Farm Tough Girl

Chapter 66 - 66 067 Missed You So Much_1

?Chapter 66: Chapter 067: Missed You So Much_1 Chapter 66: Chapter 067: Missed You So Much_1 Muniang halted in her tracks, turned her head to glance at Mrs. Liang, and laughed rather than getting angry, “Mrs. Liang, do you really have the time to worry about whether I’m feeling aggrieved or not? I’ve heard that a few days ago, you secretly dug up several fruit trees and planted them in your own yard. Could it be that you’ve suddenly taken an interest in cultivating fruit trees? And I don’t even know how many of them survived. You should know that fruit trees are not so easy to grow. If you’re not careful and they die, tsk tsk, I wonder if Mrs. Liang’s frustration will be even greater than mine?”

With that statement, Mrs. Liang’s face turned dark instantly. Qiao Muniang’s words hit right where it hurt. Half of the fruit trees in her yard died indeed, not to mention the branches she tied to the trunks, emulating Muniang’s method—within half a month, they all withered! How her heart ached! She knew that each fruit tree was worth eighty pieces of silver!

“What’s it to you if I plant fruit trees? Are you bored or something?”

Muniang chuckled lightly, “I wouldn’t dare interfere, but seeing Mrs. Liang foolishly tying branches to the trunks of fruit trees and hoping for a good harvest, I just couldn’t watch anymore and thought I’d remind you to be careful not to lose everything you’ve invested.”

As soon as the crowd heard this, the expression on eight out of ten people’s faces changed. In this village, there were no secrets that could be kept, and although Mrs. Liang thought she had covertly planted fruit trees in her yard without others knowing, it was already common knowledge. After all, everyone had a pile of branches cut from the mountains at home, which couldn’t just be wasted. So, they all followed Mrs. Liang’s method and tied branches directly onto their fruit trees, hoping for a bountiful harvest next year.

Thinking of the current condition of the fruit trees in her yard, and seeing Qiao Muniang’s schadenfreude expression, it was as if something clicked in Mrs. Liang’s mind, and with a shrill voice, she screamed, “You little wretch! You deliberately exposed this flawed method to me, letting me be fooled. You knew this method would definitely not work; you just did it to deceive me, to play me!”

“You think too highly of yourself. To play you, would I need to go to such lengths? As if you’re worth it!” Muniang snorted coldly.

Mrs. Liang was so angry her face turned red and her neck thickened. The thought of how Muniang had caused her to lose so much silver made her temper flare up even more.

“So you aren’t intentionally placing those branches in your yard for me to see, to bait me into falling for your trick?!”

Muniang could not help but laugh, “It’s my own yard, do I need your approval to put things there? I told you those branches are for firewood, but you didn’t believe me. Now you’re blaming me.”

“For firewood? Hmph! Then why are there branches tied to the fruit trees on the mountainside? You still dare to say it wasn’t intentional!” Mrs. Liang’s tone was packed with sarcasm.

Muniang blinked slyly, “How would you know what my fruit trees on the mountain look like? That mountain is my private property, and the villagers are not allowed to go up there without my permission, right?”

Mrs. Liang inwardly cursed her luck, realizing she had let slip information in her agitation and began to stammer, “My husband saw them accidentally while helping to dig a fish pond on the mountain.”

“Oh~ My fish pond and that orchard are very far apart, and furthermore…” Muniang’s face suddenly turned stern: “I have expressly forbidden all the workers from going beyond the vicinity of the fish pond. Mrs. Liang, you seem to know a lot about my mountain, which suggests that you have been there without permission!”

Mrs. Liang turned pale: “I, I haven’t, haven’t been there!”

Muniang sneered, “It just so happens that tomorrow I am going to the County Government Office to deal with some matters with Niu Qingfang. Why doesn’t Mrs. Liang come along as well? I wonder how different your action of sneaking onto my mountain is from the crime of breaking and entering!”

Naturally, Mrs. Liang was scared and quickly grabbed Muniang’s sleeve, pleading, “Muniang, we are all fellow villagers here, let’s not let this affect our harmony. It was just a moment of foolishness on my part, please don’t take me to the County Government Office!”

Muniang rolled her eyes at Mrs. Liang, who could change her face faster than turning a page. She withdrew her hand and said coldly, “Now you treat me as a fellow villager, Mrs. Liang, but when you saw me in trouble and kicked me while I was down, what did you consider me then?”

“Oh my, Muniang, I was just talking carelessly. It’s all Niu Qingfang’s shamelessness, throwing herself at any man she sees. How could Li Cheng, such a simple and honest man, do something like that!” Mrs. Liang said with a fawning face, which just made Muniang feel sick.

Muniang gave a soft laugh, “Well, no matter how rich our family is, we are still part of Tupo Village. I wouldn’t want to make things too difficult, and if I were to take you, Mrs. Liang, to the County Government Office, I wouldn’t have the heart to do so.”

You don’t have the heart? You’re the most ruthless! Mrs. Liang cursed inwardly but kept a grateful smile on her face, “It’s the best if you don’t blame me, Muniang. In the future, I shall be sincerely grateful to you.”

“However, just because I don’t blame you this time doesn’t mean I won’t blame you next time,” Muniang’s voice suddenly turned serious. “That mountain of mine, my personal property, if someone dares to sneak up there for their benefit again, risking life and limb, I won’t be so easygoing! I’ll do what needs to be done, and no consideration will be given!”

This statement wasn’t just for Mrs. Liang; it was aimed at all the villagers. She knew that it wasn’t only Mrs. Liang who had tied branches to her fruit trees. The intense affairs that had ensued when the villagers crazily went up the mountain to chop the branches showed that they were all eyeing the means by which she became prosperous.

If she really took Mrs. Liang to the County Government Office, probably half the village would be implicated. While such an action would allow her to vent her anger, offending the whole village wasn’t worth it. Muniang would not do such a thing; after all, she was born here, and even if she were wealthy, she would still remain here.

It was better to give everyone a warning to prevent further schemes against her. After all, Mrs. Liang had spent a lot of silver on fruit trees, only to have wasted it all, which should hurt her enough for the time being.

Sure enough, everyone fell silent and looked at each other, Mrs. Liang kept affirming eagerly, her face no longer bearing the mocking expression she had when mocking Muniang before.

It was not until they were far away that Dong foolishly asked, “Are we going to the County Government Office tomorrow?”

Muniang smiled, “I think, there’s no need for that now.”

Dong was perplexed, but only Muniang was smiling like a sly fox.

In the darkness of the night, at the small thatched cottage at the foot of the mountain, furnished with just a makeshift bed constructed from planks and a handmade wooden table, there wasn’t even an oil lamp. After all, this tiny dwelling was just a place for Li Cheng to catch a brief rest if hunting kept him out too late, visited no more than a few times a year.

Niu Qingfang, with a spring coat over her head obscuring most of her face, crept toward the cottage in a crouch.

With a creak, no sooner had Niu Qingfang pushed the door open than she was pulled forcefully into a stranger’s embrace.

“You seductive little thing, I’ve missed you dearly.”