Chapter 13: Slap in the Face!

"Everyone, don't be fooled. Today he just went out in the sun all day. Xia Liu simply took the money for the transport and ran away!" Zhang Tie was relentless; he was determined to drag Xia Liu down and make sure he could never recover.

Apart from the villagers who went picking on the first day, the others more or less distrusted Xia Liu.

They didn't know how much Kaempferia galanga could sell for, but Xia Liu offering fifteen yuan per kilogram definitely meant it was valuable. If he had sold the items and fled with the money, no one would have known.

Hearing Zhang Tie say this, Zhang Xiaoxue was indignant. She bravely confronted Zhang Tie for the first time, leading several villagers inside the house to check. The Kaempferia galanga harvested in the past two days was all stockpiled inside, shattering the claim that Xia Liu had run away with the money.

Just as Zhang Tie was scheming to further smear Xia Liu, a voice broke the silence, "Zhang Tie, who told you I had run off with the money? If you don't want everyone to make money, just say it directly and stop playing these petty tricks."

"Look, Xia Liu has come back!"

"Indeed he has!"

...

Seeing Xia Liu return, the villagers were all excited. They all trusted Xia Liu; had it not been for Zhang Tie stirring things up, they wouldn't have doubted him.

Zhang Tie's face turned an ashen color, he knew his scheme had been exposed, but since Xia Liu hadn't shown any money, he couldn't admit defeat just yet.

"Brother Xia Liu, you've finally come back..." Zhang Xiaoxue rushed into Xia Liu's arms, her voice filled with tears. She had been extremely scared just a moment ago; if Xia Liu had returned any later, she didn't know what she would have done.

Xia Liu patted the girl on the shoulder, letting Zhang Qing take care of her for a moment, then he took out the ten thousand yuan he obtained today: "I'm sorry for the worry. I ran into an acquaintance while withdrawing the money, which is why I was late in returning."

Seeing the bundle of red Huaxia currency, the villagers all grew thirsty for it; Xia Liu had truly come back with the money!

They felt fortunate for their choice; if they hadn't gone to pick today, they would have lost a lot.

Zhang Tie's face turned utterly dark. While the villagers were excited, he took the chance to slip away.

Xia Liu saw Zhang Tie leave but didn't stop him. Today was just the beginning; he would make sure Zhang Tie regretted his actions profoundly in the future!

To convince the villagers of his sincerity, Xia Liu had Zhang Xiaoxue read out the names and amounts registered in the notebook, letting each person come up to collect their money as their name was called.

Within ten minutes, all the villagers present received their unimaginable earnings, stirring up a frenzy of celebration.

"I'm so grateful to Xia Liu!"

"Ha ha, I never thought I, Old Li, could make one hundred and fifty yuan in a day."

"Honestly, following Xia Liu, we're definitely going to earn more in the future!"

Looking at the joyful crowd, Xia Liu touched his nose, "Everyone, go home and rest early. We still have picking to do tomorrow. Don't worry about the money; as long as we can ship the goods and meet the quality demands, even ten thousand a day, I can handle it for everyone!"

"Ha ha ha, we all believe in you. Let's go, folks, and head to bed. Tomorrow, we'll get up early and hit a big one!"

As the crowd dispersed, Xia Liu and Zhang Xiaoxue calculated the money they had distributed; it was just over a thousand yuan, mostly to those who had just started picking today. There were also some too embarrassed to collect their share, saying they'd gather three days' worth before claiming it, hoping to get a bit more then.

Xia Liu was very pleased with this, as everyone had trusted him after all.

In the house, Xia Liu handed five hundred yuan to Zhang Qing.

"Ah, why are you giving me so much money?" Zhang Qing was startled.

"Sister-in-law, this is your wage, please don't be polite."

"No way, this is too much, I only picked nineteen kilograms in two days."

"Sister-in-law, don't be polite with me, I earn more than everyone else, don't refuse me." Xia Liu smiled brightly, for he had seen everything Zhang Qing had done; she always believed in herself and protected Zhang Xiaoxue, and that was worthy of recompense.

"Sister-in-law Zhang, don't be shy, Brother Xia Liu has a lot of money." Zhang Xiaoxue grabbed the money and stuffed it into Zhang Qing's pocket, knowing Zhang Qing's personality, it was the only way to make her unable to refuse.

In the end, Zhang Qing could only awkwardly accept it, as she really was short of money recently, and those five hundred Huaxia currency were incredibly precious to her.

As it was getting late, Xia Liu took on the role of protector once again.

Walking alongside Zhang Qing, Xia Liu always felt uneasy.

"Xia Liu, thank you, Sister-in-law can't repay you with much, the only thing worthwhile is just..."

"Sister-in-law, don't say that, we're all from Osmanthus Village, I'll definitely help if there's trouble. It's getting late, you should rest early." After saying this, Xia Liu bolted off as fast as he could; he feared he might lose control and take advantage of Zhang Qing.

Watching his hasty departure, Zhang Qing bitterly smiled, "Definitely help in trouble? Then why run off so fast? I'm in trouble now..."

Muttering to herself, she turned her gaze toward the vegetable garden, where a few eggplants were growing...

"Xiaoxue, I'll install a light tomorrow, then you can come bathe by yourself later on." As he guarded outside the open-air bath, listening to the sound of the water, Xia Liu said bitterly.

"Brother Xia Liu, I'm scared when you're not outside," Zhang Xiaoxue pouted as she peeked her head out from inside.

"Pfft!" Xia Liu was about to bleed internally, for when Zhang Xiaoxue peeked her head out, the curtain didn't cover everything, and he caught a glimpse of white.

Almost instantaneously, he became restless, but after struggling to calm himself, he forced a smile and nodded, telling Zhang Xiaoxue to continue while he stood guard outside.

He was about to go crazy, really about to lose his mind. If this continued, that thing was going to explode.

He decided that once he earned enough money, he must build a house and install a bathroom inside the room.

Early the next morning, before Xia Liu had time to practice his punches, he was astounded by the villagers that had already arrived.

The day before, he had learned that nineteen villagers had gone picking, but that morning, forty to fifty villagers showed up!

Zhang Xiaoxue, who had risen early, was also shocked by the crowd, but she noticed in the crowd that some villager's families had brought two or three people.

Xia Liu's requirement was that only one person per family could go, eventually choosing thirty-five people.

Xia Liu had his reasons for this decision. If all the villagers went, those families with fewer people would certainly feel discontented, which would affect the quality of the harvest and make the effort useless.

For those villagers who did not come, Xia Liu knew a bit about them; they all supported Zhang Tie.

In Osmanthus Village, Xia Liu's only target was Zhang Tie, and in the later stages, those people would surely come over, so he wasn't worried about any negative impact.

Although there was a large plot of Atractylodes, it would eventually be picked clean. Xia Liu couldn't just wait around; he needed to find a new path to ensure the village could develop sustainably.

He set his sights on the nearest mountain top to the village; that was currently the best site for development.