Shen Qing: … Could it be that the unfaithful and scandalous woman Sun Xiaomai and Zhou Chuncao were talking about was her?

She was too busy making money—where would she find the time to steal a man?!

Besides, weren’t Sun Xiaomai and Zhou Chuncao too idle?

Even if she did steal a man, what did that have to do with them?

They were just busybodies worrying about things that weren’t their concern.

Their own lives weren’t that great, yet they still had time to gossip about others.

“Sun Xiaomai, Zhou Chuncao, I’ll say it one more time—my sister-in-law is a virtuous woman. If you keep spreading rumors, I’ll chase you out with a broom!” Jiang Ying’s angry voice rang out.

Soon after, a chorus of voices—both men and women, young and old—agreed:

“That’s right! Don’t think we men won’t hit women!”

“If you keep talking nonsense, I’ll call the Wang and Zhang families to take you away!”

“I could also go around the village and say you two are stealing men. Let’s see how you’d explain yourselves then~”

Shen Qing was immensely relieved that she had told Jiang Yang and Jiang Ying the truth earlier. Now, just look at how confident they were in defending her!

“Hey, hey, Village Chief, we came here out of kindness to remind you. If you refuse to handle this fairly, how can you call yourself a leader?”

“That’s right! We trusted you, but now we see you’re just biased toward your own family. Are you suppressing the rumors about Shen Qing because you’re afraid they’ll tarnish your Jiang family’s reputation?”

“Now I get it! So much for claiming to care about the village’s well-being!”

Shen Qing: … Well then, now they were trying to morally coerce Second Uncle Jiang. Since she was the one being accused, it was time for her to step up.

Reputation was important—it was better to have one than not.

Besides, if she had actually done what they accused her of, she could at least own up to it.

But being slandered for no reason?

That was unacceptable!

She pushed open the courtyard door and spoke in a clear voice:

“Tell me, how exactly have I acted immorally?”

The argument had already drawn a large crowd outside.

Sun Xiaomai scanned the onlookers with disdain and sneered:

“Do we even need to say it? In the past, your family could only afford to buy meat two or three times a year, and fabric only once every few years.

But now? You’re buying oil, meat, rice, and even fine cotton fabric. Be honest with yourself—could you afford all that just by selling eels, small fish, and shrimp?”

Shen Qing didn’t even need to reflect—she knew the answer: No.

She hadn’t made any silver from selling eels and fish; all the money had gone into her store balance.

Before she could reply, Zhou Chuncao aggressively continued:

“Don’t lie! There are plenty of people in our village who catch eels and fish. We all know exactly how much that earns!Also, every household in the village is struggling to get by—who still has extra grain? Yet you cooked with so much fine wheat flour at lunch today.

Last year, you only had fifty catties of wheat, and at the start of this year, you told me you had only ten left. So, you must have bought more! Flour is expensive! If some strange man didn’t give you money, could you afford it? Would you even dare to buy it? Tell me, isn’t that suspicious?”

Normally, the crowd would have loudly agreed that it was suspicious.

But today, an awkward silence filled the air.

That’s because, earlier, almost the entire village had gone to help the Liu family—except for Sun Xiaomai and Zhou Chuncao’s families.

And those who had helped had also eaten Shen Qing’s white flour buns, pancakes, and egg drop soup at lunch.

If they now turned around and accused her of earning dirty money, wouldn’t they be slapping their own faces?

Feng Xing, who had always been close to Jiang Yu, couldn’t stand to let Sun Xiaomai and Zhou Chuncao slander Shen Qing.

She snapped back:

“You two act like dead fish when it’s time to help, but then get jealous when others eat well. If you’re so envious, keep it to yourselves instead of airing it out for everyone to see! It’s like stirring up a pile of dung—it only stinks more!”

The crowd instantly caught on—she was calling them dung-stirrers!

Sun Xiaomai and Zhou Chuncao’s faces turned dark, nearly dripping with anger.

Shen Qing tried hard to hold back her laughter.

She wanted to tell Feng Xing that while her words were crude, they weren’t wrong.

But maybe they were a bit too crude.

Granny Qin chimed in: “You’re two years younger than Shen Qing. Why don’t you go find yourself a generous man who’ll buy you oil, meat, and fabric? I’d love to see what kind of ‘wild man’ is so rich and generous!”

She was furious—this wasn’t the first time these two had spread rumors.

She thought they’d learned their lesson last time, but now they were at it again, trying to ruin Shen Qing’s reputation in front of the whole village.

Not only that, but they were also insulting everyone who had eaten Shen Qing’s food earlier!

Zhou Chuncao trembled with rage, forcing out a mocking smile:

“Oh my, that lunch must have really been worth it—look at all these people jumping in to defend her!

They say ‘a hand that takes is soft, and a mouth that eats is shut.’ Just a few buns, and she’s already bought herself a couple of loyal dogs.”

“I may not have fine wheat flour at home, but at least I don’t eat food bought with dirty money!”

“Hah! And here I thought she had given out actual silver!”

Shen Qing took this moment to cut in:

“Well, that’s funny—I do have silver for them to earn.”

Her words stunned everyone—not just Zhou Chuncao and Sun Xiaomai, but the entire crowd.

She wasn’t from a wealthy family. What silver could she possibly offer?

If she had money, wouldn’t she spend it on herself first?

Everyone stared at Shen Qing, nervous, curious, and eager to hear what she had to say next.

Feng Xing and Granny Qin assumed Shen Qing was just trying to counter Zhou Chuncao’s argument and didn’t take her words seriously.

But Zhou Chuncao wasn’t satisfied. She sneered:

“Fine! Tell us—how exactly do you plan to let them earn silver?”

“Yeah! Do you really have silver to give away? Don’t make a fool of yourself!” Sun Xiaomai added mockingly.

Jiang Ying looked at Shen Qing worriedly, just as she spoke up again: “We all live in the same village, and some things can’t be hidden forever. So, I might as well come clean now. It’s true that I didn’t earn enough from selling eels, small fish, and shrimp to buy oil, meat, and fabric.”

That was because she had sold them in her store’s marketplace, where they could only be exchanged for staple foods like flour, rice, and beans.

Zhou Chuncao and Sun Xiaomai’s eyes lit up with smug satisfaction as they turned to the crowd.

“But,” Shen Qing continued, “I made my money by selling calligraphy brushes. As for how I make them, I won’t be telling you two.”

She then turned to Feng Xing and Granny Qin: “I need people to help polish the brush handles. One wen per brush. You can do the work at home and just bring them to me for inspection.”

At that moment, the entire village realized—Shen Qing wasn’t just talking back.

She really had a way to make silver.