Sabotaging Our Business
Su San Yun and his son Su Shi Rong carried their shoulder poles and walked one after another.
Old Zhou Liu stroked his chin, thinking to himself that the father and son seemed unaware of the extra forty jin of vegetables. So, just as the mistress of the estate suspected, was Sun Shi behind this mischief?
The sky gradually brightened. Most villagers who came to pick vegetables had taken all they needed. The hired workers in the fields had mostly dispersed, leaving only one or two near the vegetable pickup spot.
Old Zhou Liu didn't patrol the fields as usual but instead stood with two hired workers, seemingly waiting for something.
After a while, sure enough, Sun Shi arrived, bringing a man along.
"Who is that man? He looks unfamiliar," Old Zhou Liu asked one of the hired workers nearby.
The hired worker replied, "Oh, that's Sun Shi's younger brother from the neighboring village. Since Sun Shi's family is short on labor, her brother came to help."
Sun Shi brought her brother Sun Ming to the field and took away another forty jin of vegetables.
Old Zhou Liu watched the whole time without saying a word. After Sun Shi left, he immediately went home and reported the morning's events to Su Li.
After hearing the report, Su Li had a general idea and just needed confirmation. He summoned Qing Mu and several servants and gave them instructions.
In Qingmiao Town, the Hua couple exhaled warm breath in the cold wind, warmed their hands, and then knocked on a household's door.
A young daughter-in-law opened the door, saw the Hua couple, and smiled, saying, "Oh, you're delivering vegetables so early? We still want some pickled vegetables; our old lady is craving the ones you make, saying they're delicious!"
Aunt Hua smiled warmly, hurriedly lifting the straw mat covering the vegetable basket and said, "We have plenty of pickled vegetables! Look, today's vegetables are fresh and crisp. Tell us how much you want, and we'll weigh it for you."
The young daughter-in-law looked at the neatly arranged, clean, and fresh green vegetables and thought for a moment: "Then I'll take a jin of green vegetables, two garlic sprouts, and a tender cabbage."
Aunt Hua smiled with her eyes squinting and quickly called Uncle Hua to get the scale and weigh the vegetables.
Just as the scale was taken out, Sun Shi and her brother Sun Ming hurried over, pushing the Hua couple aside.
Sun Shi hurriedly said to Sun Ming, "Little brother, one jin of green vegetables, two garlic sprouts, and one tender cabbage. Quickly weigh them for the lady!"
Sun Ming nervously grabbed the scale and hurried to weigh the vegetables.
The young daughter-in-law looked puzzled and said, "Hey, I just agreed to buy vegetables from Aunt Hua."
Sun Shi, lowering her head, rummaged through her messy vegetable basket, pulled out a tender cabbage, and handed it to Sun Ming. She said to the young daughter-in-law, "Oh, it's all the same! Our vegetables and theirs come from the same field. Buying from either is the same."
But the young daughter-in-law looked at Sun Shi's basket, which was a mess. The basket was only thinly covered with a worn cloth, looking dirty and shabby, with many vegetable leaves frostbitten.
Looking at Aunt Hua's vegetables, they were neatly stacked layer by layer. The dirt was wiped off, the basket was lined with thick dry straw for frost protection, and covered with a thick straw mat. The vegetables were fresh and not frozen at all.
The young daughter-in-law was shrewd and immediately waved Sun Shi off, saying, "Your vegetables aren't good; I don't want them. I'll take Aunt Hua's vegetables, and I want to buy her pickled vegetables too."
Sun Shi immediately pulled a long face, grabbed Aunt Hua's arm aside, and whispered angrily, "What are you two doing? Didn't you agree to sell vegetables from your plot to our family? Why are you coming to ruin our business?"