Chapter 437: A woman’s long tongue

Tian Si’s spirits lifted and his waist straightened. Even his heart felt more warm. This was the feeling of being valued by other!

He couldn’t wait to come up with five or eight good ideas for Boss Xiao at once.

It was a pity that, even after racking his brain and devoting his mind, he could only say one sentence: “I-I don’t have any good ideas…”

“Boss Wang and Boss Xiao could hire another two people and tell them in advance, I think it should be possible.” Liu Xia said tentatively.

“How could it be so easy?” Boss Wang sighed. “Lian Fang Zhou will definitely take more precautions now that she knows our plan. How could we succeed? Besides, there may not be any workers who know how to make those tools. It’s even more impossible to get ready-made ones from her!”

Boss Xiao thought about this for a while and then said: “Brother Wang Xian, let’s try it anyways. Maybe we will get lucky? As for me, I will send people to the various carpenters in the city and inquire with the craftsmen and blacksmiths. No matter what tools she uses, she has to find someone to make them, right?”

“Yes, yes! This method is excellent!” Boss Wang’s eyes lit up and he rubbed his palms together: “As long as you find the carpenter who handled it, we can make exactly the same things.”

Tian Si and Liu Xia were secretly relieved and complimented Boss Xiao with flattering smiles.

The small group got busy again but the truth was not as good as they imagined.

By the end of tenth month, the cotton harvest was over.

Lian Fang Zhou kept his promise. In addition to paying wages, everyone who came to help was also given 30 catties of cotton. The workers were overjoyed and all said that Miss Lian was a good-hearted girl.

After harvesting the cotton, Lian Fang Zhou was not in a hurry to deal with the remaining cotton stalks.

She already planned to set a fire in the winter to save trouble and make money.

Although in modern society, people burning wheat stalks and rice stalks was a headache for the government. As soon as it came time to harvest, there were many posters and signs put up warning farmers of the regulations and punishment for unregistered burning in rural areas.

There were even police patrolling day and night. If anyone was caught, they would be fined.

But this was ancient times and the ecological environment was excellent. Burning such things would not have a big impact on the air quality.

Although the cotton harvest was finished, there was always a few fish that slipped the net and bits of leftover cotton could still be found on the stalks.

With Lian Fang Zhou’s permission, many people went out to the field every day to pick up the leftovers. Some who were diligent and clever could pick five or six catties a day. This was a small fortune!

Normally after the autumn harvest, many children would take bamboo baskets to the fields to gather the leftover rice but cotton was much more valuable! Everyone felt very grateful to Lian Fang Zhou and said that she had the heart of a bodhisattva.

In fact, Lian Fang Zhou had always given priority to taking care of the people in the village when hiring workers but there were always a few unclean, dishonest, slippery people so of course she did bother with those people.

At this time, those people saw that others were happily gaining a large amount of wages from Lian Fang Zhou and they even got 30 catties of cotton.

A rumor spread that Lian Fang Zhou was a liar who made a fortune for herself while ignoring the people of the village and had no human feelings at all!

“Look at the last two months,” said some of the gossips, “horses and carts go in and out every day! The cotton from the fields is taken to the compound. Hmph, who would believe it if they said there wasn’t thousands of catties in there! There are no more than a hundred households in our village, what’s difficult about sending each family a dozen catties? How much can she argue? Isn’t she just stingy and reluctant?”

Other people said: “Hey, she is a rich woman now! Who told you not to have such luck? Look at my relatives, not a one is rich!”

Still more people said: “Hmph, who cares! Can’t I plant it too? When I plant all my family’s fields with cotton, I’ll be able to collect a hundred thousand catties!”

There were even some who whispered sour words to Madam Qiao, saying: “We have no relationship with them, if they look down on us, what can we say? It’s said that once a person becomes rich, their hearts turn black. Ah, I think it’s true! But Sister Qiao, you are different! You are the highest ranking elder in her family and her aunt! Why didn’t she give you any benefits? This can’t be! I say, Sister Qiao, this is not filial piety! Why don’t you talk to her about it?”

Madam Qiao snorted, her face cold: “You know what kind of person that dead girl is. Oh, when people are rich, where are their uncles and aunts in their eyes? Hmph, it’s a good think her mother and father are gone. Otherwise, I’m afraid my brother-in-law and sister-in-law would be kicked out by her! It’s better not to ask so as to not be scolded by her behind closed doors.”

When the long-tongued women heard Madam Qiao’s words, their hearts were very happy and the several people all did their best to continue provoking her.

Madam Qiao’s scolding became more and more vicious, venting the feelings in her heart.

Naturally, someone carried these words to Lian Fang Zhou’s door. When Third Aunt and the others heard them, they were so angry they wanted to go to Madam Qiao’s house and settle accounts. They asked Lian Fang Zhou not to stop them.

Seeing the indignation of Third Aunt and the others, Lian Fang Zhou smiled: “Have you never experienced Madam Qiao’s stubborn temperament? Unless she makes trouble in person, if you ask her these words, would she admit it? Forget it! We shouldn’t have heard them. Her mouth has always been mean and it’s not like this is unusual, so don’t bother with her.”

“But those people—”

She sneered: “They’re even more irrelevant! Completely irrelevant! Do you still need to pay attention to what people say? People who can’t eat grapes will say the grapes are sour. The more you talk to them, the more energetic they will be. I want to see if they dare to ask me one day!”

In truth, how could they not send Madam Qiao a quilt? It was just that it was too little in Madam Qiao’s eyes!

Could the quilt they gave her compare to Lian Fang Zhou’s own? Unless Lian Fang Zhou was a fool, she wouldn’t give out better things than what she kept.

In addition to giving Madam Qiao a quilt, Lian Fang Zhou had also given several to Zhang Li Zheng’s family and the village elders. She had even donated some money, saying that it was for the ancestral hall and the school. Zhang Li Zheng and the elders were very happy and praised her continuously.

With their support, did Lian Fang Zhou still need to be afraid of those long-tongued women with broken mouths? Did she need to care about their words?

In this world, no one can do everything and please everyone. The more thoughtful you were, the more someone would come and prick you with thorns until all your money was emptied!

Lian Fang Zhou had once read a news article in her previous life about a man from a small village who won a million-dollar jackpot. Of course, his relatives all wanted a share but this man didn’t know how to say no. Not only his family, but every household in the village got some of this money.