Meng Zhao coldly observed the man's smug expression and could roughly guess his inner thoughts. He thought he knew some inside information and could get a share of the profits. He would never wake up until he actually hit a wall. Meng Zhao didn't even bother to talk to him and simply turned his head away.

Turning to the villagers present, he said, "Fellow villagers, I, Meng Zhao, am a businessman. I don't care about the grudges from before. Between us, it's a buy-sell-buy relationship. I buy potatoes for five copper coins for four catties. Even if you take them to the county, the price will be the same at most. I won't beat around the bush with you. Today, I'll ask you one more time: are you still going to sell these potatoes from our village to me?"

Li Heidou pointed to the two families who had initially agreed to sell potatoes, "You two, we agreed to sell them before. I only came to pick them up because I saw that you were older. Otherwise, with so little stuff, it wouldn't be worth us making a special trip."

The two elderly people who were named lowered their heads instinctively, knowing that they were in the wrong.

Several hot-blooded young villagers nearby couldn't stand it and retorted, "It was just something he said casually. There's no contract, and you haven't paid any money. Why should we sell it to you?"

"That's right, that's right. It's our own stuff, we can sell it to whomever we want, what's it to you?"

Meng Zhao raised an eyebrow slightly and said calmly, "Who says only written agreements count as contracts? Verbal agreements are also a type of contract. Keeping your word is a principle even a three-year-old knows. Does no one in your village know that?"

Before anyone could object, Meng Zhao continued, "How about this, you don't have to sell the goods, but my three workers can't have come all this way for nothing. Also, you have to pay for the mule's fodder. I won't charge you any more; each of you just need to give me fifty coins."

Upon hearing that they had to pay, the two men immediately objected, "Why should we pay? We're not selling you anything. This is bullying!"

“You violated the contract first, and then you injured my worker. It is only right that you pay for his lost wages, Officer Zhang, don’t you agree?”

Zhang, the constable who had been standing to the side, cleared his throat at the opportune moment and echoed, "That's right. A verbal agreement is also a contract. You have violated the agreement and caused losses to Madam Meng. You either sell these potatoes to Madam Meng as agreed, or you pay Madam Meng's lost wages as compensation."

The two men were calculating in their minds. The workshop bought potatoes for five coins for four catties, while Liu Laisheng bought them for six coins for four catties. Each of their two households had about two hundred catties. Even if they sold to Liu Laisheng, they could only earn an extra fifty coins. If they had to pay for the lost work time, wouldn't all their work have been for nothing?

But the constable Zhang seemed to be on Meng Zhao's side, so they had no choice but to reluctantly hand over fifty coins to Meng Zhao. Those fifty coins could have fed their family for several days. It was truly a tragedy. They should have let them take the potatoes away.

Meng Zhao accepted the money, then looked up at the villagers watching. "Since your Shagang Village is unwilling to cooperate with our workshop, then it's settled. From now on, when we buy potatoes, we'll avoid your village, and the people in your village won't need to bring potatoes to the workshop to sell anymore."

After hearing what Meng Zhao said, those people were quite disdainful. "We're not selling! We're not selling! The price you're offering is so low, who would sell to you? Do you think we're stupid?"

"That's right, we sell to Laisheng for three coins for two catties, which allows us to make a lot more money."

Upon hearing this, Meng Zhao raised an eyebrow and noticed that Liu Laisheng's clothes were very worn. He then asked, "Our workshop pays directly. If you sell potatoes to him, are you sure you'll get paid?"

Liu Laisheng seemed to have been hit where it hurt, and angrily pointed at Meng Zhao, "What do you mean? I'm from Shagang Village. Do you think I would lie to my own fellow villagers?"

"That's right, Laisheng is from our village, how could he possibly fool us?"

Another person stepped forward and said, "I'm not going to buy the hundred pounds of potatoes I sold to you before. Please give them back to me."

Meng Zhao snorted coldly, "The money and goods are settled, there's no question of refunds."

Seeing that those people were about to say something, Constable Zhang strode forward and said, "I'm standing right here. Do you still want to cause trouble?"

Looking at the indignant villagers, Meng Zhao sighed, feeling that he had done everything he could, so he said no more and turned to leave.

After Meng Zhao left, the villagers swarmed around Liu Laisheng, their faces beaming with smiles, saying, "Laisheng, you can't go back on your word about the three copper coins for two catties."

Liu Laisheng raised an eyebrow, his face showing a hint of arrogance. "What are you saying? Don't you trust me?"

The villagers were all hoping to make more money by selling potatoes through Liu Laisheng, so they dared not say anything and could only try their best to flatter him.

On the way back, Meng Zhao asked Gu Changwu to see Zhang Butou off, and then handed the hundred coins he had received to Gu Yun, saying, "Use this money to buy a few pounds of meat and distribute it to those injured workers. They made a wasted trip today and were even beaten. We can't let the workers' spirits be dampened."

Meng Zhao paused for a moment, then continued, "After you go back, check the workshop workers and see who has any dealings with Liu Laisheng."

Seeing Liu Laisheng's smug look, Meng Zhao guessed that he not only knew about starch, but probably also knew how to make it, otherwise he wouldn't be so confident.

Since he knew this, he must have some connection with the people in the workshop. Thinking of this, Meng Zhao frowned. She had been running a workshop in Shenjia Village for so long and had never encountered such a thing before. This workshop had only been open for a short time and she had already run into it.

The next evening, Gu Yun came over and told them what had happened. Sure enough, there was a worker who was related to Liu Changsheng. They also found out that Liu Laisheng had brought a lot of things to her house a few days ago, and many people in the village had seen it.

Meng Zhao immediately ordered Sister Yu Mei to kick the people out. This was the first time the workshop had dismissed a worker since it started operating.

After chasing the people away, Sister-in-law Yumei stood in the yard, hands on her hips, glaring at the workers below, and loudly reprimanded them:

"Most of you are from around here, so you should know how hard it is to find work. Now that you have this opportunity, you should seize it. Our master has always treated us well, paid well, and had few problems. You should have some conscience. If anyone spreads rumors about what happened in the workshop, it won't be as simple as just being fired. We'll send you straight to the authorities and make you regret it!"

Having learned this lesson, the others in the workshop remained quiet for quite some time, fearing that they might do something wrong and be kicked out.

Zhu Lihua, who was dismissed, was quite indignant and wanted to reason with Meng Zhao, but was rebuffed by Sister-in-law Yu Mei with a simple "You know what you're doing."

Zhu Lihua only remembered Liu Laisheng at this moment. After leaving the workshop, she went straight to Liu's house, shouting, "Liu Laisheng, Liu Laisheng, get out here!"