As he spoke, Tian Yuanshan rolled up his brother's blood-stained pant leg, revealing a wound inside.
"Look how scary this injury is. My brother lost so much blood and can't work for days. What's wrong with me asking her for some compensation?"
Some villagers stepped forward to take a closer look; he was indeed injured.
Eldest Sister-in-law Tian also went to look, then returned to Qin Sang's ear and said:
"This injury doesn't look fake."
Tian Yuanshan walked up to Qin Sang:
"Widow Tian, you have nothing to say now, right? The leg isn't broken, but he's injured. Asking you for five taels isn't too much.
Pay up. If you don't, who will ever deliver herbs to your house again?"
Tian Jinshui exaggeratedly plopped down on the ground, shouting in pain.
Some villagers chimed in:
"Qin Sang, his injury isn't fake. Maybe you should just compensate him a bit."
"Yes, we're all fellow villagers. Your family shouldn't lack this bit of money."
Qin Sang watched the performance of these two brothers and the reactions of the surrounding villagers, her lips curling into a cold smile.
So, having money means you should be an easy target, huh?
She wouldn't play that role.
"It seems I never hired you to work. I said you could exchange herbs for grain at my place; I didn't ask everyone to work for my family.
In this village, when anyone hires help, doesn't the employer set the work hours and tasks?
Let me put it this way: my family isn't short of herbs, and we don't absolutely have to exchange with everyone.
If anyone feels exchanging with my family for rice is a loss, you're welcome to take it to town and sell it to the Pharmacy yourselves. See if the Pharmacy will compensate you with a few taels of silver just because you tripped while picking herbs.
If money were that easy to make, who in the world would dare to do business?
Everyone, please go back. My family won't accept anyone's herbs anymore."
As she spoke, Qin Sang retied the sack of rice behind her, preparing to carry it back.
This sudden change panicked everyone present:
"How can that be, Qin Sang? You were the one who wanted the herbs. Now you say you don't want them, just like that? What about our half-day of work for nothing?"
Eldest Sister-in-law Tian, standing nearby, retorted angrily:
"What's this? Go to town and see—do they have to buy just because you want to sell?"
Her sister-In-law also spoke up:
"Exactly. Clearly, you were the ones rushing to exchange with Da Zhuang's Mother. Now you're acting like Da Zhuang's Mother begged you to dig up herbs. She never forced you."
"Since you dug them up, and Da Zhuang's Mother doesn't want them, the town does. How is it 'for nothing'? Stop trying to swindle people like the Shanshui Brothers."
Osmanthus's Mother even pointed at the two who had earlier spoken up for the Tian Yuanshan brothers and scolded:
"See what you've done now? The fields won't yield much grain this year anyway, and we still have to pay the imperial grain tax. Da Zhuang's Mother was kind enough to trade rice for your weeds, and you're still not satisfied.
Now Da Zhuang's Mother is angry. You can all go eat dirt and chew bark. Let your whole families starve to death for all I care."
The two who were scolded didn't dare speak again. Meanwhile, the others finally saw things clearly:
"Qin Sang, don't be angry. We didn't mean it that way. Please don't stop accepting the herbs."
"Widow Tian, don't worry. We dug the herbs voluntarily. Even if something happens on the mountain, we'd never try to swindle you."
"Yes, yes, yes! Tian Yuanshan, why aren't you taking your brother and getting lost? If you ruin the grain exchange for all of us, I... we'll all go eat at your house!"
This statement was immediately endorsed by the other villagers. In an instant, they were all shouting about going to eat at the Shanshui Brothers' house, spraying so much saliva the two couldn't wipe it off fast enough.
Seeing Qin Sang showed no sign of backing down, the two spat in frustration:
"Widow Tian, just you wait."
Qin Sang snorted coldly:
"Fine, I'll wait. Everyone here is a witness. If anything happens to my family, it's definitely connected to those two brothers.
From now on, if a single feather falls off my chickens, I'll hold you two accountable."
Tian Yuanshan hadn't expected Widow Tian to be not only unafraid but even fiercer than him, startling him into a shiver.
Amid the curses of the crowd, the two slunk away. The remaining people cautiously looked at Qin Sang.
Eldest Sister-in-law Tian stepped forward first:
"Da Zhuang's Mother, you see the villagers have promised. About the herb collection... could it..."
Of course Qin Sang could. From the start, she had worried about such a situation, which is why she had relied on Eldest Sister-in-law Tian to spread the word about collecting herbs—as a precaution.
Harsh lands breed unruly people. Although the biggest troublemaker in Tianjia Village used to be the Original Body, she couldn't guarantee everyone's behavior.
And sure enough, she encountered it.
Qin Sang put down the rice sack, scanned the crowd, and said sternly:
"Since everyone is here today, let me make one thing clear upfront: if anyone encounters any danger while gathering herbs, my family takes no responsibility.
I don't want to be kind enough to exchange grain with everyone, only to get swindled later. I'd rather not do this business and go dig on the mountain myself than hear such unpleasant talk."
Though harsh, everyone understood:
"Qin Sang, don't worry. We'd definitely never cause you trouble."
"Yes. If anyone is foolish enough to ruin the livelihood of the whole village, I'll be the first to object."
Qin Sang nodded:
"Alright. From now on, come to exchange every day at dusk."
Seeing Qin Sang prepare to weigh the herbs, everyone's faces brightened with joy.
Qin Sang was busy weighing both the herbs and the rice, sweating profusely.
Eldest Sister-in-law Tian stepped up to help, weighing the rice for her.
Qin Sang thanked her. With help, things went much faster.
When Qin Sang weighed the rice, she sometimes was a bit generous, letting the scale tip high without scooping any rice out. Eldest Sister-in-law Tian, however, was different—no one was getting any extra advantage from her.
What she didn't know was that when Qin Sang weighed the herbs, she called eight liang a jin and three liang half a jin—her generosity was on an ocean-like scale.
She didn't mind letting others gain a little. Only if everyone in the village had food to eat would her family eating meat every meal not provoke jealousy.
Moreover, this approach encouraged everyone to diligently dig herbs for her.
The herbs the villagers dug up were all dried. Each family exchanged for two or three jin of grain.
The last two families were Qin Sang's In-laws, standing far away. They only approached after everyone else had left.
Widow Xia still brought Daner and Caoer, carrying mugwort and a large basket.
Both Daner and Caoer carried cloth bags on their backs.
Qin Sang weighed the herbs. Widow Xia had found relatively few—traveling mountain paths with two young children while ensuring their safety; finding any herbs at all was quite an achievement.
"Sister-In-law, three jin."
Widow Xia was overjoyed. Getting three jin of grain a day meant her family could cook porridge and not starve.
Just as she was about to leave, Caoer thought for a moment, ran back, opened the cloth bags from both of them, placed them on the ground, and looked up to ask:
"Aunt, are these herbs?"
Qin Sang crouched down, sifted through them, spotted two particular plants, and exclaimed in surprise:
"Where did you dig these up?"
Qin Sang's expression made Widow Xia nervous too. She quickly crouched down and asked her daughter:
"Caoer, answer Aunt quickly. Where did you get these?"
Caoer was a bit scared and spoke softly:
"Mother, Aunt, this... this is what I dug up on the mountain with Daner. I saw the ones Mother dug were all Caoer, so I wanted to see if these were herbs too. Mother..."
After speaking, Caoer hid behind Widow Xia. Widow Xia grew concerned:
"Da Zhuang's Mother, can't these plants be dug up?"
Qin Sang picked out those few plants from the cloth bag, making sure none were missed, then said:
"Sister, these are medicinal herbs, but they're poisonous."