After being jilted, the entire neighboring village was filled with deep regret.

The return of Shenzhuang gave the villagers some hope. They didn't want to receive the bodies of their family members. As long as they were alive, it didn't matter if they were crippled.

Business in the village continues, and the sky remains cloudy and sunny intermittently, but fortunately, the strawberry picking season is almost over.

Xiao Xi took another 5,000 jars of strawberry jam to the city. After tasting the sweetness, Boss Ji went to the village to find Shen Ying and ordered another 2,000 jars. Even Ma Xingteng was no exception. After Boss Ji left, he went to Su Tai and directly bought the remaining stock.

Su Tai entertained him in the courtyard and asked the question that had been bothering her, "Has Young Master Ma expanded his business beyond Lizhou? The amount of goods he ordered this time is indeed quite large; I'm afraid even Zhaohua County can't handle it all."

Ma Xingteng laughed heartily, "Hey! This is the third year since the apples were planted! Everyone is waiting for the results. If they really don't bear fruit, our family will have to lose a lot of money. My father has now handed over the family business to me to manage, so I have to find a way to get through this difficult time."

If he had previously harbored some resentment because of Su Tai's words, now he only felt deep gratitude towards her. If Su Tai hadn't leaked the news beforehand, the Ma family would probably have already been robbed by the angry people, and there would have been no time for him to make ends meet.

"How is Master Ma?" Su Tai poured him a glass of water.

Ma Xingteng took a sip, his expression indifferent, "It's still the same as before. The previous injuries have completely healed, but my energy and spirit haven't fully recovered yet."

Su Tai nodded and reminded him, "Roseberries bear fruit in late autumn, but the weather is bad this year, and I don't know what the situation will be. Young Master Ma should pay close attention."

"Thank you for reminding."

A few days after Ma Xingteng left, the last batch of strawberry jam in the village was sold out.

The thatched shed in the village courtyard was demolished and restored to its original state.

Because the watermelons were growing slower than in previous years, they would have to wait a few more days before they could be harvested, so everyone gathered in the village courtyard to divide the money.

Tang Yu and the children counted the number of strawberries delivered by each household.

He checked the accounts with each villager to make sure there were no problems before handing them over to the village chief.

The village chief could manage small accounts, but he couldn't handle such a large sum of money. He was completely clueless and had to ask Su Tai for help.

After Su Tai arrived, she carefully examined the data and said to the villagers, "The amount of money is huge now. If we were to settle all the accounts with everyone at once, we probably wouldn't be able to finish calculating it. The best way is to do it in two steps. In previous years, one pound of strawberries cost eighty coins. Let's distribute the money to everyone at that price first, and then we can pay interest on the rest based on the amount of strawberries each household produced. What do you think?"

The villagers all nodded. As long as they could get the money, they didn't care how it was divided. After all, Shen Ying was the village chief, and they trusted Su Tai's character.

Seeing that the villagers had no objections, Shen Ying immediately brought over a table and basins and began to calculate the accounts.

Su Tai gave Shen Ying a number, and Shen Ying took out the corresponding amount of money. The money was placed in a large basin and counted in front of the villagers. Several people witnessed that there was no deduction. The villagers put their fingerprints on the money that year.

That's how one household got through it, though of course, it took quite a while.

It took them three days to finish distributing the most basic amount of money.

Next, all the villagers' eyes were on Shen Ying's family, wondering how much interest they could get.

Shen Yingzheng sat anxiously in Su Tai's house, "Xiao Tai, this interest is not easy to divide! How do we calculate it!"

Su Tai chuckled and took out a piece of paper. "Village Chief, don't worry, I've already calculated it. I'll divide the remaining silver into the total amount and calculate the profit per pound of strawberries. That way, we'll know how much silver each household will receive."

Shen Ying was shocked. "How...how did you do that? I've been trying to figure it out for days!"

He knew exactly how to calculate it, but the amount was so huge that he couldn't even divide it into individual ounces. He was also prone to making mistakes. If there wasn't enough for the people at the back after he finished dividing it, the people at the front probably wouldn't be willing to take out their share to redistribute it, and there would inevitably be a lot of wrangling.

Su Tai said she borrowed someone else's calculator by going through the time portal, and she just casually fooled Shen Ying with that explanation.

Shen Ying frowned the whole time while the profits were being distributed. Even though Su Tai repeatedly assured him that there would be no mistakes, he still felt uneasy. After half of the profits were distributed, he was still looking worried.

Xu asked, "What's wrong? Doesn't the village chief want to share the profits with us?"

"No, no, don't talk, or I'll get confused." Shen Ying glared at Xu Shi, annoyed.

Everyone then realized what he was thinking and burst into laughter.

The interest was distributed over two days, but several dozen coins remained undistributed.

The village chief breathed a sigh of relief, and looking at the villagers, he felt their spines straighten up a lot. "Fellow villagers, we've distributed all the money we earned, and we only have a few dozen coins left that we can't divide. What do you suggest we do?"

Everyone made money this year, almost half more than in previous years. It was only a few dozen coins, and no one bothered the village chief.

Su Tai thought for a moment and suggested, "Why don't we distribute it to the elderly in the village? It's not much, but it will make them happy."

When everyone heard this, their eyes lit up.

Mrs. He praised, "You're so quick-witted. This is a good idea. The old man has worked hard for the village all his life, so it's only right that he gets some benefits. In that case, my family will contribute another hundred coins."

"Then we'll contribute something too. We have a lot of people in our family, and we're not as generous as the village chief, so we'll just give twenty coins!"

Twenty coins from this shop, fifty coins from that shop, and soon the bowl was full of copper coins again.

Shen Ying smiled wryly and said, "We're happy that everyone is looking out for the village's elderly, but there's no need for this. These copper coins can be exchanged for several taels of silver. How about this, let's hire an opera troupe to perform a grand opera! Hiring an opera troupe will only cost one tael of silver, and the rest can be distributed to the elderly. What do you think?"

"it is good!"

The villagers excitedly agreed, and that's how the matter was settled.

Hiring a theatrical troupe is not a simple matter.

In this era, opera troupes were all itinerant, also known as "lower-level traveling performers." They did not have a fixed residence and generally performed wherever they went. They could only be found in bustling prefectural or county towns. In remote and impoverished places like Moshi Town, they were probably impossible to find even if one wanted to.

The villagers had never seen any major operas; at most, they had encountered street performers once or twice when they went to the market.

Everyone was eagerly anticipating the grand performance the village chief had described.

Shen Ying inevitably had to ask Su Tai for help again, "Xiao Tai, you have a wide network of connections, could you help me ask where I can find people from the opera troupe?"

Su Tai's only connection was Ma Xingteng.

It just so happens that she needs to go back to her parents' home to send money, so it won't hurt for her to go.

The Ma residence remains unchanged from before.

The Bai family member who hosted her was even more hospitable than last time.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Su Tai revealed her purpose.

Bai was somewhat surprised, "Your village is looking for an opera troupe? I've been married into the Ma family for so many years, and this is the first time I've ever heard of such a novel thing." (End of Chapter)