The village was poor, and fertile land could be cultivated by manpower; no one was willing to spend money to buy cattle.

Many children in the village are over ten years old and have never been to the prefectural city. They rarely leave the village, so seeing a cow is a great surprise to them.

The adults were alright, they just looked at the cow with envy.

With oxen, everything is better: plowing fields, carrying grain, transporting people...

"It's Uncle Fan, he's brought back grain?" someone with sharp eyes in the crowd exclaimed.

Zhang the Bald's face immediately changed, becoming extremely ugly.

Wasn't it said that Fan Jin was penniless and just wanted to trick them into giving him food?

How come the grain was actually brought back?

Did he really want to help the villagers?

When Fan Damu saw that Fan Jin had brought back grain, he was not angry but happy.

Fan Jin's ability to transport the grain back proves that the business was genuine!

The nobles in the prefectural city like to eat water chestnuts. If he can seize this business, then this money-making business will become his.

He was secretly pleased and gestured to Fan Qian in the crowd.

Fan Qian was also very tempted. A whole cartload of rice, that must be four or five hundred catties, right?

Even if he skimps on the profits from some parts, it'll be enough to feed the whole family... If he can close this deal, good days are his forever...

Wang Mazi was startled. He looked at the bulging sacks piled on the oxcart, and then weighed the few kilograms of water chestnuts he was carrying. He immediately wanted to return them.

His sons and daughters-in-law were ashen-faced, wanting to leave but also wanting to stay and see if it was really rice.

"Hey, Shui Qing, why are you all so neatly dressed?" Fan Jin pretended to be completely clueless and bewildered.

Immediately, someone enthusiastically explained the situation, without Shui Qing needing to say anything, clearly stating the cause and effect and who was ungrateful.

Fan Jin let out a long breath and said with ease, "It's alright. Perhaps they have plenty of food at home and it's normal that they don't want to exchange it."

Wang Mazi, carrying water chestnuts, his old face beaming with smiles, bowed and stepped forward to discuss the matter with Fan Jin. Fan Jin then cupped his hands in greeting and said to the old village chief, "Old village chief, this is five hundred catties of rice. How about you oversee its distribution?"

The sacks had been unloaded from the oxcart by the men who had followed, and the ropes on them had been untied, revealing the white and glistening rice inside.

Wow, it really is rice!

"This rice looks so good, and it's been husked so cleanly."

"Absolutely genuine, Fan Jin, you're a true friend and a very honest person."

The Wang family and the Zhang family watched enviously as others gathered around, touching the rice and the oxcart.

Children lined up to be lifted onto the backs of cows by adults, all beaming with joy.

They felt a deep bitterness in their hearts, the thought of losing the rice they had almost received was as painful as if it were taking their lives.

Zhang Chunhua watched as her cousin Zhang Xiaocao rushed home to get sacks to pack the grain, and a wave of bitterness welled up inside her.

She was clearly better off than Zhang Xiaocao before, but now Zhang Xiaocao suddenly got dozens of kilograms of rice, while her family has nothing.

Some are happy while others are sad, but the happy families have no time to care about those who are sad.

They went home and called for help, some fetched things to pack rice, and others efficiently started assigning tasks to their families—if they had used the time they spent watching the excitement to work, they could have already exchanged it for many more kilograms of rice!

That's rice, clean, white rice.

You can exchange it for things at the market, and you can eat the most nutritious rice!

Instantly, the open space in front of Shuiqing's house became as lively as a market, and the crowd was even more joyful than during the autumn harvest.

"Old village chief, I remember the water chestnuts you gave me earlier. I'll give you your share first."