A fierce wife enters the house: She helps up a house full of spineless people.

Village chief Chen Defu is fifty-three years old this year. He has been the village chief of Chenjia Village for twenty years and believes that he has seen quite a lot of everyday life.

But what happened today still stunned him.

Old Mrs. Chen sat on a stool in the main room of his house, tears streaming down her face, her voice so loud that even the chickens in the neighboring yard dared not crow.

"Defu, you're the village chief, you have to stand up for me! That shrew from the Wang family has been causing chaos in our Chen family ever since she entered our home! She beats and scolds our elders, bullies our sisters-in-law, and even instigates my eldest grandson to go against me! This isn't marrying a wife, it's inviting a tyrant home!"

Old Man Chen added in a muffled voice, "Unfilial, utterly unfilial. She has completely disgraced generations of our Chen family."

Chen Defu frowned, holding his teacup but not drinking. He knew a little about the Chen family's situation; everyone in the village knew about Old Mrs. Chen's favoritism towards the second wife. But Old Mrs. Chen was speaking with tears streaming down her face, so he couldn't just ignore it.

"Then call them here and make things clear face to face." Chen Defu put down his teacup, turned to his son and said, "Go, go to the Chen family and call the eldest son's wife here."

Upon hearing this, Old Mrs. Chen immediately perked up, wiped away her tears, and secretly planned how to give Wang Jinzhu a hard time later.

With the village chief backing her up, she refused to believe that this shrew could cause any trouble!

Wang Jinzhu was cooking porridge in the kitchen when she heard the messenger's message. Without even putting down her spoon or looking up, she said, "Complain? Fine, I'll see how she makes it up."

Chen Shi and Chen Yuxiang were extremely anxious. Chen Yuxiang tugged at Wang Jinzhu's sleeve: "Jinzhu, don't go. What your mother said to the village chief must be lies. You'll suffer if you go."

"Mother, I won't suffer if I go." Wang Jinzhu handed the spoon to Chen Yuxiang, dusted off her hands, and said, "If I don't go, she can turn black into white. If I go, do you think she'll dare?"

Chen Tianfang had already put down his machete and stood silently behind Wang Jinzhu.

Chen Shi looked at his son, then at his daughter-in-law, and sighed, "Let's go together."

Wang Jinzhu led her family of four toward the village chief's house.

As soon as she left, the side gate to the backyard was pushed open from the inside.

Chen Shuyan peeked out, looked around to make sure everyone from the main house had left, then turned and whispered into the house, "Let's go."

Liu Yiyi came out of the house, clutching a hemp rope in her hand. Her face was pale, but she didn't stop walking.

Chen Xiufen stood guard at the courtyard gate, muttering, "Hurry up, don't dawdle."

Chen Shuyan walked straight down to the corridor.

Chen Tianwei raised his head and saw Chen Shuyan walking towards him, and instinctively shrank back.

"Second brother, what...what are you going to do?"

Chen Shuyan forced a smile: "Tianwei, your second brother will take you to town to buy candied hawthorns, wanna come?"

Chen Tianwei shook his head vigorously: "My sister-in-law told me to stay at home and not go anywhere."

Chen Shuyan's smile froze for a moment.

Without another word, he grabbed Chen Tianwei's arm and dragged her outside. Chen Tianrun immediately rushed over, grabbing Chen Tianwei's waist and pulling her back desperately: "Let go of my sister! What are you doing!"

Chen Shuyan retaliated and kicked Chen Tianrun in the stomach.

A ten-year-old child couldn't withstand such a kick. Chen Tianrun was sent flying and crashed to the ground, curling up in a ball, his face pale with pain.

Liu Yiyi stepped forward to help, and together with Chen Shuyan, they lifted up the crying and struggling Chen Tianwei from the left and right, tied her hands and feet with hemp rope, and gagged her with a wad of cloth.

Chen Tianrun lay on the ground, his stomach churning with pain, but he gritted his teeth, got up, and staggered towards the gate.

He needs to go find his sister-in-law!

He had just run out of the alley when a large hand reached out from the side and grabbed him by the back of his collar.

Chen Yang—Chen Shuyan's father—was seen standing guard at the alley entrance at some unknown time.

"You little brat, why are you running around?" Chen Yang picked up Chen Tianrun like a chick and carried him back, threw him into the woodshed, and locked the door from the outside.

Chen Tianrun pounded on the door of the woodshed, his voice hoarse from shouting, "Let me out! Let Tianwei go!"

The door panel remained completely still.

Chen Shuyan carried Chen Tianwei, who was tied up like a dumpling, out the back door and walked quickly toward the old locust tree at the village entrance.

Unbeknownst to them, a thin, dark-skinned head had just peeked back out from behind the wall of the neighboring courtyard. It was Chen Erniu, a neighbor who was good friends with Chen Tianrun.

He witnessed Chen Shuyan tying up Chen Tianwei and heard Chen Tianrun shout, "Release Tianwei!" Although he didn't understand what had happened, he knew—something was wrong, very wrong.

Chen Erniu jumped down from the wall and ran as fast as he could towards the village chief's house.

He ran while shouting, "It's terrible! Brother Tianfang, Sister Tianwei has been kidnapped by Chen Shuyan!"

Inside the village chief's main room, Wang Jinzhu was being scolded by Old Lady Chen.

"...From the very first day they moved in, they've never stopped causing trouble! Disrespectful to elders, sowing discord, lazy and gluttonous..."

Old Mrs. Chen counted her crimes on her fingers, getting more and more excited as she spoke, her spittle almost flying onto Chen Defu's face.

After listening for a while, Chen Defu turned to Wang Jinzhu and asked, "Eldest daughter-in-law of the Chen family, what do you say about what your grandmother said?"

Wang Jinzhu stood in the middle of the main room, calm and composed, her voice clear and bright: "Village Chief, I have three questions."

She held up one finger: "First, I didn't ask for a single penny of dowry when I married into the Chen family. Everyone in the village knows that, right?"

Chen Defu nodded.

Wang Jinzhu raised her second finger: "Secondly, on the second day after I entered the family, my grandmother and the second wife wanted to sell my sister-in-law, Chen Tianwei, to a slave trader. They wanted to sell their own granddaughter for only five taels of silver. Village chief, are you aware of this?"

The main room fell silent.

Old Mrs. Chen argued, "But we didn't sell them! Besides, which family hasn't sold their children before?"

Chen Defu's face darkened, and he turned his gaze to Old Man Chen. Although he had sold children before, that was during years of natural disasters when he simply couldn't support his family and had no other choice.

Old Chen gripped his pipe so tightly it made a cracking sound, avoiding his gaze.

Just as Wang Jinzhu was about to continue speaking, a hurried voice came from the child.

"Brother Tianfang! Brother Tianfang!"

A small figure tumbled and crawled into the yard; it was Chen Erniu.

He was out of breath and covered in sweat. As soon as he entered the door, he leaned against Chen Tianfang and shouted at the top of his lungs:

"Something terrible has happened! Chen Shuyan has tied up Tianwei and run towards the old locust tree at the village entrance! Tianrun has also been locked in the woodshed by his second uncle!"

The entire room was astonished.

Chen Tianfang's pupils suddenly contracted, and he shot off like an arrow without saying a word.

Wang Jinzhu's composure vanished completely, and she grabbed Chen Defu's sleeve:

"Village chief, do you still think I'm the one causing trouble?"

Old Chen was also stunned; his second grandson hadn't told him that Tianwei was going to be sold today!

Wang Jinzhu let go of his hand, lifted her skirt, and chased after him.

Old Man Chen walked out of the village chief's house and looked at the people who had been attracted by Chen Erniu's shouts. His family had completely lost face in the village today!