Happy Little Farmer
Chapter 355

Chapter 355: Chapter 355

"Let’s go, do you think I care?"

The woman snorted softly and walked out, swaying her hips.

She didn’t look like a villager but more like a city-dwelling young wife, stylishly dressed and wearing light makeup.

Overall, she had a slightly sophisticated air about her, giving off a bit of a bourgeois vibe.

Yang Fan was curious about her relationship with Ma Baoyu, and from their conversation, it seemed the feud between their families was not minor.

However, it was their family matter and, though curious, Yang Fan felt it was rude to pry further.

He didn’t say anything, but Ma Baoyu took the initiative to speak, "This woman is my cousin’s widow, a real nuisance. I’ve helped her a lot in the past, I’ve sweated over both in and outside her household. Yet, she accuses me of having an affair with another widow in the village and spread it all over, so now everyone knows."

"If I had actually had an affair with that woman, I would have accepted it despite my reluctance. The key thing is, she made this up without any evidence, tarnishing my reputation by mere imagination, and suddenly I was the villager everyone wanted to shun like a rat crossing the street."

Yang Fan smiled, "That does sound quite miserable."

"Miserable it might not be, I don’t care what others say. What’s said is said, it doesn’t matter," Ma Baoyu shook his head and continued, "Actually, I was quite interested in that young widow, and we were nearly an item."

"Then this rumor came out, and she left the village for good. Now I don’t even have her contact information, finding her has become impossible."

"Zheng Yuyu didn’t just spread a rumor; she destroyed my chance at a lifelong happiness."

Yang Fan was startled.

It seemed he couldn’t blame others for alleging an affair.

After all, they were almost an item, it just hadn’t been finalized.

In the village, Yang Fan knew too well how rumors worked. Chat a bit more with a young widow, and by tomorrow, people would say they were together. Considering they were almost there, they probably met frequently.

Rumors had surely spread everywhere by now; even if Ma Baoyu’s cousin hadn’t mentioned it, plenty of others likely had.

In the village, nights are full of secrets, but the daytime hides nothing.

Even the smallest household troubles can’t be concealed.

"From what you’re saying, your families must have a pretty bad relationship for her to still enter your house?" Yang Fan asked.

Ma Baoyu scoffed and said, "She must have come to find out if you were Medicine Dealers!"

"Last year when I planted Codonopsis, she also planted over twenty acres. When the Codonopsis market was at its best, I chose not to sell, and she followed suit, holding off on selling too. Now, she’s stuck with it, growing anxious and came here spying for information," Ma Baoyu laughed.

This was supposed to be a sad story, but Yang Fan couldn’t help but want to laugh.

The village had its own set of characters indeed.

"Their family planted twenty acres, that’s not little," Yang Fan remarked thoughtfully.

He was becoming interested in those twenty acres of Codonopsis.

While everyone else feared Codonopsis like venomous snakes, in Yang Fan’s eyes, it was a stable source of income.

"Old Ma, are there many others in the village growing Codonopsis?" Yang Fan asked.

"Not many, just our two families," Ma Baoyu replied, "As you can see, we mainly grow crops here. Nobody used to grow medicinal plants before, the older generation thought it was a waste of land."

"But I like to stir things up. The income from growing medicinal plants is several times more than from crops, so I definitely had to give it a try. And my cousin’s widow, ever since my cousin passed, she’s just been scraping by with some relief funds and the little money she earns from city jobs, living quite tightly."

"Last year, seeing how much money I made growing medicinal herbs, she followed suit. Moreover, she did it on a loan, so she must be even more anxious than me right now."

Yang Fan smiled and said, "Old Ma, I’m a bit interested in your sister-in-law’s Codonopsis."

Ma Baoyu paused, "Well, as a businessman, you certainly don’t care about our conflict. If you want to buy, I can go and ask for you."

"You wouldn’t deliberately sabotage this deal, would you?" Yang Fan asked with a smile.

Ma Baoyu exclaimed, "My big boss, what kind of person do you think I am? At most, I’ll just use this chance to make her apologize to me honestly. How could I possibly sabotage the deal? That’s absolutely not going to happen."

"Okay, then please help me ask her later," Yang Fan said. "And if there are others around who also grow Codonopsis, you might as well include them. As a reward, I can pay you an extra fifty cents per pound. What do you think?"

"Sure, that’s very generous. The commission is high," Ma Baoyu immediately replied happily.

Though it was just an extra fifty cents per pound, his base was large.

Overall, it amounted to more than a thousand dollars extra.

The commission indeed wasn’t low.

"Still, Brother Yang, I’m a bit curious. The market for Codonopsis is almost completely dead now. Why are you still buying so much of it? And, I don’t think you’re hoarding it," Ma Baoyu said.

Yang Fan just smiled faintly, "Old Ma, that really is a trade secret."

"Alright, alright, I won’t ask, I won’t ask. I’ll go cook. Curiosity killed the cat," Ma Baoyu said as he shook his head and waved his hands.

Yang Fan and the two others lent a hand briefly, and soon, a lavish whole chicken banquet was ready.

One big pot, one dish, all chicken.

No wonder Zheng Yuyu said that Ma Baoyu’s cooking skills really weren’t that great.

Even for Yang Fan, whose taste buds Zhou Wenhui had spoiled till they were extremely picky, it was easy to point out a lot of flaws.

However, the chicken he raised was indeed good.

The meat was very chewy and tasted great.

After the meal, Ma Baoyu cleaned up the room for Yang Fan and the others, letting them rest while he went to find Zheng Yuyu.

"Fanzi, do you think he can handle it? I feel like this guy might be up to no good," Zhao Wu whispered as he handed a cigarette to Yang Fan.

"No worries. If he tries any tricks, we can simply go find Zheng Yuyu ourselves," Yang Fan said.

He hadn’t yet felt any trouble with the situation.

"Hey, that’s true, worrying over nothing."

Zhao Wu lay flat on the bed, grabbed his bright red vest, and began humming a tune.

The melancholy truck prince started to reminisce about a lost love with his songs again.

But he was actually quite good at singing.

Ma Baoyu soon returned with a grim face, "Brother Yang, that woman is demanding eighty and even cursed my ancestors, accusing me of deliberately targeting her. She really doesn’t recognize kindness, saying ’like a dog biting Lv Dongbin.’ You go talk to her yourself later, she’s outside."

"Alright, I’ll go have a look," Yang Fan said.