Chapter 107: Chapter 107: A Lion’s Demand
By the time Shen Ningning heard the commotion and walked outside with Chen Ye, Qian Siniang was already arguing with Deng Fugui’s mother, who had come looking for trouble.
Neither of them was the type to back down. Their ugly shouting had attracted all the villagers.
"Everyone, come and be the judge! This Wang Qiao’er is a shameless creature! She insists that my family’s carriage ruined the dirt ground in front of her door. Have you ever seen someone so unreasonable?"
The ground in front of the courtyard was constantly being walked on, so it was already uneven and slightly sunken.
But now Wang Qiao’er was insisting that the carriage wheels had made it collapse.
"Let everyone go look at my doorway! Isn’t there a collapsed patch right in front of the steps? My Fugui runs in and out all the time. If he trips and ends up a simpleton like your son, who am I supposed to turn to?"
Qian Siniang flew into a rage and raised her hand to strike her, but Wu Cui quickly grabbed his wife.
They couldn’t hit this Wang Qiao’er. The courtyard she now lived in had been bought by a wealthy family in the village, a family they couldn’t afford to offend.
"Wang Qiao’er, don’t you go too far!" Qian Siniang shouted furiously, pointing at her nose. "No matter what’s wrong with my son, he’s still a hundred times better than yours."
"His own father isn’t even dead, yet you’re scrambling to be your cousin’s mistress and even want to make your son change his last name. You’re the most shameless one here!"
This was a private matter that everyone in the village knew about, but they only ever discussed it behind her back. No one dared to say it to her face.
Qian Siniang was just that furious. Feeling her reputation had been tarnished, Wang Qiao’er reached out to scratch her.
The two almost came to blows.
That was, until Shen Ningning, who had been watching from the courtyard and understood the whole situation, opened her little mouth and said nonchalantly, "Langlang, go."
The Black Wolf King shot out from inside the house. The moment it appeared in the courtyard, Wang Qiao’er stumbled back in fright.
"What’s the meaning of this? You’re going to let a wolf attack someone in broad daylight?!" Her face went pale, then red with anger.
Qian Siniang instantly became smug. "Scared now, are we? That carriage belongs to my Ningning. If you dare make another peep, this Wolf King won’t be so polite!"
Wang Qiao’er had come just to vent her anger. Who told Shen Ningning to be so stingy with her but so generous to the Wu family?
She glared viciously at the little girl. "You traitorous Little Wolf Girl! I could tell you were no good back in Xiangyun Village!"
Wu Zuchang picked up a stone and threw it at her.
Wang Qiao’er clutched her head with a cry of "Ouch!" Deng Fugui had been watching shamefully from the back of the crowd.
But when he saw Wu Zuchang hit his mother, he rushed over. "Wu Zuchang, what are you doing?!"
Wu Zuchang was fuming. "She insulted the girl! I won’t allow it!"
Wang Qiao’er cursed, "This simpleton is out of control."
Shen Ningning’s small face was delicate and pretty, and she had a vibrant air about her.
She looked at Wang Qiao’er, her dark eyes calm. "You’ve made such a scene. What is it you really want?"
Wang Qiao’er immediately stopped wailing and glared at Shen Ningning. "Your carriage ruined the ground in front of my house. Shouldn’t you compensate me?"
"I want three bags of rice, twenty pounds of pork, and four baskets of eggs. I know you have these things, so don’t say I’m making things difficult for you."
"Mother!" Deng Fugui cried out, feeling mortified.
He looked at Shen Ningning. "Little Wolf Sister, don’t take it seriously. My mother is just saying that because she’s angry."
Wang Qiao’er planted her hands on her hips, striking the pose of a shrew. "Who’s saying it out of anger? If you can’t produce these things, you just wait and see."
Qian Siniang cursed, "That’s just daylight robbery! You’re too greedy!"
Shen Ningning said to Chen Ye, "Brother Chen, go report this to the authorities."
The belligerent look on Wang Qiao’er’s face vanished in an instant.
"Report it? You’re going to report such a trivial matter?"
"Of course. How am I supposed to know if that patch of ground collapsed before or just now? Besides, my carriage was driving perfectly fine on the village road. You claim I ruined your ground, but I could just as well claim that the ground in front of your door damaged my carriage wheel!"
The little girl finished speaking with righteous confidence, then jutted her chin. "Go on, Brother Chen. Call a constable to come and sort this out with her."
"We’ll see if I have to compensate her for the ground, or if she has to compensate me for a wheel."
Wang Qiao’er’s face fell in alarm.
’This Shen Ningning’s mouth is really something else. She’s just too sharp!’
She was afraid that if a constable came, they would say she was being unreasonable. After all, the village path in front of her door didn’t belong to her. With people coming and going all the time, how could she prove anything?
If she really was ordered to pay for a carriage wheel, where would she get the money!
Her cousin hadn’t even officially taken her in yet.
"Fine, I can’t be bothered to argue with a child. If there’s a next time, I won’t be so polite." After saying this, Wang Qiao’er grabbed Deng Fugui and practically fled in disarray.
Qian Siniang’s eyes widened. "Don’t go! If you’ve got the guts, stay and explain it to the constable."
But Wang Qiao’er had already vanished without a trace.
The villagers couldn’t help but burst into laughter. "Fu Gui’s mother, she sure runs fast."
With the show over, everyone dispersed.
Only Wu Cui and his wife remained, looking incredibly proud as they talked about how Shen Ningning had taken charge and stood up for them.
"I’ve long been sick of the sight of that Wang Qiao’er. Becoming someone’s mistress while dragging her son along... truly shameless," Qian Siniang complained.
Shen Ningning thought about Deng Fugui, whom she had just seen. His life seemed to be going pretty well now.
He was dressed neatly, looked a little chubbier than before, and had also grown taller.
However, Shen Ningning had no favorable impression of his mother, so naturally, she wouldn’t go out of her way to interact with him.
「The next day.」
Before leaving, Shen Ningning made several trips back and forth from the Immortal Realm, bringing out a lot of pork and eggs.
Chen Ye, who had arranged a time to pick her up, saw the goods and proactively began loading the food onto the carriage.
Grandma Qin came out and saw them. "Ningning," she said, "are you going to the Wu family’s to deliver things again today? Don’t let them get too used to it, or they’ll stop appreciating your kindness!"
Shen Ningning gave her grandmother a sweet smile. "Grandma, after I deliver these things, some people in the village definitely won’t be able to sit still."
"Since Uncle Wu and the others don’t want to tell the truth, we’ll let the villagers who know what happened back then speak up. I believe someone will eventually be unable to resist stepping forward."
Hearing this, Grandma Qin didn’t object.
She knew the little girl always had a plan. Besides, with Chen Ye and the Black Wolf King accompanying her, there was nothing to worry about.
As usual, Shen Ningning went to Xitai Village and had Chen Ye put everything in the courtyard.
The sudden windfall nearly overwhelmed Wu Cui and Qian Siniang with joy.
"So much meat, so many eggs... Ningning, I... I don’t even know how to thank you!"
The little girl smiled, looking cute and innocent. "It’s for Brother Zuchang to eat, so he can get better faster."
Qian Siniang’s eyes warmed, and she nodded repeatedly. "Thank you, thank you, Ningning."
She gathered all the food and took it to the kitchen. The family’s rice vat had long since been filled to the brim with grain brought by Shen Ningning.
In an instant, the Wu family became the wealthiest household in Xitai Village, even more prosperous than Wang Qiao’er’s.
At noon, Shen Ningning stayed for lunch.
Soon, villagers started showing up at their door, asking to borrow rice and meat.
But Qian Siniang was a selfish person.
Holding her bowl, she said with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes, "Our family has many mouths to feed. Where would we get extra grain to lend out?"
The villagers who had come looked past her at the table, where there was glistening roasted pork, mixed wild vegetables, a soup with tofu and crispy pork, and a stack of egg pancakes as high as a hand. It was more than they could possibly eat.
Wu Cui and Wu Zuchang ate without looking up. Only Shen Ningning nibbled her egg pancake slowly and deliberately.
The villagers were green with envy, but since Qian Siniang refused to lend them anything, they had no choice but to leave resentfully.
Wang Qiao’er, passing by with a basket, saw her chance.
She called out to a few of the villagers and whispered, "Did you really think that just because Qian Siniang found a lucky charm of a daughter, she would share the good fortune with you?"
"Let me tell you, don’t even dream of it! No one in this entire village will get a single thing from her family."
"Shen Ningning is just a kid. She doesn’t know anything. She probably thinks those two from the Wu Family are her real parents!"
"You know, I heard that the Wu Family’s daughter died four years ago."
