Chapter 685: Chapter 591: Part 2

That was why Ahua had always felt she deserved the title of "Auntie." It was music to her ears, and she always responded with a warm smile.

But Ahua was furious now and in no mood for it. She violently shook off Liang Panqiu’s hand, glaring resentfully. "Don’t call me Auntie. I’m not worthy of it! I finally see it now—you and your mother are no good! I had other things to do today and didn’t even want to come, but you insisted on dragging me here. You said Brother Amu was hiring and that I should hurry and bring my two kids to sign up for a spot. And for what? We came all this way for nothing! Granny Xinghua said it’s not happening! You were so convincing when you told me, so how come you clammed up in front of Granny Xinghua? Cat got your tongue? Now that I think about it, I see what’s going on. You two must be up to something, plotting against my Brother Amu and using me as your shield! You didn’t ask about the jobs yourself; you conned me into being the one to ask. You were just making a fool of me, weren’t you? It’s a good thing Brother Amu isn’t home. Otherwise, what would he think of me?"

Liang Panqiu’s expression faltered. She instinctively glanced at Fifth Auntie, who was standing quietly to the side, then gave a dry laugh. "Oh, Auntie, you’ve got it all wrong. I just heard a rumor, and I thought that if it were true, Brother Amu wouldn’t leave your family out. That’s why I came to ask if you wanted to come along... But if that’s how you’re going to think about it, then I’ll just keep my mouth shut next time."

Fifth Auntie’s face remained impassive, but she scoffed inwardly. ’So it was Liang Panqiu stirring up trouble about the recruitment again! This niece is far more cunning than Granny Mo. Her mind is a web of schemes. She never used to come to Gongdao Village much, but for the past two years, she’s been visiting constantly. She’s always hanging around Amu, borrowing money from him time and again. She feeds him one idea after another, all about how to sell the herbs. She tells him not to put all his eggs in one basket, that he should contact multiple buyers and sell to the highest bidder to make more money... My husband, being the village party secretary, has some worldly wisdom. He said her idea isn’t wrong in principle—of course, you want to sell the herbs you’ve toiled over for the best price. But how many clients would you offend that way? This isn’t a one-off transaction. Besides, harmony brings wealth. How can you live peacefully if your business dealings create enemies?’

’Thankfully, the Sun’s Medicine Factory had signed a ten-year contract with Amu long ago. And with their people in Beijing keeping an eye on things, the Sun Family’s price was guaranteed to be fair. All Amu had to do was grow the herbs and not worry about the rest. Otherwise, with Liang Panqiu’s relentless nature, Amu might have been tricked into listening to her at least once or twice.’

’Liang Panqiu’s denial that she made up the hiring news, claiming it was just a rumor, might be enough to fool Ahua. The village committee had a long-standing agreement with Amu: the herb plantation must prioritize hiring our own villagers. Only after that would they consider outsiders. Our village has hundreds of young, strong workers. The second they announce they’re hiring, a line forms with everyone scrambling to sign up. How would the news even have a chance to reach another village?’

’Could relatives from other villages come to work and make money? Yes. Everyone has relatives, and our villagers aren’t unreasonable. But in the past, when children from Granny Mo’s or Ahua’s family came to work, it was because Amu had specifically saved spots for them and sent a message. They never just rushed over on their own like this.’

’It seemed there was some truth to what Ahua said. This Liang Panqiu was stirring up some new kind of trouble.’

Fifth Auntie eyed Granny Mo and Liang Panqiu, scoffing to herself. ’They have the audacity to accuse Ahua of not repaying her debts? That mother-daughter pair is no different. When have they ever paid back what they borrowed? Last spring, Liang Panqiu took a large bull from Yu Wumei’s pen to plow her fields. She never brought it back. She claimed she would pay for it after the autumn harvest, but when the time came, she didn’t say a word about the bull!’

’And of course, Amu fell for her sob story. She complained about having so many children who all needed to be schooled, clothed, and fed, and how difficult her life was. So he told Yu Wumei not to pester her for the money and to just let her pay it back whenever she could.’

’It’s a good thing these people don’t know about the twenty employee spots my husband managed to secure from the Sun’s Medicine Factory. Otherwise, they’d raise all kinds of hell.’

’Amu probably didn’t bring it up with them because he couldn’t stand the inevitable commotion. But the main issue was that twenty spots weren’t nearly enough to go around. Priority had to be given to the younger generation of the Mo family, which took up sixteen positions. The other four were divided among the village committee officials.’

They were very satisfied with this. This was only the first wave of jobs, after all. There would be a second and third wave in the future, and they could try to secure more spots then.

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