More and more people gathered, but they spoke in hushed tones, "Isn't that just a barren mountain?"
"What barren mountain? It looks like a dead mountain to me, with sparse vegetation and a bumpy surface. She's crazy to buy that mountain."
The old man stroked his beard and said mysteriously, "Not necessarily. Miss Jin is quite capable; she has never failed to find lost items or people. She wouldn't buy a desolate mountain for no reason."
"Look at that child stammering, there must be something fishy going on," he seemed to realize something, his cloudy eyes suddenly brightening.
"Do you all remember the case of Concubine Liu murdering a child at the Zhao Residence? She calculated exactly where the child was buried and how deep.
"Do you think this Lush Mountain might..." The old man stopped halfway through his sentence, glancing at the shop door.
The group looked at the same post simultaneously, and one of the job postings was for sowing grass seeds. Who sows grass seeds on the mountain? What's the difference between that and scattering money?
The old man lowered his voice, "My son works in the county government, and he's heard about this mountain..." He gestured.
Eighty taels?
The old man's eyes widened, "Eight hundred taels!"
"What? Eight hundred taels? That could buy so much fertile land... Oh dear, what a pity!" The man kept pounding his hands, as if he were in more pain than if he had spent the money.
The old man snorted softly, "That's why this matter is not simple. Given the shop owner's profit-driven nature, there must be something fishy going on at Lush Mountain."
"What's going on..."
"Tsk... If I knew the answer to that question, I would have bought it."
"How about we go check it out tonight?"
"You guys go ahead, I'm not going. Owning a mountain can easily lead to legal trouble."
The following day, someone spread the word that copper coins had been found in Lush Mountain, ranging from a few coins to dozens of coins. The news spread like wildfire and quickly became an open secret in Willow and Poplar County.
Moreover, the rumors became increasingly bizarre, claiming that Jin Shanyao bought Lush Mountain because there was an ancient tomb there, complete with the name of the tomb's occupant.
Mu Wan'er, former Imperial Noble Consort of the previous dynasty.
To prevent the imperial concubine's body from decaying, the emperor specially buried her on the lifeline of Lush Mountain, which caused the dragon vein of Lush Mountain to break, and the entire mountain gradually withered.
Jin Shanyao just finalized the price and placed the order with the saplings when she heard this news halfway through her journey. She was completely dumbfounded; what was going on here?!
That evening, she dragged the two children into the house and made them stand in a row.
Who came up with this idea?
" Meng Anci..."
Without hesitation, Meng Anzhi confessed to being the mastermind. Meng Anci looked at Meng Anzhi in disbelief and said, "You really are my sister."
"Auntie, Meng Anzhi scattered the money with Dahuang."
Meng Anzhi and Dahuang both looked at Meng Anci at the same time. Good lad, you're ruthless, you've implicated two people at the same time.
Jin Shanyao chuckled, "Lying? Deceiving the people?"
Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci both shook their heads. We can't admit to things we didn't do.
"Auntie, you know me well, I never lie."
After briefly recounting what had happened, Meng Anci spread his hands and said, "Every word is true; there isn't a single lie."
What about the copper coins?
Meng Anci looked at Meng Anzhi with schadenfreude, "Sister, it's your turn..."
Meng Anzhi didn't even look at him. " Meng Anci said that human nature is greedy. He's a good actor and can make the other person fill in the blanks in their mind. Once they have suspicions, they will try to confirm them."
They'll fall for it if you just toss a few coins on the road. People only believe the answers they've figured out themselves, so he sent me to scatter the coins, and Dahuang was the one who sent me along."
Dahuang stood in the corner, nodding frantically... It did nothing; it was a good dog.
Jin Shanyao looked at the two little ones, unsure what to say. "Never mind, you two go to sleep. I'll explain tomorrow."
When Meng Anzhi and Meng Anci out, they exchanged a glance.
"Sis, if Auntie explains in public, then our plan will be ruined."
Meng Anzhi cupped his little face in her hands and smiled mischievously, "Auntie is helping us!"
How so?
Do you know what it means to make things worse the more you try to explain?
Meng Anci's eyes widened instantly, not from sudden realization, but from the pain...
"Sister, I was wrong. I should have taken full responsibility and not implicated you."
Please stop pinching me, it really hurts!
"Hmph... it's too late to beg now."
Meng Anci her small body, suddenly hugged Meng Anzhi tightly and howled at the top of her lungs.
"Sister... you're my own sister, and I want to be with you forever."
Meng Anzhi said disdainfully, "Alright, alright, stop pretending, let go of me now..."
"I won't let go..."
The next day, Qing He opened the door and screamed in fright. She saw a group of men, women, and children blocking the shop entrance with hoes and shovels.
"What are you doing? What are you doing? Don't push your way into the house... If you keep pushing, I'll call the police."
Hearing the commotion, Qing Yang rushed out and, amidst the chatter of the crowd, discerned the truth. She then slung the axe behind her back.
He shouted to the crowd, "Line up! Those who don't line up won't be hired!"
As soon as these words were spoken, a long queue formed, almost blocking half the street.
Jin Shanyao hadn't expected her child to cause such a big problem, and hurriedly came out to explain.
She was so tall that when she stood on the chair, she looked like a wooden stake. In order to make herself heard by people further away, she even used a layer of Spiritual Power.
"Listen to me, everyone," the cacophony of voices instantly subsided.
"Recent rumors claiming there's an ancient tomb on Lush Mountain are completely unfounded. Lush Mountain is just an ordinary mountain; there's nothing there at all."
Someone in the middle of the group shouted, "Yes, there are no ancient tombs, we all know that. I'm here to plant trees."
"Yes, we're all here to plant trees."
"Oh, by the way... Miss Jin, if we find a copper coin while planting trees, should it belong to the owner or to us?"
Jin Shanyao, thinking she hadn't conveyed her meaning clearly, added, "There are no copper coins at Lush Mountain; the rumored copper coins were dropped by someone else."
"We know, we just want to know, whose copper coin was found?"
"Yours, yours, all of it is yours..."
Jin Shanyao's temper flared up. This just didn't make sense. She jumped off the chair and saw the two little ones covering their mouths and snickering.
Well, since she'd entrusted the recruitment to them, she shouldn't interfere too much.
After this is all over, let's see how she deals with those two.
Jin Shanyao, "Go register."
Meng Anzhi exclaimed "Ah!" Meng Anci raised the gong into the air, making a loud thud that silenced the entire arena.
"I know you all want to plant trees at Lush Mountain, but there are too many of you."
He had barely finished speaking when he heard a shout from afar, "I'll do it for twenty-five coins!"
Oh dear... Who's so helpful? Meng Anci was too short to see who was speaking, so he huffed and puffed his way onto the chair and stood on tiptoe to look into the line.
"I have twenty coins."
"I... I... I'll take fifteen coins..."
Meng Anci's eyes were filled with emotion, and he said in a clear voice, "My family is not like Meng the Skinflint; we can't let our helpers feel disheartened."
"Alright then..." He paused slightly, then gritted his teeth and said, "Twenty coins for digging holes and planting trees, let's recruit a hundred people first."
"I... I... I..."
Qing He maintained order, "One at a time, one at a time, don't push... Oops, you stepped on my foot."
Meng Anzhi sat at the table, her heart pounding with excitement and her hands trembling as she wrote down one name after another.
Meng Anci's sudden price reduction gave her the creeps.
After this is all over, I'll definitely give him a good beating to teach him a lesson for acting on his own.