Chapter 464 The People Who Came to Help

The eldest daughter-in-law of the Chen family paid someone to farm the land.

The news spread like wildfire throughout Lotus Village.

Many people are discussing this.

"The seedlings the Chen family planted last time all died. They still dare to plant them? They really won't turn back until they hit a brick wall."

"Isn't this just hitting a brick wall? She probably wants to knock the wall down before she'll turn back."

"Tell me, how much money did she spend on this wasteland? Buying the land, hiring people to clear it and dig... it must have cost at least a hundred taels of silver, right?"

“The eldest daughter-in-law of the Chen family owns a restaurant. What is a hundred taels of silver to her? I think she just feels that the money she earns is too hot to handle, so she squanders it everywhere.”

"A hundred taels of silver! I'd probably spend ten years and still not earn a hundred taels of silver!"

"That's you! The Chen family is quite powerful now! Look at the eldest son of the Chen family, he's working in the county government now, so impressive! I saw him leading a group of people on patrol in the town not long ago, with a knife hanging on his waist!"

In ancient times, ordinary households did not have weapons; they only had tools for farm work and cooking utensils.

If someone gets a knife or sword, that's a big deal. You know, even the worst quality weapon is worth at least several dozen taels of silver!

Some villagers were jealous of the Chen family, some were envious, and some even wanted to curry favor with them.

I heard that the Chen family is looking for help, and they are torn between wanting to go and not wanting to go.

I don't want to go because I haven't finished my farming yet. If I go to help get those money and end up not finishing my farm work, it will be a loss!

The reason I want to go is simple: it's for the money!

Because of farming, those who had gone out to earn money have all returned home, leaving a shortage of funds.

If we could earn some money during this time to supplement our household income, that would be the best thing ever.

So these people came up with a plan: to call the slowest woman in the family to help with farm work, so that it wouldn't delay the farm work too much and they could still earn the money.

They thought themselves clever, but little did they know that this was exactly what Wan Qiqi wanted.

For example, why didn't she ask Sun Daxiong for help yesterday, but instead kept an eye on his wife?

Planting seedlings is delicate work that requires gentle handling; men, being strong, might damage the seedlings.

As the sun rose, several women stood on the Chen family's wasteland, craning their necks curiously to look at the pile of vegetable seedlings beside them, eager to try them out.

The seedlings themselves weren't appealing; what was appealing were the seedlings I'd never seen before. I heard they were bought from a foreign trade merchant, and I wondered what they would grow into.

Everyone is very curious about this.

Some women even thought that if they could secretly take a few plants home to plant, even if they didn't eat them, they could at least save seeds to plant next year!

Moreover, with the Chen family's planting experience, they know what the crops are, whether they are edible, and how to eat them.

It seems like a great deal no matter how you look at it!

Just as everyone was quietly plotting, the person who was plotting the most was suddenly struck on the back with a stick.

"Ouch! Who is it?! It hurts like hell!" The woman turned around, saw the old woman behind her, and said with a cold face, "Old lady, what are you doing here? Aren't you ashamed of being kicked out? And now you're causing trouble in this wasteland?"

Upon hearing this, Old Mrs. Chen raised her cane to strike again, but was stopped by a young woman beside her, who said, "Grandma Chen, be careful, don't fall!"

Old Mrs. Chen glanced at the person supporting her and said, "Big Bear's wife, you've just married into this family, there are some things you might not know. That Aunt Dazhuang is a wicked person! Stay away from her."

"Grandma Chen, I'm not happy to hear you say that! What do you mean I'm bad? Everyone in the village knows about the trouble you've caused in the Chen family. It's not certain who's bad!"

Aunt Dazhuang snorted coldly, rolled her eyes at Old Mrs. Chen, and showed a disdainful expression.

Wan Qiqi watched from afar and couldn't help but shake her head.

These two are equally bad; where do they get the courage to criticize each other?

Chen Yongxing stood beside her and said, "Sister-in-law, including the people Grandma brought, there are more than ten people, more than we expected. How do we calculate their wages?"

Wan Qiqi really didn't expect that Old Madam Chen would actually bring people here. Judging from the situation, even if she didn't do anything herself, she would at least be here to keep an eye on things and prevent anyone from causing trouble.

That's good, it saves her some trouble and avoids wasting her breath arguing with those troublemakers.

"It's alright, I never said I'd pay wages on a daily basis." Wan Qiqi smiled and walked into the noisy crowd, saying, "If you're here to argue, please leave. We're busy here, don't get in the way of your argument."

As soon as she finished speaking, Aunt Dazhuang stopped, looking displeased.

Grandma Chen walked over to Wan Qiqi with her cane and said with a smile, "Qiqi, look, these are the people your grandma invited for you. They are all good at growing vegetables in the village. They will definitely take good care of you!"

Wan Qiqi glanced at the people that Old Madam Chen had called over. They looked to be around the same age as Wang Zhi, and were all of the auntie generation.

The person looks familiar, but I can't recall their name; we haven't had any interaction before.

She smiled faintly at the group and called out, "Aunties and aunties, thank you for your trouble today. I'm sorry to have delayed your farming time. I will calculate the time for you, just like I would for everyone else."

These people had been summoned by the old lady in the name of her elders. When they heard that they would be paid, they were overjoyed and quickly thanked Wan Qiqi, telling her not to be so polite.

Grandma Chen was displeased and quickly pulled her granddaughter-in-law aside, whispering, "Qiqi, these people don't need to be paid. Don't waste the money here. Keep it for your daily life!"

Wan Qiqi understood what Grandma Chen meant. She turned to look at the older women and said in a neither too loud nor too soft tone, "Grandma, they've all come to help. I need to treat them all equally. Otherwise, if people start talking about it, who will be willing to help?"

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