Chapter 430: Chapter 417: Do Me a Favor

At Butcher Hua’s house, Zhuang Qingning and Zhuang Qingsui had stayed there for a long time, yet they had never seen anything amiss in and around the house.

In Zhuang Qingning’s memory, Butcher Hua was just an ordinary butcher with nothing unusual to suggest. She figured that there was probably nothing valuable in his house for others to covet.

However, if there was anything to be coveted, it would probably be in her possession.

She went from being a vulnerable orphan who had been pushed around and bullied to bravely standing up against Mrs. Song and Zhuang Ruman and taking her position as the head of the family. From being extremely poor and lacking food to rapidly growing her wealth. Now, her workshop and variety of businesses are thriving.

It would be improbable if no one became suspicious or started eyeing her.

The sudden appearance of a strange man claiming to be Butcher Hua’s nephew and wanting to search Butcher Hua’s house – if he was trying to fish for information, then…

Zhuang Qingning thought that it would be wise to be cautious. Going to check the situation would certainly be the right first step.

Zhuang Jingye didn’t overthink it. He figured Zhuang Qingning was just curious about this stranger and worried that he might be trying to snoop around the workshop with ill intentions. So he took her to Butcher Hua’s house.

However, when the two arrived at Butcher Hua’s house, the man named Zheng Cheng was nowhere to be found.

“Where did he go?” Zhuang Jingye’s forehead furrowed and started to bead with sweat.

Could it be, there was really something off about this man?

“Perhaps he found something to take back to his maternal grandfather, and went back home to inform his uncle, the village chief? Or maybe he went to visit a grave?”

Zhuang Qingning said, “In any case, let’s look for him first.”

“Okay.” Zhuang Jingye agreed, and along with Zhuang Qingning, they went back home and checked the village cemetery as well.

They even asked a few of the nearby residents if they had seen where Zheng Cheng had gone or if he had been inquiring about anything.

However, none of the neighbors had seen him.

It was as though Zheng Cheng had evaporated into thin air – as if he had never even been there.

“What on earth is going on…” Zhuang Jingye scratched his head, even beginning to question whether he had hallucinated the whole thing earlier.

“Regardless of what happened, it’s clear that this man must have had an ulterior motive.”

In contrast to Zhuang Jingye’s confusion and panic, Zhuang Qingning was much more composed. She furrowed her brows and said, “In the coming days, everyone in the village needs to be vigilant against potential thieves or kidnappers who may be trying to get a sense of the village layout.”

“I’m going to alert everyone in the village about this situation.” Zhuang Jingye nodded emphatically, and then added to Zhuang Qingning, “Besides, all your workshops need to be on their guard as well in case workshops or villages elsewhere are jealous of our business and want to stir up trouble here.”

The two immediately parted ways to inform the relevant people about the situation.

Whether the stranger was a thief, a kidnapper, or someone there to create chaos at the workshop, in the eyes of the villagers of Enji Village, he was an enemy to the entire village and they would not tolerate such occurrences.

All the villagers, whether working at the workshop or not, heightened their vigilance and closely questioned all unfamiliar faces coming into the village.

Zhuang Jingye even organized able-bodied young men from the village to patrol around in pairs to ensure nothing went awry.

As Enji Village was bustling with activity, so was Miao Village.

It was the sweet potato harvest season and the workshop was bustling due to the increased demand for glass noodles made from sweet potatoes from Cheng’s shop. Miao Village was extremely busy.

A carriage slowly pulled up to the glass noodle workshop.

Miao Hongjin saw that the visitor was none other than Fang Hou, a close employee of Cheng Ruize from Cheng’s shop. He rushed to greet him, “Brother Fang has arrived.”

Looking at the fully loaded carriage, he was flabbergasted, “What is this…”

“Village Chief Miao, good day.” Fang Hou greeted with a full-face smile, “These are some food items brought from Cheng’s shop: tofu, dried tofu, salted duck eggs, etc.”

“Manager Cheng remembered that everyone in the workshop has been working very hard recently and he sincerely appreciates it. However, he was not sure how to show his gratitude, so he asked me to bring some food to be shared with everyone.”

“All the workers here will get a share.”

“We really appreciate Cheng’s kindness.” Miao Hongjin was surprised and moved that such a powerful shop manager like Cheng Ruize, thought about the wellbeing of the workers in his small workshop.

“Manager Cheng said it’s the right thing to do, Village Chief Miao, you really don’t need to be so formal. Quickly distribute the food.”

As Fang Hou spoke, he gestured to his helpers to unload the bamboo baskets from the carriage.

After instructing Miao Hongjin on the correct distribution amounts for each household, Fang Hou, with Miao Hongjin and others, went about distributing the food to the workers.

Every household received a piece of tofu, a pound of dried tofu, a few pieces of tofu skin, and six salted duck eggs.

Everyone in the glass noodle workshop was delighted at Cheng’s generosity; they even discussed what type of meal they should make for lunch.

Looking at the full bamboo basket, Mrs. Zhang was ecstatic.

The food would be enough for her and her two children to eat for two whole days.

Come lunchtime, except for those who were assigned to guard the workshop, everyone else went home to prepare lunch.

Mrs. Zhang was also preparing to return home to cook a pan-fried tofu lunch for her two children.

But just as she was leaving, she noticed a carriage parked at the workshop entrance – a very familiar one.

Wasn’t this the same carriage that delivered food to the noodle workshop earlier?

Before Mrs. Zhang could ponder it further, carriage driver Fang Hou scratched his ear in embarrassment, “Auntie Zhang, you work at the noodle workshop, right? I’m glad I ran into you. Could you help me with something?”

“What do you need help with?” As soon as Mrs. Zhang recognized Fang Hou, she promptly asked.

“I forgot to water the horses this morning, and I have a few more places to go to later. I’m worried the horses could fall sick from thirst, so I was wondering if I could get some water from you. I considered going back to the workshop but luckily, I ran into you. Could I trouble you to fetch some water?” smiled Fang Hou.

“Okay, I’ll get a basin of water for you.” Upon hearing that it was such a simple task, Mrs. Zhang agreed at once.

“I hate to trouble you to carry it. I’ll do it.” Fang Hou rolled up his sleeves, ready to fetch the water himself.

Seeing Fang Hou’s politeness, Mrs. Zhang decided not to refuse and led him into the courtyard. She washed a wooden basin, filled it up, and handed it to Fang Hou.