CHAPTER 430: CHAPTER 423: GOING TO THE COUNTRYSIDE

As for Huang Guixiang, Sisi chose a different approach. Unlike Su Ping, Huang Guixiang didn’t fancy small items like hairpins or scarves. What she loved most were tangible benefits, with money being the foremost, followed by meat, grain, eggs, and the like.

Sisi also found out that Li Neng loved to drink liquor, but since he was reluctant to spend money, he would only dare to drink two or three times a month. Even then, he didn’t dare to drink much. Sometimes, when he really couldn’t resist, Li Neng would go to someone else’s house to drink. Although the hosts were uncomfortable with it, since Li Neng was a local bully, they had no choice but to swallow the loss.

This couple is really...

A perfect match indeed!

Although Sisi looked down on these two oddities, for the sake of Tian Xinhua’s smooth career, she still patiently interacted with Huang Guixiang a few times.

After some contact, Sisi realized that people like Huang Guixiang and her husband, though not presentable, were straightforward and direct. They were only after benefits, and would side with whoever offered more. And what Sisi had in abundance were these so-called benefits.

Thus, after accepting about ten pounds of fatty meat and four or five bottles of liquor from Sisi, Huang Guixiang took the initiative to show her sincerity, "Sis-in-law, my man says that from now on, he is just a soldier under Mayor Tian. Whatever Mayor Tian asks him to do, he’ll do; he won’t mess around aimlessly."

Regarding Huang Guixiang’s insistence on calling her ’sis-in-law,’ Sisi corrected her a few times without effect and eventually couldn’t be bothered to care anymore. Let her call it whatever she wanted.

However, Sisi didn’t expect that Li Neng and his wife would surrender so quickly and so decisively. They were really easy to bribe!

What Sisi didn’t know was that it was the ten pounds of fatty meat that moved Huang Guixiang’s heart, but what truly made Li Neng give in were those bottles of liquor. After Li Neng tasted the liquor, he couldn’t stop drinking it. Learning from Huang Guixiang that Mayor Tian’s wife’s family owned a liquor factory, his hearts instantly turned unwaveringly towards Tian Xinhua.

As long as he could please Mayor Tian, wouldn’t there be enough good liquor to drink in the future?

Thus, without realizing it, Tian Xinhua found his work getting smoother and smoother. The two people he most wanted to win over had both extended olive branches to him one after the other, infuriating Secretary Hu.

Tian Xinhua had originally planned to start winning over Li Neng and Zhu Xianren after dealing with the drought, but it turned out he had achieved his goal without even lifting a finger—a true gain without pain!

When Tian Xinhua learned that all this was thanks to Sisi’s diplomacy, he couldn’t help but see his wife in a new light.

"Who knew a woman’s influence at home could be so great?"

"Of course, you mustn’t underestimate the power of women. They might play a decisive role at critical moments!" Sisi solemnly said.

In her previous life, she had seen many cases of executives being pulled down by their wives and lovers, and she brought it up specifically to warn Tian Xinhua to never be careless in his dealings with women in the future.

Tian Xinhua had previously been dismissive of women, but after this incident, he recognized his mistake. Remembering Mr. Yun’s words that one should never look down on the seemingly insignificant, he felt even more solemn in his heart.

Around the tenth of August, as expected, there came a torrential downpour that lasted for two days and three nights. The sun and the moon were scared into hiding, making no difference between day and night.

After the rain had cleared, the poplar trees lining the streets looked different from their former wilting selves. Green leaves faced the sun, radiating vigor and vitality; it was a comforting sight to behold.

Tian Xinhua had just finished a stretch of work, and it happened that he needed to go to the countryside for some errands today. The tasks weren’t many, so he thought of taking Sisi to the countryside to see the local pastoral scenery and spend some quality time with his precious child.

The place they were going to was precisely Xingzi Village, where an incident had occurred before. Tian Xinhua said there was a river ten meters wide there, and surely there would be plenty of fish after the recent rain; they planned to go there to have fun fishing.

Sisi wasn’t particularly interested in fishing, but she was happy to go and see the countryside scenery.

Since Tian Xinhua had made it clear in advance that this trip to the countryside was half business, half pleasure, on the departure day, Sisi saw Su Ping, Huang Guixiang and her two children.

Li Neng brought his wife and children, not for fun, but to save a meal, because Tian Xinhua had said yesterday that he would host lunch during today’s trip to the countryside.

Old Xu didn’t go this time; he stayed in the office to deal with some miscellaneous tasks. They were a total of eight people. Sisi drove her own car, with her, Su Ping, and Tian Xinhua in one car, while the other five people were in another car, driven by Zhu Xianren.

The road to the countryside was really bad, bouncing around so much that it made Sisi dizzy and nauseated. Su Ping wasn’t feeling much better either, but after Sisi handed her a plum candy from her bag and took one herself, she felt a little better.

In the other car, Huang Guixiang and her two children had already been throwing up by the roadside, lifelessly spewing nothing but clean water, probably because they hadn’t eaten breakfast.

As soon as the boy finished vomiting, he cheerfully said, "Mom, thankfully we didn’t eat breakfast, otherwise it would’ve been such a waste to throw it up!"

Everyone was stunned at first, then couldn’t help but burst into laughter. Li Neng and Huang Guixiang’s faces were a bit embarrassed. They glared fiercely at their son and joined in the awkward laughter with the group.

Sisi shook her head, took out a pack of snacks from her bag and gave it to the little boy, telling him to share with his sister. The rough ride was unbearable for adults, let alone children, especially on an empty stomach. She didn’t understand what Li Neng and Huang Guixiang were thinking, not caring about their children’s health.

The scenery of Xingzi Village was indeed nice. The river by the entrance of the village was different from the dry spell some time ago; it was once again filled with water, and the crops in the fields also looked much livelier. It seemed that although this year’s harvest would be affected, there wouldn’t be a total loss.

It had been three or four days since the rain had stopped. The water in the river was clear and you could see to the bottom. There were quite a few farmwives washing clothes on the riverbank, their wooden sticks beating the clothes, making noises that mingled with the chatting and laughing voices of these women.

Tian Xinhua and the others had to go take care of business first, so Sisi and the other family members sat in the Secretary’s house drinking tea and chatting with the wives of the Secretary’s family.

Su Ping and Huang Guixiang were quite excited in their conversation with the local women, but Sisi really couldn’t join in. Firstly, she didn’t speak the language, and secondly, these wives were somewhat constrained when they saw her, speaking to her with reverence, which made her feel very uncomfortable.

Just as Sisi was feeling utterly bored, a commotion suddenly erupted outside, accompanied by distant shouts and curses, as well as a woman’s pleas for mercy, growing louder and louder.

"Ah, they’re arguing again. This Ma Er’s family is becoming more and more outrageous!" The Secretary’s wife frowned with a look of embarrassment on her face, probably feeling ashamed in front of Sisi and the others.

At this time, it sounded like the commotion had reached the Secretary’s doorstep; a woman’s coarse voice was heard loudly cursing: "You little devil, can’t you live without a man or what? My son Hai Min has just had his seventh-day funeral, and you can’t wait already? I’ll beat you to death, you wench, see if you still dare to steal men!"

Then came the crying and pleas from a young woman, along with the clamor of some others joining in—quite a lively scene.

Hearing this rabble actually making trouble at her doorstep, and what was more important was that the leader’s wives were sitting in her house now, the Secretary’s wife felt utterly disgraced!