Su Guisheng, after all, did not make a fuss at Hu Xiulan’s home, first because he had no face to do so, and second because Liu An was not there, even if he made a huge fuss, it would be useless.
However, everyone understood one thing, Su Guisheng wanted to get his share from Xiaofeng by bringing a swindler to her, and end up not only failing to deceive her, but the swindler robbed all of Su Guisheng’s family’s money.
As for how much was stolen? Su Guisheng did not say, and no one else knew. Judging by the loud crying last night, it seemed that their entire fortune had been taken.
Alas, people really shouldn’t be too greedy, if you are too greedy, you become an easy target for others, and a good fortune can be robbed away.
To be robbed of money at home and still not dare to admit it, tsk tsk.
"Guisheng’s family is really..." Old Su Guaizi didn’t know how to put it, "Always looking for petty advantages, and now they’ve suffered the consequences."
"It serves them right for wanting to take advantage of everyone all the time; now they’ve got themselves into trouble," He Ximei felt something in her heart, but it wasn’t sympathy.
"I always said that trouble would come eventually." Old Su Guaizi glanced around the room; Xiaofeng was not at home: "Where is Xiaofeng?"
"She went with Third Aunt to the mountain to check on the radishes," He Ximei tidied up the bowls and chopsticks, glanced outside, and whispered, "Have you noticed that ever since Xiaofeng got pregnant, Guisheng’s family has never managed to take advantage of ours, not even once."
"What does Xiaofeng being pregnant have to do with it?" Old Su Guaizi disagreed.
"Of course, it matters." He Ximei’s lips curved up slightly, "Haven’t you heard? Having a pregnant woman in the house brings good luck."
"What nonsense, I’m going up the mountain to have a look myself, and to ask Xiaofeng if it’s a good idea to start planting chili peppers on the mountain." Since they planned to plant, they naturally had to start getting things ready.
"Wait for me, I’ll go with you."
Third Aunt led Xiaofeng to their own sandy mountain. At a glance, the green radish seedlings looked very pleasing to the eye.
"We planted some extra this year, hoping to sun-dry more radish for next year," Third Aunt assumed that Xiaofeng also wanted to dry radishes, "How much do you want to dry? I’ll help you with that."
Xiaofeng looked at the radishes covering the mountain and an idea formed in her mind, "Third Aunt, sell me all these radishes; I want to use them all for drying."
"But there’s quite a lot here, at least a thousand pounds. You don’t need that much, do you?"
"I misspoke, it’s not for me, it’s for my factory." For a factory, what good is a thousand pounds of radishes?
She wanted to produce a batch to sell alongside the chili sauce.
Third Aunt, hearing this, nodded, "If you had told me, I would have definitely saved them for you. However, the radishes are at their tenderest now, pulling them out these days would be better." If left in the ground too long, they would become tough, and the taste wouldn’t be as good.
"Alright then, let’s pull them all out today and take them back for my aunt to dry." In any case, it was best to harvest them when they were at peak flavor.
"You sure are eager to get to work," Third Aunt smiled, then asked again, "You really want to pull them out today?"
"Of course." Xiaofeng said and did, bending down to start pulling out radishes.
Third Aunt looked at Xiaofeng sympathetically; Xiaofeng was not actually Guaizi’s biological daughter, but fortunately, Xiaofeng seemed not to mind. That was good; it was best for her to be on good terms with Guaizi.
Whether they were blood-related or not, having affection and understanding filial piety was what truly mattered.
"Third Aunt," He Ximei and Guaizi came up the mountain and, seeing Xiaofeng pulling radishes, joked, "Xiaofeng, aren’t you craving sour radishes again?"
Just last time, they had pickled plenty, enough for Xiaofeng to eat for a while.
"She told me to keep them all for her. Her factory needs them," Third Aunt didn’t know what Xiaofeng was planning, but youngsters had their own ideas.
"The factory isn’t planning to produce sour radishes, is it?" He Ximei laughed at the thought, "Xiaofeng, you really dare to think and act."
She had intended to say that no one would fancy sour radishes, but then she remembered her reaction when Xiaofeng had decided to produce chili sauce. She had said the same thing, and as it turned out, it had proven her own shortsightedness. So this time, she kept those same words unspoken.
Besides, Xiaofeng was now the person in charge of the factory, and she must have had her reasons for doing so.
Xiaofeng shook her head, "Not sour radishes for now, but dried radishes."
"You, you decide what to produce just like that? Are these radishes going to your factory, or are you drying them at home?" Drying so many radishes would require significant space, which a factory ground may not provide.
"The factory’s space isn’t enough, besides, it doesn’t get enough sunlight. Given the conditions, naturally, home would be the best." If the market for dried radishes opened up, a radish drying base could be established right in Lihua Village.
Including the future dried chili peppers and so on, all could be completed in Lihua Village before being stored in the factory.
Getting Xiaofeng’s intention, He Ximei responded eagerly, "Alright, I’ll make sure they are dried well."
The sandy soil was loose on the mountain, making the radishes easy to pull out. The sizeable tender radishes came out one by one, as big and plump as little pigs lazily napping,
While the women worked hard at pulling, the men were busy too. Transporting the radishes down the mountain was a job that required strength. Old Third Uncle remained robust in his advanced years, so for Guaizi, carrying a hundred pounds or more was not a problem. In less than half a day, more than a thousand pounds of radishes were piled up by the village pond.
Zhang Chunying, seeing the radishes piled up, asked Third Aunt, "Auntie, you’ve pulled so many at once, are you planning to sell them?"
Seeing several thousand pounds at the least, without a buyer, it would be too much to dry all by themselves.
"Yes," Third Aunt glanced at Xiaofeng, "sold to Xiaofeng; she’s taking them all."