Transmigrated as a Peasant Girl with Prophetic Dreams: Using My Space to Become the Richest Person - Chapter 49

Chapter 49: Mocked

Yang Laosan pulled out the money and handed it to the Village Chief. “Chief, here is the money.”

“There’s no rush,” the Chief replied. “You can give it to me tomorrow after we measure the land.”

“No, Chief, please take it now. If I keep it on me, I’m afraid I won’t be able to hold onto it.”

The Village Chief immediately understood. Knowing the pressure from the rest of the Yang family, he stopped refusing and took the silver.

“Alright then. I’ll see you tomorrow for the measurement. I have things to do back home, so I’ll head back first.”

“Good.”

When Yang Laosan returned to the cave, Qian Yue’e spoke with him about going to town the next day to buy helpers. She repeated everything Yang Xue had told her. Yang Laosan understood perfectly why his daughter insisted on buying two people to guard the house. Ultimately, it was because he, as a father, felt incompetent—he didn’t have the strength to protect his own family. Thinking this, a wave of guilt washed over him again.

Qian Yue’e saw the look on his face and reached out, stroking his back gently. “If the two of us want this family to live well, we have to grow a backbone from now on. Even if we’re scared inside, we can’t back down. We can’t let the children feel like their parents are unreliable.”

Yang Laosan’s eyes reddened as he nodded heavily. “I know!”

…

Early the next morning, Yang Xue set off for town. This time, she didn’t take the mountain paths. Instead, she went to the village entrance to catch a bullock cart. It wasn’t from Niaor Village, but one from a neighboring village that passed by.

As she sat on the cart, the other passengers, noticing she was from the flood-stricken Niaor Village, began questioning her out of curiosity.

“Young lady, I heard only your village was hit by the flood? Is all your grain gone? Was it all swept away?”

“Pretty much,” Yang Xue replied noncommittally.

“Then what will you do? Is the government giving out food?”

“Mhm,” she answered vaguely.

“How much are they giving?”

“Not much.”

“Well, it’s surely enough to eat. We’re the miserable ones. The heavy rain knocked the rice grains right off the stalks; this year’s harvest is definitely going to be poor. Since the government sees our crops still ‘growing’ in the fields, they don’t care about us at all.”

“Who has time to care? Grain prices are rising again. I don’t know how we’ll survive this year.”

“Rising again?”

“You bet! A couple of days ago, people heard the harvest would be bad and rushed to stockpile. Those grain shop owners are black-hearted—as soon as they saw the crowd, they jacked up the prices again.”

“Heaven help us! That’s pure evil. How are us common folk supposed to live?”

“Nothing we can do. We don’t have the money to buy it anyway. When the grain runs out, we’ll eat tree bark. If it comes to it, we’ll swallow clay. At least you can’t starve if your stomach is full of something.”

“Tsk, listen to you! Your family’s crops weren’t even affected. Ours were the ones ruined!”

“But didn’t your family store a lot of grain in previous years?”

The group, likely from the same village, started bickering among themselves and eventually ignored Yang Xue, much to her relief.

Upon arriving in town—Xingcai Town—she realized she didn’t actually know where the slave market or the domestic service brokers were located. However, she wasn’t in a hurry. Last time she came with Yang Shuang, they hadn’t had a chance to explore. Today was the perfect time to map out the town’s layout.

She found a small stall and had a simple breakfast. The town wasn’t large, but it was bustling. After eating, she began to wander leisurely.

Passing a grain shop, she saw a massive queue stretching down the street. Everyone was waiting for rice and flour. Just then, she heard the shopkeeper shout, “Limits are in place! Maximum fifty pounds per person! We don’t have any more than that!”

Yang Xue felt a surge of relief that she had bought her supplies early. They’re already using hunger marketing, she thought.

A bit further down, she spotted a shop selling ready-made clothes and fabrics. Looking at her own tattered, worn-out clothing, she decided to head inside.

There were other customers in the shop, and the assistants were busy catering to them, so no one paid her any mind. Yang Xue didn’t mind; she preferred browsing on her own. She saw a garment she liked and reached out to feel the fabric.

Smack!

Someone slapped the back of her hand. “Hey! Don’t touch that. If you get it dirty, can you even afford it?”

Yang Xue turned to see a girl about her own age looking at her with pure disdain.

“Is the clothing in this shop not for looking or touching?” Yang Xue asked coolly.

The girl glared. “Of course it’s for looking and touching—but only for people who can actually buy it. You obviously can’t, so why are you looking?”

Yang Xue didn’t want to waste her energy arguing. Fine, she wouldn’t let a shop like this earn a single penny of her money. She turned to leave, but the girl kept muttering behind her back.

“Tch—poor trash dares to walk in here. Thick-skinned, trying to touch our clothes. Doesn’t even look in the mirror to see if she has the coins.”

Yang Xue stopped in her tracks and turned around. “Oh? Is your family incredibly wealthy? If you’re so rich, why are you working here selling clothes for someone else?”

She gave a cold snort. “Aren’t you just a ‘poor person’ working for a boss too? If the clothes are being sold by someone like you, how good can the quality be? They must be nothing but low-class trash.”

“You—what did you say?! You little—”

Yang Xue didn’t wait for her to finish. She walked out quickly, leaving the girl fuming in a rage.

The other customers in the shop had heard the exchange. Looking at the clothes in their own hands, they suddenly felt a wave of doubt.

“Um, I think I’ll reconsider. I don’t want this anymore,” one lady said, putting a dress back.

“Me neither.”

“I’ll pass too…”

In an instant, the shop cleared out. Having lost several potential sales at once, the shopkeeper was livid. He stormed over to the girl. “What are you doing?! The customers all ran away! Are you trying to kill me with anger? Huh?!”

“It wasn’t me! It was her—”

“I don’t care about ‘her’! The lost business is coming out of your wages!”

“Manager…”

“Enough! You can’t even handle a simple task and cost the shop money, yet you want to argue? I don’t want to hear it. Either the money is docked from your pay, or you pack your bags and get out!”

The girl bit her lip, looking aggrieved. “Fine…”

She was furious. It was the manager who had hinted she should chase away the “beggar” earlier, yet now that things had backfired, the blame was pinned entirely on her.

Outside, Yang Xue had a sudden thought. One day, she would open her own clothing shop right across the street from that place and steal every single one of their customers.

Hmph! Let them look down on people.

If shops like that continued to exist, poor people would be mocked every time they walked in. Luckily, this wasn’t the only clothing shop in town. If it were, being mocked while having to give them money would be the most infuriating thing of all.