Font Size:
“Oh, I see. Well then, little girl, I’ll take my leave. I’ll be sure to bring back good news in a month.”
“Governor, aren’t you forgetting something? Are you planning to go to the emperor without taking the blueprints? Don’t risk committing the crime of deceiving the emperor. That won’t end well for you,” Wang Jinhe couldn’t help but remark.
The governor patted his forehead with his hand in a gesture of forgetfulness and said, “Look at my memory.”
Anticipating the governor’s visit after the county magistrate mentioned it, Wang Jinhe had the blueprints ready. Fortunately, she reminded him in time.
After seeing off the governor, Wang Jinhe turned to Su Yu with a playful smile, “Do you think we’ll get rewards?”
“This is a given. We’ll definitely get rewards,” Su Yu replied with confidence.
Wang Jinhe finally smiled.
The rice from the seventy acres of land was harvested in less than three days, bringing them great joy. It was the first time they had finished harvesting seventy acres in just three days.
After finishing the work there, Wang Jinhe brought back two threshing machines, adding them to the three they already had at home.
Seeing the additional threshing machines, Wang Jinhe shook her head with a hint of helplessness. Some people, despite their tough talk, had a soft heart.
“What are you doing now, saying you don’t want to help?” Su Yu raised an eyebrow and asked Wang Jinhe.
“Can’t I let others use them?” Wang Jinhe replied unapologetically.
Su Yu nodded with a smile, “Of course, as long as you’re happy.”
Hearing this, Wang Jinhe nodded in satisfaction, “That’s about right.”
After a few days of rest, Wang Jinhe’s family was ready to start threshing their own grain. The village Chief and Xie Kang came over to help.
Seeing the strange contraption in the field, Xie Kang asked curiously, “Dagui, what is this thing? It looks peculiar.”
“This is a good thing,” Wang Dagui said mysteriously. “As for what it is, you’ll know soon.”
Soon enough, they found out.
“Xiao He, what is this thing? Can we borrow it later?” Xie Kui looked at how effortlessly they completed threshing the rice, his eyes filled with disbelief.
This thing was so powerful; it was unbelievable!
“Of course, you can borrow it,” Wang Jinhe replied.
Soon, the villagers learned that Wang Jinhe’s family had acquired a threshing machine. This machine could quickly thresh rice and even separate the grain from the husk, making the villagers’ work much easier.
Hearing this, everyone thought it was impossible, suspecting it to be a prank. However, when they went to Wang Jinhe’s field, they saw that half of the six acres of rice had already been processed. How much time had passed?
“The gadget Xiao He’s family got is too useful. They managed to harvest all the rice in a day. Now, with the sun shining, we don’t have to worry about the rice getting wet again before the autumn rain comes. At least we can bring the harvest home early and let it dry with peace of mind.”
“Yeah, I wonder if Xiao He would let us borrow it when they are done using it.”
“I asked Xiao He just now, and she said it’s possible.”
People with good relations with Wang Jinhe were naturally delighted, while those with strained relations were now anxious. If Wang Jinhe refused to lend it to them, what would they do? Would they have to spend this time threshing manually?
Looking at the worried faces of some people, others couldn’t help but laugh. These people deserved it—now they regret it, don’t they? Unfortunately, regret wouldn’t change the situation.
In the afternoon, all the rice in Wang Jinhe’s field was harvested. Wang Dagui, looking at the village Chief, smiled and asked, “Village Chief, I’ll lend you one of these threshing machines. You decide who needs it in the village.”
“I need it,” Jiang Shi hurriedly spoke up, hoping to get her hands on the machine as soon as it reached her family.
Wang Dagui glanced at Jiang Shi and coldly said, “Not lending it to you.”
“Why can’t you lend it to me? My family is also from Xie Family Village,” Jiang Shi protested.
“This is my family’s property. I’ll give it to whoever I want. If I don’t want to lend it to you, what can you do?” Wang Dagui replied without reservation.
“Besides, judging by your attitude, it seems like once it’s at your house, you won’t return it to my family, right?” Wang Dagui knew Jiang Shi’s intentions very well.
Jiang Shi couldn’t help but look a bit unpleasant. “You…”
“What’s wrong with me? Did I say something wrong?” Wang Dagui responded.
People who had once maliciously cursed Wang’s family and were now present felt a bit awkward. Wang Dagui was clearly stating that those who had bullied his daughter in the past shouldn’t expect to use this machine.
“Dagui, rest assured. After using it, we will return it to you intact,” someone reassured.
Wang Dagui glanced at the others. “If you want to use it, it’s not impossible. I’ll charge you fifty wen per mu of land.”
“Are you crazy for money?”
“My family spent ten taels of silver on one threshing machine. Is fifty wen per mu too much?” Wang Dagui replied without hesitation.
Today, Wang Dagui was determined to annoy this group of people. Want to use the machine? Sure, pay for it. Don’t want to spend money? Then slowly harvest your crops; no one will indulge them.
Wang Jinhe looked at Wang Dagui with some surprise. Her father’s approach was quite fashionable.
“We’re all from the same village. Is it necessary to charge money?”
“Well, for those who have a good relationship with my family, I won’t charge. But for those with not-so-good relationships, I will definitely charge, and I’ll charge as much as possible. Why not? They can just not rent it” Wang Dagui snorted and said unapologetically.
Xie Kang and others couldn’t help but laugh. Wang Dagui was truly infuriating, there was no one like him.
These people were lucky not to be driven mad by him today.
Disliking someone doesn’t justify such actions.
“Village Chief, we’ll leave this machine to you. We’re heading home now.”
“Alright.”
After the Wang family left, Jiang Shi wanted to seize the opportunity, but Xie Kang and others stopped her. “What do you want to do, Jiang Shi?”
“What do I want to do? Since this machine is in our village now, it belongs to us. Our rice is ready to be harvested, and we need it now.” Jiang Shi asserted domineeringly.
Raising an eyebrow and scrutinizing Jiang Shi, Xie Kang assessed her, “Did you not hear what Dagui just said? He clearly stated that they won’t let your family use it. Even if you pay, they won’t allow it. If you dare to snatch it, aren’t you afraid they’ll report you for robbery?”
“Who do you think you’re intimidating?” Jiang Shi completely dismissed the warning.
At this moment, Xie Kui spoke up, “We’re not trying to scare you. The county magistrate and the Governor have seen with their own eyes that Xiao He’s family has several threshing machines. If you snatch or steal one, it won’t just bring trouble to you, but your entire family will suffer as well.” Xie Kui stated without reservation.
“The county magistrate and the Governor haven’t been to Xiaohu’s house. How could they know about this?”
“They weren’t there for Xiao He’s house but for the recently purchased paddy fields and the land near the village that Xiao He just bought. Some people really should save their efforts. It’s unnecessary to go to such lengths.”