Chapter 567 - 489: Renaming (Part 2)
Chapter 567: Chapter 489: Renaming (Part 2)
"I understand. I was just passing the message along out of respect for Mr. Wu. He is a highly educated intellectual, after all... a national treasure," Tang Qingyun said.
Grandma Tang shot him a look. "You might as well bring over a panda. At least that would make Manman happy."
Xiao Man didn’t want to stay in the living room any longer. She stood up and said, "Grandpa, Grandma, I think I’ll go back to my room."
"Let’s go, let’s go! Grandma went shopping with a friend the day before yesterday and bought you two new outfits and a new pair of leather shoes. Let’s go try them on!" Grandma Tang said, leading her granddaughter upstairs.
Grandpa Tang watched them disappear around the bend in the staircase. Then he turned back, gave Tang Qingyun a deep look, and pointed to the phone. "Get me the guards. From tomorrow morning until evening, no unauthorized personnel are to come within two hundred meters of the Tang Mansion’s main gate. Manman only comes home to stay one night a week, and I don’t want her peace disturbed by people causing a ruckus."
Tang Qingyun did as he was told. With a stern face, Grandpa Tang continued, "From now on, you are forbidden from helping anyone ask Manman for herbs. I’m not senile yet, but you seem to have lost your mind! I heard Manman say this before, and she just explained it to you again, crystal clear: she gave the old couple from the Wu Family enough medicine for their health and well-being. She has already fulfilled her duty to them and doesn’t owe anyone anything. They failed to manage it properly, so now that they’ve run out, they’re coming back for more? What, do they think it’s spring water gushing from a well? That they can have as much as they want? Let me tell you, stay away from that Wu Xiaowen. She’s a clueless girl who does nothing but cause trouble and ruin things! It was her, she moved her parents’ medicine to the Bai Family’s house, believe it or not! And you, you gullible fool, played the generous benefactor and rushed to help her curry favor with the Bai Family!"
Tang Qingyun’s face went pale, then immediately flushed crimson. He lowered his head, feigning to clear the bowls and chopsticks, and carried them into the kitchen. His expression had turned as black as the bottom of a pot. ’That shameless woman, Wu Xiaowen... How could I have ever thought she was as pure and beautiful as a fairy? I was truly blind!’
The next morning, Xiao Man woke up and used grain from her space to steam over a hundred multi-grain buns, a favorite of her grandparents. She had planned to personally deliver some to the Gu family and have a meal with the elders there, but she received a long-distance call from Wancheng. It was from her Grandpa and Grandma.
With herbs to sell and a year-round supply of fresh seasonal vegetables, traveling between Gongdao Village and Wancheng was much more convenient now. There was no longer a need to rush for a slow-moving ox-cart or wait miserably for the once-a-day bus. The moment truck drivers heard someone was from Gongdao Village, they would stop to offer a ride without a second thought. Grandpa now took Grandma with him whenever he went into Wancheng to shop. When the old couple felt like it, they would go stay with Mr. Jiang and Xinghua for a couple of days. And when they missed Xiao Man, Xinghua would take them to the post office to call her.
Xiao Man held the receiver, happily chatting away with her Grandpa, Grandma, and Xinghua. Grandpa Tang sat to the side, a smile on his face as he listened in. Grandma Tang packed up thirty of the buns and had a staff member deliver them to the Gu family, then scooted over to listen in as well. Xiao Man finally just put the phone on speaker and set down the receiver. A crowd of people on both ends, connected by a single telephone line, chattered and laughed away. It was noisy, but incredibly lively.
Just as Tang Qingyun came downstairs, he saw Xiao Man pick up the receiver again and press the speakerphone button.
Tang Qingyun: "..."
He was a little displeased. ’What’s the meaning of this? It’s not like I’m an outsider. I know everyone in Grandpa Mo’s family. Why can’t I be part of the conversation?’
But he had misunderstood. At that moment, her Grandpa on the other end had also picked up his own receiver to talk to Xiao Man about the herbs.
After talking with her Grandpa for about twenty more minutes, Xiao Man hung up the phone. Grandpa Tang noticed the strange expression on his granddaughter’s face and asked what was wrong. Xiao Man then relayed what her Grandpa Mo had told her, while Grandma Tang and Tang Qingyun listened intently beside them.
Everyone in Gongdao Village, as well as the officials from the commune and the Ping County Government in charge of agriculture and forestry, knew that the farmers in this county, and even in neighboring counties, who grew herbs had signed contracts with the Sun Family, an aristocratic family specializing in medicine. The Sun Group provided the farmers with herb seedlings and techniques for cultivation and maintenance. In return, all the herbs produced had to be sold to the Sun Group. The prices were set according to the National Price Bureau’s standards, and because the Sun Family offered very fair prices, none of the herb farmers had any complaints so far.
In Gongdao Village, thanks to Grandpa Mo’s relationship with the Sun Family, he had become their de facto agent. Anyone in urgent need of money who wanted to sell their herbs could prepare them and bring them to the Mo family’s herb garden at any time. Mo Jiabao and his wife would weigh the herbs and provide an advance payment. Since getting paid was so easy and they were bound by contract, everyone naturally dealt exclusively with the Sun Family. There was absolutely no reason for them to sell their herbs to anyone else. However, a short while ago, about two weeks prior, someone had offered double the price and bought up some herbs from a few families in Gongdao Village. After looking into it, Mo Youfu came back and told Grandpa Mo that this was the work of Mo Laoer and Liu Fengying, who had partnered up to do it.