shang Wan simply brought the baby in and put him on her lap so they could watch Lu Chengjing interrogate people together.

In terms of interrogation, Lu Chengjing and Shang Wan had completely different styles. Shang Wan relied on torture, while Lu Chengjing relied almost entirely on written communication.

He was adept at finding loopholes in the three people's words, subtly leading them into conversations, and then taking the opportunity to extract information.

Shang Wan thought it would be easier to beat them up; these three didn't look very tough.

“We are not traveling merchants; Li Ping sent us here.”

Lu Chengjing: "Who is Li Ping?"

“It’s a servant from the Qi household. He has something on us, so we have no choice but to listen to him.”

"He also gave us the silver notes, telling us to come to Yushu Village and take back all the medicinal herbs. If the villagers refused to sell, we were to find a way to destroy them."

Unfortunately, before they could do anything, the villagers locked them in the cellar.

"We have no choice. Please let us go, and we promise we won't tell anyone a word."

The three men begged for mercy repeatedly, which, combined with the bruises on their faces and black eyes, made them look rather comical.

Shang Wan carried Yuan Yuan out, and Lu Chengjing gagged the three of them again. After checking the ropes binding them to make sure they weren't loose, he followed them out.

What should be done with these three people?

"Go back to where you came from." Shang Wan smiled and waved to Lu Chengjing, "Let's give Manager Qi a surprise."

Lu Chengjing leaned closer, and Yuanyuan also pricked up her little ears to listen. Whether she understood or not was secondary; she had to feel involved.

·
The next day, just as dawn was breaking, the clerk of Jimin Pharmacy opened the door. Before he could even finish yawning, he looked up and saw three figures swaying in front of the door, and he screamed in fright.

"Dead people!!!"

His voice cracked from shouting, and the whole neighborhood was alerted.

"Where did someone die?"

"Ugh, what a bad omen this morning!"

"It's Jiming Pharmacy; there are three people hanging in front of it."

"He's not dead, he's still moving."

The unfortunate trio of medicine collectors were hanging upside down in front of Jimin Pharmacy wearing only their underwear, their mouths gagged, staring with three pairs of dead fish eyes, utterly humiliated and utterly despondent.

“There are words written on this body, let me read them to you all.”

"Qi Yongbao is a treacherous villain."

"Jimin Pharmacy is definitely going to be shut down for tax evasion."

"The medicine powder at Jimin Pharmacy is all ground from moldy medicinal herbs."

The person reading the words turned the hanging man around and found two more lines of text on his back: "We are Qi Yongbao's lackeys. Please report this to the authorities if you see this."

"I'm going, I'm going! I love helping others!" someone shouted, never one to miss a good show, and actually ran towards the county government office.

The waiter realized what was happening and tried to chase after them, but it was too late. He didn't even have time to lower the three people who were hanging there; he hurriedly ran to inform his boss.