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

Chapter 46 Questioning
Bai coughed forcefully, her smile half-smile: "Sister-in-law, we don't understand the affairs of scholars, and besides, this isn't the time to talk about this. Don't just agree with whatever they say."

Uncle Liang's face had already darkened, and he glared at Zhang Shi fiercely: She really is a fool.

As expected, Zhang also came to her senses and was furious: "Well, how dare you make fun of your old mother!"

Liang Mingxuan: "Auntie, we were clearly being reasonable—"

"enough!"

Xu Zhichun: "Every household in the village knows that I sell sweet potatoes and potatoes for everyone to use as seeds. Uncle and Aunt, you couldn't possibly not know, but I haven't seen you come over, so naturally you don't want them. Since you don't want them, do you think I can force you to take them?"

"That's just making excuses!" Zhang was both angry and ashamed. "If we hadn't come, wouldn't you have asked? We're your uncle and aunt, are we the same as other families?"

The whole village knew about it after all these days of commotion, so of course they knew too. But they didn't take it seriously.

What the hell are sweet potatoes and potatoes? This Xu family is so arrogant and boastful, they dare to brag about anything and do anything. Don't let them end up doing all that work for nothing and getting blamed. Don't expect them to help you then.

Not only did they not believe Xu Zhichun, they were also waiting to see her make a fool of herself.

Besides, they still have a bit of pride. It's one thing for other people's families to ask, but do they really expect Xu Zhichun to go out of his way to buy these sweet potatoes and potatoes? They are his elders!
Xu Zhichun personally brought the gifts to their door, begging them to accept them, but they still had to consider whether or not to accept them.

To their utter surprise, these two items were actually worth Liang Lizheng striking the gong for!
They didn't trust Xu Zhichun, but they couldn't possibly distrust Liang Lizheng.

If it weren't truly a valuable item, Liang Lizheng certainly wouldn't have banged the gong.

The two families were so regretful that they slapped their thighs in remorse at home.

How could he sit still? He rushed over to ask Xu Zhichun.

They were also concerned about their reputation and were afraid of being seen and embarrassed, so they waited until no one was home at Xu Zhichun's house before coming.

Upon arrival, he adopted the demeanor of an elder, condescendingly reprimanding and lecturing her and her sister-in-law, attempting to control them.

Unexpectedly, after these two engaged in sophistry and quibbling, it turned out that they were the ones who were being unreasonable.

This is simply unreasonable.

Xu Zhichun: "As a widow, it's inconvenient for me to visit other people's homes unless I have to."

"Nonsense, do you think our family is some other family?"

"I don't want to get involved in any suspicious activities. What if people say something nasty about me?"

All four of them looked very grim.

Each of their families has adult men, and Xu Zhichun is her nephew's wife (her cousin's wife), a woman. Since she refuses to come to their home, no one can say anything wrong with her. If they insist on having her come, and outsiders find out, they will be suspected of having ulterior motives.

"If you want to clear the land, why not ask your own family for help? Why hire outsiders?"

“I only invited people from families that are not well-off, because I wanted to help them. My uncle and aunt are doing well, they don’t care about this little bit of money.”

"Humph!"

Who doesn't care about money? They do.

However, if Xu Zhichun wanted to hire his family to do the work, twenty-five coins definitely wouldn't be enough; it would have to be at least thirty-five coins. They certainly wouldn't be able to finish in three days; how could they manage in less than five or six days?
Xu Zhichun's bluntness left them speechless.

Are we to say she did something wrong? If they dare to say that, their reputation for selfishness will spread, and the companies Xu Zhichun hired will also have something to say about them.

Bai scoffed, "You really put a lot of thought into this!"

Xu Zhichun: "We're all from the same village, so this is only natural."

Bai: "Ha!"

Bai thought to herself, "I never realized Xu was so cunning. She pretended so well before; I was completely fooled. No, I absolutely can't let her stay any longer."
Bai and the others held back from criticizing Xu Zhichun on this matter, but Zhang couldn't help but say, "Should I? You're just siding with outsiders!" Uncle Liang angrily retorted, "Shut up."

If Xu Zhichun didn't seize the opportunity to cause trouble, what was he waiting for?
"Aunt, how am I siding with outsiders? Shouldn't I help the villagers?"

"you--"

“She didn’t mean that. She’s always been a bit thoughtless and doesn’t know how to talk. Don’t take it to heart. Of course, it’s right of you to help the villagers, but there’s something I have to teach you as an elder: you’re still young and inexperienced. It would be bad if you did something wrong with good intentions. In the future, if you have any of these kinds of things, you should discuss them with us and ask for our opinions first.”

Xu Zhichun smiled and said, "Uncle is right. I was young and didn't know much, so I consulted the village head. I thought the village head was the village head of our village, so he must be better than us. It was definitely the right thing to ask him for advice."

The four Zhangs were extremely annoyed.

Zhang was about to teach Xu Zhichun a lesson again, but she didn't dare to say a word after being warned by Uncle Liang's glare. However, she still glared at Xu Zhichun with annoyance.

Uncle Liang cursed inwardly. Could he say that she shouldn't have consulted Liang, the village head? Liang was not only the village head, but also a member of the same clan, so he couldn't say anything.

“You certainly have a lot of ideas,” Uncle Liang couldn’t hold back any longer. This Xu family member had completely lost their hearts.

Since that's the case, there's no point in arguing anymore. She just keeps saying one thing and then another, it's infuriating.

Besides, these words were just a side effect; they weren't there for that reason. They just wanted to use it to suppress her. If they couldn't suppress her, then ignoring her wouldn't hurt.

"Since you're so opinionated, then so be it. But when we, as your elders, come to visit, aren't you going to offer any thanks for the potatoes and sweet potatoes?"

Xu Zhichun almost laughed.

No matter what, her deceased father-in-law was a direct brother to their two families. With no elders around, they separated and each went their own way, with no one able to care about anyone else. By the time it came to Liang Mingxuan's generation, there was another layer of separation, making it even more difficult for anyone to care about anyone else.

It's just because there aren't any adult men in their family, so they all want to bully her and her brother-in-law.

"We still have plenty of potatoes. I'll give you five catties each, which is one copper coin per catty. If you don't want them, then forget it. We really don't have any sweet potatoes left. You can plant sweet potatoes with vines. If you want to plant them later, just let me know, and I'll save the vines for you. They're one copper coin per catty."

That's it?

All four of them were a little annoyed.

"They actually charge money?"

"How could my uncles and aunts accept this for nothing, considering I'm just a widow?"

"."

Does it really have to be this explicit?
Bai: "How many kilograms of sweet potatoes and potatoes did you keep for yourself?"

Bai's words are always accurate, ruthless, and incisive.

Zhang: "Yes, tell me quickly."

Xu Zhichun: "Just enough for my own planting."

Zhang scoffed, "What? You still won't tell me this?"

Xu Zhichun: "Aunt, may I ask how much silver you have at home right now?"

Zhang immediately widened her eyes and glared at her warily: "Why are you asking this? Why should I tell you about my family's finances? Do you want to borrow money from us? Dream on!"

Zhang, who spoke her mind, earned a glare from both her husband and Bai: "Stupid woman."

Xu Zhichun smiled and said, "That makes sense. Each family's affairs don't need to be explained to others, don't you think?"

(End of this chapter)