Ouyang Meihua gave birth to another son, smiling so widely her teeth were all you could see. She no longer had to worry.
Li's mother was also happy; her family was prospering more and more.
Da Mai was the happiest. With two younger brothers, her father stood even straighter.
Li Liguo, upon hearing it was another son, joyfully tossed his eldest son into the air.
"You have a younger brother now."
Yan Yan, being tossed up and down by his father, desperately wanted to yell out that he already had two younger brothers. But his father was so happy, so he let it be. As long as his father was happy.
Having witnessed childbirth firsthand, Tian Jing was terrified.
It was too frightening. How could anyone give birth to three? Fortunately, she never let Zheng Ge be present during her deliveries.
...
The Xiao family had completely settled in.
Every day, they would stroll to the village entrance to check on the progress of the courtyard houses, chat with the workers, and empathize with their hardships.
The workers' attitude towards the Xiao family was good.
As the Xiao family bought things from villagers without haggling, paying whatever was asked, and spoke of the hardships of being farmers, the villagers' attitude towards them also began to change.
Village Chief Ou specifically approached Li Zhengguo and his wife. "What are the Xiao family trying to do? Are they trying to buy favor with money? When they leave, the villagers will surely miss them."
Tian Jing shook her head. "This is the most skilled tactic of capitalists. There's nothing I can do."
"It's your disobedient descendants, isn't it? They're truly difficult to manage. You should just give up on them."
"I've already given up on them."
Village Chief Ou was blunt. "Next year, don't sell them seedlings. Don't sell them any seedlings at all. Common prosperity is impossible. You and those few families should get rich first, and let them continue to envy you."
"Haha." Tian Jing gave a fake laugh. "You've finally seen the light?"
Village Chief Ou sighed. "I couldn't afford not to see it any longer. Town Head Ji sent a letter to me through a worker."
"He said that having you, Li Liguo, the Niu family, and the Wang family – these four families are enough."
"If prosperity is truly achieved in Kushan Mountain, then other villages will demand common prosperity too. He can't possibly manage those who are disobedient and deliberately drag others down."
"No wonder."
Tian Jing suddenly understood. "So that's why you suddenly came to your senses and stopped being the 'village father'? You were enlightened by Town Head Ji."
"Village father?"
Seeing that Village Chief Ou didn't understand what "village father" meant, Tian Jing explained.
"The father of the entire village."
"Heh heh." Village Chief Ou chuckled. "If I truly had so many unfilial sons, I'd die of shortness of breath."
"Alright, I'm leaving. I was just asking. I can't control the Xiao family either. I can't exactly refuse to let them stay, can I?"
Tian Jing didn't care how much trouble the Xiao family caused.
They had probably spent most of their money in the capital, their courtyard house had fallen, and now they had run to her to escape disaster.
Once the money arrived from the capital, these lords would hardly be willing to stay in a rural place where they could step in chicken droppings just by going outside. wap.kanshu伍.net
...
After Li Liguo delivered vegetables to the provincial capital once more, he brought back Zeng Shengchun, the melon buyer.
It was also Tian Jing's first time meeting Zeng Shengchun.
However, upon seeing Tian Jing, Zeng Shengchun was startled.
Tian Jing was somewhat curious about this sharp melon buyer, so his surprise didn't escape her notice.
Tian Jing pretended not to notice, carrying one child in her arms and with two by her side, they went to the hills to pick watermelons.
Zeng Shengchun was very friendly to Hao Hao and Xiao Bo, helping the two little ones pick melons in the field.
Hao Hao pulled his brother, not accepting the gesture. "This is our family's melon field. Our father will help us pick."
Facing the two wary children, Zeng Shengchun simply smiled. "Alright, let your father help you pick."
Li Zhengguo picked a medium-sized melon, weighing six or seven jin, and handed it to Li Weikang. "Take this to the melon shed over there."
After settling down in the melon shed, Tian Jing asked Li Weikang not to rush off and to taste a slice of watermelon.
Li Weikang ran faster. "No eating during work hours."
Tian Jing shrugged and said to her eldest son, "Split it."
"Crack."
With a chop from Li Weihao, the watermelon on the stool shattered into several pieces.
The red flesh and sweet fragrance wafted through the melon shed.
Little Lily peered at the watermelon.
Hao Hao picked up the smallest piece and placed it by his sister's mouth.
Lily opened her little mouth and took a tiny bite, her slender eyes narrowing in delight.
Tian Jing couldn't help but laugh. This daughter of hers was a little glutton.
...
In the melon field, Zeng Shengchun asked Li Zhengguo, "Your wife's surname is Tian?"
"Yes."
Zeng Shengchun bent his head, carefully selecting melons. "These melons don't differ much. I'll come to pick up a cart every other day. You can also pick them in advance and store them at the foot of the mountain."
"Alright."
Cartloads of watermelons were taken to the riverbank and hauled across by workers from the construction site.
Truly, not a single bit of the work involved anyone from the village.
The moment brothers Xiao Da Lao Ye and Xiao Er Lao Ye arrived at the edge of the melon field, Li Weikang stopped them.
"This is private mountain land. Entry is prohibited."
"We're buying watermelons."
"Not selling."
"We'll pay more."
"Not selling. I said not selling, so not selling. Hurry and leave." kanδん
Li Minkang waved the thin bamboo branch in his hand, driving away the Xiao family.
Watching the carts passing by them towards the river, Xiao Er Lao Ye asked his elder brother, "If they don't sell to us, what then?"
"Destroy it."
Xiao Er Lao Ye immediately shook his head. "You go, I won't, and Xue Ping won't either."
Xiao Da Lao Ye glared at his second brother. "Can't it be someone else? Aren't there many people who hate her?"
"Big brother, the villagers' mouths aren't tight. If they're not caught, they might even boast to others that they sold themselves out. Once caught, they'll sell us all out."
"Can we still wait so peacefully for the people sending the money?"
Xiao Da Lao Ye hesitated. "Are we just going to watch her make money? And we can't even get into the vegetable sheds."
Xiao Er Lao Ye persuaded, "Before the money arrives, we should still be well-behaved. Otherwise, once they drive us away, the person coming might not be able to contact us at all."
"That's right. Xiao Er Lao Ye's words perfectly explain what it means to be a wise person who understands the times."
A clear, cold female voice sounded behind them, startling the two brothers. They immediately turned around but saw no one.
Just as they were breathing a sigh of relief, they heard the clear, cold voice again. "Look up."
The brothers looked up and saw a figure floating among the treetops.
The figure drifted down. "Xiao Da Lao Ye, learn more from your second brother, otherwise, I can make you stay in these mountains forever."
"And the person sending you money will think you left on your own."
"The taste of living as savages for the rest of your lives should be enough for you to savor, shouldn't it?"
"You? How can you..."
"You? How can you...?" See Read Net
The brothers asked half a sentence in unison. Tian Jing kindly filled in the blanks and replied.
"Are you asking how I knew you went to the melon field, how I overheard you, how I approached you silently?"
"Actually, there's only one answer to all your questions. It's that the entire village is under my surveillance whenever I wish."
"I know what time you leave every day, who you buy from, how much you spend, and what you say."
"I wanted to see how long you would frolic, I wanted to see what you intended to do. Originally, you just wanted to destroy my melon field."
"You can try. Try to see if the villagers dare to take on your work."
"You can also try yourselves. Try to see if you can approach the melon field at night."
"Of course, if you enter my private property and something happens, I take no responsibility. It's the same as trespassing. You deserve to die if you die."