"Miss Li, please."
Li Yao did not act pretentiously either. She had already put on enough of an act, now it was time to see how thick-skinned these gentlemen could be.
So she strode forward and took out some silver bills from her sleeve.
"This is 190 taels."
Ha, haha!
Zhang Guangsheng really wanted to laugh out loud.
190 taels, was that supposed to be money?
Was this the generosity of "richest person Li Yao"?
But before he could mock her, he heard Li Yao say: "This is what I promised to donate to the ladies over there."
Everyone looked at each other, what did she mean?
Could it be that they had to donate again over there after donating here?
But they weren't too worried either, after all the women were just fooling around, they couldn't spend that much money.
"Miss Li," Mr. Lai asked, "Then how much do you plan to donate over here?"
"Hmm... two..."
"Two hundred taels?" Zhang Guangsheng couldn't hold it in and said loudly, "Who was it that said they were the richest person? Only 200 taels is a bit too shabby, isn't it?"
"You're right, 200 taels is indeed very shabby," Li Yao said, "So I will donate 1200 taels."
After speaking, she generously took out a thick stack of silver bills and placed them on the table in front of the Song County Magistrate.
Everyone was dumbfounded.
1200 taels!
How did this woman have so much money?
Didn't she say her shop had only earned her 100 taels recently?
But the silver bills in front of them were real.
"Miss Li is very noble!" Song County Magistrate said, "I thank you on behalf of the common people. Assistant, hurry and make a record of this!"
"Yes!"
The assistant deftly recorded Li Yao's name and the 1200 tael donation in a large red book.
Just a moment ago some still suspected this was a scheme between Li Yao and the County Magistrate where the money would be secretly returned to Li Yao afterwards.
But now they knew that was impossible.
The record book would be preserved and eventually submitted with the accounts to Yizhou Prefecture, and also made available in a limited way for public verification. It was basically impossible to fake it.
So Li Yao's 1200 taels were donated for real.
"Ah, Miss Li is indeed generous, putting me, Mr. Lai, to shame." Mr. Lai said, "But I already stated earlier that I would definitely not donate less than Miss Li. A man's word is his bond, otherwise he's not a man! So I will donate 1300 taels!"
As he reluctantly took out 1300 taels, the others felt like dying.
But in this situation, Mr. Lai had even said something as vicious as "not a man", who would dare donate less than Li Yao?
Even if it meant bankruptcy, today they had to donate more than her!
"I donate 1250 taels."
"I donate 1300 taels."
"I donate 1205 taels."
...
Seeing these usually tightfisted rich men actually donating over 1200 taels each, the Song County Magistrate's eyes were bulging out.
Just what method did Li Yao use?
Finally it was Zhang Guangsheng's turn.
"Boss Zhang," Mr. Lai said with a smile, "Earlier you looked down on Miss Li the most. Now that she has donated 1200 taels, you should donate at least 2100 taels to be proper."
Since he had slandered Li Yao the most viciously, now they were all turning on him. Everyone echoed agreement.
"That's right Boss Zhang, with your prosperous restaurant you can easily afford 2100 taels."
"Of course, for Boss Zhang, this amount of money is nothing."
...
Zhang Guangsheng felt extremely bitter inside.
Now he knew what "when the wall falls everyone pushes" felt like.
But with so many people present, he was too embarrassed to lose face, and could only force himself to say: "2100 taels doesn't sound good, I'll donate 2200 taels!"
"Haha... Boss Zhang is very generous!"
"As expected from Boss Zhang, very open-handed."
Facing the flattering praise, Zhang Guangsheng really wanted to curse.
Every one of them had suffered a loss, but instead of uniting against the outsider, they blamed him instead. What kind of logic was this?
Now he understood, this was Li Yao's scheme!
This woman was truly too cunning and sinister.
In the end the total donated on this side was 18450 taels!
Plus the 1900 taels from the ladies' side, the grand total was 20350 taels!
Over twenty thousand taels had been easily raised, nearly three times Li Yao's estimate of 5400 taels!
It just showed that rich people really were rich.
Seeing so much silver, the Song County Magistrate was extremely excited inside.
With this much money, plus Li Yao's methods of "labor in lieu of relief" and "tax in lieu of labor costs", the commoners of Baichuan Market could make it through the winter safe and sound.
After suffering a loss in front of Li Yao and the County Magistrate, no one was in the mood to linger. After leaving the silver bills behind they quickly took their leave.
"Miss Li, I have you to thank this time," the County Magistrate sent Li Yao to the door and said, "I, Song, thank you again on behalf of the common people."
"It wasn't just my achievement alone." Li Yao said. "Without Mr. Lai taking the lead, the effect wouldn't have been so good."
"Mr. Lai? He..."
"Yes," Li Yao smiled and said, "I reconciled with Mr. Lai beforehand."
Watching Li Yao's departing figure, the County Magistrate's heart was unable to calm down for a long time.
The agility of Li Yao's mind, the meticulousness of her arrangements, exceeded those of the ladies skilled in intrigue and palace scheming!
He had never seen such an outstanding woman!
It seemed in the future, he would have to visit He Wan Village more often to consult her on many issues.
As for Mr. Lai, he was also decent, and could be brought along more in the future, and given some care when necessary.
...
Li Yao hadn't eaten much at the county office, and was starving with hunger by the time she got home, her chest sticking to her back.
Fortunately the children were sensible, the meals had been cooked long ago but they had waited for her return before eating, watching longingly.
"Mother has returned." He Xiaoya was the first to see Li Yao, and came up to greet her, "You must be tired, hurry and eat."
"Eat, eat."
Today she had ruthlessly conned the rich men of Baichuan Market, so Li Yao was in a very good mood.
Although she had invested 1390 taels herself, for her that amount could easily be earned back manifold tomorrow, so she didn't worry about it too much.
Moreover, as a transmigrator, doing what she could for the common good was not bad.
Consider it accumulating virtue. Hopefully Heaven would let her future life become more peaceful and comfortable.
"Mother, come sit."
Li Yao sat down and noticed someone was missing.
"Where is Song Zhe?"
"He..." Du Xiao Hui hesitated to reply.
"What is it?"
"Today he only cut two and a half baskets of grass, not enough," Du Xiao Hui said. "So he said he didn't deserve to eat and went to sleep in the incubation room himself."
Not even cutting three full baskets in one day was indeed a bit slow.
But Li Yao knew Song Zhe had tried his best.
She wasn't rigidly stubborn, making Song Zhe participate in labor wasn't truly to get much work out of him, but to let him experience the process and improve.
"Go call him to come eat."
"Alright."
Soon Song Zhe was called over.
"Sit and eat."
"But..."
"No buts," Li Yao said. "In my home, I make the rules. Today's grass that wasn't cut enough can be made up tomorrow. But you only get one chance, understand?"
"Ok!"
Song Zhe nodded heavily and quickly sat down.
Wang Er knew cutting grass was hard work, and that Song Zhe had done his best, so he personally filled a large bowl full of rice for him, and added lots of braised wolf meat into his bowl.
"Thank you Brother Wang."
"Brother Song you're too polite," Wang Er said. "Our home is not like the academy, without so many rules. Eat freely."
This sentence went straight to Song Zhe's heart. He immediately picked up his bowl and started eating in big mouthfuls.
Everyone else was also starving, and began wolfing the food down.
The meal was eaten in silence, with the bowls, plates, and pot all emptied clean.
"Auntie Li," Song Zhe said after putting down his empty bowl. "What will I do tomorrow? Don't worry, I definitely won't be like today again. I will finish for sure."
"One basket of grass."
"Huh?" Song Zhe was surprised.
Today was three baskets, but tomorrow was only one?
"That's what you have to finish in the morning," Li Yao said. "In the afternoon you will study with Wang Er."
Song Zhe's face was about to rot.
He finally didn't have to go to the academy anymore, but he didn't expect that at Li Yao's home, in addition to doing farm work, he still had to read...
"If Mr. Lv says you're not diligent, there will be no food for you," said the auntie Li.
Song Zhe: "I understand."
Song Zhe secretly stuck out his tongue.
He thought auntie Li had become more reasonable, but she was still so fierce.