Boom—
These words were like a bomb dropped into a hot pan. Old Madam Zhao's eyes widened, her frailty vanishing instantly as she demanded in sheer disbelief, "You wretched girl, what nonsense are you spouting? How could the rice shop be raided!"
"It is, it is true."
The maid lowered her head in fear.
She deeply regretted losing her head and coming to deliver the news. Having served Old Madam Zhao for so many years, she knew best that this was a woman who chanted about Buddha's mercy but struck with venomous cruelty.
Fortunately, someone came to her rescue.
"This is a disaster..." A chorus of agonizing wails echoed from outside, drawing closer. Before long, the descendants and daughters-in-law of the Zhao family had crammed the room to the brim.
The women cried, and the children followed suit.
"The rice shop was doing just fine, and suddenly a group of fierce-looking soldiers barged in, tying up everyone in sight without even a word of explanation. The eldest, the second eldest, and a few of the children all fell victim to it. Now we do not even know where they have been locked up!"
Eldest Daughter-in-law Zhao cried until her eyes were swollen.
Her husband was not the main concern.
But both of her sons had been taken away too!
"Sister-in-law, please stop crying for now," Zhao Hao spoke up to comfort her. He calmly asked for the specific details. Once he learned that the incident was sudden and that the police had been called but gave no response, he understood.
The others came to a similar realization—
"It is Su Ning. It must be that vindictive woman's doing!"
Old Madam Zhao pounded the quilt fiercely, her tone certain, yet she did not seem particularly panicked... The retaliation their family had been expecting for a long time had finally arrived.
It could not be anyone else.
Only Su Ning had this kind of power. But to think she could actually mobilize the city's army? They had never heard of General Huang having any dealings with Su Ning...
But now was not the time to get to the bottom of that.
"Hao'er," Old Madam Zhao looked at her son, hesitating to speak.
At this moment, the gazes of the others.
All landed uniformly on Zhao Hao, full of hope. That is right, Shang Wenyun was currently in Su Ning's good graces. If he went all out to plead for mercy, it would definitely work.
"Third Brother, you cannot just stand by and watch."
"Exactly, these are your own brothers and nephews! Su Ning has always been ruthless. Getting them out a day earlier might just save their lives."
"Hurry, have the servants prepare the carriage..."
Zhao Hao frowned.
Although he already had a plan to plead for mercy, his original idea was to give Wenyun a surprise first, rekindle their marital affection, and then slowly work on the matter.
But the situation was different now—
With a crisis at home, rushing to Wenyun to beg for help... would make him look too utilitarian. Even though Wenyun would not refuse, it would truly damage their relationship as husband and wife.
But meeting the expectant eyes of his family.
Zhao Hao compromised.
"I will go find Wenyun right now." He paused, then calmly stated, "However, I must ascertain whether our family was arrested for actually committing a crime, or if this is Su Ning's deliberate revenge. Otherwise, wasting my effort is secondary; my real fear is delaying the rescue."
"Of course it is Su Ning's deliberate revenge."
Seeing her son agree.
Old Madam Zhao breathed a sigh of relief. Hearing his words, she replied without a second thought and explained, "Our Zhao family has an upright tradition. We just farm and sell rice, what crime could we possibly commit?"
These were her honest thoughts.
The family's rice business was at its peak, earning in one day what used to take a month. They would not even bat an eye at any shady ways of making money.
They were at their most innocent and blameless right now!
"That is good." Zhao Hao nodded. Since that was the case, it was entirely Su Ning's petty revenge. His dislike for her deepened.
...
A wave of reward notifications chimed.
Su Ning had just finished inspecting the fertilizer plant and was deeply sleepy. Suddenly awakened, she found that the rewards were squeezed out of the Devoted Second Male Lead. She chuckled softly. Did he find out about the rice shop being raided and start hating her for it?
"Humans are so complicated."
The system suddenly spoke up.
"?"
"The second male lead is also highly educated. He should know that the Zhao family's actions are wrong. Hoarding for profit during wartime is a heinous crime; suffering a death by a thousand cuts would not be an exaggeration. On what grounds does he resent the host?"
"What is so strange about that?"
Resting her chin in her hand, Su Ning said lazily, "It is very difficult for people to betray their own class. He is a vested interest. Even if he knows it is wrong, he will instinctively ignore it."
"On the contrary, hating me is very easy."
A few seconds passed.
"Host."
"Hmm."
"This system supports you being rich and heartless to the second male lead."
Hearing this, Su Ning was puzzled. Did the system have a bug? Your name is the Rich and Heartless System, and the task requirements are all about being rich and heartless. What is this talk about supporting or not supporting now?
Then—
In an inconspicuous corner of the system interface, a document stealthily appeared. "Cough cough cough, this is the criminal record of the Zhao family that I compiled. It is nothing much, just quite detailed, without any omissions."
Was this just quite detailed?
It even recorded an instance where a certain Zhao family member deliberately slipped in a counterfeit silver dollar while paying for a meal.
The more Su Ning read, the brighter her eyes became. With this, bringing down the Zhao family would be perfectly justifiable. What revenge? She was executing justice!
"Thank you, system."
"You are so good." Her voice was sweet, as if mixed with the finest sugar.
"Shh, keep your voice down, do not let the higher-ups detect it." The Rich and Heartless System was nervous, telling Su Ning that this document could only be saved for 24 hours and would be destroyed after the time limit.
One day was more than enough.
After all, she already had a lot of evidence of the Zhao family's crimes; she just needed to fill in the gaps.
As Su Ning made edits and revisions, she ordered the car to drive to the municipal government—striking down profiteers was the government's responsibility.
As for her?
She was, of course, just a kind-hearted passerby bravely reporting a crime.
They soon arrived at their destination.
From a distance, Su Ning saw the Secretary-General guarding outside the office. A familiar person, a familiar scene... The corners of her mouth suddenly curled up. Could it be a familiar person inside?
That would be very interesting.
"Su..."
Before he could finish the first syllable, the Secretary-General reacted reflexively, automatically covering his own mouth, and looked with extreme vigilance at Su One behind Su Ning.
I shut my own mouth.
Do not make a move.
Meanwhile, inside the office.
"I have caught everyone you wanted me to catch." Huang Yu crossed his arms and said displeasedly to Chen Huaiqian, "When will the rations you promised be delivered... My soldiers are doing your bidding on empty stomachs."
His tone was unhappy, but his eyes were very serious.
It was not that he was deliberately making things difficult.
Without food, even heroes turn into cowards. During the raid today, upon seeing all that rice, flour, grain, and oil, his soldiers nearly mutinied!
The hunger was truly unbearable.
"Very soon."
Hearing this, Chen Huaiqian capped his fountain pen and carefully explained to Huang Yu the steps to stabilize the price of rice. Making an example of someone was only the first step. They had to bait out the truly powerful grain merchants who could not be intimidated by brute force alone, and then...
"...and then pretend to be helpless, selling these confiscated grains to them at a high price. That way, when they are at their most smug, thinking the government can do nothing to them, we can release the large batch of rice and grain we purchased at a fair price."
"We will make these guys lose so much money they will want to jump into the Yellow River."
The door was suddenly pushed open.
Su Ning appeared, her gaze falling on the dumbfounded Huang Yu as she spoke in a commanding tone:
"So, for the sake of the big picture, your soldiers must endure it a little longer, understand?"
After speaking, seeing the man had no reaction.
She frowned in displeasure.
Just as she was about to make a few sarcastic remarks, a continuous stream of reward notifications echoed in her mind. Her gaze turned suspicious. Hah, was there something terrifying about what she had just said?
The worst consequence would just be having their family ruined or something like that.
If they could rein it in before it was too late and not be so greedy, nothing bad would happen. She considered herself to be very gentle, even worrying about breaking character.
"You... why are you here!"
Huang Yu finally reacted, bristling like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. He hadn't heard a word of what Su Ning was saying at all; he had just completely panicked the moment he saw Su Ning and Su One.
It was pure psychological trauma.
In response, Su Ning was momentarily confused, but then she smiled in understanding. She retorted unceremoniously, "I remember this being Mayor Chen's office, right?"
The implication was clear.
Even the host hasn't said we aren't welcome, so what right do you have to ask that question?
