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

Several women working in the workshop felt something was wrong on their way home.

The villagers looked at them strangely. They used to greet them warmly when they met, but today they all kept their distance, wondering if there was something dirty on them.

Zhao Xiulan's mother-in-law even blocked her at the door of her house.

"Don't go to that workshop tomorrow!"

Zhao Xiulan had just returned with her sixty coins in wages and was feeling quite happy when her mother-in-law said this, and she was immediately stunned: "Mother, why? I was doing a great job."

"What's going on? Do you know what people are saying outside? They're saying Wang Jinzhu's workshop is a black market operation, using harmful substances! You're still working there. What if something goes wrong and you get implicated? Our Chen family can't afford to lose face like that!"

"Mother, who are you listening to?!" Zhao Xiulan exclaimed anxiously. "Jinzhu is a wonderful person! Her workshop is impeccably clean; she sweeps the floor three times a day! The materials we use are all top-quality; there's no shoddy stuff in there!"

"What do you know! You're just blinded by her meager wages!" The mother-in-law wouldn't listen. "Anyway, I'm telling you, if you dare go there again tomorrow, don't even think about setting foot in this house!"

The same scenario played out not only in Zhao Xiulan's home, but also in several other workers' homes.

For a time, people panic.

The next morning, when it was time to start work, the workshop courtyard was deserted, with only three people present.

Besides Chen Xinghua, who lived at home, there was only Zhao Xiulan and another woman who was a bit bolder.

Zhao Xiulan came under the pressure of having a big argument with her mother-in-law. She didn't believe Wang Jinzhu was that kind of person, and she couldn't bear to give up the fifty or sixty coins a day she earned.

Chen Tianwei waited and waited at the door, stamping her feet in impatience.

"Sister-in-law, what should we do? People are too scared to come because of those rumors!"

Wang Jinzhu was feeding chickens in the backyard when she heard this. She threw down the ladle in her hand and wiped her hands.

"What's the panic?" There was no anxious expression on her face. "What's meant to happen will happen. If it doesn't, it means she can't hold onto this job, so it's better if she leaves."

She walked into the courtyard and looked at the three scattered people.

"I'm very happy that the three of you came today," Wang Jinzhu said. "This proves that you trust me and your own eyes. Your wages will be doubled today."

All three of them were stunned.

Doubled wages? Zhao Xiulan can earn more than a hundred coins a day?

"Jinzhu, this...this isn't a good idea, is it?"

"What's wrong with that?" Wang Jinzhu said. "This is what you deserve. You trust me, so I can't let you suffer. Let's get to work."

The three exchanged a glance, sparks flying between them.

No rumors or bad looks can compare to real money.

The three of them immediately became incredibly energetic and got right to work.

Even if the three of them recover quickly, it's still not enough. The people in Chenjia Village are unreliable; her maternal family has plenty of honest relatives and capable aunts.

With that in mind, Wang Jinzhu didn't delay any longer.

She wiped her hands, took off her apron, gave Chen Tianwei a few instructions on keeping an eye on the heat, and then went straight out the door, heading towards Wangjia Village.

As soon as Wang Jinzhu entered the village, she went back to her parents' home. Her sister-in-law, Zhou Xifeng, was feeding the pigs in the yard. When she saw her, she was both surprised and delighted.

"Jinzhu? Why are you back at this hour? Did those scoundrels from the Chen family bully you again?" Ever since Chen Shuyan ruined her younger sister's reputation, Zhou Xifeng has had no good feelings towards the Chen family.

"Sister-in-law, I'm doing well." Wang Jinzhu felt a warmth in her heart, pulled her to sit down, and briefly explained that the workshop was short-staffed. "The daily wage starts at thirty coins, the more you work, the more you earn, and lunch is provided. Sister-in-law, if you have some free time, come and help me."

Zhou Xifeng's eyes widened when she heard this.

"Thirty coins a day? And meals included?" She counted on her fingers; it would be almost a tael of silver a month! Her husband, Wang Jinbao, worked with their father, slaughtering pigs and selling meat, and their net profit was only a little over two taels a month. She raised pigs at home, and couldn't save even a few taels of silver all year round.

"Go! Of course I'll go!" Zhou Xifeng slapped her thigh and immediately agreed. "Let me tell you, Aunt Zhang from the west end of our village, and your third uncle's cousin's wife, are both very capable workers and honest people. I'll go and call them! We can't let such a good opportunity go to outsiders!"

Zhou Xifeng was a woman of action; she immediately threw down the pig feed spoon, wiped her hands, and ran outside.

Before an incense stick had burned, she returned with two kind-looking women. Upon hearing that Wang Jinzhu was hiring, their faces were filled with longing and a hint of unease.

"Jinzhu, we're clumsy, but can we still do it?" Aunt Zhang rubbed her hands together, looking a little flustered.

"Auntie, this job isn't difficult, it's just grueling. As long as you're willing to put in the effort and learn diligently, anyone can do it well." Wang Jinzhu smiled to reassure them, "Let's be clear from the start, I have strict rules where I live. I won't show any mercy to those who are lazy, cheat, or waste things."

"Absolutely not!" my cousin-in-law immediately declared. "We're the Wang family, how could we not trust our own? Don't worry, we'll handle everything perfectly for you!"

And that's how it was settled.

Wang Jinzhu led three "new employees" back to Chenjia Village in a grand procession.

……

On the other side, the eldest branch of the Chen family.

After Wang Jinzhu left, Chen Tianfang sat in the courtyard, holding a wood-chopping knife, chopping wood piece by piece.

The firewood cracked with a dull thud, as if venting the anger in his heart.

He heard everything Li Ersao said. Those vicious and filthy rumors were like poisoned needles piercing his heart.

He was angry at himself for being bad at arguing and not knowing how to fight. He was even angrier at himself for being useless and unable to protect his wife, letting her suffer such injustice.

"Tianfang," Wang Jinzhu's voice rang out from the doorway.

Chen Tianfang suddenly looked up and saw three unfamiliar women following behind her, and was slightly taken aback.

"This is my eldest sister-in-law, Aunt Zhang, and my cousin's wife. They'll be working in our workshop from now on." After introducing them, Wang Jinzhu walked up to him, took out the contract with Li Ersao's fingerprint on it from her bosom, and handed it to him.

"You handle this."

Chen Tianfang looked at the contract in his hand, then looked up at his wife's trusting eyes, and the pent-up anger in his heart instantly found an outlet.

He put down the wood-chopping knife, picked up the contract, and walked out of the courtyard without saying a word.

Chen Ergen's house.

Li Ersao was lying on the kang (a heated brick bed), boasting to her husband about how she had made Wang Jinzhu's workshop go out of business, her face beaming with excitement.

Chen Ergen was terrified as he listened, feeling that this matter was not going to be resolved so easily.

"Bang!"

The courtyard gate was kicked open.

Chen Tianfang's towering figure appeared in the doorway, completely blocking the afternoon sun and instantly plunging the room into darkness. His face was expressionless, but his eyes were as cold as ice in the dead of winter.

"Chen, Chen Tianfang? What are you doing here?" Chen Ergen was so frightened that he rolled off the kang (a heated brick bed).

Chen Tianfang ignored him, walked straight to the center of the room, and slammed the contract on the table with a "bang".

"Nine hundred cash, bring it over in three days. Otherwise, we'll report you to the authorities."

Realizing what was happening, Li Ersao immediately jumped up from the kang (a heated brick bed), put her hands on her hips, and adopted a tantrum-like posture: "Chen Tianfang, don't push your luck! What nine hundred coins? I don't have a single one! Go ahead and kill me if you dare!"

"Then you can wait to see the officials. I've informed you," Chen Tianfang replied coldly, turning and leaving.

On the third day, fearing that Wang Jinzhu would report her to the authorities, Li Ersao secretly delivered 900 coins and then slunk away.

Meanwhile, the women who hadn't gone to work also learned that Wang Jinzhu was recruiting people from Wangjia Village, and they gathered together sighing.

"Hey, do you think we made a mistake? What if that rumor is false...?"

"That's right! I tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep. Fifty coins a day, gone just like that!"

"How about we go and beg Jinzhu for help?"

Finally, the four encouraged each other and arrived at the workshop entrance, where they pleaded with Wang Jinzhu.

"Jinzhu, Jinzhu, listen to us!"

"We were blinded by greed yesterday and listened to Li Ersao's nonsense!"

"Please give us another chance, we promise to do our best!"

The women pleaded incessantly, their faces full of fawning smiles.

Wang Jinzhu stopped and calmly swept her gaze across their faces without saying a word, but the coldness in her eyes was more unbearable than any insult.

Zhou Xifeng, standing behind her, had a fiery temper. She immediately glared at them and said, "What's wrong with you people from Chenjia Village? You believe everything you hear! You treat even the slightest whisper as if it were a sweet whisper! We, Jinzhu, offered you good jobs, but you didn't appreciate them. Now that we're here, you're wagging your tails? Too late!"