After transmigrating into the body of a widow, I became the richest man in the capital.

Chapter 73 Harvesting Oranges

Thinking this way, Su Xiaoxiao realized that her two children were quite happy with their meal.

Seeing that it was still dark outside, Su Xiaoxiao said to Sanlang, "You stay home and look after the children. I'm going to the village head's house."

The village head was busy with village affairs at home when he saw Su Xiaoxiao come to visit, and he immediately put down what he was doing.

He asked Su Xiaoxiao very warmly, "Xiaoxiao, you're here? Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Well, I came here today to discuss something with you, the village head. I think I need some help to pick oranges up the mountain."

"You mean you want oranges and want everyone to come up the mountain to pick them for you?"

"Well, now that the busy farming season is over, I figured everyone's been idle at home, so I wanted to give everyone some job opportunities."

The village head was delighted to hear this. "There are indeed many fruit trees on the mountain, but what do you need so many oranges for?"

"I have my own uses."

After giving instructions to the village head, Su Xiaoxiao went to find Madam Sun.

"Sister Sun, I'm going to give you a task. I'll be starting to buy oranges tomorrow, so could you keep an eye on them for me?"

Mrs. Sun was a very decisive and energetic person. She immediately patted her chest and said, "Don't worry, leave this to me. I will definitely help you keep a close eye on things."

"I need some honest and kind villagers. This matter cannot be wrong. I will pay each person twenty coins a day, which is quite high. However, the quality and quantity of the oranges they pick must be guaranteed."

"With such high pay per day, can my son Wang Er come and help us pick them?"

“Brother Wang has another use; he’s in charge of watching over the people picking oranges.”

Su Xiaoxiao now completely trusts the Sun couple, and the Sun family also guarantees that they will do a good job and live up to Su Xiaoxiao's expectations.

After the village head gave the order, the villagers spread the word and rushed to the village head to register.

Most people found the whole thing quite unbelievable and were a little hesitant to believe it, but since it was ordered by the village head, they still felt they had to come and give it a try.

Su Xiaoxiao set aside a special area in her yard to store the oranges she had purchased.

Sun introduced several women from the village to help Su Xiaoxiao in the yard. They carefully washed the oranges they had received, scrubbing them with salt, then peeled them and cut out the pulp.

However, when Su Xiaoxiao was making jam in the house, she still wouldn't let the people who came to help see her; this was Su Xiaoxiao's exclusive secret recipe.

While Su Xiaoxiao was busy at home, Grandma Liu stood in front of the door, completely devoid of her previous arrogance.

"Su Xiaoxiao, give me back my son! You wicked woman, I don't want to live anymore..."

She was making a scene at the door, but the people inside the yard continued with their work as usual. Su Xiaoxiao told them, "Don't mind her, she'll go back after crying for a while."

"My God, God, you are so unfair! Why did you have to do this to me? If our Liu family hadn't been so unlucky as to marry a jinx, how could this have happened?"

A series of piercing cries reached Su Xiaoxiao's ears, but they didn't stir much emotion within her. "Liu Dazhuang set fire to our house, and now he's been arrested. Isn't he just reaping what he sowed?"

Su Xiaoxiao is busy right now and has no time to pay attention to her making a scene.

Sure enough, after crying for a while, Grandma Liu felt tired and, seeing that it was time to go home for lunch, she left.

In fact, Su Xiaoxiao really understands Granny Liu quite well.

Seeing the time, Su Xiaoxiao said to the women who were helping, "Let's cook first, and then deliver the food to the workers on the mountain."

With the help of the other women, they cooked several dishes, rice, and dry rations, which were all delivered to the workers on the mountain.

After delivering the food, Su Xiaoxiao led the women from the village up the mountain and then helped them pick oranges. They worked until dark, and when they weighed the oranges, they had picked a total of 300 jin (150 kg) of oranges that day.

However, she still needs nearly a thousand kilograms of oranges to complete the order, which is far from enough.

It seems these people will need to work for another ten days or so to finish harvesting all the oranges.

It seems there's still a long way to go. Su Xiaoxiao had no choice but to talk to Sun Shi and Wang Er after a busy day. She learned that the workers weren't very cooperative. Some were lazy and shirking their duties, while others were uncooperative and just there to coast along.

Su Xiaoxiao realized this wouldn't work. She was paying them the same fee every day, so why weren't some of them doing their jobs properly? This couldn't go on.

Su Xiaoxiao decided that starting tomorrow, she would no longer assign tasks to each person when they were collecting oranges. Instead, they would pick the oranges themselves and then come to Su Xiaoxiao to exchange them for money. Su Xiaoxiao would buy the oranges at a price five times higher than the market price.

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately perked up. This meant that the more you worked, the more you earned. If everyone wanted to earn more money, they would have to put in more effort and pick more and better oranges.

Su Xiaoxiao's suggestion was met with a lot of support, and on the second and third days, Su Xiaoxiao's courtyard became lively.

The yard was piled high with oranges, and Su Xiaoxiao felt a sense of joy from the harvest.

Su Xiaoxiao has a large scale in front of her house, and she comes to collect the oranges every day.

Saburo was collecting oranges at the door. When someone came, if the oranges in their hand were up to standard, he would let them weigh them and then put them in a basket to start weighing.

"You're bullying me! My oranges were picked from the mountain too, how are they inferior? Aren't you bullying me by saying this? Where is the justice in this world?"

Su Xiaoxiao immediately recognized Granny Liu's voice from inside the house. What was that woman arguing about at the door again? Did she also bring oranges to sell? It was really quite speechless.

Sanlang and Sunshi, who were collecting oranges at the door, were very polite and did not treat Liu Po ​​Po any differently because of her. This was quite speechless. In fact, they did not treat her differently. It was just that Su Xiaoxiao also saw that the oranges on the door had been broken and were dripping with juice, which did not meet the standards for purchase. Therefore, they would not buy the oranges.

Now Su Xiaoxiao stood in front of her and said, "We can't accept these oranges. No matter what method you use, we just can't accept them."

Su Xiaoxiao looked at the half-basket of oranges, which had already been smashed into a pulp, and there was no need to collect them at all.

"Su Xiaoxiao, everyone in the village is here harvesting oranges, why can't you harvest my oranges? You're bullying me, you know that?"

(End of this chapter)