“Qin Dahu! Such impressive authority you have!” Qin Bin sneered, his lips curving into a cold smile.

“Fifth Uncle! What brings you here?” The thin man froze for a moment before quickly plastering a fawning smile across his face.

“Fifth Uncle, why didn’t you let me know you were coming? I could’ve asked my wife to prepare some dishes so we could enjoy a proper drink together.”

While speaking, Qin Dahu glared at the middle-aged man standing nearby, who immediately cowered and shuffled behind the others.

The Qin family’s fifth branch only had one heir, and Qin Dahu’s great-grandfather valued Qin Bin more than his own life. Years ago, Dahu’s father, a notorious troublemaker, accidentally cursed Qin Bin, calling him a “short-lived ghost.” As a result, their great-grandfather dragged him out and gave him a sound beating.

Imagine: a sixty or seventy-year-old man wailing with snot and tears after being walloped by someone of the same age. The scene was unforgettable, and their entire family still cringed at the memory of their father crying in a corner, begging for mercy.

“Drinks?” Qin Bin’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “I didn’t even get to take a bite of my meal before your men nearly flipped the table over.”

Qin Dahu’s face darkened as he glared at the middle-aged man.

“I received a report claiming this household was harboring contraband…” The middle-aged man mumbled, his voice trailing off as he nervously rubbed his neck.

“Show them the receipt from the department store,” Qin Bin said, his tone calm but sharp.

As soon as he spoke, Huang Xiao’er handed over the receipt stamped with the department store’s seal.

Qin Dahu glanced at the receipt, then shot the middle-aged man a sharp look before turning back to Qin Bin with a conciliatory smile.

“Fifth Uncle, the people under me clearly weren’t thinking. Please don’t take it to heart. I’ll have them investigate thoroughly—false accusations are a serious matter and shouldn’t be taken lightly.”

Qin Bin gave a slight nod, his expression unreadable.

He wouldn’t have dared to make the delivery in broad daylight without ensuring everything was above board. Anyone foolish enough to file a false report should be ready to face his wrath.

The middle-aged man, trembling with fear, hurriedly spoke up. “It was Widow Chen from the Tenth Production Team in Panshi Village! She’s the one who reported about Fifth Uncle. It’s all her fault!”

“Do I need to spell out the rest for you?” Qin Dahu gave the man a meaningful look.

“I’ll deal with it immediately…”

Before he could finish, a commotion erupted in the corner of the Shen family’s courtyard.

Everyone turned their heads.

“It wasn’t me…” Widow Chen, stumbling over something, fell flat on her back and began to sweat profusely.

“Not you?” The middle-aged man lunged forward, grabbing her by the collar and snarling, “I’d recognize your pockmarked face even if you were reduced to ashes.”

He would’ve slapped her right then and there if they weren’t in front of so many people. If it weren’t for her foul mouth, he wouldn’t have endured so many cold stares from his boss today.

The old man in the fifth branch of the Qin family is famous for protecting his own shortcomings…

Grinding his teeth, the middle-aged man hissed, “You’re the one who started all this nonsense!”

“I just heard it from someone else!” Widow Chen’s legs were trembling, and her voice wavered as she spoke.

If she had known the “sickly woman” was connected to such a powerful figure, she wouldn’t have reported anything no matter what.

“Someone else? Who?” The man laughed angrily, his patience wearing thin. Did she think she could push all the blame onto some nameless “someone else” and get away with it?

Widow Chen’s eyes widened, but no words came out.

“Take her away for questioning. Let’s see who’s behind this slander.” The middle-aged man shoved her away and motioned to two burly men at the door.

The two men immediately stepped forward to detain Widow Chen.

“Please don’t take my mother away! She won’t speak out of turn again, I promise!” Widow Chen’s three daughters—Li Daniu, Li Erniu, and Li Sanniu—knelt down, sobbing and begging for mercy.

They had seen what happened to their neighbor, Xu Erdan, who’d been locked up for just a few days for fighting.

Now, the whole person is in a state of confusion.

Not only can he not work in the fields, he also eats, drinks, defecates and urinates in the house and refuses to step out of the door.

When you pass by the gate of his house, you can smell the choking smell of feces and urine.

But the two men didn’t waver, roughly grabbing Widow Chen as her daughters clung to their legs, crying and pleading.

Li Sanniu suddenly bolted into the main hall.

Li Qiuhua shielded Shen Zhihuan and Xiao Weidong, her face wary as she prepared for Li Sanniu to act out.

Instead, Li Sanniu fell to her knees before them with a loud thud, startling everyone.

“Aunt, Zhihuan, please, I beg you to spare my mother! She’s old and can’t handle this kind of ordeal.”

Shen Zhihuan almost laughed. “Li Sanniu, speak with a conscience. What do you mean by ‘spare’? Did we call them here?

“From start to finish, did we say a single word? And yet you come here crying about how your mother can’t handle it. Is our family supposed to handle this nonsense instead?”

The onlookers, who had initially felt pity for Widow Chen’s daughters, began to see things differently.

“First, they filed the report and came to watch the chaos. Now that it’s backfired, they want sympathy? Shameless.”
“I used to think that the three girls in the Li family were honest people, and it was only because their mother had a bad mouth and was hated that no matchmaker came to recommend a husband for them. Well, it seems there’s more to the story.”

Li Sanniu couldn’t hear clearly in the main room, but Li Danniu and Li Erniu could hear it clearly outside. Their crying stopped and their faces turned pale and red.

Twenty-year-old Li Danniu’s face turned red with shame.

Many of her friends of the same age have children who can call them “mom”. Some of the poorer ones are already pregnant, but she is still single.

Li Erniu had also reached the age of marriage. She watched her friends who had been picking pig grass together go on blind dates, find partners, and get married, but she had not even seen the shadow of a matchmaker…

In the main room, Li Sanniu knelt and kowtowed in front of Shen Zhihuan’s family of three, as if she would not get up unless they agreed.

The murmurs grew louder:

“Who would dare marry into a family like that?”

“Marry? Anyone who does would be courting disaster!”

“I told you before, those girls’ hearts are as pockmarked as their faces. Now do you believe me?”

Li Sanniu, humiliated, lowered her head, finally realizing Shen Zhihuan wasn’t as soft-hearted as she’d thought.