"Sis, was Jing at Qingxiang House all morning?"

De’an sidled up to Chen Wanqing, asking in what he thought was a whisper.

"Yes, he was."

Chen Wanqing nodded, her expression perfectly calm, as if this were the most normal thing in the world. To her, De’an’s overreaction was what was strange.

’But how is this normal?’

’Every time Jing comes to the county seat, he’s so busy he never stops. But this time, he finished his work early just to spend time with Sis?’

’Is this normal? This is obviously not normal!’

’They might be engaged, but they aren’t married yet. For the two of them to be alone in a room... oh, right, the shop door is open. They probably can’t get up to much.’

Still, De’an shot Zhao Jing a harsh glare. ’So Jing is a schemer after all. Now I’m finally seeing his true colors.’

Convinced he had seen through Zhao Jing’s manipulative nature, Chen De’an rushed over to his mother’s side as soon as he saw Xu Su Ying at the new house and whispered the whole story in her ear.

Xu Su Ying listened listlessly, too tired to even bother reacting.

She had been busy all morning without a single sip of water or a bite to eat. Her legs, back, and arms ached with exhaustion. All she wanted was to find a place to collapse and sleep. Her son’s rambling about all this nonsense was just irritating.

Xu Su Ying didn’t think Zhao Jing had done anything wrong. If anything, it showed that he valued her daughter and cared for her.

She shot Zhao Jing a "keep up the good work" look, followed by a look of disdain for her son.

’Country bumpkin!’

’They’re already engaged, can’t they spend some time alone?’

’It’s not like they were getting all lovey-dovey. Why does it bother you so much?’

’You’re her brother, not her parent. Aren’t you overstepping your bounds?’

Ignoring her son, Xu Su Ying took the waterskin her daughter offered and drank a couple of sips.

Seeing how exhausted she was, Zhao Jing said, "Auntie, let’s look at the house later. We should go eat first. We can come back when we’ve eaten and have our strength back." 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Right now, Xu Su Ying looked like if you gave her a bed, she would lie down and sleep until nightfall. She seemed completely worn out. Asking her to figure out how to arrange the new house now was probably beyond her mental capacity.

Just as Zhao Jing finished speaking, Chen Song arrived at the gate, driving the ox-cart.

Seeing his wife half-dead from exhaustion, Chen Song’s heart ached. He immediately put a hand on her waist to help her up and led her outside.

"Come on, let’s go eat. Your uncle is in a good mood today, so I’m taking you all out to a restaurant."

Xu Su Ying glanced at Chen Song and immediately had a good idea of what was going on.

"You found the person who tricked Old Third into taking a loan from a loan shark?"

"I did. It was Wo Deren."

When Xu Su Ying had first told Chen Song about it, he was busy digging for treasure on Xiaoao Mountain and had no time to investigate. But the matter had stayed on his mind, and even while working, he’d been wondering which son of a bitch was plotting against him.

After thinking it over and over, he concluded that only Wo Deren would resort to such dirty tricks.

Don’t be fooled by his name, Wo Deren. It contained characters for ’virtue’ and ’benevolence,’ but he didn’t live up to it in the slightest. He was a truly shameless scoundrel.

The man was an old slicker at the county government. Before Chen Song arrived, the constables there had vaguely treated him as their leader.

It wasn’t because he had any great ability, but because he was slippery and knew how to fawn over his superiors, which suited the previous County Magistrate’s tastes.

However, the current County Magistrate was a pragmatic man who disliked empty formalities. He especially detested subordinates who were all talk and no substance. Thus, after the new County Magistrate took office, this "benevolent brother" was given the cold shoulder.

He, on the other hand, had been personally promoted by the County Magistrate. He was competent, meticulous, and also humble and low-key, which earned him the magistrate’s high regard. Whenever the County Magistrate needed something done, he was accustomed to assigning it to him.

Even the group of ’brothers’ at the county government who had followed Wo Deren before now gravitated toward Chen Song, implicitly looking to him for leadership.

How could that not get under Wo Deren’s skin?

So, if someone was trying to sabotage him from behind the scenes, it could only be Wo Deren.

When Chen Song went to the government office today, he used a clever line to trick him. At first, Wo Deren denied everything, but after Chen Song provoked him with a few sharp words, he showed his true, vicious colors.

He even launched a verbal assault on Chen Song, calling him a petty sycophant who only knew how to fawn over superiors. He said the County Magistrate had only been temporarily deceived into entrusting him with important tasks. But a man of the Magistrate’s caliber, he insisted, would one day see through to Chen Song’s ugly true nature. When that day came, forget being a county deputy—he wouldn’t even be able to return to his post as a constable. There would be no place for him left in the county government.

Wo Deren was just barking in impotent rage, and Chen Song couldn’t be bothered with him at first. But then the man’s mouth turned foul, and he started insulting his wife and kids. How could Chen Song tolerate that?

Chen Song simply couldn’t swallow that insult. He immediately shot back, "You mean like you are now? Hiding in the county government like a coward in his shell, not even daring to show your face on a normal day. You’re like a rat living in the gutter. I bet before I ever leave the county government, you’ll be the one thrown out of the government office by the Magistrate for your incompetence and despicable character."