Chapter 433: Chapter 420: Time to Beat!

“[So, the system cannot provide the host with that much.]”

In other words, providing the villagers with wheat seeds is no longer possible.

“[Well, not exactly impossible…]”

What do you mean?

“[Although the system cannot credit the host with that much wheat, the system actually has a task, which is to promote the New Agricultural Planting Series Task Two, promoting the planting of new types of wheat seeds.]”

“[But this task is different from the previous one of promoting soybean seeds. Promoting wheat planting doesn’t provide the host with any benefits regarding the various workshops at this time, it can be considered purely a task of helping others. So, to activate this task, the host needs to gather a certain amount of popularity value.]”

That is to say…

In other words, if I want to provide the villagers with help regarding seeds, I can’t merely give them aid, at least not until I prove to the system the level of trust and support the villagers have for me.

“[You can say that, it’s a fair and reasonable thing.]”

Zhuang Qingning blinked.

The system was absolutely correct. One shouldn’t always receive without giving or proving something.

However, how could she accumulate this popularity value?

“[It’s not difficult, as long as the host…]”

“Miss Qingning, Miss Qingning!”

The voice disrupted System’s words as it approached closer and closer.

In a blink of an eye, Zhuang Yonghe had run into the courtyard, out of breath.

“Uncle Yonghe, what’s going on?”

Seeing Zhuang Yonghe in such a panic, Zhuang Qingning was startled and hurriedly asked.

“Hurry to the workshop. I don’t know why a bunch of people from Zhaojiazhuang came. They said Sifu hit someone from their village. When we asked Sifu why, he didn’t say anything, and now people from Zhaojiazhuang are making a fuss.”

“People from Zhaojiazhuang said that as the manager of the workshop, you must explain this matter. You should go quickly and take a look. Village Chief is already there.” After catching his breath a bit, Zhuang Yonghe grabbed Zhuang Qingning and started to walk out.

Zhuang Sifu?

Fighting with someone? For such an honest man, that seems out of character.

“I am going now,” Zhuang Qingning, following Zhuang Yonghe, headed toward the century eggs workshop.

From afar, a crowd was seen densely surrounding the front of the workshop, making a lot of noise.

“Village Chief Zhuang, it was people from your village who hit someone. Look what they did to my nephew’s face. My nephew will be too embarrassed to go out looking like this. This is going to ruin my nephew’s future!”

One short but slightly fat middle-aged man was angrily shouting, “My nephew is a scholar! You have to turn over Sifu, who hit my nephew. Either break his leg in front of us, give him to us and let us punish him according to our clan rules, or we won’t leave today!”

“Village Chief Zhuang, it’s up to you!”

Seeing the furious Zhao Qiancheng in front of him, Zhuang Jingye frowned, “Village Chief Zhao, we don’t know the whole story yet, but you are already asking us to hand over a person from our village, and you want to break his leg. Isn’t that a bit too much?”

“Do we need to ask?” Zhao Qiancheng shouted, “Our people from Zhaojia Village saw Zhuang Sifu hit someone with their own eyes. Are you saying that we are all lying to frame Zhuang Sifu?”

“If you don’t believe me, ask Zhuang Sifu now if he was the one who hit my nephew, Zhao Ziping.”

Zhuang Jingye looked at Zhuang Sifu, who was holding his head down silently with clenched fists, and quietly asked, “Sifu, tell me the truth, was it you who punched Zhao Ziping?”

Zhuang Sifu only lowered his head, saying nothing, and after a while, he nodded.

But then, he suddenly raised his head, staring at the battered and yet smug Zhao Ziping, his teeth grinding, “he deserved it!”

Zhuang Jingye’s heart sank instantly.

Meaning, Zhuang Sifu admitted it.

And he chose to do so at the worst possible time.

“Did everyone hear that? Zhuang Sifu admitted.” Zhao Qiancheng spat on the ground, “Not only did he hit someone, he said they deserved it. Are these words a person should say?”

“If we don’t teach this kind of person a lesson, who knows what he’ll do in the future!”

“Village Chief Zhuang, you should also think about the face of the entire village and the future matters. If we don’t break such a man’s leg now, who knows what kind of trouble he’ll cause in the future. It’s better to deal with it as soon as possible, to avoid affecting the relationship between our Zhaojiazhuang and your Enji Village.”

“Village Chief Zhao, you can’t say it like that.” Zhuang Jingye cleared his throat and said, “Even though Sifu admitted to hitting someone, we still don’t know why he did it, so we can’t just punish Sifu.”

“So Village Chief Zhuang means to say, that it was clearly our fault in Zhaojia Village, but we’re accusing you of Enji Village instead?”

“Is it because my nephew Zhao Ziping, is an upright scholar and does such dirty things?” Zhao Qiancheng glared at him.

Zhuang Jingye felt a fire in his stomach at Zhao Qiancheng’s words.

Before clearing out the reasoning, Zhao Qiancheng kept mentioning that his nephew was a scholar and accusing Enji Village, which simply annoyed him. But for now, the urgent matter was to figure out what exactly happened.

Zhuang Jingye threw a glance at Zhao Qiancheng, and confessed to Zhuang Sifu, “What exactly happened here? Explain clearly.”

“Well, I…..” Zhuang Sifu bit his lip and, after hesitating for a while, he ended up saying, “Anyway, I did hit Zhao Ziping, do whatever you want.”

“You reckless boy!” Zhuang Jingye gave Zhuang Sifu a slap, “What do you mean by ‘do whatever’? If you don’t clarify this and Zhaojiazhuang stirs up trouble, do you still want your leg?”

It seemed Zhuang Sifu wasn’t listening to Zhuang Jingye at all, as he simply kept biting his lips and remained silent.

Zhuang Jingye was so irritated that he wanted to pick up a willow branch and give Zhuang Sifu a good beating to make him tell the truth.

Just as he was getting more agitated, he saw Zhuang Qingning approaching, hence, he hastily walked towards her, “Miss Qingning, I’m glad you’re here. Can you please ask Sifu what exactly happened?”

Zhuang Qingning and Sifu usually had a good relationship, as he often helped her with deliveries. Thus, as a relative and his boss, if Zhuang Qingning asked, Zhuang Sifu might be able to explain the situation.

Before Zhuang Qingning could reply, seeing her arrival, Zhao Qiancheng started chuckling, “So, you are the manager of this workshop?”