Chapter 99: What? Deducting Points? Absolutely Not!
Old Man Xu was about to leave with the trowel in hand, but Jian Xingxia called him back.
“Wait a minute, you need to pick a few more things.”
Old Man Xu cradled his precious fine-iron (stainless steel) trowel, acting very casually. “Proprietress, Miss, there’s no need. Having this is enough.”
Jian Xingxia said helplessly, “It’s enough for you, but it’s not enough for the system… If I don’t give you at least thirty-six yuan worth of goods, I’ll be penalized.”
It had to be said that this system looked after the workers quite well. Since the total price of the trowel and the cloth shoes came to less than thirty-six yuan, the system sent a prompt to Jian Xingxia:
[The Estate Owner is currently in violation for withholding a temporary worker’s wages. If the system verifies this to be true, Management Points will be deducted. If Management Points are insufficient, deductions will be made from estate equipment, the Estate Owner’s personal property, etc., in sequence.]
Jian Xingxia, who loved money as much as her own life, instantly panicked. “What? Deducting points? Absolutely not!”
Seeing that Old Man Xu’s figure was already becoming slightly translucent, Jian Xingxia hurriedly picked out some items for him.
“I forgot to buy milk powder, so take some brown sugar instead, and some coarse salt. Take some of this fabric too. You might not care for it, but your family just had a little grandson, so you can use it.”
Lin Sanniang helped Jian Xingxia stuff the items into Old Man Xu’s hands. Fortunately, Old Man Xu had come with his shoulder pole, so they could just place the goods directly into his baskets.
Flustered, Old Man Xu hoisted his shoulder pole. Hearing Immortal Auntie Xu’s voice in his mind urging him to hurry back to the Great Sheng Dynasty, he turned on his heels and bolted.
“Aye! Thank you so much, Proprietress, Miss, and Manager Lin!”
A moment later, his figure vanished into the depths of the wild grass.
Lin Sanniang’s employment time was ending right around the same moment, so Jian Xingxia told her to take whatever she wanted. Having prepared long ago, Lin Sanniang cradled a large armful of fabric and returned to the Great Liang Dynasty.
After they left, Jian Xingxia didn’t idle around either. Tomorrow was market day again, so she could harvest a wave of the newly ripened peaches, the final freezer-full of chestnuts, as well as the four-colored cherry tomatoes, strawberries, blueberries, and fruit cucumbers from the picking greenhouse to take and sell.
Except for the chestnuts, all the other fruits were delicate, so Jian Xingxia harvested them very carefully, bit by bit. Of course, while harvesting, she didn’t forget to eat her fill.
When the picking greenhouse was delivered, the fruits inside were at their peak. With a length of fifty meters, the harvest was highly abundant. Especially the tomatoes—they were simply far too prolific, with a single plant bearing twenty to thirty fruits. Jian Xingxia utilized every single basin, tub, basket, and bag in the house, yet visually, it looked like she had harvested less than a third of the total.
“If I had known, I would have called Sanniang to help me pick them!” Jian Xingxia wailed.
There were simply far, far too many chores in the mountains. She now seemed to understand better why the system had her hire temporary workers. If she didn’t hire anyone, leaving such vast mountain peaks entirely in her hands would be an absolute waste!
From the moment Lin Sanniang and Old Man Xu left, Jian Xingxia picked continuously until ten o’clock at night. Her tricycle bed was completely filled, and there was still at least a cart-and-a-half’s worth of produce piled up at home.
At night, she simply reheated the dishes Lin Sanniang had prepared in advance, took a bath, and didn’t even have time to wash her clothes before falling sound asleep the moment her head hit the pillow.
The next day.
It was also the eighteenth day since Jian Xingxia returned to the old house, and it happened to be market day.
At four o’clock, Jian Xingxia woke up to her alarm. After a brief wash, she quickly rode her tricycle and headed toward the village.
Some people in the village were already awake. On market days, everyone preferred to head out early. Aside from the two households that owned small cars, the other villagers generally caught a ride in pickup trucks or open-bed small freight trucks. No matter how tightly packed a truck bed was, it couldn’t hold very many people, so they could only start early in the morning, splitting the transport into several trips.
The moment Jian Xingxia arrived in the village, she spotted Auntie Lu and Fangfang. The two hadn’t managed to squeeze onto the first trip and were currently lining up to wait for the second one.
Jian Xingxia waved to them. “Auntie Lu! Fangfang! Get on my vehicle!”
Fangfang’s eyes instantly lit up. “Sister Xiaxia! You bought a vehicle!”
Auntie Lu also marveled repeatedly, “Oh my, this vehicle is truly quite nice!”
Lu’an Village didn’t worry about food or clothing, and they could even eat delicacies from the mountains, but their disposable income was truly not high. Auntie Lu and Uncle Lu supported Fangfang’s schooling in town and occasionally had to mail some supplies and money to their eldest son, who had settled down in another city, so their hands were tight. For so many years, they only owned a single manual tricycle.
Suddenly seeing Jian Xingxia’s new vehicle, Auntie Lu felt highly envious. “It’s so beautiful.”
Jian Xingxia adjusted the items in the truck bed a bit and asked Auntie Lu, “Auntie, what kind of things are you selling today? Can they be pressed down? The things I have here can’t take any weight.”
The truck bed was covered with a cloth, and in the pitch-black darkness of past four in the morning, Auntie Lu couldn’t tell what was underneath either. But since Jian Xingxia said they couldn’t take any weight, she definitely wouldn’t touch them.
Auntie Lu cradled a massive woven sack in her arms, with a basket strapped to her back. “It’s fine, Xiaxia, I’ll just hold it.”
Jian Xingxia felt a bit self-conscious. “Forget it, I’ll carry one basket down first and come back one more time later.”
Fangfang was curious: “Sister Xiaxia, you still have more things to sell?” By right, a one-meter by 1.5-meter truck bed stacked this high could hold quite a lot of things—enough to sell for a whole grand market session.
Jian Xingxia smiled and said, “It’s all chestnuts and peaches, plus some tomatoes and other fruits.”
The old house had peach trees, and Jian Xingxia had gathered chestnuts in the mountains—everyone knew about this, so Auntie Lu and Fangfang didn’t pry further either.
Jian Xingxia carried down a basket of cherry tomatoes, then let Auntie Lu place her large bundle on top of the chestnuts, which weren’t afraid of weight. Seeing the two large iron basins placed upside down over the chestnuts, Auntie Lu knew they wouldn’t be crushed, so she safely placed her bundle on top.
Within just a few minutes, Auntie Lu climbed onto the back bed of the tricycle, firmly gripping the surrounding railing. “Xiaxia, this railing of yours is quite high, much better than your Uncle Lu’s.”
Jian Xingxia smiled. “I retrofitted a rain canopy. To secure the canopy, I had the rails built a bit higher.” This way, it wasn’t easy for people sitting inside to tumble out either.
Fangfang, meanwhile, squeezed into the driver’s cabin together with Jian Xingxia. It was just that Fangfang was a bit plump, so she and Jian Xingxia had to sit staggered—one leaning forward and the other sitting back.
Jian Xingxia switched on the tricycle’s headlights and slowly drove down the mountain. Their speed was far inferior to the pickup truck, but the timing was significantly faster than waiting for the second trip.
Forty-odd minutes later, the three of them arrived at the market.
