Chapter 736

Just as Liu Guilan and Yao Ping were telling everyone how hard-earned their family's money was.

Wang Dazhu walked out of the house holding a semi-dried bear gall and a semi-dried 5-grade ginseng root.

Liu Guilan hurriedly stepped forward to take them and said loudly to the crowd:

"See this? This big bear gall, when it was just taken out, was as big as a child's head. It can sell for at least over a thousand yuan. And this ginseng, this is a 5-grade one. The others were all sold. Do you know how much each one sold for? 3,000 yuan."

As soon as Liu Guilan finished speaking, a wave of gasps came from the people in the settlement.

"Oh my god, in our area for ten miles around, it's been how many years since a 5-grade big ginseng was found."

"I remember last autumn, didn't someone find two of them?"

"That wasn't from our Xing'an Township, that was from Xingjian Township."

"Listening to Dazhu's wife, it seems their family dug up quite a few. This is just the one left!"

"Didn't Dazhu say there were two 4-grade ones left for soaking in wine? What a waste, that's over two thousand yuan right there."

"That's where you don't understand. If it were me, I'd soak it in wine too. That old wild ginseng wine can save a life, you know? If you get caught in the dead of winter and freeze, one gulp of that wine and your soul returns to your body immediately..."

"That big bear gall isn't small either, worth over a thousand yuan."

"This Wang family is really thriving!"

When the crowd's discussion quieted down a little, Liu Guilan suddenly turned her head and, like a shrew, cursed at Niu Yijie:

"Niu Laoer, you damn rotten-assed bastard, who are you saying is speculating? Does our Wang family need to speculate? If you dare to badmouth our family behind our backs again, spouting nonsense, see if I don't scratch your mouth to pieces!"

It must be said, at this moment Liu Guilan was quite imposing. The whole person was like a tigress, expressing the sharpness and ferocity of a Northeast woman to the fullest.

However, what made Liu Guilan different from other women was that she was still relatively reasonable.

And Wang An only just realized why his mother was so fierce today.

With the rise of Wang An's family, it was inevitable that various discussions would arise among the people in the settlement. Of course, as long as there is discussion, there will be good and bad.

After all, "resenting you for being poor, fearing you for being rich, hating you for having things, and laughing at you for having nothing"—these things mostly happen among people you know.

As for strangers, who cares if you have money or not?

It is quite certain that good discussions may not spread; usually, they stop where they are, because good news generally doesn't leave the house.

But bad discussions will spread widely, almost to the point of being known by everyone, because bad news really can travel a thousand miles.

Therefore, all kinds of bad discussions would eventually reach the ears of Wang An's family.

Of course, as long as it wasn't done with sarcasm to their faces, Wang An didn't really care about such things. You have a mouth, say whatever you want.

But Wang Dazhu and his wife couldn't let it go, always pondering how to eliminate those damn discussions. At the very least, they wanted to reduce the settlement's suspicion of the Wang family. Being constantly surrounded by such talk was truly not a good thing for the Wang family.

And now, with Niu Laoer finally walking into the line of fire, how could Liu Guilan miss such a good opportunity? This behavior of Liu Guilan not only let everyone know how their family's money came about, but also told everyone: stop your damn yapping. If you keep yapping, our family will consider that you are looking for a fight.

To be honest, Wang An was suddenly a bit impressed by his mother. His mother was truly a great woman who possessed both wisdom and beauty, capable of holding up half the sky.

After Liu Guilan finished cursing, her fierce little eyes stared fixedly at Niu Yijie, as if she would pounce on him and scratch him if he showed the slightest sign of defiance.

Niu Yijie looked at the faces of the Wang family and perhaps realized he was about to get beaten up, so he hurriedly smiled and said:

"It's just a joke, sister-in-law, look at you, why are you getting so worked up? When your family starts building the new house, I, Niu Laoer, will definitely be the first to show up."

You don't hit a smiling person. Besides, Niu Laoer only represented that small group of people in Kaoshan Settlement who were "green-eyed" with envy. Furthermore, his behavior today could be considered as indirectly helping the Wang family prove that their money was earned through legitimate means.

So Liu Guilan said ungraciously:

"The things in these mountains are ownerless. Whoever has the ability to take them out, that's their skill. Stop staring into other people's pots every day. If you're a useless loser, don't blame others!"

Changing the subject, Liu Guilan suddenly said with a smile:

"Our head of the household has said, when we build our house, everyone in the settlement who comes to help will be provided with three meals a day, full portions, meat at every meal, and plenty of good cigarettes and wine. When the time comes, I'll have to trouble everyone to come and lend a hand."

As soon as Liu Guilan finished speaking, a voice rang out:

"Sister Guilan, can I come and help you cook? Just provide me with two meals a day."

The person speaking was Zhao Cuiyun, known in the settlement as Widow Zhao. She was younger than Liu Guilan, about thirty-five or thirty-six, but looked older than Liu Guilan.

After Zhao Cuiyun finished speaking, Liu Guilan was stunned for a moment, and for a while, she didn't know what to say.

The main thing was that although there were many people building the house, Liu Guilan and her three sisters-in-law, plus Wang An's three sisters-in-law, and Shen Wei and Mu Xueqing, already made eight people cooking.

And the work involved big-pot meals and big-pot dishes, without much fuss. It could be said that three or five people were completely enough; there was simply no need for so many cooks.

Seeing Liu Guilan silent for a moment, Zhao Cuiyun might have realized something.

After all, at this time, every household didn't have enough food to eat, and this period was the most difficult time of the year.

Families without grain were borrowing here and there every day. You borrow a jin here, he borrows half a jin there; it was truly a case of not knowing where the next meal was coming from.

Seeing his mother speechless, mainly because Zhao Cuiyun looked truly miserable, in tattered clothes covered in patches upon patches, to the point where the original look of the clothes was completely hidden.

So Wang An took the initiative and said:

"Aunt Zhao, when the time comes and we set off the firecrackers, just come over directly. Don't you have a son? Let him come over to chop some firewood or something, and we'll provide three meals a day for both of you."

At this time, Liu Guilan pretended to be indignant and said to the people beside her:

"This is just bear gall, fur, and such, all exchanged for these bricks and