The Peasant Wife: The Prime Minister's Beloved

However, Chen Xi already had a plan in mind. The upcoming villagers' meeting was the best opportunity for her to deal with Old Lady Chen.

I remember that one time, Chen Xi accidentally caught a glimpse of the place where Old Lady Chen hid her money.

Now, the opportunity has finally come. She wants to give Old Mrs. Chen an unexpected surprise to see if she can still be as arrogant as before after losing the support of money.

Old Mrs. Chen and her husband Zhou Xuemei will definitely attend the village gathering. Since no one is at home, it is a perfect time to implement the plan.

"I'm a little tired today and want to stay home to rest. You go ahead and come back to tell me what the meeting was about."

Chen Xi made up an excuse in a tired yet natural tone. Xie Tianyi didn't ask any more questions, but just nodded in agreement.

In the afternoon, the sun lazily sprinkled on the village alleys. The village chief's voice, accompanied by the sound of footsteps, walked through the streets and alleys, informing every villager of the emergency meeting.

After Xie Tianyi left with the crowd, Chen Xi waited patiently to avoid running into Old Lady Chen or Zhou Xuemei by acting too early.

Chen Xi left home quietly. After confirming the departure of the two key figures, she slid silently into the threshold of the Chen family.

She slowly walked into the old firewood room where she and her brother grew up. Every object seemed to be a witness to the passage of time.

Her steps were light, but her thoughts were like movie scenes, replaying in her mind one by one.

As she approached Mrs. Chen's room step by step, she had already drawn a clear map in her mind. It was a secret she had glimpsed through the half-open door when she brought footbath water to the old woman one accidental night many years ago. That seemingly ordinary hollow brick became the coordinates of her actions today.

I silently counted the bluestone bricks under my feet, one step, two steps, three steps...

Until the fifth block, everything matched perfectly with the layout in memory.

She squatted down, touched the brick lightly with her fingertips, and turned it over. Sure enough, there was a thick stack of silver lying quietly there.

Chen Xi was shocked. After a careful count, he found that there were fifty taels. He couldn't help but secretly mocked: "This old lady, who cries poor every day and says she has no money to eat, has a tight family situation, but she has so much private money hidden behind her. I'm afraid even Zhou Xuemei is kept in the dark."

Silver coins jumped on Chen Xi's fingertips, and were carefully counted one by one.

After counting, she skillfully hid the silver into the bag next to her body, and then meticulously restored the floor tiles to their original appearance without leaving any signs of being turned over.

The panicked look on Old Lady Chen's face when she found out that her silver was missing came to mind, and Chen Xi's lips inadvertently curled up into a faint smile, as if it was a small counterattack against the old lady's usual nitpicking. Who made her always like to make trouble?

After stepping out of Old Lady Chen's room, Chen Xi's steps became much lighter, and she wandered casually to the outside of Zhou Xuemei's residence.

As I recall, Zhou Xuemei always loved to show off in front of others, especially to Zheng Cuihua, and she proudly talked about the pair of earrings that she received as a dowry.

I wore them only once, and then locked them in a closet in my boudoir as if they were some rare treasures.

Today, Chen Xi decided to "borrow" it and take a look, which could be regarded as a small revenge for the unprovoked beatings she had suffered.

After a thorough search of Zhou Xuemei's room, nothing was found. Chen Xi could not help but secretly admire Zhou Xuemei's superb skills in hiding items.

Just when she was about to give up, an inconspicuous but beautifully decorated small box on the bedside table caught her attention.

Gently open it, and the legendary pair of pearl earrings lies quietly inside.

Chen Xi carefully took the earrings away and put the box back intact, making sure that no one would notice it in a short time.

After everything was sorted out, she looked around, made sure there were no clues left, and left the Chen family.

On the way home, she took every step with extreme caution, looking around from time to time until she was sure that no one was following her, and only then did she enter the house with peace of mind.

After returning home, Chen Xi carefully hid the "trophies" in a secret place.

Not long after, Xie Tianyi returned home exhausted.

Chen Xi, in a good mood, pulled Xiao Yang and Xiao Chen together and played hide-and-seek in the courtyard carefreely, with laughter filling the air.

When she saw Xie Tianyi, she naturally asked about the content of today's village meeting. After all, it was not a big event and the village would not call everyone to participate.

"Did anything new happen in today's meeting?" Chen Xi asked with some curiosity.

Xie Tianyi sighed and replied, "Nothing special. It's just that the situation in the court is turbulent now, refugees are everywhere, and many people fall on the streets due to hunger. Although the court has distributed relief grain many times, it seems that the effect is not obvious. The higher-ups require each household to pay one tael of silver to tide over the difficulties, otherwise they may face the risk of having their land reclaimed."

Hearing this, Chen Xi's expression became serious, and he said worriedly: "If the fields are really gone, what difference will the villagers have from those wandering people except for having a place to shelter from the wind and rain? Can they only rely on the rain from heaven to quench their thirst and rely on fantasy to fill their hunger?"

Xie Tianyi patted her shoulder comfortingly, and said gently: "These problems will eventually fall on the shoulders of ordinary people, so don't worry too much. At least for us, this one or two taels of silver is not a big burden."

"Indeed, one ounce of silver is insignificant to us, but for those families who are struggling financially, it is a heavy burden."

Chen Xi's brows were filled with deep worry, and his mind couldn't help but think of the poor neighbor, Mrs. Xiong. He could still vividly remember how she had always taken care of them.

An idea quietly took root in her mind. She wanted to discuss with Xie Tianyi to help Mrs. Xiong pay the fee.

"I have some ideas and would like to hear your opinion." Chen Xi's tone was slightly hesitant.

"Go ahead, just say it." Xie Tianyi always likes to be straightforward.

"I see that Sister Xiong's family conditions are not very good and she lacks someone to take care of her. She treats us kindly on weekdays. I was wondering if I could help her pay the money, but I'm afraid you won't agree." Chen Xi expressed his plan frankly.

Xie Tianyi smiled slightly, his eyes full of praise: "You are very thoughtful, let's do it. But then again, if the Chen family also comes to ask for help, what should we do?"

Xie Tianyi nodded secretly and decided to find an opportunity to have an in-depth discussion with Chen Xi, so as to avoid the Chen family coming unexpectedly in the future and catching him off guard, and putting him in an awkward and passive position.

After the meeting, I set out on my way home. Along the way, I saw that the faces of the villagers were filled with worry and helplessness.

To them, that one or two taels of silver were not just a few cold numbers, but their family's livelihood for a month, a handful of rice in the rice jar, and a patch on their child's clothes.