Chapter 36: Villagers, seeing no benefit, start to turn against

Those villagers who had previously mocked Lin Meng openly and secretly, waiting to see her make a fool of herself, now have their intestines turned green with regret.

No one expected that Lin Meng, who was usually criticized and slandered by everyone, would not boast; she not only accepted, but gave even more.

That was seven thousand yuan—when had any boss ever been so generous?

Everyone's pumpkin yield per mu was about the same; no one was worse than anyone else.

But because they didn't trust Lin Meng, they missed such a great money-making opportunity!

Wang Da Ma's whole family was overjoyed, and the neighbors were envious beyond measure.

"Wang Da Ma, could you first store the pumpkins in the village granary for me? My friend will arrange people to haul them away in a few days."

Wang Da Ma immediately agreed.

"Alright! It's mealtime, little girl—come to my house for a meal; my daughter-in-law has killed a chicken, go to the elder's house to eat chicken."

Lin Meng didn't decline, was about to leave, when several villagers pushed and shoved their way over to surround her.

"Um, Lin Meng, just now we were wrong; we shouldn't have said that about you. Let me apologize—why don't you also check out my pumpkins? I have two mu, better than hers."

Seeing someone take the lead, the others lowered their heads, put on apologetic faces, and apologized.

"Sorry, Lin Meng, we really were foul-mouthed just now, but don't blame us—it's because your few uncles' families have constantly gossiped about you in the village; we were just echoing a few words."

"How about you come take a look at my fields?"

Lin Meng looked at these villagers who only act when there's profit, indifferent; each like grass on a wall, they fall whichever way the wind blows.

Now seeing Wang Da Ma's family actually earn seven thousand yuan, they all became envious.

But she didn't care for the belated apologies; those hurtful words had come from their mouths, and she couldn't just let bygones be bygones with them.

There are plenty of farming households; if Lin Jia Cun won't work, she'll go to the neighboring village to collect—she's not lacking quality potential customers.

Wang Da Ma saw that Lin Meng didn't want to deal with them, so she stepped forward to block her path, speaking for her.

"Now you know to apologize? Too late—this little girl has suffered plenty of injustice at your hands; not holding a grudge would already be generous, and you still want favors? Get lost, get lost, get lost."

Wang Da Ma chased the villagers away like shooing flies; Lin Meng couldn't help but curl her lips.

"Little girl, let's ignore them and go home with the elder to eat."

Wang Da Ma took Lin Meng's hand and left; immediately behind them rose a chorus of curses.

"This old lady usually looks honest and simple—who would have thought her heart is so wicked? How does she know Lin Meng won't forgive us?"

"She surely wants to hog it all for herself—best if only her pumpkins are bought."

"Hmph, what's the big deal? It's just buying pumpkins once; I don't believe she'll come again next time—it's just a one‑off transaction, what's there to act proud about?"

"Let's go to the market and file a complaint against Lin Bin's family; next time purchasing, we'll put them last, have the bosses drive down their price hard, and make them eat the loss."

""

On the way back to Wang Da Ma's house, Lin Meng felt a bit worried.

"Wang Da Ma, I think they're not the type to let things go; after this, they might target you."

Wang Da Ma gave a cold laugh.

"What nasty deeds haven't they done? Every year several of my fields are mysteriously damaged; they like to form cliques and bully honest folk."

"There are even a few households behind the village worse off than mine, isolated by these village bullies; they get no share in collective purchases and have to carry their vegetables to town to sell themselves. The old Village Head is aged and can't control them—it's truly a sin…"

Hearing this, Lin Meng silently clicked her tongue; the supposed simple and honest folkways don't seem to hold in their Lin Jia Cun.

A tiny village actually has cliques, forms small groups, and engages in suppressing and bullying the weak—it's truly speechless…

After lunch at Wang Da Ma's house, Lin Meng let Zhang Yu Fan go attend to his own affairs; she continued wandering the village and arrived at the hinterland Wang Da Ma mentioned.

Here there are only three households, lying beside the rear mountain graveyard; usually hardly any other villagers come by, and it's quiet.

The three households are linked together, sharing a single courtyard.

At this moment several old women were gathered together picking vegetables; the wrinkles on their faces outnumbered the ridges of old bark.

Seeing someone approach, the old women all lifted their heads.

"Who are you?"

Lin Meng got straight to the point: "Grandmas, I'm Lin Meng from our village; I heard your fields have plenty of vegetables, so I came to buy some."

The old women usually don't interact with other villagers, but they still know who Lin Meng is.

Behind their homes is the graveyard; they know about the disturbance Lin Meng caused at the ancestral tombs not long ago.

Yet none of them avoided Lin Meng; on the contrary, they all felt sympathy for her, thinking this little girl also had a hard fate.

"It's you—please sit, I'll go pour you a cup of tea."

Lin Meng quickly waved her hands: "No trouble, Granny; I'm here to collect vegetables. I'd like to see your three families' plots—if they're suitable, I'll take them all."

As soon as Lin Meng finished speaking, the three elderly women froze, then were greatly startled.

"What did you say? You want to take them all?"

Lin Meng was about to nod when she saw the three old women rise simultaneously, shouting excitedly toward the inner rooms.

"Old man, come out quickly—we have a distinguished guest!"

"Old wife, come quickly—Little Lin Meng wants to buy our vegetables."

Another old woman, whose voice wasn't good, simply rushed into the house herself and dragged out the old man who was puffing on his pipe.

All three households turned out to be empty‑nest elders left behind; the six old men and women looked after each other.

While eating, Lin Meng also heard from Wang Da Ma's family that these three households were the poorest in the village; their subsistence funds were controlled by unfilial children, so they relied on their own arms and legs to grow and sell vegetables, often earning only a few yuan a day.

Lin Meng couldn't even imagine what kind of life it was to live on just a few yuan a day.

Looking at it now, it's no exaggeration—these six elders wear patched‑up clothes, the wrinkles on their faces and hands are as deep as gullies, and each person is like a candle guttering in the wind.

A sour feeling welled up in Lin Meng's heart; she felt sorry for the six old people.

They had worked hard all their lives, yet in old age had no one to look after them, not even their subsistence allowance left untouched.

Their descendants were no better than her several uncles.

"Little one, you want to buy vegetables? We just brought some back from our garden; pick out the good ones and buy them."

At that moment, one of the old men walked up to Lin Meng, speaking clearly and in very standard Mandarin; he was probably the backbone of the six.

Lin Meng shook her head.

"Grandpa, I want to buy a lot; you have to take me to your fields to have a look. If it's suitable, I'll take over the vegetable fields of your three families."

In the afternoon, which should have been a time for the villagers to rest, a strange group suddenly appeared in the fields.

A young woman leading six old men appeared in the fields; passersby who saw them couldn't help but stare.

Not long after, Lin Jia Cun was stirred up again.

Lin Meng, who had just spent seven thousand to buy up a mu of pumpkins, went off to the farmers' homes to collect more vegetables…