The Peasant Wife: The Prime Minister's Beloved

These words were like a warm current flowing into Mrs. Xiong's heart. Tears gathered in the corners of her eyes and finally slid down slowly.

"Chen Xi, I really don't know how to repay your kindness... You are so good to me."

Chen Xi patted the back of her hand gently, his eyes sparkling with sincerity: "I help you, not for any reward, I just hope that our neighborly friendship can last forever. There is a saying that goes, 'A close neighbor is worse than a distant relative'. Let's support each other and overcome difficulties together."

As they talked, the two were approaching the noisy village entrance.

In the crowd, Xu Gaoping's tall figure was particularly conspicuous, and Chen Xi locked onto his target at a glance.

Noticing Chen Xi's arrival, Xu Gaoping rushed over to greet him: "You didn't attend the meeting that day. Did Xiao Xie tell you about that when he went back?"

Chen Xi nodded in sudden realization: "Oh, I did, that's why I hurried over to pay the money."

When Xu Gaoping heard this, he smiled so hard that his eyes narrowed into slits.

Just at this moment, a shrill voice suddenly interrupted: "Are you Chen Xi?"

Chen Xi looked in the direction of the voice and saw a woman with phoenix eyes staring at him. The woman's unfamiliar face made him a little confused.

"Yes, I'm Chen Xi, do we know each other?" Chen Xi asked politely.

The woman introduced herself: "My name is Xu Jing, the daughter of the village chief."

Chen Xi nodded and looked at Xu Jing again. He found that although she had an ordinary appearance and a well-proportioned figure, her words and deeds revealed a deliberate affectation that made people feel unnatural.

She thought to herself that such a personality and temperament were obviously very different from the aesthetic taste that Xie Tianyi usually displayed, not to mention that she would never be favored by Xie Tianyi.

Facing Chen Xi's indifferent reaction, Xu Jing obviously felt ignored, and couldn't help feeling unhappy in her heart.

Chen Xi's attitude was indeed very indifferent. There was no need to care about such a person.

"Didn't he tell you about me about what happened between you and Xie Tianyi?"

Xu Jing didn't seem to mind bringing up the topic directly, with an inexplicable confidence.

Chen Xi answered frankly and mercilessly: "I mentioned it. He said that you always pester him, but he is not interested in you."

As soon as these words came out, the air seemed to freeze for a few seconds, but Chen Xi's expression remained calm.

"You..." Xu Jing's chest heaved with anger, and her fingers pointed forward with trembling hands. Her throat seemed to be blocked by something, and the words were stuck in her throat. She couldn't utter a complete sentence for a long time.

Anger and confusion were mixed on her face, and her eyes were like burning flames, trying to burn the person in front of her to ashes.

At this time, Xu Gaoping saw that the situation was about to get out of control, so he stepped forward in a hurry, frowned, glared at Xu Jing sternly, and scolded: "Xu Jing, stop talking! Look at where you are. How can you be so out of control? Go back quickly, or you will be laughed at!"

The original plan did not include Xu Jing today, but after much persuasion from Xu Gaoping, he finally agreed to let her come along to see the world.

After all, the name Chen Xi had appeared frequently in conversations at home recently, so Xu Jing naturally became curious and wanted to witness with her own eyes what kind of magical powers this legendary "Chen Xi" had.

However, upon first meeting, Chen Xi was just an ordinary person with an unremarkable appearance. Apart from his sharp tongue, he seemed not as good as himself in other aspects.

This made Xu Jing secretly proud, and she became more and more complacent about her smart and capable image.

After being reprimanded by Xu Gaoping, she calmed down a lot, and stood aside silently, not saying anything more.

"Let's get back to the point. I called you all here today to solve the disaster relief problem. I explained the cause and effect clearly yesterday. I think you have all thought about it carefully when you returned home. The money we raised must be paid sooner or later. It doesn't matter if it's paid one day earlier or later. If anyone has prepared it today, it's better to just pay it all at once."

As soon as Xu Gaoping finished speaking, the crowd began to get restless. They looked at each other, whispered to each other, and talked a lot.

Chen Xi looked around, his eyes gentle but firm, he took a few steps forward calmly, and said loudly: "I'll go first and hand over my share of silver, and I'll also pay for Sister Xiong's share."

As he spoke, he took out two silver ingots shining with cold light from his arms and handed them to Xu Gaoping.

Xu Gaoping immediately put on a satisfied smile, and skillfully recorded the amount in the account book, secretly praising Chen Xi for his generosity and thoughtfulness.

"Fellow villagers, everyone should take active action. Since you have brought silver, don't hide it. Let's do it quickly and efficiently for what we can hand over today. As for what we don't have with us, it's not too late to send it tomorrow."

Xu Gaoping's renewed mobilization prompted more people in the crowd to take out silver coins and line up in groups of three or four to pay.

Zhou Xuemei was mixed in the crowd, and had a panoramic view of this series of changes. Especially when she saw Chen Xi helping Sister Xiong without hesitation, she felt mixed emotions.

She thought to herself that Chen Xi was willing to lend a helping hand even to people who had little relationship with him. After all, their family and Chen Xi were somewhat related, so Chen Xi would probably not sit idly by.

Thinking of this, Zhou Xuemei took anxious steps and quickened her pace to rush home, determined to tell Old Mrs. Chen about this as soon as possible, hoping that this would give her a glimmer of hope.

Chen Xi's actions not only made everyone look at her with new eyes, but also made many people envious and confused.

I don't understand why Chen Xi is willing to help a stranger, but seems relatively indifferent to those families that are related to him.

Especially after seeing Zhou Xuemei leaving with a look of loss on her face, this doubt became even stronger.

Xu Gaoping's eyes were fixed on Chen Xi, and he secretly speculated in his heart that with Chen Xi's ability, the silver in his hands might be far more than what he showed today.

There are forty-eight households in the whole village, and each household has one tael of silver, which adds up to exactly forty-eight taels.

It would be great if Chen Xi could generously donate and cover everything.

But then he thought again, if the villagers did not raise enough money, he, as the village chief, would inevitably be blamed, which gave him a headache.

The villagers' jealousy of Mrs. Xiong was simply because they had given the Xie family some vegetables as a gift when they visited their home, which in their eyes was a huge favor.

If people had known that Chen Xi would achieve such success in the future, I'm afraid everyone would have rushed to make friends with him.

"Then I'll go ahead, and you guys take your time."

Chen Xi left a faint smile and turned away amid the awe and envy of the crowd.

Zhou Xuemei rushed back home, and almost stepped over the threshold, and couldn't wait to report to Old Lady Chen what she saw today: "Mom, you don't know that Chen Xi not only paid her own share, but also took the initiative to help advance the share of the neighboring sister-in-law Xiong. Should we also go find Chen Xi and see if she can help us as well?"