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

After saying that, Zhou Xifeng slammed the courtyard gate shut with a loud bang.

Looking at Zhou Xifeng standing in front of her, Wang Jinzhu felt a surge of warmth in her heart; it was still her family who mattered.

Outside the door, several women looked ashen-faced.

They finally understood that Wang Jinzhu was determined to abandon them.

That daily wage of thirty or forty coins, that job that everyone in the village envied, is really gone!

Regret gnawed at their hearts like a venomous snake.

"It's all that Li Ersao's fault!" a woman suddenly screamed, her voice trembling with sobs and boundless resentment. "It's her! She spread rumors and ruined us! If it weren't for her, we wouldn't have lost such good jobs!"

"Yes! It's her! She got kicked out herself, so she can't stand to see us doing well!"

"That gossipy old woman! I'm not finished with her!"

Anger instantly replaced regret. Since there was no going back, he had to find a culprit to vent his anger on!

The women exchanged glances, their eyes blazing with fury.

"Let's go! Let's settle the score with her!"

"She ruined our livelihood, we'll teach her a lesson today!"

A group of angry women, united as one, charged menacingly toward Chen Ergen's house.

"Bang!"

The gate to Chen Ergen's courtyard was violently forced open. The wooden door slammed against the earthen wall, sending up a cloud of dust.

Four women rushed into the courtyard. Li Ersao was sitting under the eaves, eating melon seeds.

"You shameless, gossipy woman! You still dare to eat sunflower seeds!" Wang was the first to rush forward and slap him across the face.

"Snapped!"

The sound was crisp and loud. Li Ersao's head was knocked to the side, and half her face instantly swelled up. Melon seeds scattered all over the ground.

She froze for a second, then burst into a scream: "You dare hit me? I'll fight you to the death!"

Li Ersao lunged at Wang Shi with bared teeth and claws. Three other women rushed forward from behind.

Pulling hair, scratching face, tearing clothes. Four against one.

"Ouch! My hair!" Li Ersao cried out in pain. Wang grabbed her hair bun tightly and pulled it back forcefully. Another woman kicked Li Ersao in the back of the knee. Li Ersao fell to her knees with a thud.

Chen Ergen hid inside the house, peeking out through the crack in the window. These women were really fierce fighting.

"You heartless bastard! You spread rumors and made us lose our jobs! That's thirty or forty coins a day! You owe us our wages!"

Fists rained down on her. Li Ersao covered her head with her hands and rolled on the ground. Her clothes were torn, revealing her pale, white flesh. Several bloody scratches marred her face.

She knew that if she didn't get an explanation today, these women might beat her to death.

"Stop hitting me! Stop hitting me!" Li Ersao shouted hoarsely, "I won't have any money even if you beat me to death! If you're so capable, go find Wang Jinzhu!"

"Still dare to talk back!" Wang kicked her in the stomach again.

"Are you all stupid!" Li Ersao suddenly raised her head, ignoring her disheveled hair, and pointed outside the courtyard gate, shouting, "That's our Chenjia Village workshop! What right does Wang Jinzhu have to recruit people from Wangjia Village? We shouldn't let the good stuff go to outsiders; she's betraying us!"

The four women stopped moving at the same time.

Seeing that there was a chance, Li Ersao quickly got up and retreated to the corner of the wall to catch her breath.

"Think about it, that workshop is built on land in our village, and Chen Tianfang is also from our village. She's a woman from another clan, and she doesn't use people from our village; she goes out to recruit workers. How can that be justified?"

Wang frowned and looked at the other three.

"What Sister-in-law Li said, though crude, makes sense. Why should her family members earn the money when we villagers can't do it?"

"Exactly! No matter how powerful Wang Jinzhu is, can she be more powerful than our entire Chenjia Village?"

Li Ersao pressed her advantage: "Hitting me won't do you any good. I've already been kicked out. You should go find the village chief now! Let him get rid of those women from Wangjia Village and get your job back!"

The hatred had been successfully diverted. The women exchanged glances and agreed that Li Ersao was right. Beating her up would vent their anger, but it wouldn't get their wages back. Putting pressure on the village chief was the right thing to do.

"Consider yourself lucky today!" Wang spat. "Let's go find the village chief!"

The four women turned and rushed out of the courtyard. Li Ersao slid down against the wall, touched her swollen face, and spat out a mouthful of bloody foam.

Chenjia Village, outside the village chief's house.

Chen Defu was sitting in the courtyard smoking a pipe.

The door was pounded on so loudly it shook the heavens.

"Uncle Defu! You have to stand up for us!"

Chen Defu frowned and tapped his pipe. His daughter-in-law and son both worked in the workshop, earning seventy or eighty coins a day, with bonuses for good performance. He was quite pleased with himself and had no intention of getting involved in this mess.

When the door was opened, four disheveled women with angry faces stood outside.

"What are you doing? Are you wailing like a mourner?" Chen Defu said sternly.

Wang sat down on the threshold with a thud, slapping her thigh and wailing.

"Uncle Defu, you should do something about Chen Tianfang's wicked daughter-in-law! She doesn't treat the people of Chenjia Village like human beings!"

"She gave the workshop work to people from her maternal village, Wangjia Village! None of the women from our own village have any work!"

"They're taking advantage of the fact that Chenjia Village has no one left!"

Chen Defu sneered inwardly after hearing this. He had heard about it before. He had been so easily swayed by rumors that he hadn't gone to work, and now that the other company had hired someone else, he was envious.

"Alright, alright, get up, all of you." Chen Defu waved his hand. "Jinzhu runs a workshop; it's her freedom to hire whomever she wants. If you don't go, who can you blame?"

"Uncle Defu, you're wrong about that!" another woman protested. "That workshop is occupying our village's land! Why should they use people from Wangjia Village? You're the village head; you can't side with outsiders!"

Chen Defu's face darkened: "What? I can't teach you a lesson? Get back to work!"

He turned to close the door.

Wang panicked when she saw this, so she lay down on the ground and started rolling around.

"Oh my god! This is outrageous! The village chief is protecting outsiders who are bullying our villagers! I can't live like this anymore!"

The other three women followed suit, sitting in front of Chen Defu's house, wailing and lamenting.

It was late afternoon, and the villagers, having nothing else to do, all gathered around when they heard the commotion. They pointed and whispered among themselves.

Chen Defu was so angry his beard trembled. He couldn't bear the shame. His daughter-in-law was still earning money at the workshop, and he absolutely couldn't cause trouble for Wang Jinzhu. But if he didn't get rid of these shrewish women, he couldn't continue being the village chief.

"Shut up, all of you!" Chen Defu shouted.

The crying stopped. The four women stared intently at him.

Chen Defu took a deep breath, suppressing his anger: "Fine. I'll go ask them for you. Whether it works out or not is none of my business. If they're determined not to use you, and you dare to cause trouble again, I'll open the ancestral hall and have them enforce the family rules!"

Wang quickly got up, patted the dirt off her bottom, and said, "With Uncle Defu involved, it's bound to work! Let's go and wait for Uncle Defu's good news!"

The women dispersed. Chen Defu watched their retreating figures and rolled his eyes.

Send him to find Wang Jinzhu? He's not that stupid. That girl is the type who only responds to gentle persuasion, even Old Madam Chen is completely under her thumb. Going to provoke her would only make him look bad.