Now the Clan Leader is trying to use his age and status again, but Cheng Xiaoxiao isn’t buying it, "Oh! Clan Grandpa, I feel dizzy and can’t see clearly. I’m afraid I won’t be able to make the dicine. I estimate it will take three to five months of rest to recover. Erya, Erya, quickly help your sister to rest." She said as she held her forehead, swaying unsteadily.
Erya, who had just left the main room, heard the voice and imdiately returned, helping Cheng Xiaoxiao and asking worriedly, "Sister, what’s wrong? Is your head hurting again?
Hurry back to your room and lie down, I’ll go right away to get Grandpa Huang."
This tily assistance was perfect; Cheng Xiaoxiao knew Erya was frightened by the previous incident, a bit overly concerned.
At this mont, she was genuinely worried that her sister wasn’t feeling well.
Everyone in the room looked at each other, wanting to laugh but not daring to. Cheng Xiaoxiao’s clever twist caught the Clan Leader off guard, as he stood there, pointing at Cheng Xiaoxiao, "You you you..."
Cui Huzi was furious, glaring, but could only say "you" for ages without continuing...
Even the typically honest Mr. Cheng noticed that his daughter was pretending to be sick, feeling a bit embarrassed, "Uncle Clan Leader, the girl is being immature, please forgive her." As he spoke, he pulled Cheng Xiaoxiao, who had just stepped out the door, back in.
Erya, following behind, didn’t understand why, feeling that even if her sister was unwell, her father shouldn’t do this, "Dad, you can’t do that, Sister she..."
Turning his head to interrupt his younger daughter’s words, "Your sister is fine, go prepare lunch first."
"But Dad..." Erya was sowhat anxious.
"Obey and be good." He glanced at his younger daughter a bit sternly.
Cheng Xiaoxiao sighed helplessly, turned her head, and, with a smile, winked at Erya. Erya then believed her sister was really fine and left.
The Clan Leader looked at the situation and understood what was happening.
He let out a cold snort and, quite disgruntled, said, "Why is the girl so dissatisfied with as the Clan Leader."
Cheng Xiaoxiao had returned to normal and confidently replied, "I wouldn’t dare."
She continued, "Clan Grandpa, if your family had a money-making craft, would you make it public?"
The Clan Leader righteously declared, "Of course, it’s undeniable to contribute to the clan; every Cheng family mber should do so."
Supporting the Clan Leader were the fourth and seventh uncles, his supporters, who all agreed with the Clan Leader’s words and criticized Cheng Xiaoxiao for being disrespectful to elders, disregarding ancestral propriety, and deserving an apology and punishnt.
Mr. Cheng tried to explain several tis but was interrupted.
Cheng Xiaoxiao just wanted to say "haha" to him, as the words beca more and more exaggerated. How thick-skinned these old n were.
"Clan Grandpa had better rember your words, and let’s see if our Cheng family mbers are all so selfless." A storm was brewing, and she wondered if this old man, who used to be so respected, could remain so strong at that ti.
"This ti, the herbal business, whether it’s making dicine or selling channels, was all facilitated single-handedly by our family. If we don’t make it public, the villagers won’t get a penny."
Upon hearing this, the seventh uncle imdiately countered, "We’re all from the sa village, how can you, Cheng Yong, be so selfish? Have you forgotten that everyone helped you before?" Not arguing with a little girl, he turned to find the head of the household.
This played the moral hostage angle, pointing the bla at her father, knowing well how to bully an honest person.
Cheng Xiaoxiao was tired of arguing with them, as she had many things yet to attend to; this was wasting precious ti.
Since they were not benevolent, she decided to act directly!
She forcefully announced, "According to the previous picking ratio, roughly a pound of fresh herbs can yield about three taels of finished dicine, and the price of finished dicine is sixty wen per jin, which everyone already knows. Now villagers buy herbs at 5 wen per jin. The village head and the clan leader will organize people to go up the mountain, each sending five people to form a guard team, led by Uncle Beiniu, responsible for security and lookout. Additionally, Grandpa Huang will select ten talented people to learn dicine making with us."
Pausing to think, she continued, "All proceeds from the sale of herbs will split as follows: 20% for the village, 20% for the clan, 20% for the guard team, 10% for the dicine team, and the remaining goes to my family. That’s it for now!"
Then she looked at the village head, "Village Head Grandpa, do you agree?"
The village head Cheng Zhenglian was still digesting Cheng Xiaoxiao’s distribution ratio when suddenly being called, he was montarily unresponsive. Quickly he adjusted his thoughts, realizing that the girl’s distribution was quite reasonable. Letting the village get benefits for free, why wouldn’t he agree? So he imdiately expressed his agreent.
"Village Head Grandpa, do you have any other opinions?"
"No."
Then she looked at Cheng Beiniu, "Uncle Beiniu, do you agree?"
Cheng Beiniu, who had been like a background throughout, naturally had no objections and quickly expressed, "I agree, no problem."
She then asked Grandpa Huang, her uncle, and her father, all of whom had no objections.
"The minority obeys the majority. Since everyone has no objections, it’s settled. Each small team will split the shares proceeds accordingly. Dismissed." When Cheng Xiaoxiao held etings, there was basically no opportunity for others to speak, due to her countless etings’ experience in the previous life.
The Clan Leader’s faction, completely overlooked, hadn’t expected this outco. They were ready to reason and argue for more benefits... but... it was just over...
The Clan Leader was particularly furious, thinking since when could a little girl ride over him, just about to lose his temper...
The Village Head said, "I need to go back and notify the villagers, since there’s money to be earned, everyone will definitely be very happy." With these words, he walked away.
Huang Zhongyi said, "Right, right, I need to carefully select which people can be trained a bit." He muttered as he also walked off.
Cheng Beiniu said, "Village Head Uncle, wait for . Aren’t you going to choose people? Recomnd soone for ." And he ran after him.
Cheng Qiang said, "We need to go up the mountain, I must make a few more baskets. Surely they won’t be enough." Saying this, he slipped away too.
"Big brother, wait for . I’ll help chop bamboo." Mr. Cheng, realizing the bad situation and that he was the only one left to face the Clan Leader’s anger, hurriedly made his exit too.
In the main room, only the three from the Clan Leader’s group were left, looking at each other with their anger having no outlet.
And those who dispersed had rather mixed feelings, especially the village head, who was in a particularly good mood, having never seen the old guy so at a loss in their many years of confrontation. It was truly satisfying, "Xiaoxiao is sothing else."
At this ti, Cheng Xiaoxiao was busy making tables, as actions would start tomorrow, and every account had to be recorded clearly. The accounting here was similar to ancient history, ti-consuming and labor-intensive. If only Arabic nurals could be used, how much simpler it would be.
A number system invented by an illiterate, "77, do you think they’d accept it?"
System: "....."
In the long run, she still had to find a way to use numbers, and the matter of early harvesting...
If it might flood the houses, it would be best to dig a trench around the village for drainage, but how to implent it?
And how to explain buying the farm tools?
With both hands bracing on the table, she rubbed her aching temples. So many problems needed solving, it was truly a headache!
"Sister, it’s ti to eat." Erya shouted from outside.
Cheng Xiaoxiao rose, deciding to think about it tomorrow. Today’s matters were tireso enough.
Arriving at the dining table, she looked at the dishes, having little appetite. After so much effort, if this was all, it seed like leading a normal life was still a long and arduous journey.
Each person at the table had a bowl of thick rice porridge, a big basin of white wheat buns, and two small dishes fried in lard. For Erya and Mr. Cheng, this was very sumptuous. In the past, they wouldn’t dare to dream of eating so well every al, it would have been heart-wrenching.
Now they could earn money, and the family worked together diligently, living conditions improved progressively, giving them hope.
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