They immediately ran to the entrance of Medicinal Food Hall and knelt there, begging to see Zhao Qingya.
Then, without waiting for Zhao Qingya to come out, they repeated the debacle in Locust Tree Gully over and over again.
They even claimed, "She probably took our young daughter in revenge when she left" and so on...
Zhao Qingya’s reputation was ruined instantly.
Even without the accusation of "stealing" children, the tale of a wealthy young lady being abducted to a poor village elicited much pity, sympathy, and... utter contempt.
It was Zhao Sulan who paid the Qian family to do her bidding.
She thought this would shame Zhao Qingya into leaving.
Little did she know, Han Zheng immediately reported the case, leading to the arrest of the Qian family members by the police station, and he personally defended Zhao Qingya outside the Medicinal Food Hall, "Their case involves a serious human trafficking incident. We will support the state in conducting a comprehensive investigation, ensuring that the culprits are punished. I hope everyone will maintain a proper attitude, refrain from mocking the unfortunate victim, and not disturb her or drive her to despair."
Han Zheng’s words silenced many people.
And even more were morally hijacked: They didn’t want to be called fools for laughing at a victim.
Zhao Qingya’s crisis was thus averted.
Although many people still despised her inwardly, they were very friendly to her on the surface, full of sympathy.
Zhao Sulan’s plan had failed, and it left her extremely distressed.
Lin Fangwei, who had been keeping a close eye on Shen Ci and Meng Chuyue among others, finally noticed Zhao Sulan.
Seeing that Zhao Sulan was even more foolish than before, she was speechless and looked to the heavens.
However, the thought of using her brightened her mood.
She secretly had someone perform a play in front of Zhao Sulan, educating her: Wanting someone’s forgiveness, simply waiting and looking for opportunities is not wise – you must continuously show goodwill by giving her gifts, moving her, and only then will she gradually accept you.
Zhao Sulan felt as if she had an epiphany and immediately began to scheme.
Moreover, she planned double the gifts – now Zhao Xiaoxin had become significant, and she had to take her into account too.
Zhao Sulan did not have much money on hand and couldn’t afford to buy gifts directly.
The cheap ones wouldn’t catch the eyes of Meng Chuyue and Zhao Xiaoxin.
The expensive ones, she couldn’t afford for long.
She thought about sending them meals, but Meng Chuyue excelled in cooking and had opened Medicinal Food Hall, so this wasn’t a good idea.
After much thought, she decided to knit sweaters and hats for Meng Chuyue and Zhao Xiaoxin or make desserts.
Not being skilled in these, she had to learn.
Lin Fangwei heard this and was almost infuriated to death: Could Meng Chuyue and Zhao Xiaoxin possibly care for these?
But it was a fact that Zhao Sulan had no money for gifts.
She would be willing to contribute some money if she had it, but... she didn’t want to reveal her identity.
After much deliberation, she had someone devise a scheme, hiding money and jewelry in the sofa of Zhao Sulan’s rental apartment, then the next day, she had two people stand below Zhao Sulan’s apartment window and "spread the news," "Hey, I’m telling you, I heard big news the day before yesterday, someone picked up an old sofa and while they were cleaning it, they found a big bundle of money and jewelry inside – they got rich just like that."
"Really? I should hurry home and check, our family’s sofa was left by my in-laws, who knows, there might be something good inside."
"I don’t have one at home, but my parents’ home does, I’ll go and check later."
She couldn’t help but cast her gaze towards the somewhat old double-seater sofa inside the rental, and then, full of expectation, she walked over, tipped over the sofa, and checked.
At this check, she was almost overwhelmed with excitement: There really was a small bundle inside.
Although not certain if it contained money and jewelry, it was definitely something important.
Zhao Sulan pulled out the small bundle, opened it, and looking inside, she saw over a hundred thousand yuan in cash and a lot of gold, silver, and jewels, leaving her astonished.