Farm Tough Girl

Chapter 43: Chapter 044 Not taking advantage for nothing_1 Chapter 43: Chapter 044 Not taking advantage for nothing_1 Thankfully, Mrs. Du was there to help entertain the guests, so things were busy but manageable.

As they needed to dig a fish pond, all the workers required were men. Just as Muniang was busy counting the number of people, she saw Li Qinghe and Li Cheng arrive.

“Muniang, I heard you’re hiring workers, and my brother also wants to join. I thought you must be too busy to manage everything, so I came to see if there was anything I could help with. After all, I’m free anyway.” Qinghe’s spirits were high, completely different from the gloominess of the past few days, and Li Cheng was also happy.

As soon as Muniang saw the two of them like this, she knew for sure they had made up, and she smiled, “I said it before, siblings may fight, but bones are connected by tendons, how could there be lasting grievances? Has Qinghe come to terms with it?”

Qinghe laughed with embarrassment and glanced at Li Cheng without speaking, but it was Li Cheng who sighed helplessly, “It’s not her who’s seen the light, it’s me who has.”

Muniang’s smile stiffened for a moment, “What?”

“Qiao Yuanzhen came to our house yesterday and explained that the purse incident was a misunderstanding. He also mentioned that he wanted to marry Qinghe.”

Muniang’s face suddenly darkened. This was not Qiao Yuanzhen’s usual style at all. “Did you agree?”

“Not yet. I only said I’d give him a chance. For now, we won’t discuss Qinghe’s marriage, we’re just watching his behavior.”

Muniang always felt there was something very strange about this matter, but she couldn’t pinpoint the problem. Seeing Qinghe’s blissful face, she really couldn’t bear to burst her bubble. Besides, although they were close, it didn’t mean they could absolutely tolerate everything about each other. In dealing with people, Muniang considered herself to have done a very good job; whether someone was right or wrong, throwing cold water on someone’s hopes was guaranteed not to result in their sudden enlightenment, but more likely it would lead to their falling out.

“I’m quite busy here. Qinghe, your arrival is timely. Help me with the headcount. I’ll do the registration. Chengzi, you go over there, I’ll assign the tasks to you soon.”

Muniang quickly changed the subject.

Pingzi had been boiling water and making tea in the kitchen, and when he couldn’t find Muniang, he came out to look for her. The men waiting around, bored, started chatting with Pingzi.

“Pingzi, you’re one lucky fellow, going hunting in the mountains and actually bagging a tiger. They say a fool has foolish luck; I never believed it before, but now I really do,” said Second Son of the Ding Family, Pingzi.

Villagers always speak their minds directly, and Pingzi meant no harm; he was simply jesting with a smile.

Pingzi scratched his head and laughed with a hehe, “Maybe so.”

He rarely interacted with outsiders and wasn’t sure what to say, feeling somewhat awkward.

Then Nanny Zhang’s son, Niu Tieshu, immediately came over.

“But to end up with such a wife who squanders money, that’s really your bad luck. She recklessly spends your hard-earned cash; two thousand taels of silver for such a worthless piece of land, it’s baffling. I wonder if there’s water in her brain. You see, that’s the thing with women, they’re so ignorant!”

Pingzi’s face turned sour immediately, “That money was ours together, and she can spend it however she wants. Moreover, where is my wife ignorant? That land is hugely valuable! My wife said that we’re going to strike it rich in the future.”

Niu Tieshu scoffed, “Striking it rich? You believe that? She can only fool a fool like you.”

He then sighed, “Alas, truly, a fool’s luck is all in bagging the tiger; he’s got no luck when it comes to spending money.”

“Don’t talk nonsense! My wife never lies to me!” Pingzi said angrily, his fists clenched till they crackled.

Seeing Pingzi this way, Niu Tieshu also got scared; he didn’t dare to provoke someone capable of killing a tiger—such strength was not something he wanted to mess with.

“I was just speaking casually, why take it so seriously,” Niu Tieshu waved his hands repeatedly and then turned to speak to the surrounding people, “We’re all from the same village. It was just a joke, isn’t it? Why ruin the good atmosphere.”

Everyone didn’t want to cause trouble, so they started to help persuade, but who knew that Erliang would not be so easily dismissed.

“I’m serious about this!” Erliang was very willful! And the consequences were grave!

Niu Tieshu’s face turned somewhat embarrassed: “Erliang, didn’t I just say that everything I said was for your own good? Why do you have to be so stubborn…”

Seeing Erliang’s increasingly darkening face, Niu Tieshu couldn’t continue speaking and awkwardly shut his mouth.

Erliang’s muscles were all tensed up as he glared at Niu Tieshu and suddenly threw a punch, frightening Niu Tieshu so much that he almost fainted. The punch narrowly brushed past his cheek.

“Next time you say bad things about my wife, I won’t be polite!” Erliang said fiercely.

Niu Tieshu was so frightened that his legs trembled and his mouth shook so much that he couldn’t get the words out. The fierce punch seemed to linger, and the stinging pain on his cheek was proof of what might have happened had the punch truly hit him.

“I won’t dare next time, I definitely won’t dare,” Niu Tieshu stuttered.

Just then, Muniang arrived with Qinghe and Li Cheng, oblivious to the ashen-faced Niu Tieshu, and smilingly said to Erliang: “Dear, Chengzi and Qinghe are also here to help.”

Erliang’s expression changed faster than flipping a book, and he said cheerfully: “That’s great, I’ll go fetch a couple of bowls of tea.”

The crowd was in disarray, thinking this fool was just too…

Once the personnel list was confirmed, Muniang began to make arrangements.

“Fixing the fish pond needs to be divided into two parts, one part is responsible for digging the pit, and the other part is responsible for repairing the water channels. Because we are tight on time, you’ll be divided into two groups to start work…”

Muniang hadn’t finished speaking when she was interrupted.

“How about we first settle the wages?” The speaker was none other than Niu Tieshu.

Muniang frowned slightly: “What do you mean? Who asks for wages before the work is even done!”

Niu Tieshu had a rascal’s demeanor: “If you don’t pay us first, how do we know that you’ll have money to pay later? Erliang won a total of only a thousand silver from fighting the tiger, and you’ve probably nearly spent it all buying this mountain. Who knows if you’ll still have money left to pay us? What happens if we work and you don’t pay us?”

His words found agreement among a few others.

“He has a point. If your family runs out of money to pay us, wouldn’t that be tricking us?”

“Better to give the money first, so we have some assurance.”

Muniang silently noted the names of these few who were causing a commotion and said sternly: “I, Qiao Muniang, have never engaged in such deceit. If I ask you for help, the money will certainly be there. Furthermore, I asked the village chief for help in gathering you. With the village chief as a witness, if you doubt me, you can simply choose not to come. After all, an opportunity that pays seventy coins a day doesn’t come every day!”

The group of men was taken aback, having not expected a woman to be so composed.

“How do we know whether or not you’ll do something deceitful?” someone dared to utter.

Muniang snorted coldly: “Then how would I know if you’d actually work after taking the silver?”

This statement struck a chord with Niu Tieshu and the others; indeed, they thought just that. Erliang was a fool, and Qiao Muniang, a mere woman; they believed that taking advantage of the weak was an opportunity not to be missed.