169 The Sinner in the Village
In the end, Bai Wutong decided to brew bayberry, plum, lychee, melon, and yellow peach-flavored phoenix feather wine.
She sent someone to find Sheng Huaixuan and handed him the fruit list she needed.
When Sheng Huaixuan saw that Bai Wutong was going to make so many flavors of Phoenix Feather Wine, he was shocked. In the blink of an eye, his face was filled with pleasant surprise.
Bai Wutong said, “You can go and collect the fruits now.”
Sheng Huaixuan nodded. “Okay.”
Yu Suisheng was in charge of collecting the fruits. The fresher the fruits, the better. The village closest to Youjia Village became the first choice for purchasing fruits.
Lin Chenghai had schemed against Bai Wutong previously. Yu Suisheng listened to Sheng Huaixuan’s instructions and deliberately avoided their village.
Yu Suisheng was very efficient. In a day, he had collected hundreds of kilograms of various fruits in the entire Woqian Town.
With the previous experience in brewing wine, this time, it was even more orderly.
The people who were hired to brew the wine washed the fruit, peeled the skin, removed the core, and moved the jars… Everyone was busy. Thinking of the silver taels they would receive in the future, everyone was happy again.
There was a huge commotion in Youjia Village. More than a dozen carriages came in and out every day, and many wine jars were constantly being transported over.
Lin Chenghai asked around and learned that Bai Wutong and the others were brewing wine again.
Most of the dozen or so carriages that entered and left contained purchased fruits.
Lin Chenghai asked if it was Village Chief Luo from the neighboring village.
Village Chief Luo asked despite knowing the answer, “I remember that your village also has many plums, lychee trees, and bayberry trees. You’re so close to them, so why didn’t they go to your village to buy fruits?”
Lin Chenghai’s face turned green at his question.
He must have offended Bai Wutong, who refused to go to their village to purchase fruits.
Seeing his expression, Village Chief Luo was secretly pleased. He deliberately said, “Master Yu, who purchased fruits from us, is really generous. He gave us five copper coins for a catty of bayberries, three copper coins for a catty of plums, and six copper coins for a catty of lychees! Our village has five fruit trees and we exchanged for nearly three taels of silver!”
A big plum tree could bear a few hundred catties. Three copper coins per catty could earn them one tael of silver.
Lin Chenghai’s heart ached when he thought of the plums that had fallen to the ground and could only be fed to pigs.
Apart from the plum tree, because he liked to eat lychees, he also planted three lychee trees. The trees were not old. Even if the yield was not high, six copper coins a catty meant that he could earn at least two to three taels of silver!
Thinking of this, Lin Chenghai wanted to die.
If the villagers found out that Bai Wutong was purchasing fruits but did not go to their village, they would definitely beat him up for losing such a huge windfall.
Lin Chenghai looked at Village Chief Luo and suddenly had an idea. He said to him, “My family has fruits. Help me sell to them. How about we split the money?”
Compared to not having a penny, it was good to get half.
Lin Chenghai thought that Village Chief Luo would definitely agree to let him earn half of the money for nothing. Unexpectedly, Village Chief Luo waved his hand and said with a helpless expression, “Little brother, it’s not that I don’t want to help you, but Master Yu has already said that he definitely won’t accept the fruits from your village. If I do this and they find out and refuse to accept the fruits from our village, the villagers won’t be able to earn money. Then I’ll be a sinner.”
Lin Chenghai did not expect Bai Wutong to be so ruthless. He hated this b*tch to death. Thinking that the villagers might know about this at any time, if Village Chief Luo did not agree, he could only beg another village chief.
For the sake of money, there should always be someone who would agree to help them sell fruits.
Unexpectedly, as promised, none of the village chiefs were willing to agree. They all found some kind of excuses to reject him.
Lin Chenghai gritted his teeth, his face pale. Could it be that he could only beg Bai Wutong?
He returned to the village in a daze. The sun was almost setting.
When he saw the villagers blocking the fork in the road, carrying baskets on their backs, his heart skipped a beat when he saw the fruits inside.
The villagers must have known.
At that moment, the sound of wheels turning kept coming.
The villagers of the Lintian Village hurriedly raised their fruits and came to the mule cart. They kept shouting, “Master, look at our fruits. We just picked them. There’s still dew on them.”
Merchants were not allowed to take carriages or sedan chairs. Yu Suisheng could only take the mule carriage.
The villager of Lintian Village shouted with all his might, “Master, our plum is the largest in Woqian Town. It’s crunchy and sweet!”
“Master! Not only is the color of our lychees good, but the texture is also tender and smooth. Several families in town specially came to buy them!”
“Master, look at how big my bayberry is. You’ll know when you eat it. It definitely will be worth your money!”
In the mule cart, Yu Suisheng waved his hand with a cold expression. “Enter the village. Don’t waste time here.”
The coachman waved his horsewhip, but the villagers of the Lintian Village refused to move aside. They begged, “Master, please do us a favor and buy our fruits! Half the price is fine!”
When Yu Suisheng heard their words, he said coldly, “Pull them apart.”
The guards stepped forward and pulled the villagers who were blocking the way to the side.
They watched as the mule cart drove away. A villager shouted unhappily, “Master Yu, what’s wrong with the fruits in our village? Why don’t you want them?!”
Suddenly, the mule cart stopped.
Everyone thought that Yu Suisheng was moved by them and rushed forward excitedly.
The curtain of the car window was lifted, and Yu Suisheng’s piercing voice sounded. “Previously, you forced Madam Bai to buy fruits, and Madam Bai kindly bought all the fruits. After that, you guys took advantage of the situation and got the children to block the entrance of the village to force Madam Bai to pay. Why didn’t you think of today?”
As soon as he said this, the villagers of Lintian Village came to a realization.
It turned out that it was because they had offended Madam Bai that Yu Suisheng refused to accept their fruits.
Immediately, someone shouted, “This has nothing to do with us. It was all Lin Chenghai’s idea!”
However, Yu Suisheng did not respond to them at all. The villagers of Lintian Village could only watch as the entire convoy entered Youjia Village.
When the villagers of Lintian Village looked at the fruits in the basket, they recovered from their disappointment and immediately targeted Lin Chenghai.
If not for Lin Chenghai, they would have sold these fruits long ago.
The entire village might not be able to earn a tael of silver for a few years. Now, they could only watch as the silver slipped away from their hands. How could they not be angry?
...
In order to appease the public anger, the elder who had pushed Lin Chenghai to the position of village chief for his own interests made a prompt decision to remove Lin Chenghai from the position of village chief.
This way, there was hope for Bai Wutong to forgive their village and let the villagers sell their fruits.
Lin Chenghai had only been the village chief for less than a year. If he was deposed, he would be a huge joke. He said to the leader of the Lin family, “I’ll make them agree to take our fruits! Give me another chance! Elder!”
The elders looked at each other. After a discussion, Elder Lin said, “Then I’ll give you another chance. But if you can’t convince Madam Bai to accept the fruit tomorrow, you’ll be the first one to go to the labor camp this year!”
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