The Wealthy Eldest Sister Rules Supreme

But if she refused outright, it would make her appear excessively suspicious.

“Even though Aunt Wang’s cooking isn’t the best, the meat stewed by her is still edible. Don’t be picky, Miss Zhuang. I will deliver it to your house later after it’s done here,” came a voice.

Just as Zhuang Qingning was hesitating, a voice suddenly spoke up next to her.

Zhuang Qingning looked up and saw a beaming Mrs. Wang.

“Aunt Wang?” Zhuang Qingning was intrigued to see Mrs. Wang, especially such a cheerful one.

“I suddenly remembered something I needed to tell Wencheng, so I came here to find him.” Mrs. Wang said with a radiant smile, “Just ran into you here, Miss Zhuang. I thought I’d let you know about the stewed meat for lunch, so you don’t have to cook extra meals at home.”

“Miss Zhuang, you’re usually busy with the workshop and shop. You must be quite tired. When you have time, come over to my place to have a chat.”

“Um… okay…” Zhuang Qingning nodded, looking surprised.

“Okay then, I’ll take it as you’ve agreed. Remember to come to my place when you’re free.” Mrs. Wang looked jubilant and continued chatting, until Zhuang Wencheng, who was at the side, noticed Zhuang Qingning’s discomfort and asked what important matter Mrs. Wang wanted to discuss with him.

“Oh, my memory. I’ve been busy chatting with Miss Zhuang and forgot all about it.” Mrs. Wang said with an augmenting smile, “I just have so much to say whenever I see Miss Zhuang…”

“That’s enough, let’s not waste any more of Miss Zhuang’s valuable time. Come here, Wencheng, I need to talk to you.”

Mrs. Wang then led Zhuang Wencheng outside. They stopped to talk outside the courtyard gate.

Zhuang Qingning blinked, watching the mother and son leave before glancing at the sun in the sky.

It was rising from the east, correct.

But people’s actions were always unexpected and baffling.

“You really shouldn’t worry too much. People are like this. When you need help they avoid you like the plague, looking down on you because they think you’re useless to them and cannot count on you in the future. So they keep their distance.”

Zhuang Yonghe said, “But if you become successful, skillful, people will come to you on their own, be exceptionally pleasant, and even idolize you.”

“Why is that? Because you are stronger than them. Now, or in the future, you could be useful to them. They’re afraid that if they ask you for help in the future and they haven’t built a relationship with you, you will ignore them. So they preemptively strive to build good relations with you.”

“Furthermore, people tend to have a shared weakness: they are influenced by public opinion. They value what others think is good or valuable. For instance, if everyone says an antique doesn’t look like much, they will also think it’s not valuable. However, if one day they find out it’s a priceless artifact from a certain era, they will then remark how beautiful it is, emphasizing its qualities.”

“Let me tell you a story. There’s a family who had never eaten crab. They saved their wages for over ten days to buy two crabs at the market and took them home to make crab soup for the whole family.”

“Just after putting the crabs in the pot, they wanted to taste the soup to see if it was salty enough. They found that the soup was incredibly delicious, supremely fresh. They let everyone in their family try it, and they all agreed it tasted fantastic.”

“But upon checking the pot, the crabs were still alive and trying to escape from the pot. The soup they tasted had in fact been plain water.”

“Do you understand the point of this story, Miss Zhuang?”

Zhuang Qingning smiled and nodded, “With your explanation, Uncle Yonghe, I understand.”

It’s just about admiration for the strong and conformity to public opinion.

Looking back, even without observing closely, she could notice those who used to snub her in the village were now extremely pleasant and friendly.

When she first was declared a female head of household, probably people did not think much of her, considering it as a dead-end. But now, they must see her as a visionary leader with insight.

Wasn’t Zhuang Jingye the best example of this?

Once haughty, he later became respectful and now, an absolute supporter who agreed with everything she said and did, holding unwavering support for her.

Though it may seem contemptible upon reflection, this is the truest reflection of human nature and something typical people would do.

Most people are ordinary, naturally they don’t expect too much. Zhuang Qingning understood this and didn’t think too much about Mrs. Wang’s possible ulterior motives. Instead, she simply discussed the herbal medicine packages and egg collections with Zhuang Yonghe.

Outside, Mrs. Wang took Zhuang Wencheng to the door, and then walked a good distance to the corner before stopping.

She looked carefully at the door of Zhuang Yonghe’s house to make sure no one was following before finally letting out a sigh of relief.

“Mother, what’s going on?” Zhuang Wencheng raised an eyebrow. “You’re being quite mysterious.”

“I suddenly remembered something important that I needed to remind you of,” Mrs. Wang replied, retracting her head back.

“You must know about the recent incident in Zhuang Ruman’s family. Zhuang Ruman had promised Zhuang Qinghe to the Kong family, which then took her away for marriage. How are Zhuang Ruman and Mrs. Song, we have no clue, but Zhuang Qinghe should be safe and will probably return home in a couple of days.”

“Zhuang Qinghe was always keen on you before, she was dying to marry into our family. Last time we barely stopped her, and Zhuang Ruman had other plans, which prevented her from succeeding.”

“But now that Zhuang Qinghe is free again and probably lacking adult guidance, I can’t predict what she would do..”