Chapter 197 Offering Solicitous Service for No Apparent Reason
With that, she gave another hard tug and dragged Liu Ergou into the room.
Upon entering Feng Chunling's home, Liu Ergou looked around and couldn't help but smack his lips. Her home was truly opulent, looking just like the houses in the county town. A large sofa sat right inside the entrance.
If I could on this sofa... ahem, I'm getting a bit sidetracked!
Liu Ergou shook his head, banishing the jumbled thoughts from his mind. Just then, Feng Chunling forcefully pressed him down onto the sofa. She then disappeared into another room, finally reemerging several minutes later.
Coming out of the room, Feng Chunling walked to the sofa and sat down, pressing herself tightly against Liu Ergou. Her plush body was flush against his.
This made Liu Ergou instinctively try to dodge. But they were simply too close, and Feng Chunling was pressing against him so forcefully that he found himself unable to escape. Feeling the warmth radiating from her body, Liu Ergou grew even more vigilant.
At that moment, Feng Chunling grabbed his hand and slapped something into his palm.
Looking closely, he saw it was 500 yuan.
"Er Gou, I was in the wrong today," she said. "Take this 500 yuan."
Looking at the money in his hand, Liu Ergou wasn't about to argue with it and moved to quickly put it away. But for some reason, Feng Chunling was clutching his hand tightly, showing no sign of letting go.
This made Liu Ergou blurt out, "Auntie, if you have something to say, just say it. Can you please not do this? What's the meaning of you holding my hand like this?"
"Besides, I won't stay for the duck. You can have it. I'm going home; my sister-in-law is still waiting to cook for me!"
With that, Liu Ergou yanked his hand from Feng Chunling's grasp, stood up, and prepared to leave. He didn't want to stay there a second longer.
However, just as he stood up, Feng Chunling pressed him back down again.
"Why go back now, Er Gou? I told you to stay for dinner. I've stewed both of those ducks. I'm the only one here, how can I possibly finish them all by myself?" she said. "Just wait a little longer; it'll be ready soon!"
Hearing this, Liu Ergou rolled his eyes in disdain. It was the same old saying: unsolicited kindness is a sign of ill intent. At this point, Liu Ergou wished he could fly. If he could, he would have taken off immediately, not wanting to stay there a moment longer.
Seeing Liu Ergou remain silent, Feng Chunling wasn't angry. Instead, she chuckled and began to praise him.
"Well, I'll be! Er Gou, who would have thought you'd become so successful! You used to be just an ordinary doctor, but now you've even leased wasteland to grow herbs. You're really something else!"
"But seriously, if you're going to be growing medicinal herbs, you'll have your hands full. Besides, herbs are much more delicate than crops—they're much more of a hassle to care for!"
Hearing this, Liu Ergou raised his eyebrows but said nothing. He thought he was starting to understand what Feng Chunling was getting at, but he wasn't entirely sure, so he decided to wait and see.
And indeed, it was just as Liu Ergou had anticipated.
He heard Feng Chunling continue, "Er Gou, since herbs are so delicate, won't you need more people to take care of them when the time comes?"
At this point, Liu Ergou finally understood what Feng Chunling was after.
So that's it. She apologized, gave me money, and invited me to eat duck all because she wants a piece of the action! But I'm not that easy to take advantage of. If she wants a favor, that's fine, but we'll have to settle our old scores first. Otherwise, there's nothing to talk about.
Once he understood her intentions, Liu Ergou was no longer in a hurry to leave.
With a grand wave of his hand, he said, "Auntie, you're right, but I've already thought about all that!"
"The herbs are indeed delicate, so I'm considering hiring people from our village to look after them. I'll pay them a salary. We're all one village. We shouldn't let the benefits go to outsiders!"
Upon hearing this, Feng Chunling's eyes lit up with joy. Wasn't this exactly what she had been waiting for him to say? However, even though this was what she wanted to hear, she still had to find out how much he was willing to pay. If the pay was too low, it would all be for nothing.
With this in mind, Feng Chunling pressed on, "Is that so? Well then, Er Gou, how much are you planning to pay the villagers per month to look after the herbs?"
Liu Ergou hadn't actually decided on the wages yet. What he'd said was merely to probe Feng Chunling's true intentions. If he really were to hire people, he would need to do a proper assessment before setting a salary.
But Liu Ergou wasn't flustered. A quick thought came to him, and he named a ballpark figure.
"Ah, I haven't quite decided on the salary yet. Let's say about 3,000 yuan for now. And if they do a good job, it can go up from there!"
When Feng Chunling heard him mention a salary of 3,000, her eyes began to shine.
3,000 a month! That's practically free money! Taking care of herbs is about the same as tending to crops, but this is so much more profitable. If my daughter could get this job... And Er Gou even said it could go up if she does well! A salary of 3,000 yuan! If the villagers found out, they'd be fighting tooth and nail for it. I have to lock this opportunity down with Er Gou. This is the chance of a lifetime.
At this thought, Feng Chunling was overcome with excitement. She took a deep breath and said, "Oh, Er Gou, when it's time to plant the herbs, if you're short on people, just say the word. Your auntie will definitely come help you out!"
Her words nearly made Liu Ergou curse out loud.
What kind of talk is that? Help me out? It's not like I wouldn't be paying whoever works for me. She makes it sound like I'd owe her a favor. This woman is full of dirty tricks. It's a good thing I've been wary of her.
With this in mind, Liu Ergou promptly refused her offer.
"Don't worry about it, Auntie. Everyone in the village knows you haven't done farm work in years. If you came to work for me and something went wrong, wouldn't your husband kill me?"
"It's fine, I'll just find someone else when the time comes!"
Liu Ergou's words left Feng Chunling momentarily speechless and awkward. With that one sentence, he had completely blocked off whatever else she had planned to say.