Before they could speak, Cheng Yue looked at Granny Sun and Granny Cao and said, "Since it's compensation, naturally whoever lost out should compensate whom, right?"
Here's what we'll do: if the medicinal herbs can't be sold for money, I'll compensate you with sixty coins, which will be considered as two days' wages.
"If medicinal herbs can be sold for money, then you're slandering me, and you should compensate me with silver. This charge could be serious or minor; a tael or two wouldn't be too much, would it?"
Granny Sun and Granny Cao were both stunned. "Are you robbing me? One tael of silver, why should I pay you one tael in compensation?"
What do you mean by giving them sixty coins? It sounds like you're setting a trap for them.
Seeing that the two were getting caught up in the situation, Chen An kindly reminded them, "Slander is a crime. Chen Gen was flogged for slandering us back then..."
Cheng Yue chimed in tacitly, "You're all so old, a few strokes of the cane and it's hard to say what might happen!"
The two of them felt a chill run down their spines, a bad premonition creeping in. "Then we won't ask for compensation, okay!"
Aunt Li spat, "Shameless! You think you can just refuse to pay? Who do you think you are, that everyone listens to you?"
Aunt Zhou chimed in, "You keep saying they're swindlers and you came to their door demanding compensation, but you can't say their claims are false? Did they actually ask you for compensation?"
Granny Sun was caught in a dilemma; she couldn't refuse either. Gritting her teeth, she said, "I'll pay! Who will pay whom is still uncertain!"
A tael of silver is better than a beating. Chen Gen is young and strong, and a few strokes of the cane will leave his buttocks bruised and battered. But for old bones like theirs, they'd be ready to die!
Besides, Chen Ping was so confident that she couldn't lose, and she didn't believe that Zhao would dare to lie to her, since they lived in the same village.
Moreover, seeing Cheng Yue's evasive and uncertain manner, he felt even more confident.
With that thought, all the previous sense of insecurity vanished from my mind. Sixty coins wasn't much, but it was enough to buy a few pounds of meat!
Granny Cao nodded slightly in agreement. Even if she had to compensate Cheng Yue, she couldn't afford it, but Li Tieniu and the others had money!
If Li Tieniu doesn't give her money, she'll go ask Granny Sun for it; after all, she's the one who instigated her!
No matter how you look at it, she's not at a disadvantage; she might even get sixty coins for free!
Seeing that the matter was settled, the village head immediately said, "No one can go back on their word! Alright, everyone go home! Get back to what you were doing!"
If he hadn't made this fuss, he truly wouldn't have known there were so many people in the village who couldn't distinguish right from wrong.
They can't see for themselves what kind of people Cheng Yue and Chen An are, yet they listen to what others say. They'll eventually find out what they've lost!
Those who had been noted down by Chen Tong wanted to say something, but when they opened their mouths, they couldn't utter a word and could only go down the mountain in silence.
I never realized Cheng Yue and Chen An were such petty people. Why make such a big deal out of such a small thing? If we don't want to associate with them, then we don't have to!
Like victorious old hens, Granny Sun and Granny Cao, chins held high and huffing, followed them down the mountain.
Cheng Yue scoffed; she truly envied their confidence.
As soon as they left, Madam Feng stepped forward first: "Cheng Yue, don't pay them any mind! We all believe you!"
"Yes! A bunch of blind and ignorant fools, don't pay them any attention! We can see for ourselves, we know who you are, we trust you!"
Cheng Yue was moved, "Thank you, uncles, aunts, and grandmas! Don't worry, I definitely won't let you suffer any losses!"
She doesn't care about those who don't believe in her, but she'll make sure everyone who believes in her makes money!
Upon hearing this, everyone joked, "We old women haven't lived in vain; we're good at judging people. We knew you wouldn't let us suffer! Haha!"
Cheng Yue laughed along, "You guys have such good taste!"
"That's right!"
The village head was greatly pleased. "Alright, don't linger here any longer, go up the mountain! Gather as many medicinal herbs as possible these next few days, and we'll make more money selling them later!"
Then we'll have some opportunists in the village see who's so blind as to throw away their perfectly good jobs!
"Let's go! Let's go gather herbs! It's good that they're not gathering any, we'll gather more!"
"Exactly! Let them sit there and wait! We'll see if they regret it when we get the money!"
"It's no use regretting it now! Cheng Yue has already said she won't accept him anymore!"
A large group of people came and went in a large group, without any doubt that Cheng Yue would lie to them.
They've made money in business, built big houses, and are living a prosperous life. Why would they need to lie to them? What could they possibly lie to them about?
Anyone with a modicum of common sense can figure this out, yet you still blindly follow along. You deserve to be poor and unable to make money!
In the following days, most people in the village were just going back and forth between their homes and the mountain, and they were no longer in the mood to gather at the village entrance to gossip.
When there's money to be made, who has the leisure for that?
Only Zhao, Granny Sun, and Granny Cao would make sarcastic remarks whenever they saw someone picking medicinal herbs, saying, "A bunch of fools, actually believing these are medicinal herbs? We've lived in this village for generations, and nobody here knows these are medicinal herbs, but Cheng Yue does?"
"It's hilarious! You're all so busy, treating weeds like treasures! You guys who work from dawn till dusk should go to the fields instead! At least you won't end up with nothing!"
If they had said that in the past, everyone would have started arguing, but right now everyone was busy gathering herbs and no one bothered to pay attention to them.
The herbs had already been dried quite a bit. When they asked Cheng Yue, she said she would sell them in the next couple of days and the money would be in her hands soon. Who would have the mind to argue with a bunch of fools?
They wanted to see them make a fool of themselves, but they wanted to see who was really making a fool of themselves!
...
Cheng Yue was equally busy, spending half the day making pastries and the other half gathering herbs in the mountains.
The house was being built in an orderly manner. Because there were many people working, things were done quickly, and the walls were already more than a meter high.
At this rate, it should be completed in about a month.
Of course, even if the main structure of the house can be built, it will still take a lot of time to install the doors, windows, and floors.
After lunch that day, Cheng Yue discussed with Chen An, "The house has a lot of doors and windows, so it will take a lot of time to make. We have the dimensions, so we should be able to place an order now, right?"
According to her, when it comes to home renovation, it's all about coordinating the timeline. You can't wait until one step is finished before thinking about the next. You should do things in advance if possible, otherwise it will take a long time to resolve.
It's like steaming buns; you can't just wait for the buns to be cooked before you start cooking the dishes. Clearly, the two things can be done at the same time.
Chen An nodded, "Okay, I was also thinking of telling you about this. You can tell me now. Let's collect the medicinal herbs today and go tomorrow."
Cheng Yue has been so busy lately that he eats and leaves immediately, then lies down and sleeps. He's been keeping an eye on the house situation, thinking he'll deal with it on the day he collects the medicinal herbs.
"Alright, how about we ask carpenter Hu to come again this time?"
Hu the carpenter was the one who made the gift boxes for them. He was meticulous, honest, and most importantly, had excellent craftsmanship and could deliver on time. He was reliable.
Chen An agreed, laughing, "We're thinking the same thing."
After the two discussed it, Chen An immediately went to inform everyone. When they heard that it was finally time to collect medicinal herbs, they all excitedly carried their herbs and ran up the mountain.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com