Chapter 140 Introduction Fee

Seeing that he remained silent, Liu Zhixia spread her hands and said loudly to the villagers, "Everyone, making money is a good thing, but you have to keep your eyes open. Otherwise, you won't make any money and you'll be accused of speculation and profiteering, which would be a real injustice. Although the law doesn't punish everyone, someone has to step up and take the blame, right? Who wants to send that person to jail?"

These words instantly dampened the previously agitated crowd, as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over them.

The scene of Lu Jianping leading his men to search the Liu family a few days ago was still fresh in everyone's mind, and no one wanted this to happen to them.

"Captain, I've thought about it. This year's harvest is good, and we don't need to worry about the money. I won't get involved."

"My family is the same; we have elderly parents to care for and young children to raise, so we don't want to take that risk."

"I've also withdrawn..."

One by one, the villagers backed out.

Lu Jianping originally intended to drag the whole village into this mess to force the Liu family to submit, but he was instead used by Liu Zhixia, who not only stabbed him in the back but also tried to steal money from his pocket.

He pointed at Liu Zhixia angrily: "You... Liu Zhixia, you're really something! Now you're as cunning as a capitalist!"

Liu Zhixia looked completely innocent: "Captain, the capitalist is in your house! I'm leading the villagers to get rich together, so everyone can make money. This is for the benefit of the people!"

Liu Xiangyang added with a laugh, "Captain, everyone knows perfectly well who the capitalists are. Aren't you just trying to use us as farmhands and tools for your Lu family to make money?"

Liu Zhixia pressed her advantage: "Captain, you must have messed up the business at the state-owned factory, and you don't dare to back down, so you're trying to drag the villagers down with you, right? How about we make a deal? I'll help you get through this crisis, but everything has to be done my way."

Lu Jianping knew he had failed again.

If they turned down the state-owned factory's order, they would not only lose the benefits but also offend people. Right now, they had no choice but to agree to Liu Zhixia's request.

He sighed deeply, like a defeated rooster: "What do you want?"

Liu Zhixia blinked: "Leave this job to us. My mother and I must personally control the formula; everyone else can only assist. As for your cronies who want to steal our secrets, don't even think about it!"

Lu Jianping gritted his teeth and could only nod helplessly in the end.

Liu Zhixia immediately arranged for Liu Xiangyang to take several trusted confidants and escort Gu Mansheng to the state-owned factory.

In the afternoon, Liu Xiangyang returned with a beaming smile, clutching a wad of banknotes in his hand.

"This is the deposit that the state-owned factory has given us again! Tomorrow we'll go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy vegetables and equipment, and then we'll get to work! Anyone who wants to join, sign up! We'll pay by work points, the more you work, the more you earn!"

Upon hearing this, the villagers rushed over.

Lu Jianping and Gu Mansheng stood not far away, watching this scene with longing, their hearts filled with bitterness.

Gu Mansheng said in a tearful voice, "They made me return all the deposits, and I even had to pay a lot of penalty fees! Father, how are we going to settle this?"

Lu Jianping's eyes darted around, pretending not to hear, and shouted to the crowd, "Line up! Don't push!" After saying that, he slipped away.

Gu Mansheng stomped her feet in anger, knowing she couldn't get the money back.

She glared fiercely at Lu Xiaohui; it was all that bitch's fault!

She was cursing when she suddenly froze.

Why are Lu Xiaohui and Liu Zhixia so close together?

She quickly went over and just then heard Lu Xiaohui excitedly say, "Xia, shall I join you and Aunt Zhang?"

"Okay, you'll be on duty then. But let me make this clear upfront: no job is inherently superior or inferior. Even though it's a core role, your work points will be calculated the same as everyone else's."

Lu Xiaohui patted her chest and assured her, "Understood! We'll all make money together!"

After Liu Zhixia and her daughter had walked away, Gu Mansheng grabbed Lu Xiaohui: "What's going on? Why would Liu Zhixia let you work as her assistant?"

Lu Xiaohui winked smugly: "I saved her nephew, that's a life-saving favor, so it's not too much to ask for a good job, is it?"

Gu Mansheng was overjoyed: "Great! This is the perfect opportunity to steal the formula! Be smart, if we steal the real formula this time, we can work alone next time!"

Lu Xiaohui flung her hand away and snorted coldly, "Dream on! How can you just steal such an important formula? I'm telling you, you shameless capitalist girl, you want to possess everything good you see? If you really want it, then buy it!"

After saying that, Lu Xiaohui hummed a little tune and walked away without looking back.

Gu Mansheng stared wide-eyed at her retreating figure in disbelief.

Has this brat taken the wrong medicine? Why the sudden change of heart?

Something's not right! There's definitely something fishy going on here!

The pickled vegetable business is thriving.

With the concerted efforts of the entire village, all the pickled vegetables were made in just one day and sealed in the empty house of the brigade.

Liu Xiangyang arranged for dedicated personnel to take turns guarding the area, maintaining strict vigilance and ensuring that no one had the opportunity to cause trouble.

Once the pickling period was over, the whole village mobilized again, sorting, packing, and loading the goods onto trucks in a bustling atmosphere.

When Liu Xiangyang returned from the state-owned factory with a generous final payment, the whole village was in an uproar.

Liu Xuejun was in charge of verifying work points, while Xu Zhihong was in charge of distributing money; the two worked together seamlessly. The villagers lined up excitedly, clutching heavy banknotes in their hands, and constantly praising the Liu family.

Lu Jianping originally wanted to avoid Gu Mansheng's debt collection, but he ended up here and heard everyone praising the Liu family, which made him feel uneasy.

He clearly spearheaded this business deal, and even though he didn't do any work, it's still considered a political achievement for him!

But when all the money was distributed, he was left empty-handed, without even a sound.

Lu Jianping finally couldn't hold back any longer and rushed up to Liu Xiangyang, roaring, "Liu Xiangyang! I'm the one who introduced this business to you! Why don't I get a single penny?"

Liu Xiangyang looked completely innocent: "Captain, we agreed beforehand that we would distribute work points according to our work. You didn't come to work, so where did you get work points? Where did you get the money?"

"These are orders brought in by my daughter-in-law!"

Liu Xiangyang slapped his forehead: "Oh! Right, right, there's also the referral fee!"

As he spoke, he took out a crumpled one-yuan note and solemnly stuffed it into Lu Jianping's hand.

Lu Jianping stared at the one yuan in his hand, his eyes almost popping out of their sockets.

"One yuan?! You...you're trying to give me a beggar's money?"

Liu Xiangyang didn't say anything, but the villagers around him were not happy about it.

"Captain, if you want money, you have to work! There's no such thing as a free lunch!"

"That's right! This job is all ours, not your Lu family's. Here's a dollar as a token of our appreciation!"

"Luckily we didn't listen to him back then, otherwise we would still be his long-term laborers! It's still more reliable to follow the Liu family!"

"That's right! The Lu family has really become capitalists now, all they want to do is suck blood without doing any work!"

Hearing the sarcastic remarks around him, Lu Jianping held the one yuan, his face turning a deep purplish-red, wishing he could disappear into the ground.