Chapter 510: 510: Tong and Qiao team up to deliberately trap Silver!
He knows he can’t win a shouting match with the Sun Family.
The only option left at this point is to run.
The onlooking villagers, hearing his words, helped him onto the oxcart.
This matter didn’t concern them directly; they were mostly just gawking. But since Qiao Changshun wanted to leave, they naturally sided with him.
A dozen people circled around Qiao Changshun. The Sun Family didn’t think they could stand up to that many on their own. She stayed put, still shouting, “You are all just as foolish!”
The matriarch shouted the names of a few villagers. “Qiao Xiaomai’s bean sprouts were one penny per two catties, but now she has passed the technique on to the Tong Family, who are selling it for one penny per catty. They inflated the price by half, and it must be this cheap girl’s doing! She’s colluding with the Tong Family to rob you of your money!”
These words made a few people understandably hesitate in their steps.
They had witnessed the interaction between Qiao Xiaomai and Tong Sanlang. Now that the Tong Family had suddenly started selling bean sprouts, and had even doubled the price, could there be something fishy going on?
“You, you, you…If you keep spouting nonsense, I’ll really sue you!” Qiao Changshun threatened, on the verge of snapping after that comment.
Why did Qiao Xiaomai give the technique to the Tong Family?
It was to find Zhuang Luhe!
And why did Zhuang Luhe run away?
Wasn’t it because she was driven away by the Sun Family?
Presently, she was maliciously speculating about Qiao Xiaomai. For the first time, Qiao Changshun wished he could explain, wished he could argue with her. He found it unbearably disgusting being unjustly smeared like this.
“Go ahead and sue me! Which part of what I said isn’t true? I’d like to question Qiao Xiaomai and Tong Sanlang in court. They’re both single, and always hanging around each other so intimately. What on earth are they trying to do?”
Upon hearing her words, Qiao Changshun took a deep breath. “Forget about going to the fields. Zhaodi, go invite Chief Tong over! This matter can’t be cleared up without him. Nobody leaves until we set the record straight!”
Upon hearing his orders, Qiao Zhaodi quickly jumped off the wagon.
After some thought, she handed the cane she was holding to Qiao Changshun. “Second Uncle, take this. If that woman dares to come near you, hit her!”
Having delivered the message, she made haste toward the Tong Family’s place.
Seeing Qiao Zhaodi leave, the remaining villagers still circled around Qiao Changshun, though not as tightly as before.
If what the matriarch of the Sun Family had just said was true, that Qiao Xiaomai had intentionally passed the bean sprout technique to the Tong Family and let them rob everyone of their money, then it wouldn’t sit well with anyone.
Qiao Changshun, who was somewhat naive and clueless, hadn’t noticed this. He held the cane in his hand, panting heavily.
He found himself hating the head of the Sun Family for the first time.
So this was what it felt like to be wronged, to have dirt unjustly slung at you. The resentment felt like fire in his chest, threatening to explode and burn him to ash!
The matriarch of the Sun Family snorted, raised her chin high, stared at Qiao Changshun, and continued to curse him. “You’re such a fool, you can’t even recognize who’s truly on your side and who’s good to you!”
Qiao Changshun clenched his teeth, refusing to take the bait.
He knew he was no match for her in a verbal duel. He would wait for Tong Tiehu.
Given how the head of the Sun Family had implicated the Tong Family earlier, Tong Tiehu wouldn’t let her off the hook so easily!
Tong Tiehu hadn’t gone to the fields that day since Tong Sanlang hadn’t made enough silver to buy the farmland. Instead, he was at home separating soybeans to grow sprouts.
When he heard from Qiao Zhaodi about what had happened, his face darkened. He took the Zhang Family with him since the matter involved their own bean sprout business. Given Zhang Family’s explosive temper, they would be a great match for the head of the Sun Family.