Ye Zhinan was grinning mischievously, but the several big and burly men didn't catch on.
Qin Yihuai exchanged a smile with her. They both understood each other's thoughts.
"I'm not going to fall into your trap. I just plan to earn my wages earnestly," Chen Zhenhai whispered as he leaned over.
Ye Zhinan looked at him with a smile and lowered her voice. "Even if you do your best, you may not be able to outperform others. Just think of it as regaining some pride for yourself."
Chen Zhenhai's face flushed red. He wanted to ask Qin Yihuai for help, only to find that the latter wasn't on his side at all.
He could only slink away to work.
With Qin Yihuai's help, the efficiency improved a lot.
Just as the weaving work was coming to an end, Qin Yihuai suddenly showed up.
"You need to calculate the wages."
"Calculate the wages?" Ye Zhinan's eyes widened in shock. How could he be setting his sights on her?
The man across from her calmly stretched out his hand. "My men have been working for you, so it's only natural that you pay up."
Looking at his sly look, Ye Zhinan knew he must be doing it on purpose.
She could even hear the abacus clicking loudly from the entrance of the village!
"Miss Ye, you're not going to renege on your debt, are you?" a voice from the crowd urged. Ye Zhinan had no choice but to pay up reluctantly.
Then she gave Qin Yihuai a fierce glare. What a sly old fox!
With the wages in hand, the men worked even more diligently, greatly shortening the time.
When Ye Zhinan took out the cloth, the villagers were all shocked.
"It's woven so quickly. It can't be a shoddy job, can it?" someone shouted in the crowd, their eyes full of contempt.
Only Ye Zhinan remained calm in the crowd.
She unfurled the cloth. It was as thin as gossamer, delicate and translucent. It was even more translucent than the silk from the Wei family. The weavers were really skilled.
"I've hired a few helpers. To prevent the technology from leaking, I've paid them hush money. You don't need to bother inquiring," she said.
She really had paid the hush money. As for who received it, they'd never be able to figure it out in their lifetime.
She said this just to make the villagers wary of each other. Even though it was the truth, they could only half - believe it.
This not only protected Liu Dongxing but also Qin Yihuai.
"Taking Sister Hong's greenhouse as an example, I'll help everyone build one," Ye Zhinan said.
She didn't have time to draw the blueprints, so she could only get involved and work with everyone.
Sister Hong felt sorry for her and wanted to lend a hand, but was refused.
"Others don't trust me. Consider this my way of repaying you. Let me do something," Ye Zhinan said.
She never liked owing favors. She didn't want to let those who were good to her down either.
She saw all that Sister Hong had done and remembered to repay her.
Seeing that Sister Hong didn't stop her anymore, she lowered her head and continued with her work.
It only took an afternoon for every household to build a greenhouse.
"Will it really work?" Mrs. Zhang looked at the thing in front of her in disbelief.
Could a few pieces of ragged cloth and a few brushes of tung oil really bring the crops back to life?
"Growing crops is a long - term thing. You can't see the results overnight. The most effective way is to see if it's warm inside the greenhouse tomorrow," Ye Zhinan said.
She checked the airtightness of the greenhouses from house to house.
After making sure everything was okay, she turned around and went home.
As soon as she entered the door, she heard someone crying in the yard. The woman's heart - rending wails mingled with the child's cries, making it extremely harsh.
"Mother, what's wrong?" Ye Zhinan thought the voice didn't sound like Han Xiangmei's, but she still rushed in quickly.
She only saw a woman sitting in the yard, holding a half - grown child in her arms.
The child was covering his throat, his face purple. From time to time, he coughed.
"Did he choke on something?" Ye Zhinan asked.
The woman nodded repeatedly. Before she could say anything else, Ye Zhinan rushed over and took the child from her.
Thankfully, the choking hadn't lasted long. Using the first - aid method she had learned before, she managed to make the child spit out the choked object in a few moves.
"It's good that he spat it out. I was really scared," the woman sat in the yard, hugging the child and crying.
Ye Zhinan looked at the thing on the ground and found it was an apricot pit. If it had been a bit later, the child might have died.
"Remember to be more careful when you get home. Don't let the child eat these things again," Ye Zhinan said.
The woman nodded repeatedly, obviously terrified.
Before leaving, she thanked Ye Zhinan and left a few copper coins.
Ye Zhinan chased after her but found that the woman was already out of sight.
She held the money in her hand, feeling it burning hot.
At dinner that night, Han Xiangmei mentioned what had happened during the day.
"It's just neighbors helping each other. There's no need to be so polite. It seems so distant," she said.
Ye Shenyan looked at the money on the table and remained silent for a long time.
"Let's put it away first. We'll find a chance to return the favor later," he said.
Han Xiangmei didn't understand and refused to take it no matter what.
Ye Shenyan stroked his beard and slowly said, "If we don't take the money, every household will come to us for medical treatment in the future. Won't our family become a charity hall?"
He wasn't being stingy. He just saw deeply into the hearts of the villagers.
Ye Zhinan nodded in agreement, but Han Xiangmei still couldn't understand.
"You father and daughter used to help whenever you could. Why have you changed your minds now?" she asked.
Ye Shenyan gave her a sidelong glance and patiently explained, "Even kindness should be directed at the right people. Didn't the incident of the greenhouses show you the true nature of the villagers? They're greedy. They gang up to bully others and are sycophantic. As long as it's beneficial to them, they don't mind losing all their dignity. How can we show them our true hearts? We'll only end up getting hurt in the end."
"Even if we don't take the money, there should be mutual benefits," Ye Zhinan added.
She didn't want to do a losing business, nor did she want to waste her kindness.
The whole family finally reached an agreement and could have a peaceful meal.
Ye Zhinan got up early the next day and went to the fields to check the results from house to house.
Almost every household's greenhouse could retain heat. Only the one from the Wei family had been blown to pieces by the wind.
"You're here to laugh at our family, aren't you?" Wei Shishi was wearing coarse cloth clothes, with dust on her face.
There was no longer the former luster in her eyes, only endless desolation. She finally looked a bit like a fallen noble.
"No," Ye Zhinan denied.
Wei Shishi thought she would just turn around and leave, but unexpectedly, she stopped in place and didn't move for a long time.
"You've had enough of laughing at me. Get out of here quickly," Wei Shishi said.
"I'm not here to laugh at you. I just want to remind myself that those who do evil will surely bring disaster upon themselves," Ye Zhinan said, her expression unchanged, showing no sign of emotion.
On the contrary, Wei Shishi looked ferocious.
She raised the hoe in her hand and swung it fiercely towards Ye Zhinan's face.
"You bitch. Who do you think you are to judge me?"
Before the hoe could get close to Ye Zhinan, Wei Shishi's hand was grabbed.
Qin Yihuai exerted a little force, and she fell to the ground uncontrollably. Even though the ground was soft, she still gasped in pain.
"You two are really an item."