"Just what exactly is Su Ning trying to do?"
It was another gathering, but unlike their previous triumphant meetings, this time everyone's face was dark and grim, looking as if they were attending a funeral. Elder Sun's exasperated voice rang out like a signal.
The others also began to vent their frustrations.
"It's been half a month, and her shops are still selling at that low price. I have absolutely no business on my end."
"Who isn't in the same boat? Yesterday my clerk said that my grain shop has started getting infested with rats, each one bigger than a cat. It's a sin, food meant for people has become cheap feed for rats."
"I can't hold on much longer..."
"When is Su Ning going to raise her prices?"
As the grain merchants complained, they looked at Elder Sun with eyes full of doubt. Finally, someone couldn't help but stand up and speak out directly:
"Elder Sun, give us a straight answer. We can't drag this out day after day. If we do, the grain will rot in our hands, and we'll all be finished!"
Hearing this, everyone looked over expectantly.
However, Elder Sun remained silent for a long time. Their hearts sank as suspicion and uncertainty grew. Could it be that all their previous speculations about Su Ning were wrong... Was she really releasing grain to save the market?
If so, what were they supposed to do!
Smash—
Someone violently threw a teacup to the ground, pointing at Elder Sun and cursing in exasperation. The words used were extremely foul, yet no one in the room stepped forward to stop him.
In fact, they felt the cursing wasn't enough to vent their anger.
"Enough!"
Elder Sun, humiliated and furious, panted like a bellows and threw caution to the wind: "I hoarded more grain than any of you, so I'm taking the biggest loss! Besides, Su Ning has deep pockets. It's too early to jump to conclusions right now..."
"It's been half a month and you say it's early?" the man sneered. "In all this time, even with purchase limits, those peasants have bought plenty of grain. Tightening their belts, they'll have no problem lasting until the autumn harvest."
Gritting his teeth, he said hatefully:
"You old fool, even at this point, you still refuse to admit you were wrong."
Elder Sun was so angry that he felt dizzy. His trembling fingers pointed at the man. He had countless words in his heart, but they all got stuck in his throat...
Was he really wrong?
But how could someone like Su Ning willingly play the fool to release grain and save the market? No one would believe that.
What exactly had he overlooked!
Suddenly, a flash of inspiration hit him.
"I know, it's the Zhao family." Elder Sun slammed the table, explaining to the confused eyes of the crowd: "Su Ning is no saint. She's doing all this to better exact her revenge on the Zhao family. Think about what the Zhao family has been reduced to now?"
"Except for Zhao Hao, all the men in the family have been locked up, the rice shops are sealed, and even their land was swindled away by that Shang Wenyun. All they have left is a pile of unsold grain."
"They are completely finished!"
It sounded somewhat reasonable, but the grain merchants simply couldn't accept it. Su Ning sought revenge for the smallest grievances, sure, but she wouldn't go to this extent just for the Zhao family.
Someone immediately retorted:
"What a joke. If Su Ning wanted to deal with the Zhao family, why go through such a huge detour? She could just throw all the Zhao family members into prison, pull a few strings, and whatever land or rice shops they had would be hers."
The others nodded in agreement.
This fit their logic of how power operated. Su Ning and the Zhao family were worlds apart. Was the Zhao family really worth so much of her effort?
Elder Sun was left speechless.
The gathering broke up on bad terms.
Meanwhile.
Su Ning was unaware of this conversation. If she knew, she would definitely view Elder Sun as a major threat. However, people with such intuition were ultimately in the minority.
Therefore—her reputation had improved.
"Wait."
Su Ning couldn't help but interrupt Lin Sen, feeling a headache coming on. Behind her, Su One stepped forward and massaged her head with perfect pressure.
"Are you saying no one is cursing me anymore?"
"Not exactly..."
Lin Sen paused, weighing his words carefully, unsure of what the young miss wanted to hear. Ultimately, he told the truth: "The tabloids are still publishing articles smearing you... but among the common people, because of the cheap grain, many have come to realize that you are a true philanthropist."
"Your public image has greatly improved."
Heh.
But she didn't want it to improve.
Su Ning's eyes looked dead. No wonder her daily rewards had been decreasing lately. Although she had guessed this would happen, confirming it still broke her heart. It really hurt.
All for this persona of the heartless rich.
Was it easy for her?
Didn't they say it was hard to be a good person? She had worked so hard doing all these bad things, waking up every day thinking of how to torment people and be so wicked that everyone would spit on her. Yet, after doing just one good deed, she was falsely accused of being a good person!
Overwhelmed with sorrow, Su Ning didn't want to speak for the time being. The atmosphere around her was extremely gloomy.
Hmm, the young miss doesn't want to be a "good person."
For some reason, when Lin Sen realized this, besides sighing, he felt a strange sense of excitement. He lowered his eyes and smiled softly.
Then he mentioned that many grain merchants were already jumping around in anxiety, wanting to meet with her.
Su Ning waved her hand:
"I won't see them."
Her tone was leisurely.
She could guess what these people wanted to do. It was nothing more than begging for mercy, admitting defeat, or asking her to raise her prices too—that wouldn't do. Although her persona collapsing was annoying, she had already walked ninety-nine steps; why fear the last one?
Besides, when these grain merchants went bankrupt.
She could still make another fortune.
"Wait a minute, is the Zhao family among these people?" Su Ning asked with interest.
"No."
"Heh, they finally got smart for once," Su Ning said regretfully. She lightly raised her hand, and Su One immediately let go and stepped back. Her relaxed head felt clearer than ever.
Her voice turned cold:
"Waiting to die is quite painful. I'll be kind and spare them from suffering any longer."
That same day.
The newspapers announced that Ms. Shang Wenyun had divorced Zhao Hao and taken her daughter with her. Furthermore, she reported him as a human trafficker who had once kidnapped a newborn baby right from the mother's side!
This baby was Zhao Xuewen.
Jaws dropped.
Readers never expected that the illegitimate child gossip would have such a bizarre follow-up. The illegitimate child wasn't illegitimate; he was kidnapped. Amidst their disgust, they were also curious. Having a biological daughter meant he could have children... so why did he do it?
"A born psychopath."
"He must have had a grudge against the child's biological parents and did it out of revenge."
"His body gave out, and he couldn't have kids anymore," someone theorized confidently. "His wife getting pregnant means he was fine before, but he became impotent after the pregnancy. Since it was a daughter and he wanted a son, he went and stole one."
"Makes sense."
No matter the discussion, there were no good words for Zhao Hao. As for Zhao Xuewen, he became the object of pity, but he wasn't happy in the slightest.
Instead, his heart was heavy.
He pressed Zhao Hao for information about his biological parents but never got a straight answer. Eventually, Zhao Hao even started avoiding him altogether...
How could Zhao Xuewen not be suspicious.
He was in agony and conflicted.
The once deep "father and son" bond gradually developed a rift, never to return to the way it was.
And so, Su Ning made a massive fortune. Different monkeys require different leashes. For people like Zhao Hao and Zhao Xuewen, merely inflicting financial and physical blows wasn't enough; she had to strike directly at their souls.
Before long.
The grain merchants completely surrendered. A massive amount of cheap grain flooded the market. Because of their previous actions, they had to price it even lower than Su Ning's for anyone to be willing to buy from them.
The Zhao family was also finished.
Nothing was left but the mansion. No, even the mansion couldn't be saved, as they still had to scrape together enough money to bail out the members of the Zhao family who hadn't committed major crimes.
Over seventy-two million.
This was Su Ning's final tally. Of course, Zhao Hao and his lot had contributed less than half of it; the rest was all thanks to the power of the masses.
"Everything is ready; all I need now is the final push."
Su Ning swiped past the long string of zeros in her account balance and suddenly let out a long sigh. Her head throbbed. Just how was she supposed to successfully exploit the refugees without accidentally improving her reputation?
These days, being a good person was just too easy.
