The Wealthy Eldest Sister Rules Supreme

“What’s going on that the village chief is calling us in the middle of the day?”

People gathered together and started discussing sotto voce.

“I don’t know. Calling us at this time, it should be something important.”

“I heard that someone in a village by Cuiwei Lake had been pretending to be a god to cheat people out of their money a few days ago. It’s right after the wheat harvest and a lot of people have just sold their grains; they have money on them. This could well be the time when fraudsters are out.”

“It might be possible, but speaking of pretending to be spirits, didn’t Zhuang Qingning also do something similar at the entrance of her shop? Does that count as pretending to be spirits?”

“How can it count? What she did is different. She only acted because someone was playing tricks of false spirits in her shop. I heard they were even asking her for money. If she didn’t pay, they would harm her shop. So she had no choice but to do what she did. Plus, she didn’t deceive others for money. That can’t be counted as pretending to be spirits.”

“You’re right. It would be ludicrous if people slap you and you don’t retaliate. People will push until you’re gone. Where can it happen?”

“Exactly, it can’t be counted as.”

“Alright, stop speculating on this. The village chief may not even talk about this. I see some sacks next to the chief, I wonder what’s in them. Maybe someone has come to buy our wheat.”

“Is it possible that they’re sending out something for free, without any payment?”

“Hehehe, are you still in a dream, this late in the morning?”

“Right, where in the world does pie fall from the sky? Even if it does, you might not be faster than a dog, dreaming of good fortunes.”

Even though people gathered together and started to chat informally, it was still an exuberant scene under the tung tree.

At this moment, Zhuang Qingning was also surrounded by some older women who were expressing their care to her.

“Zhuang Qingning seems to have grown taller recently, almost as tall as me now.”

“Isn’t that true? With her height and good looks, she won’t have any trouble getting married.”

“Don’t tease Zhuang Qingning about that, she is still young! Even a few years later will still be fine. Moreover, she has established her own household. She can attract a son-in-law in future, which requires more scrutiny. She is capable of making her own decisions, you all don’t interfere and make her uncomfortable.”

“We’re just joking, Zhuang Qingning, don’t take it seriously…”

The current scene reminded Zhuang Qingning of the casual exchanges during the New Year’s in her previous life, when she would be surrounded by her relatives. She laughed and responded well and didn’t seem to be impatient at all.

The old women found Zhuang Qingning very amicable and enjoyed chatting with her, so their conversations started to heat up.

Seeing that almost everyone was here, Zhuang Jingye cleared his throat and said, “Let’s all calm down, stop chatting idly, and discuss something serious.”

When Zhuang Jingye mentioned that he had something serious to discuss, those who had been chatting instantly stopped their idle talks and focused their attention on Zhuang Jingye, who was standing on a stool.

“Now it’s time for fall planting. I know all of you are planning to plant more beans because of Zhuang Qingning’s tofu making. You think that, by doing so, you can sell more beans and earn more money. Now, I have some bean seeds here, which were delivered by a merchant from Lu. They appear large and round, and it’s said that these beans they will grow strong with deep roots and give a good yield.”

“After hearing about this, I thought if we could use these good seeds during our fall planting, we might be able to achieve a good harvest and everyone can make more money during the fall, That would be nice, right? So, I asked them to bring back some seeds.”

“The seeds are not expensive, similar to the usual bean seeds here. If you exchange two catties of beans for one catty of seeds, or one coin per catty if you pay in cash. Since these seeds are new, if you are not sure right now, you can take the seeds first and give them back after the harvest. At that time, you can return them at a rate of two catties of soybeans for one catty of seeds.”

“As far as I know, both the Yonghe family and the Sifu family have decided to plant these seeds. Other families who are willing to use these seeds, please come to me, tell me the amount you need, and I’ll write it down. Then, you can take your seeds and go. ”

As soon as Zhuang Jingye finished his words, people who had been staring and listening to him fell silent for a moment, then started to talk with the people next to them.

After some discussions, someone shouted, “Uncle, what if the beans don’t turn out as good as you said? We need to take a look first.”

“That’s fine.” Zhuang Jingye nodded, “Just come and see them, all these sacks are full of seeds. Let’s see if they’re big and round. Each of them seems far better than the usual beans we have.”

Upon hearing Zhuang Jingye’s words, many people stepped forward and took a handful of beans to check it out.

“It looks good and the price is also reasonable.”

“Not only reasonable, but also the seeds can be used first and paid later. In any case, we won’t lose anything.” Zhuang Jingye laughed.

“But the seeds are larger, what if they don’t grow well after planting them?” someone questioned again.

“Exactly, look at the radishes. Even if the top part of the radish grows well, the radish might not grow well. Likewise, some tops may not grow well, but the radishes turn out to be big and good. If this bean seed is big, but doesn’t grow well, then what can we do?”

“That’s easy.” Zhuang Jingye explained, “I’ll give each of you a small portion of these seeds. You can plant them in your courtyards along with your regular beans and watch which one sprouts first, how many sprouts, how well the seedlings grow, isn’t that clear enough?”

“But if you’re adamant that just because the seedling grows well doesn’t mean it will bear more beans. I have no counter for that. Just because this seed grows well, how could you make sure your own beans would definitely bear more beans?”

“Yes there might be cases when bad bamboo shoots grow into good bamboos, or good bamboo shoots grow into bad bamboos, but that’s an exception rather than a general rule. Usually, good seeds should grow well.”

“As for this, well, I wanted to get some good beans so that everyone in our village could earn more money. It would bring about glory to me as the village chief, that’s why I’m willing to coordinate this thing. But it’s only about my reputation, if you can earn more due to this, it would make me proud. And if everything goes as before, I would be the same as before. It wouldn’t harm my reputation, but for you, it’s all about making a real profit. So, I’ll leave it up to you to decide.”