My sister broke off her engagement to marry someone richer? My older sister married me and became in

Li Erniu scrambled out of the courtyard gate, his trouser legs covered in snow and mud.

When he saw Lu Qingshan, it was like a drowning person grabbing onto the last piece of wood; his voice was trembling with tears.

"Something's happened!"

Lu Qingshan handed the cloth bag in his hand to Lin Xiulan beside him, his eyes sweeping over the empty doorway of Li Erniu's house. The table for buying mountain products was still there, but no one was queuing up.

Under the large locust tree not far away, several villagers turned their gazes over and began to whisper among themselves.

The moment those people met his gaze, they immediately turned their heads away like startled rabbits, pretending to look at the sky.

Lu Qingshan frowned, puzzled.

"Don't rush, tell me slowly what happened."

"It's Lin Xiumei!"

Li Erniu was so anxious that he stomped his feet, and his dark face turned as red as a pig's liver.

"I don't know what possessed her, but she started collecting mountain produce in the village!"

"And she was using the county food factory's name, right in her own yard."

"They'll pay you one cent more per pound than we do!"

penny.

For these villagers who rely on the mountains for their livelihood and have to be extremely careful with every penny, this is an enormous temptation.

Li Erniu squatted down dejectedly, holding his head in his hands.

"They sold all their goods to Lin Xiumei for just one cent."

"I tried to stop them, saying that once their brother Qingshan comes back, the price will definitely be more than that, but they wouldn't listen!"

"The hawthorns from Aunt Wang's house, which she said she would save for us yesterday, were delivered to the Lin family's courtyard first thing this morning."

"And Uncle Liu, you gave his family a piece of wild boar meat last time, and this morning I saw him sneaking into the Lin family's yard..."

Li Erniu couldn't continue speaking; his voice choked with emotion, and he felt extremely guilty.

Lu Qingshan didn't look at Li Erniu squatting on the ground; his gaze went across the village road and towards the Lin family's house in the distance.

The area over there was bustling with people, creating a stark contrast to the desolate scene on Li Erniu's side.

A familiar figure, carrying a full basket of hazelnuts, sneaked around a side path, as if afraid of being seen.

It's Aunt Zhang.

A few days ago, before leaving, Aunt Zhang was still holding Lin Xiulan's hand at the door of her house, praising Lu Qingshan's abilities.

"Oh, who do we have here? Isn't this Boss Lu, who went to the provincial capital to make a fortune, back?"

A sharp, sarcastic voice rang out.

Lin Xiumei swayed her hips and pushed through the crowd at the doorway as she walked out, followed by Lin Yaozu.

She held her chin high, with a smug, petty expression.

"What's wrong? The purchasing point is closed? Out of money?"

Lin Xiumei's eyes swept over Lu Qingshan and Lin Xiulan, finally settling on their simple luggage, her disdain undisguised.

"That's true. With that little money, nobody would buy your goods, and you'd be facing a cash flow crisis long ago, wouldn't you?"

"Going all the way to the provincial capital to find connections? You're just a country bumpkin, do you even know which way the factory gates face in the provincial capital?"

Lin Yaozu chimed in, "Sis, why waste your breath on him! A peasant like him, does he really think he can compare to your husband's secure job?"

Lin Xiumei proudly raised her chin and raised her voice a few decibels to make sure the surrounding villagers could hear her.

"Lu Qingshan, I'm not afraid to tell you. Director Yu of the county food factory, who is also my father-in-law, has handed over the entire responsibility for purchasing mountain products from Hongshitun to me!"

"See that?"

She stepped aside and pointed to the pile of sacks stacked like a small mountain in her yard.

"Two days! In just two days I harvested over 3,000 jin! Can you do that?"

"What do you have to fight me with?"

The surrounding villagers watched quietly, their eyes filled with complex emotions.

Some gloated, some felt sorry for Lu Qingshan, but most took it for granted.

In their view, you can't fight city hall; no matter how capable an individual is, can they compare to someone who works for the government?

Lu Qingshan walked directly into the Lin family's courtyard and looked around.

The mountain produce was piled up almost higher than the wall.

Lin Xiumei leaned against the door frame: "What, if you kneel down and beg me now, I might buy all the stockpiled items you have at half price."

Lin Yaozu shook his head: "Sister, you're still too kind."

Lin Xiumei waved her hand.

"Who told my eldest sister to marry this peasant? Ha."

Lin Xiulan's face flushed red: "Xiumei! He'll be your brother-in-law! Say it again!"

Lu Qingshan grabbed Lin Xiulan, whose face was flushed, and stared at Lin Xiumei with a half-smile.

"You've taken over the entire Hongshitun village?"

"Of course!" Lin Xiumei thought he was scared, and laughed even more wildly.

"I'll take anything from the mountains! I'll pay more than you! And I'll be much more generous!"

Lu Qingshan turned and left.

"Let's go, Xiulan, Erniu."

"Huh?" Li Erniu and Lin Xiumei were both stunned.

What kind of reaction is that? Shouldn't it be either furious or begging for mercy in a humble voice?

"Let's go, don't stay here watching the dogs bark."

Lu Qingshan shooed away a fly.

Lin Xiumei's face flushed instantly, feeling as if her powerful punch had landed on cotton.

"Lu Qingshan! Stop right there! What kind of attitude is this! You've lost!" she screamed.

Lu Qingshan didn't stop walking, but left behind a light, casual remark.

"Take your time collecting them, don't forget anything."

As soon as Lin Xiulan stepped into Li Erniu's empty courtyard, she could no longer hold back.

She grabbed Lu Qingshan's arm, her voice filled with undisguised anxiety and fear.

"Qingshan, what are we going to do? We've already signed the supply contract in the provincial capital. If we can't deliver the first batch of goods, we'll have to pay a penalty of 20,000 yuan!"

Twenty thousand yuan!

In this era, it is an astronomical figure that can crush a person to pieces.

Lin Xiulan's eyes reddened with anxiety.

"We don't have that much money on hand. If we breach the contract, we're completely finished! How about we list the house first? We still have about ten thousand yuan left, I'll think of something else..."

Li Erniu, who was already filled with guilt, felt as if his spine had been ripped out when he heard the number 20,000. He slumped to the ground in despair.

"Twenty thousand..."

Li Erniu gripped his hair tightly with both hands, his eyes glazed over, completely at a loss.

"How could this happen... It's all my fault. I failed to guard the purchasing point. I'm useless! Brother Qingshan, Sister-in-law Xiulan, what are we going to do? Where are we going to get 20,000 yuan?"

The atmosphere in the courtyard instantly became extremely oppressive, and a sense of despair permeated the air.

Lu Qingshan looked at his wife, who was on the verge of tears, and then at Li Erniu, who was sprawled on the ground.

"Since I dared to sign a contract worth 20,000 yuan, I had no intention of losing money."

Lu Qingshan's voice remained steady, even carrying a reassuring certainty.

He walked over to Li Erniu and helped him up: "Get up, you're a grown man, what kind of appearance is this, lying on the ground like this?"

His gaze drifted towards the bustling Lin family residence outside the courtyard wall, a cold and unrestrained smile curving his lips.

"What's wrong with giving Hongshitun, a mere village, to Lin Xiumei?"

Lu Qingshan's eyes gleamed with ambition, a sharpness that Li Erniu and Lin Xiulan had never seen before.

"She thought she'd stolen my business, that she'd snatched a gold nugget, but it was just a tiny sesame seed. What I wanted was a wide net, the whole county, even all the distribution channels for mountain products here!"

He turned his head, looked at the two dumbfounded people, and continued.

"I just saw it. The basket of dried mushrooms that Wang Liuzi delivered was all moldy at the bottom, covered in green mildew. Lin Xiumei's receiving staff accepted it without even looking at it. The first rule for food factories is to inspect goods. If even one item in a batch is bad, the whole batch has to be returned, and they might even be fined."

"She'll take anything to grab business. The more she takes, the faster she'll die. I've dealt with Yu Bo before, and he would never risk his job for Lin Xiumei."

"I'll see what she uses to pay for the goods then, since she usually gives receipts when she receives them."

Lu Qingshan gave a clear and logical analysis, and then explained his plans:

"As for our contract, the output of Hongshitun is not enough to satisfy the appetite of the provincial capital. Hongshitun is too small and too mixed; it simply cannot accommodate us."

"Erniu, tomorrow you're coming with me to Baihuatun and the neighboring Heitugou. The forests there are denser, the produce is plentiful, and the people are honest. We'll just go and lease the produce from those villages."

Lu Qingshan patted Li Erniu on the shoulder, his voice deep yet powerful: "When Lin Xiumei goes bankrupt due to the food factory's rejections, the people of Hongshitun will naturally come begging to us. At that time, we'll be the ones to set the rules."

Sunlight streamed through the courtyard wall, illuminating Lu Qingshan's tall and straight figure.

Lin Xiulan stared blankly at Lu Qingshan, her previously anxious heart miraculously settling back into place. Li Erniu, on the other hand, wiped the cold sweat from his face, feeling his blood begin to boil again.