A husband found in the village? I bought a regent for a penny!

An Qinghe skillfully dodged Gu Youfu's lunge.

Gu Youfu wanted to make another move, but was stopped by several of his relatives.

"Since you've done nothing wrong, what's there to be afraid of in listening to what he has to say?"

"Who is Boss Zhao, and what does he have to do with this? We've never heard you mention him before."

Gu Youfu was at a loss for words. "I...I don't know any Boss Zhao. I just don't want these outsiders to say things that don't make sense and sow discord between us."

However, as soon as he finished speaking, he noticed that apart from Master Gu's family, all the other relatives were looking at him expressionlessly, clearly having lost the initial trust.

Gu Xixi breathed a sigh of relief and signaled to the people around her that they could put down their weapons.

An Qinghe said, "You can ask around about Mr. Zhao, who does seed business in Qingtian County."

"Grandpa Gu's family grows vegetables and is already familiar with Boss Zhao. Not long ago, they agreed that as long as they obtained Gu Xixi's secret recipe for growing grains, they would hand it over to Boss Zhao for consignment sale."

"What is consignment? Let me explain. It means that if any of you want to grow more and better grain in the future, you will have to go to Boss Zhao and pay a high price to buy consignment."

"They also plan to break the secret recipe into several sheets, each costing ten taels of silver. How many of you can afford that?"

"Or do you really believe that after obtaining the secret recipe, Grandpa Gu will share it with all of you for free?"

The crowd stirred again, and the Gu family relatives whispered among themselves, their eyes filled with even more anger as they looked at Grandpa Gu and his son.

Gu Youfu remained defiant, struggling to say, "Don't listen to him!"

"This Hu man is in cahoots with Gu Xixi!"

An Qinghe gave him a disdainful look, then slowly pulled a roll of paper from his pocket, shook it, and unfolded it.

"This is the contract that Grandpa Gu and Boss Zhao signed. Is there anyone who can read? Please send a few representatives to take a look."

Grandpa Gu was nearby and saw the red handprint he had pressed on the bottom of the contract. His face immediately turned ashen.

Gu Youfu stared in disbelief.

The contract was made in duplicate. He kept the copy belonging to his family in his own room, hidden in a secret place, so it was impossible for Anqing to find it in such a short time.

So where did this contract come from?

A moment later, several people walked up to An Qinghe.

Anqing and his cautiousness forbade them from touching the document, only allowing them to observe and read it.

After reading it, the group of people returned to the crowd with grim expressions.

An Qinghe raised his voice and said, "You all saw it? It's written very clearly on this contract that for every sale Mr. Zhao makes, he will give Mr. Gu 40% of the profits."

“See? I was right,” He Jinglan continued, “You’ve all been used!”

"If we let them succeed today, and they make a fortune in the future, will they still remember you, their relatives?"

Gu Xixi smiled and gave He Jinglan an approving look.

What a clever Miss He! Every word she utters is meant to stir up trouble, yet every sentence hits the nail on the head regarding what the other person cares about most.

Moreover, they shifted the main blame onto Grandpa Gu and his son, giving most people a way out, which can be described as a combination of kindness and severity.

As expected of a girl from a prestigious family, when it comes to winning hearts and minds, she probably won't lose to her brother, He Jinghui.

He Jinglan winked at Gu Xixi, then sighed regretfully at the Gu family.

"If I were you, the last person you should offend is Gu Xixi. After all, you have no grudge against Gu Xixi. If you want to grow good crops, you are counting on her to help you in the future."

"We're trying to curry favor with them, and now you all..."

The relatives whispered among themselves for a while, then looked up at Gu Xixi with somewhat embarrassed expressions.

Someone gave up first, saying, "I think this girl makes sense. We were all caught up in the moment, but now that we've calmed down and thought about it, we've all been deceived!"

Someone said regretfully, "Yes, look at my hands, they're all scraped. At my age, I'm still being manipulated and used as a pawn. It's really shameful."

Someone said indignantly, "I heard that Second Master Gu was bullied by a junior, and I was so angry that I came to help. Now it seems that there was nothing to it at all!"

He Jinglan had already paved the way for everyone to back down, and they all took advantage of the situation, never mentioning that their purpose for the trip was also the "secret recipe," but only claiming that they had been deceived.

In an instant, the situation was completely reversed.

The relatives of the Gu family all criticized Gu Da-ye and his son, as well as Gu Er-ye and his entire family.

Even worse, some people spit at them in frustration.

Master Gu had been stunned ever since Anqing and the truth were revealed.

He suddenly jumped up, lunged forward, grabbed Grandpa Gu's collar with both hands, and shook him, "That's not what you told me!"

"You let me make a scene with Gu Xixi first. It would be best if I could get my losses back, but if not, it's fine. As long as I say I was beaten, you'll have a reason to get everyone to force Gu Xixi to hand over the secret recipe. Then the secret recipe will be jointly owned by our two families!"

"Why did you lie to me!"

An Qinghe had already released the rope and walked over to Gu Xixi to watch the excitement together.

Grandpa Gu's face was ashen, his body swaying precariously, yet he still stubbornly argued, "I didn't lie to you, it just didn't work out."

Once Master Gu regained his senses, he wasn't so easily fooled. "What's going on with Boss Zhao? Did you mention a single word to me? You even signed the contract, and it only has your name on it! Do you think I'm stupid?!"

Master Gu became more and more indignant as he spoke, "You think you're using others as pawns, but little do you know that I'm the biggest fool here!"

Gu Erye's son and daughter-in-law also turned against him, offering their own explanations to the relatives that they were also victims and that Gu Daye had deceived everyone.

The crowd was noisy and chaotic.

Grandpa Gu couldn't handle it, his eyes rolled back, and he fainted on the spot.

I don't know if I was really dizzy or not.

Gu Xixi whispered to An Qinghe, "Thanks to you for finding the contract and bringing it over in time, otherwise I would have had to give up these wheat fields."

After all, even if the wheat field is destroyed, other crops can be planted next season.

If a person is injured or dies, they can never come back.

An Qinghe watched the commotion with a grin and said, "It wasn't me who found the contract. I searched the main room of his house and even Master Gu's bedroom, but I couldn't find it."

Gu Xixi was taken aback. "This contract is fake?"

An Qinghe shook his head, "It's not fake, is it? It's that Master Liu. He went to Grandpa Gu's house and gave me this."

"He told me to just take it and use it, saying I would naturally know what was going on."

Gu Xixi remained silent for a while.

"What you received should be Boss Zhao's contract."

The person who was able to steal (or take) the contract in advance might have anticipated today's events even earlier than Gu Xixi herself.

Gu Youfu slunk home on his father's back.

Gu Xixi was about to leave when she was blocked by a group of relatives from the Gu family.

The group of people who were in the lead were all quite old.

They faced Gu Xixi and suddenly bowed deeply to the ground in a solemn manner.

Gu Xixi was somewhat surprised and took a half step back.

Then they heard the leader say, "This time we were misled by the words of a villain, we are sorry."

"Can you forgive me?"