Jiang Ling said to everyone, "This is coarse salt. A while ago, I met a foreign businessman in Yecheng. He said that this stuff can melt snow quickly. I was worried that it would snow heavily here in winter, so I bought some. I never thought it would come in handy today!"

"Just sprinkle this evenly on the snow, but be careful. Although this is called coarse salt, it's completely different from the salt we use for cooking. Don't secretly take it back to cook, or I won't be responsible if you get poisoned!" Jiang Ling warned everyone.

Most people were quite obedient, taking snow-shoveling tools and carefully placing the de-icing agent into the snow. Only Old Lady Lu and Lu Youren curled their lips in disapproval.

"Tsk, this little hussy really has too much money to burn lately, she's so extravagant as to use salt to melt snow?" Old Mrs. Lu, who was mixed in with the crowd, muttered to her son while taking a handful of coarse salt into her pocket when Jiang Ling wasn't looking.

"Yes, yes, this salt is a bit too much, but if we take it back and grind it with a millstone, it will be enough for our whole family!" Lu Youren imitated his mother and secretly grabbed several handfuls of salt and put them in his pocket.

While the mother and son pretended to melt the snow, they secretly stuffed salt into their pockets, completely ignoring Jiang Ling's words.

With the help of the de-icing agent, the surrounding snow melted quickly, and in no time most of the snow had been cleared away. Jiang Ling and the village chief glanced at the snow wall blocking the village entrance, and then at the little de-icing agent left.

Jiang Ling hesitated for a moment and said, "Village Chief, I don't think it will snow again anytime soon. Everyone is tired from work today, so why don't we continue tomorrow?"

The village chief was also a little tired at this moment. After all, it was a bit cumbersome to work while wearing thick winter clothes, but he was the village chief of Lujia Village after all, so how could he complain about being tired? He could only silently endure it.

Upon hearing Jiang Ling's suggestion, he quickly nodded in agreement, saying, "Yes, everyone must be exhausted. The snow should be cleared by the day after tomorrow at the latest!"

Jiang Ling nodded and said to everyone, "Everyone, stop what you're doing for a bit. Everyone's tired today, so let's stop here for now! Go back and rest for a while, and come to my house in half an hour. I've prepared some dumplings for everyone as a treat!"

Jiang Ling's words immediately drew cheers from the crowd. Several people who were tired from working and wanted to complain were instantly relieved after hearing Jiang Ling's words. They all gratefully urged Jiang Ling on. Only Old Lady Lu and Lu Youren in the crowd were left out.

Upon hearing that they no longer needed to work, the two men quickly and carefully carried their tools away from the crowd. Although they were interested in the dumplings, their guilty consciences forced them to sneak away.

As soon as they got home, Lu Youren and his wife took out all the coarse salt from their pockets. Widow Wang, who was at home taking care of the children, saw this and asked curiously, "Mother, husband, what is this?"

"Weren't we just shoveling snow? That little hussy Jiang really has too much money to burn. She actually made us throw this fine salt into the snow to melt it. I quickly filled some up when she wasn't looking. I can't bear to throw such rare and precious things into the snow!" Old Mrs. Lu complained as she looked at the mountain of coarse salt on the table.

Widow Wang frowned after hearing this. Ever since Jiang Ling saved her when she gave birth, she had felt a strange sense of guilt towards Jiang Ling. Now, hearing her mother-in-law say this, she couldn't help but feel a little depressed.

But since Lu Youren was still there, he couldn't say anything.

Old Mrs. Lu glanced at Widow Wang impatiently and said, "Hurry up and put the child down there, come with me to grind salt! It won't be good if the salt gets damp!"

Although Widow Wang wanted to refuse, seeing Lu Youren's displeased look, she could only sigh helplessly. She even regretted that she had probably been bewitched by Lu Youren, or that she was blind enough to see this guy.

She took a deep breath and walked up to Old Lady Lu, starting to push the nearly 100-pound millstone, while Old Lady Lu carefully placed coarse salt on it.

Before long, the coarse salt turned into fine, white salt. Old Mrs. Lu carefully took out several bags from the house and placed the fine salt into the bags as if counting her treasures.

"Hmm, not bad, we can sell this extra bag in town!" Old Mrs. Lu said smugly.

“Mother…selling smuggled salt is illegal! If the magistrate finds out, you’ll be in jail!” Widow Wang hurriedly reminded Old Lady Lu when she heard her mutterings.

This reminder clearly displeased Old Lady Lu. She rolled her eyes at Widow Wang and angrily retorted, "So you're the one who opened your mouth! If word gets out and I find out about this, I'll cut your tongue out!"

After saying that, he glared fiercely at Widow Wang.

Widow Wang felt wronged, but she knew that Lu Youren would never stand by her side, so she could only swallow her anger and return to her room with a dark face to continue taking care of her child.

After carefully storing the salt, Old Lady Lu glanced around to make sure no one was watching, then coughed lightly at Lu Youren and said, "Let's go, let's go to that little harlot's house to get some dumplings!"

The dumplings were obviously frozen ones bought from the mall; they all look and taste pretty much the same, so these people wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

Jiang Ling distributed the dumplings according to the number of people, giving each person ten dumplings. Although ten dumplings were not enough to fill everyone's stomachs, the sentiment behind them was that it was a small gift, and everyone would at least express their gratitude to Jiang Ling.

After putting a dumpling into Old Lady Lu's bag, she clicked her tongue and said sarcastically, "Is this all you're giving me? Are you trying to fetch a beggar?"

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