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

As the grief of Old Mrs. Chen's passing gradually subsided, the workshop's business returned to normal, and the monthly supply to Manager Sun and Fuyinghao proceeded smoothly.

Wang Jinzhu came up with several new soap designs and planned to send them over with the next batch of goods.

After this incident, Chen Yuxiang finally understood that she wasn't a smart person, even less so than Chen Shi. If Chen Shi hadn't pulled her back, she might not have survived. From now on, she would listen to the head of the household and do whatever he asked her to do.

Only Old Man Chen, most of the time, sat silently in the courtyard basking in the sun, but his cloudy eyes became clearer day by day.

That afternoon, Wang Jinzhu was squatting in the backyard inspecting the soap blanks drying when Chen Tianwei rushed in, her face pale and her eyes filled with an unprecedented sense of panic.

She gently tugged at Wang Jinzhu's sleeve, her voice extremely low: "Sister-in-law, come with me for a moment, I have something urgent to tell you."

"What's wrong? You seem so irritable." Wang Jinzhu put down her work and followed Chen Tianwei into the room.

Chen Tianwei took a deep breath, his voice trembling: "Just now, a shop assistant from Yang's Rice Shop secretly came to me. He was sent by Shujie."

Wang Jinzhu's eyes sharpened: "What did Shujie say?"

"She said... Prince An has rebelled in the north. The news hasn't spread yet, but Manager Yang said that the world is probably going to be in chaos."

Chen Tianwei twisted his fingers, his eyes filled with fear. "The Yang family is in the grain business, they have the best connections. They're already planning to close their shops and flee to the prefectural city by the end of the month. Shujie told us... to stock up on grain before prices skyrocket, and absolutely not to let anyone know!"

Wang Jinzhu was shocked. "Rebellion? If war breaks out, the common people will be the first to suffer. Grain will be more expensive than gold!"

She steadied herself, pressed down on Chen Tianwei's cold hand, and asked sternly, "Tianwei, besides me, who else did you tell about this?"

"I didn't tell anyone!" Chen Tianwei shook his head frantically. "Shujie confessed that if this got out, it would cause panic, and if the authorities investigated, no one could bear the consequences. I didn't even dare tell my parents."

"Good, well done." Wang Jinzhu nodded, her gaze deep. "Keep this to yourself, pretend you never heard of it. I'll handle the rest."

After seeing Chen Tianwei off, Wang Jinzhu pondered for a while in her room. She now had money and a spatial ability, and she had to make ample preparations before danger struck.

In the evening, Wang Tianfang returned from hunting, with two wild rabbits in his basket.

Wang Jinzhu took the basket from his back and pulled him aside. Wang Tianfang noticed his wife's unusual behavior, put down his bow and arrows, and looked at her questioningly.

Wang Jinzhu leaned close to his ear and told him everything that Chen Shujie had sent back.

Wang Tianfang's pupils suddenly contracted, and the knuckles of his fingers gripping the bow and arrow turned slightly blue from the force. As a hunter, he was more perceptive than the average person, and he had indeed noticed some unfamiliar faces at the foot of the mountain recently.

"What do you want to do?" Wang Tian asked in a low voice, his tone calm and composed, without the slightest hint of panic.

"Buy grain, the more the better," Wang Jinzhu said, looking at him. "But we can't let our parents know. They've always been honest and can't keep secrets. If they let it slip, our family will become the target of everyone's criticism."

Wang Tianfang nodded: "Okay. The workshop just needs to pay the workers' wages and prepare meals, so let's use this as an excuse to go to the town and neighboring counties to buy them in batches."

The couple quickly reached an agreement, and to buy grain, and even for other possible future situations, Wang Jinzhu bought a horse-drawn cart and an oxcart. This aroused envy and jealousy among the villagers, but in these special times, they couldn't worry about such things.

In the days that followed, the people of Chenjia Village noticed that Wang Jinzhu's oxcart was running much more frequently.

Wang Jinzhu only told outsiders that the soap workshop had received a big order and needed to go to town to buy alkali and oil, as well as prepare two months' worth of food for the workers. The villagers were green with envy.

Every morning, Wang Jinzhu and Wang Tianfang would drive out.

Instead of buying in bulk from one store, they bought separately from various shops, purchasing fifty catties of rice and thirty catties of flour from each shop, along with some old grains.

When they reached the deserted mountain pass, Wang Tianfang was in charge of guarding the area, while Wang Jinzhu waved her hand, and the heavy sacks instantly disappeared from the vehicle, neatly stacked in a corner of the space.

Not only grain, but also some of the prey that Wang Tianfang had recently hunted was secretly stored in Wang Jinzhu's spatial storage.

Watching Wang Jinzhu bustling around, Wang Tianfang said in a low voice, "Jinzhu, that's enough, it's almost a thousand jin already."

"It's not enough." Wang Jinzhu wiped away her sweat, her eyes resolute. "If things really get chaotic, this thousand catties of grain won't last long. We need to store not only grain, but also water, medicine, and everything that can save our lives."

Wang Tianfang didn't try to persuade him any further and silently started whittling bamboo tubes. Wang Jinzhu had asked him to prepare bamboo tubes with enough water to last at least three days for both the Chen and Wang families.

In just seven days, a small mountain had been piled up in the space.

1,200 catties of grain, 50 catties of cured meat, 30 tubs of clean water, and hemostatic medicine and cold medicine that Wang Jinzhu specially bought from the county.

These things are the strongest foundation for the coming chaos.

However, even after buying enough food, Wang Jinzhu's mind was not completely at ease.

She stood by the newly built workshop wall, looking towards the village entrance. As grain prices quietly rose, groups of migrants began to appear in the town. Their eyes were numb, like a swarm of wandering ghosts, slowly approaching Chenjia Village.

Wang Jinzhu turned around and went directly to the village chief Chen Defu's house.

"Village chief, look at the sky, is it going to rain heavily soon?" Wang Jinzhu asked meaningfully, sitting in Chen Defu's courtyard.

Chen Defu was troubled by the recent loss of several chickens in the village. He sighed and said, "I haven't seen Yu, but I've seen quite a few unfamiliar faces. Jinzhu, you've been going to the city a lot lately, has something happened there?"

Wang Jinzhu didn't answer directly, but lowered her voice and said, "Village chief, I heard from the county manager that things aren't peaceful in the north, and the number of refugees will only increase. Although our Chenjia Village is remote, every household has surplus grain. Have you thought about the consequences if those starving people gather together and rush in?"

Chen Defu's expression changed, and the pipe in his hand trembled.

"Then... what should we do? We're all just farmers."

"Organize a patrol team," Wang Jinzhu said decisively. "Gather all the able-bodied men in the village, divide them into three shifts, and set up a checkpoint at the village entrance at night. As long as we act tough, those refugees won't dare to easily target us. I can provide some food for the villagers on patrol, a late-night snack."

Chen Defu thought for a while, then slammed his hand on the table: "Alright! I'll do as you say! I'll go and gather the manpower right away. Jinzhu, having you is truly a blessing for our village."

Wang Jinzhu smiled but didn't say anything. She just wanted to protect her family.

Night was falling.

Chen Shuyan led a few shadowy figures into the courtyard of the second house. They were some ruthless characters among the refugees he had met in the county.

"Scholar Chen, is that big courtyard full of grain you mentioned the one in front of us, the one with the blue brick house?" a vagrant with a burly face asked in a low voice, his eyes gleaming with a greedy, fierce light.

Chen Shuyan raised his head, the moonlight shining on his distorted face, making him look particularly sinister.

"Yes, that's it. There's not only grain there, but also silver, and... beautiful women."

He pointed in the direction of Wang Jinzhu's house, his fingers trembling slightly, not out of fear, but out of some kind of twisted pleasure.

"If you help me kill that woman, everything inside is yours."