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

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.

With a quick glance, Chen Defu had an idea.

Wang Jinzhu is tough, but she still has her in-laws to rely on! Chen Shi and his wife are honest and upright people, especially Chen Yuxiang, who is easily influenced and cares a lot about her reputation.

As the sun began to set and the heat dissipated somewhat, Chen Defu strolled leisurely towards the fields belonging to the Chen family's main house, his hands behind his back.

In the field, Chen Shi was weeding with a hoe, his coarse blouse soaked with sweat. Chen Yuxiang followed behind, bending down to pick up pebbles from the ground. Ever since the family divided their property, the eldest son's family had visibly prospered, and the old couple seemed to have inexhaustible energy for work.

"Shizi, busy?" Chen Defu greeted him with a smile as he stood on the edge of the field.

Chen Shi stopped hoeing, wiped his sweat, and smiled憨厚ly: "Village chief, what brings you here?"

Chen Defu didn't reply, his gaze falling on Chen Yuxiang, his tone carrying a hint of familiarity and flattery: "Yuxiang, you look radiant these past few days, and you seem much more prosperous. In our Chenjia Village, you're definitely one of the luckiest people around. You married a capable daughter-in-law, built a big brick house—who in the surrounding area isn't envious?"

Chen Yuxiang felt very comfortable after receiving these compliments. She straightened up, patted the dirt off her hands, and smiled broadly: "Village chief, you're joking. It's just the kids messing around and earning a few hard-earned coins."

"Hey, that's not right." Chen Defu waved his hand, deliberately lowered his voice, and sighed, "Jinzhu is capable, but she's too straightforward. People in the village have complained to me about her."

Chen Shi's heart skipped a beat; he knew about the rumors. "How can you blame our Jinzhu? They're not very good at it themselves, but someone has to do the work in the workshop!"

"So, the village's young wives have all come to me asking for my help to put in a good word for them, to see if Jinzhu can give them another chance." Chen Defu chuckled twice and recounted the story of how the women went on strike, regretted it, and ended up making a scene at his doorstep.

Seeing that Chen Shi didn't respond, Chen Defu turned the conversation to Chen Yuxiang: "Yuxiang, logically speaking, it's Jinzhu's business who she hires and who she doesn't. But the workshop is, after all, built on our Chenjia Village's land. If she turns around and goes to Wangjia Village to recruit people, leaving the wives from our own village out in the cold, it won't sound good if word gets out. People will gossip about our Chenjia Village, saying that we can't tolerate a wife from another family."

Upon hearing this, Chen Shi frowned. He was an honest man, but he also knew right from wrong. Who could be blamed for those women's strike based on rumors?

He was about to refuse when Chen Yuxiang spoke first.

"Village chief, what you said makes sense." Chen Yuxiang felt that the village chief coming to discuss things with her personally was giving her a huge favor.

"We all live in the same village, we see each other all the time. Jinzhu is young and impulsive, she doesn't care about these social niceties. Don't worry, leave this to me, I'll go back and talk to her and ask her to call those wives back."

Chen Defu's eyes lit up, his heart leaping with joy, but he feigned reluctance: "Oh, Yuxiang, thank you so much. I'll leave this to you then, I'll head back now!"

With the idea of ​​"better to die than to die myself," Chen Defu, fearing that Chen Yuxiang would change her mind, slipped away faster than a rabbit.

Watching the village chief walk away, Chen Shi slammed his hoe on the ground, his face ashen: "Are you crazy? Why did you agree to that?!"

Chen Yuxiang was taken aback by the shout, then quickly became angry: "So what if I agreed? The village chief came to beg me personally, how could I refuse him? Besides, the village chief is right, we shouldn't let the good stuff go to outsiders. The workshop is in our village, why should the work be done by people from Wangjia Village?"

"Are you out of your mind!" Chen Shi trembled with anger, pointing at Chen Yuxiang's nose and cursing, "That's Jinzhu's workshop! Jinzhu paid for it! Those women brought it on themselves, listening to Li Ersao's nonsense and refusing to go to work, and now they're jealous of others making money! It was their fault to begin with! And you, what are you acting like, acting all high and mighty!"

"Me, acting like a big shot?" Chen Yuxiang raised her voice. "I'm her legitimate mother-in-law! No matter how much she earns, she's still a daughter-in-law of the Chen family! What's wrong with me saying something? Can't I make decisions for her?"

Looking at his wife's self-righteous demeanor, Chen Shi laughed angrily, "Fine, you've had your fun for too long, you've forgotten who you are. You wait until we get back and see if Jinzhu will even acknowledge you!"

Chen Shi, too lazy to waste any more words, picked up his hoe and headed home. Chen Yuxiang followed behind, pouting and muttering, "Let her say what she wants, do you think I'm afraid of her?"

That evening, at the Chen family's residence.

A sumptuous dinner was laid out on the large round wooden table. There was a pot of braised pork belly, simmering until tender; a plate of steamed fish; two dishes of vibrant green seasonal vegetables; and the main dish was large steamed buns made from a mixture of white flour and cornmeal, exuding a wonderful aroma of wheat.

In the past, we wouldn't even get to eat this kind of food during the Lunar New Year.

Old Chen sat in the main seat, picked up a piece of braised pork and stuffed it into his mouth, squinting his eyes with a look of pure enjoyment on his face.

Chen Shi kept his head down and silently ate his rice, hoping that his wife wouldn't be so stubborn.

Chen Tianfang sat next to Wang Jinzhu, carefully picking out the boneless meat from the fish's belly and putting it into his wife's bowl. Chen Tianwei and Chen Xinghua sat side by side, eating their food in small bites.

The atmosphere at the dinner table was originally very harmonious.

Chen Yuxiang ate a couple of mouthfuls of rice, her eyes constantly glancing at Wang Jinzhu. Looking at Wang Jinzhu's face, she actually felt a little intimidated.

But remembering the village chief's flattering words that afternoon, Chen Yuxiang put on her mother-in-law persona again. She cleared her throat and put down her chopsticks.

"Golden Pearl."

The chewing sounds at the dinner table stopped, and several pairs of eyes turned to Chen Yuxiang.

Chen Shi's hand trembled as he picked up some food, and an egg fell onto the table. He knew he was in trouble and kicked Chen Yuxiang under the table.

Chen Yuxiang glared at Chen Shi, ignored him, and turned to Wang Jinzhu, saying in a affected tone, "This afternoon, the village chief came to see me. He said it was about the wives in the workshop."

Wang Jinzhu swallowed the food in her mouth, put down her chopsticks, and quietly watched Chen Yuxiang wait for what was to come.

Chen Yuxiang felt uneasy under his gaze, but having already started, she could only grit her teeth and continue, "Mother knows that those women didn't go to work the other day because of gossip, which made you angry. But once the anger subsides, it's fine. After all, we're all from the same village and related by blood. It's just not right for you to bring people from Wangjia Village to work in our Chenjia Village. If word gets out, people will say we're dishonest and have forgotten our roots."

"Listen to your mother's advice. Tomorrow, go and talk to those people in Wangjia Village. Give them some copper coins to send them back. Let the work be handed over to the people in our own village. Wouldn't it be better if everyone got along peacefully?"

A deathly silence fell over the dinner table; the others didn't dare to breathe.

The braised pork in Old Chen's mouth suddenly lost its flavor, and a fine layer of sweat appeared on his forehead. That foolish woman! Has she gotten too comfortable with her life? She's had enough of the good life, but he hasn't!

Chen Shi buried his head almost in the bowl, not daring to look at Wang Jinzhu's face at all.