Then they quoted a price of one and a half jin of rice for one jin of chicken head rice, which was a full jin less rice than Fan Jin's. How could a businessperson not be tempted by such high profits?
Even a fool would know how to choose!
Then they can trade coarse grains and brown rice with the villagers for water chestnuts. They won't need to earn money from Fan Jin; they can earn the silver themselves...
Li Changlin registered each person one by one at the table and chairs.
Zhang the Bald man had few family members, and his children were also young, weighing only four jin each.
Fan Damu delivered a large amount yesterday at noon, a full five jin, but he held back in the afternoon and only delivered one jin, so the total was six jin;
Wang Mazi's family has a lot more, mainly because he is old and has several sons. Each of them has paid, but now he is holding back all of them to register and return.
The eldest and second eldest sons changed their minds and refused to return the money, but the third eldest son was persuaded by Wang Mazi and insisted on returning.
Wang Laosan didn't have the same authority as Wang Mazi at home, mainly because his family had split up. Only his children who lived with him listened to him and had to leave; his son and daughter-in-law, who lived separately, didn't listen at all.
Finally, Li Changlin stood up, took the written paper, and handed it to his grandfather.
The old village chief glanced at the paper, his wise eyes meeting the names of the people on it one by one, and said, "This time, we've withdrawn. We can't make a fuss about this again."
"Don't worry, I absolutely won't cause any trouble!"
"As long as we get a refund, that's fine. We're not unreasonable people, why would we make a fuss?"
"Don't worry, old village chief. As long as you can get them to return my things, I won't cause any trouble. If anyone does, I'll yell at them!"
...
The old village chief grunted in agreement, then turned and whispered to Changlin, "Have your mother bring the water chestnuts we peeled today and follow along."
The Fan family might need it later.
Li Changlin instantly understood what his grandfather meant.
Grandpa was worried that since Uncle Fan hadn't returned yet, these people would rob Uncle Fan's rice, so he decided to return the chicken head rice.
Considering that Uncle Fan's family didn't have any chicken head rice to return, but his own family did, he brought his own as well.
He looked up and replied in a low voice, "Understood."
The grandfather and grandson smiled at each other.
·
The old village chief led the crowd toward the Fan family's house on the high ground at the edge of the village.
The houses in Shanshui Village are close together, one after another, quite compact. Instead of building a small house next to the brick house in front of Fan Jin's house, Fan Jin's family chose another place to build their house.
It's a large place, but it's inconvenient to get around.
Few families actually asked for their items back, but quite a few people followed the old village chief – during the off-season, everyone had nothing to do and just wanted to join in the fun.
After the group climbed up the slope, they saw only a few scattered dots in the far distance on the wide open ground.
Fan Damu, being quick on his feet, ran to the thatched hut first. Seeing the locked wooden door, he shouted to the crowd, "Nobody's here!"
The house is locked!
Wang Mazi immediately perked up, shouting that it was fortunate he had the foresight.
Pointing at his sons and daughters-in-law, he lectured them: "Your father has eaten more salt than you've eaten rice, so listen to me, you won't go wrong!"
He then looked smugly at his elder brother's and his second brother's families and sneered, "You don't listen to me, do you? Would your own brothers harm you?"
Now it's all over. The person's gone, and I have no idea when I'll get my things back. It's no use regretting it now; it's not my fault anyway.
Other onlookers curled their lip; although they were also worried about losing their own things, they looked down on Wang Mazi's behavior.
Those in the know would understand it's just a few pounds of grain, but those who don't might mistake it for gold, silver, or precious jewels!
Zhang the Bald's eldest daughter ran to the vegetable garden, pointed at Yan Qiuxing, and yelled, "Where are your parents?"
"Make them come out and give us back what they took from our house!"
It's all her cousin Zhang Xiaocao's fault. She was stupid enough to fall for the scam, and she caused her whole family to suffer losses as well.
That's several kilograms of water caltrop seeds. After drying them, grinding them into powder, and making them into a vegetable paste, it can last for several meals.
Yan Qiu slowly stood up and said in a clear and bright voice to the crowd that followed her, "My parents will be back soon. Please wait a moment, everyone."
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