Mo Sang – CH 222

Chapter 222. The Woman Is Fierce

Early the next morning, Li Sangrou, along with Da Chang, Meng Yanqing, and several others, left the city for a village outside Yangwu County.

Da Chang and Meng Yanqing led twenty or thirty carts, hauling silk to the silk shop, while Li Sangrou went to see Blind Mi, Lin Sa, and the cotton.

Upon entering the village, Da Chang and Meng Yanqing drove the carts straight to the silk warehouse. Li Sangrou jumped off a cart and headed towards the cotton field, where the cotton bolls were already a sea of ​​white.

In the cotton field, several plump, fierce-looking hens and roosters strutted around with their heads held high. Li Sangrou stared at a plump rooster, squatted down, picked up a small stone, and was about to throw it when a voice behind her shouted, “What are you doing!”

Li Sangrou quickly threw down the stone and stood up. “Sister Lin.”

“This rooster is the strongest. We are keeping it for breeding. If I waited any longer, these chickens would be chicken soup,” Lin Sa said, a smirk playing on her lips as she glanced sideways at Li Sangrou.

“This rooster is delicious braised. The cotton is growing well,” Li Sangrou changed the subject.

“This is the third batch,” Lin Sa said, touching a cotton boll. “Senior Sister Wang said to wait a few more days to see how it grows. The first batch has already been harvested. It rained the other day, so we picked it in the rain. Luckily, there were not many. Senior Sister is over there; she’s picking the second batch today.”

“The first and second batches—how were they divided?” Li Sangrou followed Lin Sa along the edge of the field.

“The gardener from Mizhou said he sows seeds every year after the first month of the lunar calendar, but he cannot say for sure whether it is good or not.

Senior Sister did not know when the best time to sow was, so she divided the seeds into nine portions. Starting after the first month, she sows one portion every ten days, for a total of nine batches. It seems the third and fourth batches have sprouted the most and are growing the best,” Lin Sa said, gesturing back and forth.

Li Sangrou hummed in agreement.

She had never paid attention to farming before, nor had she ever grown flowers or grass. She had absolutely no recollection of when cotton was planted or harvested.

Wang Jin’s method sounded very scientific!

In the long, narrow field ahead, seven or eight young men and women were carrying cotton bolls; some were carrying small baskets, others large baskets, and one was carrying a steelyard balance.

Wang Jin stood in the middle, her face serious. She carefully examined the cotton bolls, then gently squeezed them, picked them, and examined them again. Two young men in their twenties beside her held simple pen and ink holders, taking notes.

Li Sangrou craned her neck to look.

“Big…” Lin Sa did not finish the word “big” before Wang Jin raised her hand to stop her.

Li Sangrou pulled Lin Sa back two steps, watching Wang Jin carefully inspect the cotton plants, count the cotton bolls, and then personally pick each one, examining and smelling them closely before placing them in a small basket, weighing them, removing the husks, weighing them again, removing the seeds, weighing them again, and counting the seeds once more.

Li Sangrou watched with admiration, then turned and headed towards the farm.

“Hey, were you not here to see the cotton?” Lin Sa, seeing Li Sangrou turn to leave, quickly caught up and asked curiously.

“I’ve already seen it. I just wanted to see what it looked like. Those little kids, are they from your mountain? How many chickens do you raise?” Li Sangrou asked as they walked.

“Yes, they are all Senior Sister Wang’s apprentices. They came after the New Year, more than a dozen. Why are you asking about chickens? It is not time for eating chicken now,” Lin Sa said, following Li Sangrou into the farm.

“Huh? There’s a time for eating chicken? What’s your custom? Is the chicken eaten at noon or in the evening?” Li Sangrou asked curiously.

“It’s not noon or evening; I almost forgot. This is your estate; eat whenever you want.” Lin Sa waved her hand.

“Where’s Blind Mi?” Li Sangrou looked around and changed the subject.

“He’s watching people build houses.” Lin Sa pointed to the edge of the estate.

About twenty or thirty paces from the construction site, under a large locust tree with dense shade, a tea stove, tea table, and tea set were neatly arranged. Blind Mi sat in a large armchair, legs crossed, sipping tea and humming a little tune.

“Can you see that construction site from here?” Li Sangrou stood behind Blind Mi and peeked out.

“Oh! You are back. When did you get back? Where did you come from?” Blind Mi did not stand up but turned around and asked Li Sangrou.

“Yangzhou,” Li Sangrou answered casually, pulled up a chair, sat down at the tea table, and brewed tea herself.

Blind Mi loved tea soup and also enjoyed making tea with spices; she did not like bitter tea soup.

“Yangzhou? You went to Jiangzhou City to trade silk and brought Jiangzhou City back? Who did you get involved with? Yang Wen is dead,” Blind Mi sized up Li Sangrou.

“What kind of house is this? It is so tall and long,” Li Sangrou said, pointing to the construction site not far away.

“For weaving. Why did you come back from Yangzhou? What were you doing in Yangzhou?” Blind Mi asked again.

“Spinning and weaving, I will do it all in Yangzhou from now on.

I transferred the estates and fields outside Yangzhou City to a wealthy merchant surnamed Meng.

This Lady Meng is from Huating County. Her family has run weaving workshops for generations. She knows everything about weaving and spinning. Entrusting it to her will be much more efficient than doing it ourselves.” Li Sangrou brewed some tea and poured a cup for Lin Sa.

“Meng!” Blind Mi shouted suddenly, his eyes narrowing as he glanced at Li Sangrou. After a moment, he let out a dry laugh. “I knew it!”

“What did you say?” Lin Sa leaned forward, unable to resist asking.

“She ran off with someone’s wife,” Blind Mi chuckled.

“You ran off with Lady Meng?” This time, Lin Sa reacted quickly.

“Lady Meng is very good at business, a very straightforward person. She knows how to eat, drink, and have fun. You two will definitely get along well. Go visit her in Yangzhou sometime.

Also, unlike me, she does not kill people with a single move. She likes to slowly grind people down, quite like you. You two will definitely get along well on this topic.” Li Sangrou leaned back in her chair, smiling at Lin Sa.

“When did I ever torture someone to death? I never kill or torture people; at most, I will beat them up.

What you are saying is, she’s clearly just like you. You kill openly; she kills covertly,” Lin Sa retorted.

Blind Mi slapped the armrest of his chair and laughed heartily, “I told you, my Senior Sister Lin is a discerning person; she can see right through people.

Senior Sister’s words are well said.”

“I think Sister Wang’s cotton is growing quite well.” Li Sangrou changed the subject.

“Growing it like that, it is quite good,” Blind Mi chuckled sneeringly.

“She and her dozen or so apprentices are always in the field, in such a tiny place, barely the size of a palm. They are out in the fields before dawn and working until dark. I watched them all; every single cotton leaf, every single day! They checked it at least three times.

Watering is done by hand, one plant at a time, and fertilizing is done with gusto. Those insects, they do not even wait for the plants to grow; if they land on her cotton plants to rest, she sees them and crushes them. How could it not be good if it is planted like that?

Whether it is truly good or just a facade, we will only know when we are in the fields, relying on the weather,” said Blind Mi, pursing his lips.

Lin Sa glanced at him sideways; if it were not for Li Sangrou standing between them, she probably would have spat at him.

“No matter how carefully she’s tended it, this is the first time she’s planted it in the ground, not in a garden.

I heard that in a garden, every plant that’s planted there survives. And now, it seems like almost every plant that’s planted there survives. Looks like this is a shrewd plant.” Li Sangrou swung her legs, turning her head to look at the surrounding cotton fields.

“That’s true. They are quite productive.” Blind Mi stretched his legs comfortably. “How much did you make on this silk trade?”

“Why do you ask?” Li Sangrou glanced at Blind Mi.

“Brother Wu said many more people are begging for money on the back mountain than in previous years, all sorts of random things, like that ‘infertility-related thing’ you mentioned.” Blind Mi looked at Li Sangrou, his face saying, “It’s all your fault.”

“I do not have any money, but I can give your Brother Wu some pointers.

Take all that random stuff from your mountain to Yangzhou City, find Lady Meng, and see if you can sell it to her. She’s truly wealthy; her ancestors for at least three generations were all prominent merchants in Jiangnan, each one a master at making money, with countless silver vaults in their family.” Li Sangrou smiled.

“She’d buy it?” Blind Mi frowned.

“A wealthy merchant, first and foremost, has a good eye. If she does not buy, it means your stuff is bad.

Also, wealthy merchants are very particular about one thing in business: they do not do business that will leave no lasting legacy. Of all the things on your mountain, which are valuable, which are not, and how much are they worth? Heh.”

Li Sangrou’s lips curled down into a V-shape.

“Based on your own asking prices, you’d be selling jade for a pittance, treating pickled vegetable lumps like treasures. Tell your Senior Brother Wu not to ask for a price; let her decide.”

Blind Mi snorted.

“What valuable things are there on the mountain?” Lin Sa listened intently, frowning in thought, then sighed.

Li Sangrou and Blind Mi pretended not to hear.

At noon, Wang Jin was too busy to return to the estate for lunch. It seemed Blind Mi and Lin Sa were used to it; after preparing the meal, they first took a large bowl, piled it full of rice and vegetables, then packed several large boxes and had them delivered to the fields.

“When Senior Sister Wang is busy, she eats whatever she can grab. If we do not pile vegetables in her bowl, she will just eat a bowl of plain rice,” Lin Sa explained to Li Sangrou as she piled vegetables into the large bowl.

Li Sangrou smiled, watching Lin Sa carefully remove the seasonings from the vegetables, debone the chicken leg, and then add it to the bowl.

Li Sangrou, Lin Sa, and Blind Mi ate lunch together, sat under a large tree, lazily drank afternoon tea, bought ten jin of cotton, and rode their horses back to Jianle City.

……………………

The next day, Li Sangrou instructed Hei Ma to divide ten jin of cotton into two boxes and send them to Yangzhou City. She then left Chaomi Alley and headed towards Zhang Mao’s workshop.

Zhang Mao and Sister Gu’s business had long since expanded beyond just taking advantage of favorable winds. City space was limited, and land prices were high; two years ago, they had moved their workshop outside the city.

Li Sangrou went straight to the workshop outside the city.

The workshop location was quite good, next to the river. They had built a small dock, making it very convenient for boats to dock and unload cargo.

Li Sangrou stood on the dock for a while, then pushed open the two slightly ajar doors and stepped inside.

“Hey! You cannot just come in here! Hurry up and get out!” The gatekeeper, who was sweeping the floor, shouted, waving her hand to shoo her away.

“My surname is Li…”

“So what if you are surnamed Li? Being surnamed Zhang does not work either! Get out, get out!” The gatekeeper, tall and strong, pushed Li Sangrou away.

“Oh dear! I am looking for Manager Zhang! Zhang Mao! Manager Gu will do too! And your Accountant Yang, Manager Han will also do!” Li Sangrou quickly rattled off Zhang Mao, Sister-in-law Gu, Zhao Rui’s mother, and every other surname she could think of.

“Oh! You know quite a lot! Wait outside!” The gatekeeper continued to push Li Sangrou away.

Li Sangrou had no choice but to stand outside.

The gatekeeper, her shoulder against one door and her broom blocking the other, shouted at the top of her lungs, “Xiang’er’s mother! Xiang’er’s mother! Tell them inside that someone surnamed Li is looking for our head manager, but I do not know who she is! I’ve never seen her before!”

“Wait!” came a loud reply from inside. A moment later, the loud voice rang out again, “Ask her name!”

“Li Sangrou,” Li Sangrou quickly replied.

“Li what Rou!” the gatekeeper roared.

“Li Sangrou?” Zhang Mao’s voice came from inside.

“It’s me.” Li Sangrou peeked through the crack in the door, waving weakly as she called out.

“Oh, it really is you! Did you not say you were in Ezhou? How come you are back so suddenly? Sister Wang, let her in; this is our Boss.” Zhang Mao ran over, lifting her skirt.

“Eh! You really do know our boss!” Sister Wang, the doorman, opened the door and let Li Sangrou in.

Li Sangrou first bowed and smiled apologetically at Sister Wang. “Thank you, thank you.” Then she looked at Zhang Mao and smiled. “Your household is really well-guarded these days.”

“Well, what can I do? In the fourth month, something terrible happened, almost resulting in a death.

In the village next door, there’s a powerful family who took a fancy to a young girl in our neighborhood. When their marriage proposal failed, they decided to kidnap her! They were waiting at our door to snatch her away! Bah!”

Zhang Mao spat.

“Did they not even bother to find out? Did they not hear this workshop was run by a bunch of tigresses?

I came out with a knife, and Sister Gu too! Oh my, I really did not expect Sister Gu to be so ruthless! She was wielding a stick, hitting people on the head!

We! We fought all the way to their village entrance and brought them back.

Afterwards, they came to attack twice more, but we chased them away both times.” Zhang Mao slapped her hand hard.

Li Sangrou’s eyebrows rose as she listened. Just as she was about to speak, Sister Gu and the others rushed out to greet her.

“It really is the Boss! The Boss really came back as soon as she said she’d be back!”

“The Boss looks thinner. The Boss was gone for half a year.”

Sister Gu, Sister Han, and the others surrounded Li Sangrou, talking and laughing as they led her inside.

“Boss, have some tea.”

“Boss, have some.”

“Boss, get some cushions too; they will be softer and more comfortable.”

…

A group of people surrounded Li Sangrou, offering her tea and snacks, some even dusting her off with handkerchiefs.

“Alright, alright,” Li Sangrou said, shrugging and chuckling as the middle-aged women patted her. “I can do it myself; let me do it myself. Let me ask you something first.”

Li Sangrou looked at Zhang Mao. “And then? Are they still fighting back and forth? Did anyone get hurt?”

“What happened?” Sister Gu asked, sticking her head out.

“It’s about the Xu family’s daughter being kidnapped,” Zhang Mao answered first. “The first time we got her back, we discussed this matter. I remember you said that if we could not eliminate the problem completely, we had to beat them until they were terrified!

Eliminating the problem completely is impossible, and beating them until they are terrified is also difficult. It is a big village, two or three hundred people, all with the same surname. Later, it was Sister Yang who remembered. She’s educated, after all, and said that kidnapping a bride is a crime, so we went to file a complaint.

The whole village is shameless; they will say anything!” Sister Gu chimed in.

“They insisted they were engaged and found a bunch of fake witnesses. They found witnesses, and we found witnesses too. We are not afraid of them. Even if we win the case, it will only be ten days in jail,” Zhang Mao added seamlessly.

“Later, they still came to cause trouble. That village is incredibly poor, full of lazy bums and bachelors, poor and unscrupulous, ugh!”

Zhang Mao spat again, lowering her voice.

“We discussed it and decided we had to beat them into submission. We may be few in number, all women, and not very strong, but we have money, right? We’ve got plenty of money!

So I found a security escort agency and hired almost a hundred tough guys, all dressed as women. This time, we started a fight, fighting our way into their village, smashing everything we could. The whole village was a mess.

They reported it to the authorities, and the government came.

I said, ‘Look at us, all women! How many of us are there? How many of them are there? And they are all men!’ The government said they were making false accusations.

That one beating terrified them. From that day on, they were truly afraid to even look at us.” Zhang Mao patted her clothes triumphantly.

Li Sangrou burst into laughter upon hearing this.