A Bunch of Fools

Several households saw Mrs. Tang’s indifferent expression and grew even more anxious. One woman grabbed Mrs. Tang’s collar: "What are you saying? We’re just keeping an eye on those few dozen coins. So much money, aren’t you jealous?"

"I really don’t care about that little money!" Mrs. Tang slapped the woman’s hand away, proudly saying, "You broke the agreement yourselves; no one held a knife to your neck. Now you come looking for me to explain? No way! I’ll be honest with you, I never planned to grow those off-season vegetables. Digging in the dirt for a living gets you nowhere, one by one!"

"What? You’re not planting vegetables!?" The woman’s eyes widened in shock. Several households, now anxious, surrounded Mrs. Tang: "Fine, if you don’t want that little money and refuse to plant, then teach us your method. We’ll go back and plant it ourselves!"

"Teach you the method? Sure, but my method is valuable. I won’t just give it away." Mrs. Tang held out a hand, fingers rubbing together: "No free stuff. Either you pay up, or get lost and stop bothering me."

Those households were annoyed at Mrs. Tang’s shameless attitude, but since she held the secret to planting, they dared not offend her.

The men gathered and grumbled regretfully: "We shouldn’t have listened to Mrs. Tang! Didn’t expect she’d be like this!"

The woman added, "Exactly. If we had stayed with Su Li, we wouldn’t have so much trouble! So, what do you think? Should we pay Mrs. Tang for her planting method?"

Everyone’s faces darkened. If they didn’t buy it, their losses would be huge. But if they did... sigh, they’d have to spend money. It was truly frustrating.

"How much do you want, Mrs. Tang?" The man asked after discussing with the others, planning to split the cost.

"Five hundred coins." Mrs. Tang held out her hand.

"Lower it a bit, five hundred is too much!" The man gritted his teeth.

Mrs. Tang rolled her eyes: "Five hundred, not a single coin less. If you don’t pay, I won’t tell. Fine, fine, I’m leaving."

After saying that, Mrs. Tang left. Now that she had money, she didn’t care about the five hundred coins at all, feeling quite confident and fearless.

The households immediately panicked and blocked Mrs. Tang. One family contributed a hundred coins, pooling together five hundred coins and handing it to Mrs. Tang.

Mrs. Tang never expected these money-loving families to actually give her the money. Her eyes gleamed as she thought, "Money falling from the sky, why not take it?"

Mrs. Tang quickly stuffed the money into her bosom, guarding it with both hands. The households anxiously said, "We’ve pooled the money for you now. You should tell us how to grow those off-season vegetables like Su Li’s, right?"

Mrs. Tang chuckled, stood by the door, and closed half of the gate, only showing her head. She smiled brightly and said, "Alright, I’ll tell you how to grow it, listen carefully! First, build a house on the field, then scatter seeds on the soil inside the house. For the rest, just imitate the grass shelters in Su Li’s fields. That’s about it. Okay, I’m leaving now!"

After saying that, Mrs. Tang slammed the door shut, locked it, and covered her mouth to giggle.

Outside, the households were dumbfounded. What kind of method was that? So simple, it was like she hadn’t said anything. After a while, they realized they’d been tricked by Mrs. Tang!

"Mrs. Tang, you shameless woman, come out here! I’ll beat you to death!" Outside, the man angrily pounded on the door.

Mrs. Tang, fearless inside the courtyard, said, "You bunch of dumb donkeys, you believe whatever I say. How can you be so brainless! Consider the five hundred coins a lesson for your dumb heads. Tsk tsk, I even charged you too little. If I’d known, I’d have charged you eight hundred coins to teach you a good lesson!"