Heng An, having received his older brother’s tacit approval, became even more reckless.

He glanced at Qiao Xin with contempt and sneered, “If you lose, I won’t ask for ten times the compensation. Just come to my house and work as a laundry maid for a year!”

“Oh? A laundry maid?” Qiao Xin narrowed her eyes and let out a chuckle. “Should we sign a black-and-white contract for this?”

“There’s no need for that! No one dares to go back on a deal with me!”

“Who knows? Maybe you will go back on your word. After all, you people have power and influence. If you lose, you might not want to swallow your pride. Twisting the truth wouldn’t be impossible.”

“Bullshit! I’m not the kind of person who reneges on a bet!” The young master immediately bristled at the accusation.

“Good! You said it yourself! If you lose, don’t regret it!” Qiao Xin said.

“I will never regret it!” Heng An, now completely provoked, found his pride as a man at stake—there was no backing down.

The two stood face to face, sparks flying between them, each confident in their impending victory.

Meanwhile, the old farmer and Shopkeeper Liu were utterly baffled. Weren’t they just arguing about who had taken a chicken? How did this suddenly turn into a full-blown wager?

Qiao Yunting, Qiao Xin’s son, was worried and tried to pull his mother back, only for her to refuse him silently.

Now he finally understood why his second brother had repeatedly warned him before they left home: Watch mother carefully. Don’t let her cause trouble!

Yet here they were—not even out for long, and their mother had already found herself in a confrontation! He wanted to stop her, but she wouldn’t listen to him. Could he just go home and switch places with his second brother?

“Why are you standing there in a daze? Come and help me.” Qiao Xin was determined to buy the old farmer’s chickens, and she needed Qiao Yunting to keep an eye on them.

Now that the arrow was nocked, it had to be released. Her son’s objections no longer mattered.

Qiao Xin squeezed through the crowd and approached the old farmer. “Old brother, you’re trying to find the chicken you lost, right? We can help you. First, count the price of all these chickens—I’ll buy them all. What do you think?”

“I have twenty chickens in total!” The old farmer wanted justice but was also honest enough not to take advantage of others.

The young woman before him clearly wasn’t from a wealthy family either.

“Don’t worry about it. That young master over there isn’t short on money. A single strand of his hair is worth more than your entire thigh. He won’t mind this little bit!” Qiao Xin pointed straight at Heng An, ensuring that she wasn’t lying.

The old farmer took a closer look—sure enough, the young master was dressed in fine silk, with a jade pendant hanging from his waist.

He was undoubtedly someone who had money to spare.

So, he stated the price: “My chickens are fifteen wen per jin. Altogether, they weigh about seventy jin. But now one is missing…”

“No problem. We’ll just count it as seventy jin. Fifteen wen per jin, which makes a total of one thousand and fifty wen.” Qiao Xin calculated the total in a flash, leaving Heng An and his brother slightly taken aback by her speed.

“That’s fine. But with so many chickens, you…”

“No worries, I have my own way to handle them. Just help me look after them for a bit.”

“No problem, no problem!”

After settling matters with the old farmer, Qiao Xin turned to Shopkeeper Liu. “Shopkeeper, how many chickens do you currently have in your store?”

Shopkeeper Liu hesitated. “I’m not sure. We buy them fresh, raise them, and slaughter them as needed, so we don’t keep count. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have had this dispute in the first place.”

“Did you buy any new ones today?”

“No.”

“Yesterday?”

“No, the ones we have now are from three days ago.”

“Then sell all your chickens to me!”

Shopkeeper Liu thought he had misheard.

He blinked and asked again, “What? All of them?”

“Yes, every single one. Not a single one left.”

“You just bought his chickens, and now you’re buying mine? You’re not playing a prank on us, are you?”

“Come on, I wouldn’t go that far. I made a bet with this young master to find the missing chicken. Naturally, I need all the chickens in one place to investigate properly!”

Though Shopkeeper Liu had no idea what she was planning, he wasn’t foolish enough to refuse a customer.

He immediately ordered his staff to gather every live chicken, freshly slaughtered chicken, and even the ones that had already been cooked.

All were placed in front of Qiao Xin.

By now, Heng An had no choice but to go along with the bet and pay for the chickens.

The surrounding onlookers were bewildered by Qiao Xin’s bold moves, and more people gathered to watch the spectacle.

Heng An, seeing that she had assembled such a grand display yet still had no results, couldn’t help but sneer, “If you have no solution, you might as well admit defeat!”

Qiao Xin glanced at him. “Who said I have no solution? These chickens will tell me the answer.”

“You must be insane! Chickens don’t talk! How could they possibly tell you anything?” Heng An looked at her as if she were a lunatic.

Even Heng Wen was losing patience. He was about to put an end to this nonsense—arguing with a madwoman would only make them look like fools.

Qiao Xin then asked Shopkeeper Liu what he usually fed his chickens.

“Rice, grain husks, and wheat bran.”

Heng Wen suddenly looked up, a realization dawning on him. He was beginning to understand Qiao Xin’s plan, though Heng An still had no clue and continued to mock her.

Qiao Xin, unfazed, turned to the crowd. “Everyone, you’ve all seen it—I bought these chickens at fifteen wen per jin. Now, I’m offering a special deal! Buy two, get one free! Fifteen wen per jin! The only condition is that each person can buy a maximum of three chickens, and they must be slaughtered on the spot. I’ll keep the chicken gizzards.”

“Buy two, get one free? Seriously?”

Someone asked in disbelief.

“Absolutely! No tricks! First come, first served—until they’re all gone!”

At first, the crowd fell silent. Then, in the next instant, people rushed forward like a flood, afraid they’d miss out.

“Don’t push! I’ll buy four! My wife just gave birth and needs chicken soup to recover!”

“I’ll buy some too! My mother is sick—this will be good for her!”

In just a quarter of an hour, over fifty chickens were sold, each slaughtered on the spot. The fifty or so chicken gizzards were then divided into two piles.

One pile had nineteen gizzards filled with sand, grass seeds, and green vegetation. The other pile mostly contained rice, grain husks, and wheat bran—completely different contents.

Then, from Shopkeeper Liu’s batch, a single gizzard was found containing sand and grass.

“Ah! There it is! The missing chicken really was at Shopkeeper Liu’s store!”

“See? She wasn’t lying! Even such a big shop can take advantage of people!”

Shopkeeper Liu, hearing the crowd’s murmurs, felt deep regret. He had sold the chickens without verifying them properly and had unknowingly let his staff deceive him.

“This… It was an honest mistake. A worker in my shop must have mixed it up. But Liu’s Shop would never tarnish its reputation over one chicken.”

Wanting to salvage his image, he scolded the responsible worker and compensated the old farmer.

The farmer, overwhelmed by the unexpected compensation, turned to Qiao Xin for advice.

Qiao Xin smiled. “Just take it. Consider it Shopkeeper Liu’s way of making amends. Right, Shopkeeper?”

Shopkeeper Liu wanted to refuse, but with the two young masters watching, he had no choice but to nod.

A smart businessman knew when to cut his losses.