The Entire Family of Scoundrels

Qiu Qi stared at the old woman’s expression. Although he found her actions hard to describe, he also admired her. Being cruel to others was nothing; it was those who were cruel to themselves who were truly terrifying. Otherwise, why would there be the saying, “The timid starve, the bold feast”?

That said, the Zhong family was indeed a bunch of scoundrels. There was no other way; who told this entire family to be set up as wicked villains?

The Zhong family, spanning four generations, consisted of nine people, from old to young, all of whom could be said to have problems.

Not to mention the Old Madam’s perverse and difficult temperament, her talent for deception alone was enough to impress people. She clearly didn’t know a single character, yet her glib tongue was incredibly powerful, managing to deeply brainwash the old folks in the village, making them wholeheartedly revere her as a deity.

Even if the Old Madam’s lies were laid bare before their eyes, the old people in the village wouldn’t believe them. Instead, they would continue to secretly give her money, begging for the witch’s protective talismans. That deluded look was truly stubborn beyond belief, even more terrifying than the legendary pyramid schemes.

Fortunately, the Old Madam still knew her limits, only selling a few harmless talismans to these believers when she was short on money, tricking each person out of one or two copper coins. She didn’t do anything to harm others; otherwise, she would have long been unable to stay in the village.

Furthermore, the original owner’s parents were also talented individuals: one was a notorious lazybones, the other a renowned actress of the entire village.

As for his elder brother and sister-in-law, they were also two outstanding eccentric flowers. The several granddaughters, still in the process of forming their values, already showed signs of the second generation of scoundrels…

Even the original owner, seemingly harmless, also harbored inherent wickedness.

In short, the Zhong family truly lived up to its name as a family of extreme villains!

Qiu Qi, while reorganizing the family members’ structure, silently followed Zhong Lao Tai home. Having just arrived, he shouldn’t cause trouble to avoid the system’s security program detecting any abnormalities. For now, he had to play the original owner’s role well.

As soon as he stepped through the Zhong family’s door, Lao Zhong, who had been leisurely lying on a reclining chair eating peanuts, immediately sprang up and quickly ran to the Old Madam.

“Mother, how was the harvest today?”

Lao Zhong’s eyes shone brightly, clearly aware of the Old Madam’s scamming activities outside.

There was no other way; the Zhong family ancestors didn’t bless them. The only two sons in the family were both incompetent and useless. Apart from farming, the family’s biggest source of income relied on the Old Madam going out to perpetrate petty deceptions.

Looking at her son, whose eyes shone brightly and whose mouth still had peanut shells stuck to it, Zhong Lao Tai immediately couldn’t help but get angry. She raised her hand and slapped him hard:

“I must have had eight lifetimes of bad luck to give birth to such a useless thing as you! Who told you to eat peanuts? Those are for pressing oil, you prodigal son!”

What else was he if not useless? Lao Zhong was over forty, almost fifty, yet he had done nothing worthwhile apart from eating and sleeping.

But Lao Zhong was thick-skinned, and the Old Madam couldn’t bring herself to hit him too hard. This kind of painless, ineffective lecturing was basically useless; over forty years of life experience had long hardened Lao Zhong’s character.

Lao Zhong stroked his mustache: “Mother, wasn’t it just eating a few peanuts? Why are you angry? If you get angry and hurt yourself, I’ll be heartbroken. Besides, I also need to nourish my body well to have the strength to be filial to you…”

The Old Madam felt like spitting blood. Lao Zhong had started talking about filial piety since he was ten, and now her granddaughter had been born, and he still hadn’t fulfilled it.

Fortunately, she still had an excellent actress of a daughter-in-law to comfort her.

Zhong Da Niang promptly brought a bowl of water, her voice extremely gentle and concerned:

“Mother, don’t be angry with your son anymore. Drink some water and rest for a while; dinner is almost ready. I’ll go roast you a whole-grain corn cake; you like that the most, and I just ground fresh corn flour this afternoon, for you to nourish your body.”

Her voice was gentle, her words filial. After listening, the Old Madam felt comfortable and pleased, her eyes looking at her daughter-in-law with far more affection than at her son. Outsiders who didn’t know might even think this was her biological daughter, and her son was the son-in-law!

This was Zhong Da Niang’s powerful point.

Being from a servant background, she was very skilled at observing expressions and flattering. Relying on her superb acting skills, she, who was clearly just as lazy and gluttonous, managed to make the Old Madam love her like a biological daughter, leaving her son and grandsons to stand aside. The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law problem simply didn’t exist in the Zhong family, making countless daughters-in-law tormented by their mothers-in-law within ten li and eight villages green with envy.