Imperial Husband Chapter 86

Chapter 86

Liu Rong wasn't someone to be bullied either. After leaving these words, he turned and left, having no intention to continue the conversation.

"Rong Fulang, wait a moment." The village chief hurriedly called out to Liu Rong while sternly addressing the villagers who had made rude remarks, "You people are driving me mad with anger. Rong Fulang has lived in this village for so many years—don't you understand what kind of person he is?"

"I believe Rong Fulang."

It was Zhuzi's mother who spoke.

"I believe him too."

With Zhuzi's mother taking the lead, other villagers who were on good terms with Liu Rong also stepped forward to speak up for him.

For a time.

Those villagers who had maliciously doubted Liu Rong now had nothing more to say.

"Hmph." Dashu's stepmother sneered disdainfully, "Maybe it was like that before, but now that Liujia Village is suffering from famine, you, Liu Rong, are eating all by yourself. If that's not disregarding the lives of fellow villagers, then what is?"

Liu Rong coldly retorted, "Wang Jinhua, when it comes to eating alone, I am far from being your match."

"What do you mean by that, Liu Rong?"

Wang Jinhua pointed at Liu Rong, her eyes filled with anger.

Liu Rong was long accustomed to Wang Jinhua's attitude towards him and spoke bluntly, "Who in the village doesn't know your son is the best looking? If you say you haven't been giving your son extra food on the sly, who would believe it?"

"That's my family's business. It's none of your concern."

Wang Jinhua, flustered in the heat of the moment, snapped back without thinking.

Oh no.

Wang Jinhua quickly realized she had said the wrong thing, her face immediately turning grim.

The looks from the other villagers whom Wang Jinhua had incited gradually turned unfriendly.

Actually, the reason they had come to Liu Rong's house to cause trouble was because Wang Jinhua had been fanning the flames behind their backs. So when Wang Jinhua uttered these selfish words, the expressions of the villagers she had successfully incited naturally turned ugly.

Wang Jinhua hurriedly tried to remedy the situation, "No, what I meant was…"

Liu Rong had no intention of giving Wang Jinhua time to explain and interrupted her, "In that case, why did you come here to ask me about the sweet potatoes?"

"You…"

Wang Jinhua didn't expect Liu Rong to turn the tables on her and was left speechless.

"Wang Jinhua, shut your mouth."

The village chief had been annoyed ever since Wang Jinhua took the lead in stirring up trouble earlier. Now that a good matter had been ruined by Wang Jinhua, the village chief saw no need to be polite with her and directly told her to shut up.

"Village Chief, it was clearly Liu Rong who was wrong first. Why are you blaming me?"

Wang Jinhua played the victim.

In Wang Jinhua's view, everything was Liu Rong's fault. If Liu Rong had obediently told them the location of the sweet potatoes when they asked, none of this trouble would have happened.

"Wang Jinhua, if you don't shut up now, I won't be polite with you."

The village chief, clearly aware of Wang Jinhua's peculiar way of thinking, directly threatened her, tired of continuing to argue with her.

Sure enough.

Upon hearing the village chief's words, Wang Jinhua shut her mouth.

Then, the village chief looked apologetically at Liu Rong, "Rong Fulang, Wang Jinhua's words shouldn't be taken seriously. I wonder if you could take me to see Young Master Li and the others?"

"Alright, Village Chief, please follow me."

Liu Rong's earlier words were merely said to refute Wang Jinhua; he never actually intended to hoard the sweet potatoes.

"Thank you for the trouble, Rong Fulang."

The village chief secretly breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly followed Liu Rong inside.

Shortly after, they arrived at the room where Li Jin was.

Knock knock.

Liu Rong knocked on the door, "A-Jin, are you in there? The village chief is here. He wants to discuss the sweet potato matter with you. I wonder if it's convenient for you to meet with the village chief."

Not long after, Li Jin's voice came from inside, "I'm here, Rong Fulang. Please have the village chief come in."

"Village Chief, you can go right in. I have matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave now."

Liu Rong nodded to the village chief and prepared to leave.

Seeing Liu Rong about to leave, the village chief quickly said, "Rong Fulang, I'm truly sorry about earlier."

"It's nothing. Wang Jinhua has never liked me anyway. You should go in quickly." After saying this, Liu Rong turned and left without looking back, leaving the village chief standing outside alone.

The village chief shook his head and immediately pushed the door open.

Creak.

Li Jin, sitting to the side, saw the village chief enter and calmly invited, "Village Chief, please have a seat."

The village chief sat on the stool opposite Li Jin and got straight to the point, "Young Master Li, I came to you this time regarding the sweet potatoes. I wonder if you would be willing to tell the other villagers of our village where you found the sweet potatoes?"

Li Jin nodded, "Yes."

"Really?"

The village chief, who had thought it would take some effort to persuade Li Jin, immediately showed a pleased expression.

"Hmm." Li Jin nodded, but his next sentence dashed the village chief's mood, "However, Village Chief, if you want to use the sweet potatoes to address Liujia Village's urgent needs, that's possible. But if you want to completely solve the famine, it's far from enough."

The amount of sweet potatoes Dongzi dug up was substantial, but it still couldn't meet the needs of an entire village.

Moreover, there was a Wangjia Village not far from Liujia Village. If the villagers of Wangjia Village asked the girls and shuang'ers who married into Liujia Village what was going on, the secret of the sweet potatoes would definitely not stay hidden and would lead to new conflicts.

"In that case, it's troublesome."

Li Jin's words immediately woke the village chief up and made him even more worried, unsure of what to do.

"Village Chief, I have a method here. I just don't know what you think of it." Seeing that the time was right, Li Jin calmly stated his purpose.

"Young Master Li, please speak."

The village chief looked at Li Jin eagerly, hoping his method would work.

Li Jin replied unhurriedly, "The sweet potatoes we found are not many. If we tell the villagers and let them go dig them up, they will be dug up very quickly. By then, the famine will return. But if we have them plant sweet potatoes, they might be able to become self-sufficient."

"Plant? Will it work?"

The village chief had also heard that Dongzi was using a unique method to plant sweet potatoes, hence his question.

"Dongzi is already experimenting. If it succeeds in three days, the famine can be resolved."

"Young Master Li, Dongzi is planting them in dry fields."

"Village Chief, this is my suggestion. Whether to wait for Dongzi's three-day experiment is up to you."

Li Jin directly gave the choice to the village chief, letting him make his own decision.

"This…"

The village chief did not answer immediately but fell into silence instead.

Li Jin wasn't anxious either, calmly watching the village chief, waiting for his answer.

It felt like a century had passed.

The village chief let out a deep sigh, "Alright, I believe you."

"Village Chief, the sweet potatoes are at…" Having gotten the village chief's answer, Li Jin immediately told him the location of the sweet potatoes, advising him to find some trustworthy people to dig them up and to control the amount dug, not taking too much.

"Young Master Li, on behalf of the villagers of Liujia Village, I thank you for your great kindness." The village chief gave Li Jin a solemn nod and then walked out.

___

"Village Chief, how did it go?"

The villagers of Liujia Village, who had been anxiously waiting outside, rushed up to ask as soon as they saw the village chief come out.

The village chief coughed before saying, "Young Master Li has already told me where the sweet potatoes are. However, since there aren't many sweet potatoes, and to ensure every household gets some, I have arranged for people to go with me. After we harvest the sweet potatoes, I will distribute them equally."

The village chief made this arrangement considering the households that now only had elderly and children left.

"Great!"

"Daughter, we finally have something to eat."

"I always knew Rong Fulang was a good person."

Hearing the village chief's words, many villagers couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"Wait." Wang Jinhua glared unhappily at the village chief, "Why make it so complicated? Just tell us where the sweet potatoes are, Village Chief, and let us go get them ourselves."

"I already said, there aren't many sweet potatoes."

The village chief gave Wang Jinhua a warning glance, signaling her to shut up immediately.

Unfortunately, Wang Jinhua completely ignored it, "Not enough is not enough. Haven't we always followed the rule of whoever picks it gets it? Why should we have to share with others? I disagree."

What a joke. Sharing? Out of the question.

Her son had lost weight these past few days. She wanted to pick more for her son to eat. 

"Wang Jinhua, how can you be so selfish?"

Zhuzi's mother's eyes were filled with anger.

The other villagers' expressions also darkened upon hearing Wang Jinhua's words.

"What selfish? That's just how it is." Wang Jinhua sneered, "Ah, I get it. You're jealous that my husband has a good life. Well, of course, there are only a few men left in the village."

Zhuzi's mother glared fiercely at Wang Jinhua, "Wang Jinhua, if you keep talking, I'll tear your mouth apart."

"Hmph, so what if I say it? You dare hit me?" Perhaps because the villagers were all there, Wang Jinhua grew bolder and provoked Zhuzi's mother again.

"Fine, if you're looking for trouble, I won't stop you."

Zhuzi's mother had a bad temper to begin with. Wang Jinhua's words were simply asking for trouble.

In an instant.

Zhuzi's mother charged over and grabbed Wang Jinhua's hair.

"You… what are you doing… if you dare hit me, my husband won't let you off."

Seeing this, Wang Jinhua immediately backed down.

"Whatever."

After saying these two words, Zhuzi's mother immediately started hitting Wang Jinhua, making her cry out in pain.

"What are you all standing there for? Hurry up and pull this madwoman off me!" Wang Jinhua couldn't hold on anymore and quickly asked the villagers to help her.

However, after hearing Wang Jinhua's selfish remarks, the other villagers had long disliked her. Now that someone was teaching her a lesson, naturally they wouldn't stop it.

The village chief also intended for Wang Jinhua to learn a lesson and didn't try to stop it either.

After this back and forth, Wang Jinhua finally behaved.

The village chief looked around at all the villagers and finalized the decision, "Alright, it's settled."

Damn it, just you wait.

Having suffered a beating for no reason, Wang Jinhua was very angry. She even secretly decided to tell her natal family in Wangjia Village about the sweet potatoes. As for Dashu's father, Liu Fugui, Wang Jinhua knew better than to stir up trouble in front of him.

After all, Liu Fugui cared most about face. If he found out she was the one who stirred things up, she wouldn't get off lightly either.

In the end, as Wang Jinhua left Liu Rong's house, she remained unaware.

The scheming in her eyes had already been seen by Li Jin, who walked out at the same time.