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“Thank you, Village Chief.”
Wang Jinhe watched the Village Chief happily leave, turned to look at Su Yu beside him, and couldn’t help but smile, saying, “It seems that after the Village Chief returns, he wants to promote our family well.”
Just by the Village Chief’s outwardly expressive demeanor, Wang Jinhe could easily figure out what he intended to do.
Su Yu crossed her arms and calmly watched the Village Chief’s departing figure, a hint of a smile in his eyes. “This is good. Now that they know our current strength, those people won’t arrogantly provoke us.”
“You’re right.”
It was busy farming season, so Xie Kui wasn’t in a hurry to discuss this matter. Instead, he went back and informed Rong Shi.
After hearing the news, Rong Shi was both surprised and delighted. “Really? Xiao He is amazing, actually gaining the favor of the emperor. With this, the people in the village shouldn’t dare to say anything anymore.”
The Village Chief nodded in agreement, “You’re right. However, we need to find a way to let the people in the village know. In the past, they looked down on the Wang family, but now? They can’t compete with the Wang family.”
“Exactly. As for spreading this news, leave it to me. I’ll go find Liang Shi; their family has just finished harvesting rice and is drying it in the field. I’ll have a chat with her.” Rong Shi quickly figured out how to handle the situation.
“Alright, I’ll leave it to you.” With his wife’s assistance, the Village Chief was naturally delighted.
Rong Shi went to the field and found Liang Shi, where many women were chatting.
Ignoring the others, Rong Shi sat next to Liang Shi and started chatting.
In the course of the conversation, Rong Shi mysteriously mentioned, “Sister, you don’t know yet, do you? The emperor has granted Xiao He’s family a hundred acres of land.”
Liang Shi was shocked when she heard this and quickly asked, “Sister-in-law, what’s going on? It can’t be a misunderstanding, right?”
“It’s not a misunderstanding at all. Today, my husband went to see Dagui, right? When he entered the house, he saw the imperial decree displayed in the main hall. After asking, he found out that the emperor was impressed with the thresher made by Xiao He. The emperor granted her a hundred acres of land. Adding that to the land Xiao He’s family previously bought, they are now landowners.” Rong Shi pretended to envy.
Seeing Rong Shi’s expression, Liang Shi easily understood the reason. Her sister-in-law wanted to build momentum for Xiao He’s family and let people know that Xiao He couldn’t be insulted as they pleased now.
People nearby pricked up their ears when they heard Rong Shi mention that the emperor granted land to Wang Jinhe, especially those who had conflicts with the Wang family, like the Jiang family.
“Who knows if it’s true or not,” Jiang Shi couldn’t help muttering after listening for a while.
“The imperial decree is in Xiao He’s house. Don’t say they forged it. Forging an imperial decree means a death sentence,” Rong Shi said with a strange expression, looking at Jiang Shi.
Jiang Shi only casually mentioned it, but seeing Rong Shi taunt her, she became a little dissatisfied. “Rong Shi, what do you mean? Do I have a grudge against you? You always talk about me like this.”
“I have no grudge against you. It’s just that some things are hard to swallow. Some people wish for Xiao He’s death. Now, Xiao He is favored by the emperor and received a reward, while those who were dissatisfied with her get nothing,” Rong Shi said bluntly.
“Who says otherwise? Sister-in-law, don’t you think these people’s minds are malfunctioning? It’s been so many years, and they still can’t let go of Xiao He. I wonder what wrongs Xiao He committed in her past life to be entangled like this. She’s truly pitiful,” Liang Shi sighed.
“Seeing how well she’s doing, they’re envious because their own lives aren’t going well,” Rong Shi said sarcastically.
Jiang Shi has been causing trouble for others precisely because she doesn’t want to see Xiao He doing so well.
“Shut up, all of you! Who wouldn’t want to see them do well?” Jiang Shi said angrily.
Rong Shi, seeing her frustrated appearance, didn’t get angry. Instead, she smiled and said, “Whether or not you want to see it, you know in your heart. There’s no need to say more here.”
“You…”
“Sister-in-law, I’m really grateful to Xiao He for inventing such a useful thing today. It has saved us a lot of trouble and hassle,” Liang Shi said joyfully.
“Who says otherwise? Xiao He has saved us a lot of time over the years,” added another woman.
What infuriated Jiang Shi the most was that there was something so useful in the village, but her family couldn’t benefit from it at all.
Not only is it free to use, even if you want to pay, you can’t use it. Wang Jinhe made it clear at the time, it’s not for her family to use, no matter who it is. Thinking about this, Jiang Shi became extremely irritated.
“Shut up, all of you!” Jiang Shi said angrily.
“We’ll talk about our business. If you don’t want to listen, just leave. No one is begging you to listen, and who do you think you are to tell us to shut up? Do we have to listen to you?” Liang Shi retorted without reservation. “Oh, I see. Because we can use Xiao He’s thresher, and your family can’t, and all the grains are harvested by you alone, you harbor resentment and want to cause trouble for us, right?”
One has to admit that Liang Shi accurately guessed Jiang Shi’s thoughts.
“You…”
“Some people clearly have the opportunity to use the thresher, but who knows, they deliberately make trouble and insist that Xiao He’s family can’t let your family use it. Are you angry about that?” Liang Shi looked at Jiang Shi and gloated.
She had long found Jiang Shi unpleasant, and now, seeing her speechless, she was naturally happy.
Unable to argue with Liang Shi, Jiang Shi returned home with a sullen face. Thinking about having to harvest so much rice alone, she felt very uncomfortable.
Having a son or not, what’s the difference?
During the agricultural off-season, Wang Jinhe stayed at home every day, but during the busy farming season, she was nowhere to be seen.
No matter how troubled or eager Jiang Shi was to use the thresher, Wang Jinhe was unaware. She was busy recording the amount of land each person in the village planning to grow melons would need. Su Yu was assisting her.
“It looks like there will be a lot of melons next year,” Su Yu said, looking at the total land area, which was around seventy to eighty acres.
“It doesn’t matter. If there are too many, we can just slightly lower the price,” Wang Jinhe said casually.
At ten cents per pound, they could earn dozens or even hundreds of taels of silver next year. For the families in the entire village, this was already a significant income, something impossible for others.
“We’ll see then. But the prices on your side definitely won’t drop. After all, the fruits and vegetables here are excellent,” Su Yu said confidently. She had already figured out that the melons grown by other villagers would likely be sold at a lower price, but Wang Jinhe’s produce would maintain its current price. Next year, they would still be sent to the capital.
“Of course, do you dare to withhold my money? Be careful; I’ll tell Grandpa,” Wang Jinhe said with a playful tone.