They've all separated, so what does it matter to me if they get poorer and poorer?

Chapter 335 Begins Farming
“I almost lost my life. Is a hundred taels a lot? If Master Zeng is unwilling to pay, I’m going all out. I’ll let everyone judge this.”

"You! Aren't you afraid of losing face?!"

Of course, Bai was afraid; after all, she was human too.

But she was certain that Master Zeng couldn't afford to gamble, so she wasn't afraid.

"Of course I didn't want this either, but my family is poor, and if things get like this, we won't be able to make a living. Compared to making a living, what does shame matter?"

"."

What a reasonable standard, spoken by a poor and shameless person.

Even if Master Zeng is incredibly shrewd and resourceful, he's helpless against someone like this.

He knew that some people would do anything for money.

"I don't have a hundred taels, at most twenty taels."

"I saw the doctor prescribe more than twenty taels of medicine! This is outrageous! No way, one hundred taels!"

Master Zeng watched coldly and saw that Madam Bai was indeed furious, which showed that she was not lying.

That's true. Falling so unexpectedly from such a height, the cost of medical treatment and medicine must have been considerable. It's a miracle she didn't die.

A mere hundred taels of silver was nothing to the Zeng family.

But why should he let such a wicked woman get away with this?
"A hundred taels is too much anyway!"

"Then, that would be at least sixty taels."

Bai was asking for an exorbitant price, but her cunning and tricks were only good for dealing with honest and foolish people in the countryside; they were no match for Master Zeng.

Sure enough, without Mr. Zeng saying a word, she lowered the price herself.

Master Zeng: "Thirty taels. Take it or leave it."

“This is too little!”

"Small? Ha, I'm only giving you money out of pity. Otherwise, do you think you deserve it? If you weren't so vicious and greedy, how could you have ended up like this? What does this have to do with my Mingzhu?"

Bai was speechless.

"Alright, thirty taels it is."

"This money can't just be given to you for nothing; there needs to be a written agreement. Otherwise, what if you try to extort money from me again later?"

"I will never come back."

"What you say is unfounded."

Master Zeng glanced at her, said nothing, but the meaning was clear: I don't trust someone like you.

Bai was somewhat embarrassed, but the matter at Mingyue Tower was indeed not something to be proud of. Did she really expect people to praise her?

The temptation of thirty taels was too great. With the deal so close, how could Bai Shi possibly give it up?

"Okay. But I can't read, how would I know what you wrote?"

"With just two simple sentences, I'll say that you took thirty taels of silver from our family, and this will serve as proof. If you ever dare to ask for money back again, this will be the evidence."

Bai was skeptical, but ultimately chose to believe.

Zeng Mingzhu's affair with Mingyue Tower wasn't exactly honorable either. Aren't all written agreements supposed to be kept by one person? I doubt Master Zeng would write it down either.

Mr. Zeng personally wrote two copies on the spot.

Sure enough, there was only a few lines and a half words.

He even read it aloud to Bai Shi.

Bai couldn't understand a single word, but he silently counted each word in his mind, and the number matched, so it seemed like he couldn't be wrong.

Master Zeng pointed to the bottom right corner and told her to put her handprint on it, which she did readily.

After she pressed her fingerprint, Master Zeng readily gave her the silver notes.

"Take the money and leave quickly, and that will be the end of it. If you dare to come back, don't blame me for being impolite. Also, if you dare to say a word about this, hmph!" Bai's heart skipped a beat, but she forced herself to remain calm. "I've taken the money, so this matter is naturally over. Since it's over, I certainly won't say anything."

"It better be this way."

Bai took the silver notes and quickly left.

She was secretly delighted. Now that's great, she's finally gotten her money back for the medical expenses and even got an extra ten taels.

If Xu Zhichun hadn't reminded her, she wouldn't have thought of this at all.

Unexpectedly, following her advice to find Master Zeng, they actually received the silver.

If you were to ask Zeng Mingzhu, that woman is wicked and definitely wouldn't give it to her.

While pleased, Bai couldn't help but feel a little apprehensive. Xu was far too shrewd; she really couldn't afford to offend her.
Clutching the silver note, Bai felt uneasy again.

Master Zeng held the document with Bai's fingerprint on it and sneered. He had not lied to Bai; the document did indeed contain only those two sentences.

But this piece of paper is so big, and there's a large blank space. He can write whatever he wants on the blank space, as long as he's happy.

Bai had better keep his word, otherwise he'd make sure she didn't even know how she died.

The planting of potatoes and konjac, and the breeding of sweet potatoes, finally came to an end after more than half a month.

The seeds sown have already grown to over three inches tall, lush and vibrant green, a delightful sight. Once these seeds have flowered, borne fruit, and matured, and are taken from the space to be mixed in, there will be no need to harvest them from the wild anymore.

After her workshop opened, the villagers could all go out to work, and probably few people would be willing to go up the mountain to pick stone flowers anymore.

The sweet potato vines grew very quickly. With watering and fertilizing, the lush green vines covered the ground, with branches and leaves crowding together without leaving any gaps.

The villagers were quite cautious and dared not casually cut off the branches to plant.

Before pinching him, he had to come and ask Xu Zhichun a question.

"Mrs. Xu, I see that the sweet potato vines in my vegetable garden are growing really long, as long as two arms outstretched. Can I cut them off to plant them?"

"Mrs. Xu, I think our sweet potato vines are ready to be pruned and planted, but I'm not quite sure. Could you please take a look?"

"Mrs. Xu, could you also come to our field and see if we can pick them? Ours is very close, right in the vegetable garden."

"Our family is in the same situation, please help us, Mrs. Xu!"

"."

Sweet potatoes are precious, and so are sweet potato vines. They are no longer small vines that anyone can just pluck off casually. No one dares to touch them without Madam Xu's approval.

Xu Zhichun was caught between laughter and tears.

There's really no need to be so careful.

Sweet potatoes are a very easy crop; you can just pluck the vines and plant them anywhere, really.

Didn't you all plant them last year?
How come it feels like I'm back in the beginner's village all of a sudden?

Xu Zhichun had to explain and reassure them repeatedly, and the villagers, having heard her words, happily left.

It's time for Xu Zhichun to plant his own sweet potatoes.

Yang Ming and his son Yang Xiaoan were so busy they didn't stop running.

Xu Zhichun calculated the days and realized it was time to visit the village in Qingyang County.

Uncle Yang and Xiaoman are trustworthy and reliable. Sweet potatoes and potatoes are easy to grow, but cotton is different.

She felt more at ease personally overseeing the transplanting of cotton seedlings.

With her gone, the business of konjac tofu, konjac noodles, and ice jelly naturally needs to be taken care of.

Zeng Xiaoyan and Aunt Zhu'er are both pregnant. Although rural women are not so pampered, they can still do the work as long as it is not too strenuous.

With the help of Mu Xiang and Liang Mingliang, they only needed to use the readily available konjac powder, which was enough for them to handle.

Aunt Pearl laughed and said, "We're not made of porcelain, this kind of work is too easy for us. You can go and do your work without worry."