There were about two hundred people, including adults and children, who cleared ten acres of mountain land in one morning.
Because of the long queue and the people following behind, there was no chance to slack off; one could only bury oneself in hard work.
In the afternoon, we started making mud bricks to build the courtyard wall.
While Tian Sangui was busy on the mountain, she was unaware that the villagers she had eliminated were now gathered at the gate of Zhang Gui's house.
Half of them had registered with Zhang's family the day before yesterday, but Zhang Gui ruined it all.
Now they're watching helplessly as others make money without getting a share; they have to get revenge on Zhang Gui.
Faced with villagers blocking the gate and a series of loud, urgent knocks.
Zhang Gui was so frightened that she hid behind the door of the main room and dared not make a sound.
Because villagers came to her door and made a scene, her brother and sister-in-law were unable to work in the fields and were forced to hide at home with Zhang Gui.
"Zhang Gui, come out here! Because of you, my family of ten or so people has lost a hundred or so coins. You have to pay for it!"
"Yes, pay up! Pay up! Pay up!"
The atmosphere outside the door was tense, and Zhang Gui never expected that Zhang Shi, that bitch, would actually do it for real.
It seems that Tian Laosi has really made it big. Does that mean she'll have a good life with him from now on?
Just thinking about the future, becoming Tian Lao Si's wife, surrounded by gold and silver treasures, with endless money to spend, and then marrying that damned Tian San Gui to that old cripple, oh my, just thinking about it makes me feel so happy.
Thinking he would beckon to her again on a better day, he mustered his courage and started arguing with the villagers outside the door.
"It's Tian Sangui who doesn't want you, what does that have to do with me? Instead of scolding her, you come to me for an explanation, ptooey, what kind of twisted logic is that!"
The mountain doesn't belong to her, and she doesn't need their help, as Zhang Gui said.
Why did they go looking for her? They just thought Tian Sangui was powerful and didn't dare offend him, so they ended up getting bullied by her.
Tian Sangui is Tian Sangui again. She vowed that the first thing she would do after entering Tian Laosi's house was to deal with Tian Sangui.
The village was bustling, but apart from those who hadn't gone up the mountain to work, almost no one was watching.
Most people gathered on the hilltop, where Tian Sangui led the trimming and pruning.
In the afternoon, Tian Laosi led the men to the foot of the mountain to dig up clay.
Mix the soil evenly on flat ground, then pour it into a wooden mold and compact it.
After a while, it will be taken down and become a large mud brick.
Everyone in the village knows how to build houses, and making mud bricks is their most basic skill.
Without needing any instructions from Tian Laosi, everyone took off their shirts and got to work.
Led by Zhang, the women helped the men collect clay to ensure they always had some mud to use.
Tian Sangui and the younger children would gather firewood on the mountain to boil water. Once the water had cooled down, they would send it to the adults working down the mountain to quench their thirst and cool them down.
While boiling water in the shed, Yun took advantage of Tian Sangui's absence to pour the raw water from the wooden bucket into a glass of cold boiled water on the table.
"Serves you right for being unfilial, giving money to outsiders. Drink up, drink up, it'll give you an upset stomach..."
Then, pretending nothing had happened, he returned to his chair and leaned back.
Tian Sangui habitually ignored the old man and Yun Shi, so naturally he didn't think about the water.
After it cooled down, let the children come in and each take two large cups. The last little child, Tian Sangui, was asked to carry a wooden bowl and follow them down the mountain to deliver water.
"Drink some water, cooled boiled water!"
Upon hearing this, everyone beamed with joy. Just moments ago, they had been thinking how wonderful it would be to have a big bowl of cool boiled water to drink.
The next moment, Tian Sangui and his children arrived. How considerate they were!
Men, women, and children who were working all put down their work and gathered around Tian Sangui to share a bowl to quench their thirst.
After that, everyone felt less tired when they worked. In one afternoon, they filled the mountain road with large mud bricks.
The mountain path is used by Tian Sangui's family, and no one usually goes this way.
It won't obstruct others if left on the road.
The sunset glow hangs over the distant mountaintops; it's time to end the day.
Although it wasn't dark yet, the light in the mountains was dim, making it unsuitable for doing anything.
While it was still light, Tian Sangui took out his money bag and distributed wages to everyone.
She sat at the table, her hands pointing to the ledger, distributing the items one by one according to the list.
The Tian family was the most anxious, thinking that since they were Tian Sangui's elders, they should be the ones to receive the money first.
Old Master Tian and Madam Yun, along with their eldest and second sons and their entire family, squeezed around Tian Sangui's table.
"San Gui, my legs aren't good, I can't stand for too long. We're all family, you send them to us first!"
Old Master Tian's words immediately aroused the dissatisfaction of the villagers.
"Why should we? Everyone's been busy all day. Just because you're a family doesn't mean you can cut in line!"
"That's right, there has to be a first-come, first-served order, if that's the case, I can send it in advance too."
"Yes, the Tian family can't break the rules either!"
Seeing the villagers arguing so fiercely, Yun became impatient and spoke up to stop them.
"My son is Tian Laosi, and I am his mother. What rules or regulations? To me, I am the rule!"
Yun's voice was loud and clear, echoing through the empty mountains and reaching everyone's ears.
"If you keep arguing, I'll have my son withhold your wages and see if he listens to you outsiders or to his own mother!"
After considering what Yun had to say, the villagers all chose to keep quiet.
She's their own mother, so they'll always side with her; that's a factor that outsiders can't compare to.
Besides, everyone works hard all day, and nobody wants their hard work to go to waste.
There's no need to argue with the unreasonable Yun family.
"Hey, let them pay the bill first, it's not a big deal for our party."
The villagers stepped back a few paces, giving the space in front to Old Tian's family.
The Yun family and Old Master Tian felt as if they had won a battle, radiating glory and immense pride.
Tian Sangui couldn't help but smile to himself as he watched.
Since everyone agreed, she had nothing more to say.
He took out his notebook and flipped through it; it listed a bunch of the Tian family members' actions.
While others were working, they went to urinate; while others were drinking water, they drank water.
In short, quite a few people came, but the amount of work done was less than one person's share.
Tian Sangui always felt he was losing out by paying them wages.
Out of consideration for their shared lineage, she reluctantly gave him ten coins.
He quickly calculated with the abacus and said, "The Tian family gets a total of ten coins!"
"What?"
"Ten coins?"
"Are you trying to fob me off like a beggar?"
Everyone exclaimed in surprise. The entire Tian family had come out, and they had agreed to give money per person, so how come they only received ten coins in the end?
Yun was the first to jump up: "Tian Sangui, are you being unreasonable? Others get ten coins each, but there are more than a dozen people in our Tian family. How can you give us only one person's share?"
"Then how should I give it to them?"
Tian Sangui rolled his eyes helplessly and asked Yun Shi.
Now that she had the opportunity, Yun Shi was not going to let it go. She narrowed her eyes and placed her hands on her waist.
His tone was quite indignant: "For the sake of being family, we won't ask for more. Your grandfather and I are old and are your elders. We came to help you in this hot weather, so we should each be given a hundred coins!"
"Whoa!"
I was just standing up for the Tian family, but now that I hear the Yun family asking for a hundred coins, and they don't even ask for more? Tch, they're just here to rob me.
Tian Sangui listened, speechless. These two old guys had been sitting from morning till night, and all they did was make the gesture of drinking water. In the meantime, they even ate all the apples that were meant for Xiao Si and Xiao Wu.
How dare they ask her for money? And a hundred coins at that?
Depend on!
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