Chapter 66: Utter Chaos

  Although Ma Niang didn't quite understand, she still grasped the key point. "Sister is saying that this thing can be sold?"

  "Of course, purple yam is so delicious and has high nutritional value."

  Ma Shuai and Ma Achai looked at each other in dismay. This sweet potato that can be grown without much effort in this field, can it really be sold for money?

  Eyelids slightly raised, Yuan Long's voice with a thick metallic quality lazily sounded: "What is a supermarket?"

  In the summer, the purple yam got stuck in his throat, and he hastily picked up the bowl to drink some water, choking and coughing as he swallowed it down. Stiffly, he argued: "It's that...that market, the market, how can I make it clear what it's called?!"

  Her eyelashes fluttered slightly, and Yuan Longqiao didn't make another sound, continuing to eat slowly.

  Seeing that Xiatiande was eating happily, Ma Sao and Ma Achai finally put their minds at ease, taking care of the dog, calling out to Yuan Longqiao and Xiatiande as they ate breakfast.

  Xia Tian secretly wiped away a non-existent cold sweat from his forehead, and his heart was racing with fear. He had almost accidentally revealed the truth.

  Boom! Boom boom boom!

  "Open the door, Ma Zhai! Open the door quickly!"

  A burst of knocking sounds, accompanied by rough shouting, almost shattered the small courtyard gate.

  Ma Achai's face suddenly changed, and he stood up, hesitating for a moment before saying to Yuan Longqiao: "Brother Fang, there's some trouble at home, you and your siblings rest in the house for a while."

  Madam Ma's face turned pale as she pulled the dog up and handed it over to Xia Tian, "Thank you, sister, for taking care of the dog first. No matter what happens outside later, don't come out."

  "Ma Sao, what's wrong?" Xia Tian inexplicably took over the dog.

  Bang! Bang! Bang!

  "Ma A Chai, I know you're at home, hurry up and open the door, grandma's! If you don't open the door, I'll kick it down!"

  Madam Ma opened her mouth, looked at her husband and just sighed.

  Yuan Longqiao put down the sweet potato in his hand and slowly opened his mouth: "With little brother here, he will surely take good care of Doggie."

  Ma Achai nodded gratefully and went to open the courtyard gate by himself.

  Although it's summer and I don't want to hide in the house, seeing Yuan Longqiao not moving makes me unable to go out. Fortunately, the door is open, and the situation in the courtyard can be seen clearly.

  As soon as the gate opened, four or five peasants carrying clubs and hoes rushed in. The leader, a burly man, pushed Ma Achai with one hand, scolding him with his mouth open, his copper bell-sized eyes staring, his face full of horizontal muscles trembling. "Damn it, you can even dawdle for half a day when I ask you to open the door! Ma Achai, if you dare to pretend again, I'll beat you until you kneel down and call me grandpa today! If not, my name is not Zhang Tianba!" The weather was quite cold, but he only wore a single jacket, with several buttons on the front unbuttoned, revealing his wheat-colored chest.

  The puppy saw this momentum, his mouth was about to cry, and Xia Tian hurriedly picked him up and coaxed him softly.

  Zhang Tianba heard the sound and looked into the hall, seeing Yuan Longqiao and Xia Tian. He was slightly stunned, ignoring Yuan Longqiao, but instead gazed at Xia Tian's face for a few circles.

  Yuan Longqiao frowned in disgust, his eyes filled with a cold frost, and he gazed at him icily.

  Ma Achai's face turned red with anger, he took two steps forward and blocked Zhang Tianba's way, suppressing his anger and speaking in a gentle tone: "Zhang Ye, didn't I just send over three bags of grain the other day?"

  "Those who can't even fill the gaps between their teeth, Ma Achai, don't you forget that if it wasn't for me lending you a bag of grain at the beginning, your wife and children would have starved to death long ago."

  "That's right... But..." Ma Achai swallowed hard, the words stuck in his throat, and he broke out in a cold sweat.

  "But, it's a fart!" Zhang Tianba glared with his cow-like eyes, twirling the short stick in his hand, and shouted at the men following behind him: "Don't think you can get away with it, pay back what you owe, it's only right! If you don't return all the grain you borrowed today, I'll tear down your house and take over your land!"

  "Old Zhang, you must speak reasonably! Our family's grain harvest was late, and we agreed to borrow one bag and return two. However, every time we went to return the grain, you were never home, so it got delayed for many days. This isn't our fault! Moreover, just a few days ago, we returned three bags of grain to you, which is one more than what we originally promised. Old Zhang, you can't bully people too much!"

  "Hmph, this little mouth is quite talkative!" Zhang Tianba's eyes were hazy as he hooked his finger under the chin of Ma Jie, revealing his true nature as a rogue. "You might as well follow me and I'll treat you to good food and drink."

  Madam Ma's face suddenly turned red to her neck, she slapped his hand away and scolded him severely. The people who came with Zhang Tianba also shouted and followed suit.

  "What are you doing?! Is... is there no justice anymore?!" Ma Achai's eyes turned red, he pulled his wife over and shielded her behind him, the veins on his forehead bulging.

  The child was the most sensitive and couldn't bear it anymore, so he burst out crying.

  The small courtyard was once again filled with shouting and wailing, as well as bursts of laughter and uncontrollable sobbing, the scene was chaotic. Suddenly, a loud shout rang out: "Everyone be quiet!"

  The atmosphere was explosive, with an aura of infinite majesty. Everyone was stunned, involuntarily holding their breath and craning their necks to gaze into the hall.

  The puppy was so scared that it let out a yelp and stopped crying, shrinking timidly into Xia Tian's arms, sniffing its nose with a twitch.

  Yuan Longqiao slowly got up and walked out calmly.

  Xiatian smiled and followed closely behind him with the dog in her arms, looking at her husband's calm and composed demeanor, she couldn't help but straighten her back.

  Zhang Tianba's eyes were fixed on Xia Tian, his mouth curled up towards his ears, and the horizontal muscles on his face looked especially greasy in the morning sunlight.

  He shot him a cold glance, and Yuan Long's face sank as he opened his mouth: "What exactly do you want?"

  Zhang Tianba looked up and down at Yuan Longqiao, snorted with disdain, "What kind of onion are you, what kind of garlic? I have a debt to settle with Ma Achai, don't bother me!"

  Yuan Longqiao didn't get angry, and instead took out a white jade pendant from his waist that was unusually lovely. His face expressionless, he said: "You'd better come up with a good reason, if you're really in the right, then this jade pendant is yours. But if you can't come up with a good reason, don't blame me for being impolite."

  "Wow! This jade pendant is not bad! Bring it here, I'm not a petty person, huh? It can be exchanged for two bags of grain!" Zhang Tianba was about to reach out and grab it. The others chimed in, "Master Zhang is so generous!", "You little brat are lucky!".

  Such a fine jade, one look and you can tell it's not cheap, Ma Achai and his wife wouldn't let Yuan Longqiao take advantage of this, so they both stepped forward to intercept him. Zhang Tianba waved the stick in his hand, and those few big men immediately swarmed up and subdued Ma Achai and his wife.