Leaving aside the chaos at the Zhao family.
After Su Ning returned, she couldn't wait to check the harvest she had squeezed out this time. Counting the zeros on her fingers, she asked in a dreamy tone, "Little System, I didn't count wrong, did I?"
"You didn't."
The Rich and Heartless System was also very happy. "With these rewards, Host, your account balance has reached thirty million. This way, as soon as the reward mission is completed, it can be cashed in immediately."
Mentioning this made Su Ning want to complain a bit.
Who else's mission rewards required the mission-doer to work themselves to death saving money before they could be cashed in?
"Hehe."
The system sneered.
"The shares, manors, and properties in the reward mission are all of extremely high quality and can generate income immediately. You couldn't buy them even if you had the money. Plus, clearing out thirty million in one go—do you know how much pressure that takes off you?"
Su Ning: ...
She casually changed the subject. "Hey, how do these properties operate? After I get my hands on them, I won't have to recruit employees myself, will I?"
That would be way too troublesome.
"Of course not."
The system replied instinctively. By the time it realized she was changing the subject, there was nothing it could do.
"These properties come with their own employees. To them, it's just a change of boss. The outside world won't suspect a thing."
"That's good."
Su Ning nodded.
Actually, this question indirectly revealed a lot of information. For example, the system's authority in this world was very high, at least enough to casually mobilize a massive amount of real-world wealth—numbers in a bank account and genuine physical properties were not on the same level at all.
This was very good.
She had no thoughts of rebellion anyway. The stronger the system, the safer she was. Thinking of this, Su Ning smiled leisurely.
Everything was ready; all she needed was the right opportunity.
She had to deal with those war profiteers before the refugees arrived.
Feeding people cost a lot of grain, after all.
...
With some secret fueling.
The story of an illegitimate child posing as a twin quickly became the hottest topic in Beiping City. Even those privately printed tabloids temporarily set aside their grudge against Su Ning.
Every one of them gave it prime coverage.
Facts proved that this choice was correct. Openly mocking and secretly ridiculing the same person every day was exhausting for the writers and tiring for the readers.
A fresh and extraordinarily melodramatic piece of gossip.
Once published.
It exploded!
Everyone in the streets and alleys was discussing it, but the unified consensus was that Zhao Hao was less than human.
Men felt that having romantic affairs outside and producing an illegitimate child was no big deal, but hiding it from the lawful wife and passing the child off as a twin was going too far. It wasn't like raising the child as an illegitimate son was impossible.
Women, needless to say.
They detested it with a passion.
Rotten cabbage leaves and stinky eggs occasionally appeared in front of the Zhao family's door. The weather was getting hotter, and the piled-up garbage rotted and stank, but the Zhao family was so overwhelmed that they had no energy to care.
Almost everyone in their family had been arrested.
Their rice shops had also been sealed off.
After Zhao Hao was carried home, he developed a high fever and fell unconscious. With their hopes dashed, the female members of the Zhao family scrambled around like headless flies seeking help, but received very few responses.
"If the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold... We should lend a hand."
In the suburbs, inside a house that looked ordinary on the outside but was luxurious on the inside, a middle-aged man sitting lower down shook his head and sighed. Hearing this, the others present shook their heads in disagreement.
"What's there to save?"
"We've all had our businesses seized by the government. The Zhao family's fate is especially tragic because they offended that Miss Su. With her temper, be careful she doesn't take out the rescuers along with them!"
"Exactly, exactly."
"That youngest son of the Zhao family is ruthless enough, using an illegitimate child to secretly replace the legitimate daughter. His wife is truly pitiful." This was someone who deeply believed the secondary rumors.
Someone quickly retorted.
Saying it was different from what they knew: that illegitimate child wasn't actually Zhao Hao's either, and he had been cuckolded...
"Alright, quiet down."
The elderly man with a long beard sitting at the head of the table thumped his nanmu walking stick. He glared at everyone angrily and said, "Is now the time to talk about this? The government is coming at us aggressively, trying to cut off our source of wealth. That's the main point!"
For a moment, the room fell silent.
Only the old man's voice could be heard.
"Everyone's granaries and rice warehouses are piled high with grain. We all used our own abilities to buy these at high prices, risking the foundations laid by our ancestors.
If it weren't for that man named Chen getting in the way, we could have comfortably exchanged it all for warehouses full of gold, silver, and silver dollars."
"God gave us this chance to get rich. Once it passes, it'll never come again. Are you really willing to let it go?"
The crowd shook their heads without hesitation.
Of course not.
"The central and local forces have already fought their way to the Longhai railway line. Who knows, they might reach Beiping any day now. Does Chen Huaiqian really think his seat is that secure, trying to control grain prices?"
Someone snorted coldly:
"Exactly. If he wants to play the righteous official, he has to see if we agree to it first!"
Once they reached a consensus, things were easy to discuss.
They had the manpower and the background. Banding together, they weren't afraid at all. After deliberating, they came up with a plan—so they weren't allowed to sell grain at a high price, right?
Then they wouldn't sell a single grain!
When public anger boiled over, it would be Chen Huaiqian's turn to beg them to sell.
"Let's do it this way."
The old man stroked his beard in satisfaction. "If everyone here works together, we will all have our time to get rich. But if anyone violates the agreement and sells grain on their own, don't blame the rest of us for ganging up on you."
Everyone promised they wouldn't.
Suddenly, someone said hesitantly:
"Wait a minute. That guy Chen Huaiqian confiscated a few rice shops, so he has quite a bit of grain on hand now. What if he opens the granaries and distributes it?"
Immediately, someone laughed.
"How much is that, really? Beiping City has a population of a million. Unless he has ten times more, he can't threaten us. And besides us, who else has that much grain?"
"What if he goes to buy it from other regions?"
"First, Chen doesn't have that much money. Second, if Beiping is short on grain, other places are starving even more. You don't think our peers in other regions would let this opportunity slip by, do you?"
The person who raised the question finally felt relieved. Noticing the mocking looks from the others, he couldn't help but defend himself:
"I was considering Su Ning. She has always supported Chen Huaiqian, and she's a well-known tycoon."
By now, it was a universally acknowledged fact that Su Ning was absurdly wealthy. Hearing this, some people actually started to worry.
"You're overthinking it."
The old man shook his head, his tone amiable:
"Unless Su Ning is a fool, she wouldn't throw so much of her own money down the drain for Chen. Besides, do you guys think she looks like the type who worries about the country and the people, and is wholly devoted to serving the nation?"
How could that be possible...
Those adjectives didn't match Su Ning in the slightest!
"Then that settles it."
"If Chen wants to be a hero, let him. Unfortunately, ruin and disgrace will be his only end." The old man looked at the strong aura of the crowd and proclaimed:
"Even if Su Ning gets involved, it'll just be a mantis trying to stop a chariot. Not worth mentioning!"
...
"Ding, detected that the host is rich and heartless..."
Over here, Su Ning was recalling past bitterness and savoring present sweetness. She took a glance—a level-three plot character. Not paying much attention, she continued gnawing on her flatbread. The flatbread that had just come out of the pan was crispy and fragrant, but the actual taste in her mouth wasn't that great.
Coarse flour that even had bran in it.
No oil or salt added.
How good could it taste?
Su Ning took a couple of bites just for the sake of it, then gave the rest of the flatbread to passersby. When paying the bill, the stall owner clutched the silver dollar, bowing and nodding continuously while showering her with praises, and casually mentioned that he wouldn't be doing this business anymore.
"Why aren't you making them anymore?"
"Grain prices are rising too fast." The stall owner looked utterly frustrated. "Sometimes I work hard all day, only to realize I've actually lost money once I calculate the costs. If I raise the price of the flatbreads, the customers think it's a bad deal and stop coming."
"Take a break for now, and start making them again later."
Based on her extensive experience of sampling flatbread stalls all over Beiping, the bread from this stall was of the highest quality—at the very least, it smelled heavenly and tasted delicious.
"Grain prices will drop."
