Chapter 66: Moment of Glory

The villagers looked stunned. “I… I can’t calculate!”

The village head patted the man’s shoulder. “If you can’t calculate, that’s good, because I can’t either.

But the money divided each day is so little!

That’s why I say, you’re getting a big bargain!”

“Uncle Li is amazing!”

“Yeah, he’s been studying for two years, and look at how much he knows!”

“Exactly, with all that money, just listening to it makes my head spin.”

The village head enjoyed the rare moment of glory and thought to himself, smiling inside:

“I’ve been calculating this for seven or eight days, burning the midnight oil every day, isn’t that impressive?”

Zhao Fu Sheng frowned, listening for a long time, but he couldn’t make sense of it.

He decided to stop thinking about it.

“Fine, it’s just one tael of silver! I agree!”

“But if I give you the money, you must immediately allow us to go up and dig the canal. The farming season waits for no one, if we delay any longer, this year’s harvest is ruined!”

“Agreed!”

The village head readily agreed.

That afternoon, Zhao Fu Sheng sent the money over.

However, when the people went up the mountain to dig the canal, another problem arose.

The people from Dong Gou Village, looking at Mi Lu Mountain seven or eight miles away from the village, started calculating their own little schemes.

“Village head, my family only has two mu of land. Can’t I send one less person to dig the canal?”

“Village head, my land is the last to get water, so those whose fields get water first should do more of the work!”

“The grass in my fields is taller than the crops. I’m the only one in my family. I have no time to dig the canal. Uncle Li, have some pity on me and don’t make me go!”

Zhao Fu Sheng didn’t expect that after not being treated unfairly in Yun Bian Village, the villagers in his own village would cause him trouble.

“You people, even at this point, are still calculating who should do more work and who should do less. Does doing more work mean you’ll lose a piece of meat or something?”

“Village head, everything should be fair. Since we want the water, we must do the work, right? Why are there still people trying to take advantage of the situation?”

“Take advantage of your grandma’s fish!”

“I’ll give you a beating!”

Dong Gou Village was in an up roar, and the matter of digging the canal was still unresolved by sunset.

On the Yun Bian Village side, as soon as Ye Xin Ran and the others got home, the village head happily came running.

“Big niece, let me tell you, our village earned one tael of silver today!”

Although it was said that the mountain is half yours, the division of it will have to wait until the debt to the county magistrate is paid off.

“I’m telling you this, so don’t be in a hurry, alright?”

Ye Xin Ran smiled and said, “Got it, Uncle Li. I’m not in a hurry!”

“Hey!” The village head pinched his own beard.

“How can we not be in a hurry when there’s money to be made? Look at you all, you’ve bought so many things again.”

“Not that I’m criticizing you, big niece, but living a life requires some thrift!”

“Alright!”

Ye Xin Ran smiled and didn’t argue.

Having never experienced the love and care of parents in two lifetimes, she felt that having an elder like this who would talk to her like this was a very happy thing.

“Uncle Li, I still need to go up the mountain to plant medicinal herbs later, so I won’t have time to entertain you.”

“Plant medicinal herbs?” The village head looked at Ye Xin Ran in confusion.

He had only heard of people who lived by gathering herbs, but he hadn’t heard of someone planting them.

“Where are you planting them? On East Mountain?”

“Yes, otherwise, why did I buy the mountain?” Ye Xin Ran smiled.

“Ah, you little girl! When I advised you not to buy it, you insisted on it! I really thought you were going to clear the land for farming!”

“I’m not good at farming, but planting medicinal herbs should be fine.”

Ye Xin Ran responded.

“Uncle Li, how about you come help me with the planting? I’ll pay you 20 wen a day, but since there’s only half a day left today, I’ll give you 10 wen. I need two people.”

“Is this a one-time job or will it be frequent in the future?”

The village head became interested upon hearing this.

“It’ll be frequent in the future!” Ye Xin Ran replied. “As long as I can find medicinal herbs, I’ll plant them on the mountain.”

“What kind of medicinal herbs? Let me see!”

Ye Xin Ran took out the Ice Spirit Flower and showed it to the village head. “It’s like this. It needs to be dug up with the roots and soil, otherwise, it won’t survive!”

“What if someone digs up this kind of herb, would you accept it?”

A gleam of light flashed in the village head’s eyes.

Ye Xin Ran couldn’t help but comment, “Uncle Li, you just told me to save money, and now you want to make money from me?”

The village head chuckled.

“I’m just trying to help you find a way!”

Ye Xin Ran also smiled. “Then I’ll buy it. Two wen per plant, how about that?”

“Alright!” The village head clapped his hands. “With you saying that, I’ll come up with a plan for you today! I’ll make sure you’re satisfied.”

Ye Xin Ran still didn’t understand what the village head meant by “satisfied,” but soon she saw that he gathered the villagers for a meeting.

The meeting was held right in front of Xiao Huai’an’s house.

The village head took out the medicinal herb Ye Xin Ran wanted to plant and showed it to everyone.

“Everyone, take a good look, make sure you recognize it! This herb is a medicinal plant. Right now, the Huai’an family needs this herb. We’re all from the same village, so when you go up the mountain, keep an eye out for it. If you see it, dig it up with the roots and soil. They’ll plant it on the mountain for future use.”

“Alright, Uncle Li, it’s just a herb, it doesn’t take up much space. If we see it, we’ll bring it back.” Several women, who often went to the mountains to gather food, replied.

The others weren’t really paying attention. After all, they didn’t go up the mountain, so this didn’t seem like something that concerned them.

Then, the village head said, “The Huai’an family said they won’t take it for free. If you dig up one plant, they’ll give you two wen!”

“What?”

“Two wen for each plant! If I find ten plants, that’s twenty wen!”

“Just look for it while you’re gathering mountain goods. Isn’t that an easy task?”

“Exactly, so good!”

Old Granny Zhang came over to take a look at the Ice Spirit Flower and sneered.

“I’ve never seen this herb before. If it were so easy to find, why would they pay you two wen per plant? They probably can’t find it themselves, so they’re asking you to help! Only two wen, such a small reward, and you’re all getting excited. You really haven’t seen much of the world!”

“Who has seen more of the world than you! Not only stealing other people’s meat but now even stealing their herbs. Of course, you’d look down on two wen.

We, honest folks, don’t underestimate this two wen.

With three wen, I can buy two eggs. With ten wen, I can buy half a dou of rice!

If you don’t want the money, don’t come up the mountain to fight with us for it!”

Er Zhu’s wife retorted with sarcasm.

Immediately, someone else chimed in, “Exactly! You don’t want to go, don’t go!”

“Uncle Li, can you show me that herb again? I’ll take my daughter up the mountain tomorrow to look for it!”

The others leaned forward eagerly.

They even intentionally pushed Granny Zhang out of the crowd.