The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure
Chapter 222: Power Falls by the Wayside

Chapter 222: Chapter 222: Power Falls by the Wayside

By the time Wang Laozhu came to his senses, the dust had already settled.

He really wanted to object. He wasn’t dead yet, so how come these unfilial children had seized power? Did this mean that from now on, the person in charge of the household would be the old spinster?

How could that be? Although he had this intention, he only thought of letting his daughter give some advice in private, not to publicly hold power.

With so many men in the Wang Family, young and old, strong in their prime, how could they allow a girl to take charge? If outsiders knew, would the Wang Family have any face left?

But by the time he thought of protesting, the Eldest Brother’s Jindou and Jinhoo had already carried Eldest Brother back, and as for the Third Brother’s family, they had slipped away even earlier.

Leaving a foolish Laosi, who stood there next to the old spinster, dumb and proud with an expression that read "My little sister is the best and I’m proud of her." "Little sis, from now on I’ll follow you, whatever you tell me to do, I’ll do! All the heavy work, just leave it to me. Fourth Brother doesn’t have much, just a strong back! Don’t worry, with Fourth Brother here, if anyone dares to disobey you in our family, Fourth Brother will beat them into submission!"

Wang Laozhu was nearly infuriated to death.

Old Granny Zhang couldn’t stand it anymore. The head of the family had always been strong-willed, and now, just like that, he had lost his power. Laosi, that blockhead, was still pledging loyalty to his daughter right in front of his own father. If that made the patriarch ill...

She stifled her laughter and chased both her daughter and son out the door.

Wang Yongzhu naturally knew that Wang Laozhu must be uncomfortable, power slipping away like that. For someone who had been in charge for most of his life, it must be hard to accept all at once.

But since she had to lead the entire family in doing business and becoming wealthy, naturally they all had to listen to her. Otherwise, if everyone directed her on what to do, how could she even conduct business?

Old Granny Zhang truly deserved to be her own mother, without any prompting from her, she had already spoken out, settling the matter of her taking charge and giving herself the authority to do so.

So let Wang Laozhu be uncomfortable, he would eventually understand.

Thus, she said nothing, just squinted at Old Granny Zhang and secretly pointed at Wang Laozhu.

Old Granny Zhang, who had been keeping a straight face, couldn’t help but laugh when she saw her daughter’s funny gesture. She nodded across the room and went back to check on the patriarch.

Wang Laozhu was still on the kang, fuming, his face red with anger. Seeing Old Granny Zhang turn around, he gasped, "Ah... I... don’t... agree..."

Old Granny Zhang let out a cold laugh, hands on her hips, looking down at Wang Laozhu: "What do you have to disagree with? For the sake of the Old Wang Family, my daughter has put her heart and soul into it. What, you want the horse to run and not eat grass? Pah! Wang Laozhu, I’m telling you, that’s my daughter! If you think you can mistreat her like that, you’ll have to see if I, her mother, agree! My daughter has got talent, and it should be my daughter who leads! Without my daughter, the whole family would starve to death with the northwest wind! Or else, it’s fine if my daughter leads. Mother will find a husband for her tomorrow, let her take the business with her and become the head of another household! And we, as a family, can just starve to death in this courtyard and be done with it!"

"You... you..." Wang Laozhu pointed at Old Granny Zhang, trembling and unable to speak.

"What’s the matter with me? I’ve married into the Wang Family, been your wife, and humbled myself for decades. What good has that done me? Who among you has ever had my back, given me any dignity? Now that my daughter supports me and restores my pride, I’ll stand by her. What about it?" Old Granny Zhang now had her daughter’s backing, and she felt strong and confident, her spine stiff as a rod.

Wang Laozhu was so angry that he simply closed his eyes, unwilling to see his wife looking so smug. Those words stung deeply – had the decades he’d spent with her meant nothing compared to their daughter?

Wang Laozhu felt deeply hurt.

Old Granny Zhang didn’t want to actually anger Wang Laozhu too much, so she softened her voice and said, "Head of the household, just think about it, is the Wang Family’s situation easy to manage now? If our daughter hadn’t stepped in to take on this mess, who would have? Look at Eldest Brother now, Laosi is just simple-minded, and that beast Laosan might as well not exist, and Laosan the bastard is god-knows-where causing trouble! Who can we rely on? You should be thankful our daughter is taking over, instead of making faces – who are you trying to impress?"

Wang Laozhu struggled to find words and finally managed just two: "... joke ..."

"A joke? Let whoever wants to laugh, laugh. When our family’s business takes off and we have money, who will dare to laugh then? Besides, without our daughter taking charge, wouldn’t our current state be a laughingstock anyway? Let me tell you, there are plenty laughing at us already. With that beast Laosan causing trouble for years, our family hasn’t been spared in this village; we’ve made many enemies. Now, all our family wealth has been stolen by that beast Laosan, and who knows how many people are snickering behind our backs? You’re unaware, but when Lady Lin and Eldest Brother were making such a scene about Divorse, you didn’t see it from the house, but outside the courtyard walls, you wouldn’t believe how many ears were perked up, taking joy in our family’s misfortune! I tell you, it won’t be a day before the whole village knows about Lady Lin running back to demand a Divorse from Eldest Brother."

"If we’re really afraid of being laughed at, then none of our family should step outside. Going out would mean enduring all the pointing and whispering. If your skin is that thin, you might as well hang yourself with a rope at home! Aren’t we old enough to see through this? If our Wang Family falls and can’t get back up, that’d be the lifetime joke! Now there’s a chance to climb back up, and when we have money in the future, who would dare to laugh at the Wang Family? They’d be too busy being envious! Are we going to miss out on good living just because of some sour words from others?"

"If you can’t wrap your head around that, then stew on it some more days! In any case, if you think of bossing my daughter around while guarding against her, we’re far from done! Look inside your heart, where did the silver for your medicine come from? It was earned by my daughter. After using her silver, you still nitpick. Do you even deserve to be a father?" Old Granny Zhang threw down these words and stormed out.

Wang Laozhu lay quietly on the kang, listening to the unusual laughter and chatter outside in the courtyard. It seemed like the family had regained its backbone, its sense of direction.

The quiet of the past few days had been uncomfortably heavy; only now did it seem to regain some vitality and warmth.

Enough of this, enough! Wang Laozhu closed his eyes.

Wang Laozhu no longer opposed; the matter was thoroughly settled.

There was a lot of preliminary groundwork to be done for the business of collecting mountain goods.

Wang Yongzhu gathered everyone in the family to discuss and delegate the work.

The most critical thing at the moment was to have a warehouse; otherwise, where would they store the collected goods?

That wasn’t a problem. Old Granny Zhang pointed at the locked wing: "That was prepared for that beast Laosan and his lot. Now that we’re rid of that beast Laosan, that room can be cleared to serve as a warehouse. It’s right here in our house, which makes it safe."

The warehouse issue was resolved.

Then there was the matter of sourcing the goods. Even if they intended to collect them directly, they had to spread the word, right? People needed to be informed.