Chapter 43: Once a Beloved Daughter, Now a Rebellious Child

The more Zhang Qingqing spoke like this, the more the men of the village crowded around to look at her and discuss her.

"Qingqing!"

Zhang Juhua finally managed to break away from the villagers. She hugged her daughter, using her own body as a shield. "Mom is here, Mom will protect you."

Hearing this, Zhang Qingqing began to beat her forcefully, her face full of resentment. "It's all your fault!"

"It was your impropriety that caused me to end up like this!"

"I hate you!"

If it weren't for her mother's scandalous behavior, which attracted so many men, she would never have suffered through these things, let alone become what she was now.

Zhang Juhua felt her heart shatter into pieces as tears streamed down her face. "My poor daughter!"

Seeing all this, Yan Ziyue felt an indescribable sense of comfort and delight.

In her past life, she was the one pointed at, gossiped about, and cursed by the villagers.

Back then, neither Xu Lecheng nor the Yan family offered any help; instead, they had berated her.

Now, it was Zhang Qingqing's turn to taste what it meant to be reviled by thousands.

"Ziyue!" Yan Zhuangshi noticed her and hurried over to her side. "Ziyue, when are you and Xiao Hoshuo going back home?"

He rubbed his hands together. "I'll have meals ready and waiting for you when you return."

Yan Ziyue crossed her arms and cast a cold glance at him. "Home? The Yan family is not my home."

"And don't you dare harbor any more schemes against me. I won't be as foolish as I used to be, helping you out."

Xiao Hoshuo stood protectively in front of her, his gaze as cold as a deep pool locking onto Yan Zhuangshi.

The look frightened Yan Zhuangshi into shrinking his neck, forcing out an ingratiating and awkward smile. "Ziyue, I'm not scheming against you. I genuinely want to mend our relationship."

"It was my fault before. I shouldn't have blindly believed Zhang Juhua and Zhang Qingqing and treated you that way."

Before his voice had even faded, Zhang Qingqing let out a frantic,崩溃-driven roar.

"Dad! Clearly, you were the one who despised Yan Ziyue, yet now you're pushing all the blame onto me! You are too vicious!"

Yan Zhuangshi glared at her furiously. "Shut your mouth!"

But Zhang Qingqing refused to stop. "You were the one who said Yan Ziyue wasn't your biological daughter, that she was born from her mother's affair!"

"You said your only daughter was me, and that you would only ever be good to me. You also said all your family property would belong to me, and not a single penny would go to Yan Ziyue..."

She rattled off all the vicious things Yan Zhuangshi had once said and the ruthless actions he had taken.

"I'll beat you to death!" Yan Zhuangshi lunged forward to hit her.

He was intercepted by Zhang Juhua. "Child's father, you can't hit Qingqing! She is your flesh and blood!"

"Wretch, get lost!" Blinded by rage, Yan Zhuangshi shoved her aside and kicked Zhang Qingqing flying. "You wretched creature, how dare you drive a wedge between me and Ziyue's father-daughter relationship? Today I'm going to finish you off."

Zhang Juhua scrambled over and hugged his legs. "Qingqing, run! Run!"

Disregarding her wretched state, Zhang Qingqing scrambled up and fled.

Yan Zhuangshi kept kicking and striking Zhang Juhua. "Bitch, let go of me! Let go!"

Refusing to let go no matter what, Zhang Juhua pleaded bitterly, "Child's father, Qingqing knows she was wrong. Please forgive her this once."

"If you beat her like this, you really will kill her."

The couple, who had once appeared so devoted to each other, now looked at one another like mortal enemies, a sight that brought immense satisfaction to Yan Ziyue.

Without lingering to watch more, she called out to Miao Lanlan to accompany her back to her house.

...

In the courtyard of the Xiao residence.

Yan Ziyue was discussing the egg collection business with Miao Lanlan. "Sister Miao, next Monday I'll be starting junior high school in town, so I really won't have time to collect eggs. I'll have to trouble you to help me gather them."

"How does this sound to you?"

"For every eighty good eggs, I'll give you fifty cents, and so on proportionally."

Miao Lanlan's eyes rolled as she slapped her thigh. "That sounds wonderful!"

"Sister-in-law Xiao, thank you for thinking of me. This is a fantastic opportunity!"

If there was one thing the surrounding villages had in abundance, it was eggs. Collecting eggs was a breeze.

Yan Ziyue smiled warmly. "With an opportunity like this, of course Sister Miao is the first person I thought of."

"Sister Miao, don't collect too many eggs at once. The weather is too warm to keep them fresh for long, and since I've only sold them twice before, I can't be certain how many I'll be able to move next time."

Miao Lanlan patted her chest reassuringly. "Don't you worry, I won't collect too many, and I guarantee every single egg I get for you will be fresh and intact."

"Sister-in-law Xiao, which day do you need the eggs?"

Yan Ziyue pondered for a moment. "The day after tomorrow."

"Let's start with two to three hundred. Chicken eggs, duck eggs, and goose eggs—I want all of them."

At that moment, she noticed several villagers standing at her courtyard gate and asked, "Do you aunts need something?"

Her gaze swept over the baskets the women were carrying, and she instantly understood why they had come.

Among these village women was the very person who had failed to sell her eggs through Yan Ziyue last time and had ended up lugging them to town on her own.

"Sister-in-law Xiao, we've brought eggs to sell," said a short, plump, slightly tanned middle-aged woman with a smile. "Are you still buying?"

Yan Ziyue confirmed that she was still purchasing and invited the women to sit down in the courtyard to talk. "Aunts, do you all know my rates for buying eggs?"

The women exchanged knowing glances with the person who had previously failed to sell her goods, then replied to Yan Ziyue, "We know, we know. We're completely fine with those prices."

Sister-in-law Xiao's purchase price was quite fair. The merchants who came from outside the village offered lower prices and were also notoriously picky, inspecting and rejecting eggs left and right.

Yan Ziyue brought out a woven winnowing basket and smiled broadly at the women. "Since you all know the terms, let me inspect these eggs."

The women hurriedly placed their baskets in a shady spot and sat down to watch Yan Ziyue check the produce.

"This is much more cost-effective and convenient than walking all the way to town to sell them ourselves."

"Some people are just foolish. They saw Sister-in-law Xiao making money selling eggs and assumed they could easily do the same, never stopping to think whether money is ever that easy to make."

Yan Ziyue remained quiet, focusing entirely on inspecting the eggs one by one.

Miao Lanlan chuckled and chimed in, "Let me tell you, there are so many people in our village who go to town to sell eggs, but why is it only Sister-in-law Xiao who actually succeeds?"

"It's just like any other business. Don't assume that because someone else can turn a profit, you can too. It's never that simple."

The aunts nodded in agreement. Although they had previously envied Sister-in-law Xiao for making money off the egg collection, they knew deep down that this kind of venture was not easy to run.

If selling eggs were truly that effortless, everyone in the village would be doing it, and there would be no need to wait for buyers from outside villages to come collecting.

Having finished inspecting all the eggs, Yan Ziyue picked out a few with minor flaws and said, "Aunts, these few aren't quite up to standard. If I take them to town, they won't sell, and it will hurt my reputation."

"See if you can accept this, and if so, I'll calculate the payment for the rest."

The women readily agreed, noting that Sister-in-law Xiao's screening process was far more lenient than that of outsiders.

Yan Ziyue settled the accounts on the spot and told them, "Aunts, if you have more eggs in the future, you're welcome to bring them to me anytime."

"If I'm not around, just look for Miao Lanlan."

Miao Lanlan smiled brightly. "Sister-in-law Xiao is going off to junior high, so I'll be helping her collect eggs from now on. Coming to me is exactly the same."