Abandoned Woman Busy Farming

Chapter 1679: Chapter 1679: Dealing with the Ruffian

After Bai Ruozhu finished eating, she took people to the field. Over there, Sui Ge had already notified everyone, and many people were waiting in the field.

Seeing Bai Ruozhu, the honest medicine farmers enthusiastically greeted her.

”Master Bai, you finally arrived. I went looking for you this morning, but Sui Manager stopped me, saying not to disturb your rest. It’s broad daylight, what’s so good about resting?” a middle-aged man shouted. As soon as Bai Ruozhu heard the voice, wasn’t that the guy causing a scene at the Inn in the morning?

”I was indeed resting. I was preparing the medicine to resolve the field issues all night and only lay down for a moment in the morning,” Bai Ruozhu said coldly, ”Tell me, what exactly happened?”

Before the middle-aged man could speak, someone beside him shouted, ”Liu An, what’s wrong with you? Even if Master Bai didn’t sleep a wink, traveling here is exhausting too. Why are you causing trouble?”

The man called Liu An glared fiercely, and the person who spoke involuntarily shrank their neck and closed their mouth uneasily.

Looks like Liu An is a tough character, and ordinary medicine farmers are somewhat afraid of him.

”To answer Master Bai, my name is Liu An. I’m renting your medicine field, and there’s a problem with two acres. The medicinal materials I planted withered. Yesterday, you promised to waive the rent and give compensation, but Sui Manager conveniently didn’t record my field. Isn’t he just trying to pocket the silver himself?” Liu An said.

Sui Ge sneered, ”Do you think my eyesight is that shallow?”

Bai Ruozhu also chuckled inwardly. Liu An had no idea that Sui Ge was her trusted manager. The monthly silver and dividends he received were more than their annual income, so such a small compensation wouldn’t interest Sui Ge.

”Who knows, he might be skimming from others too. They’re afraid to speak out, but I, Liu An, am not afraid of you. If there’s a problem with the medicine field, I will speak out!” Liu An said with a righteous aura.

Listening to him, Bai Ruozhu calmly said, ”I’ve just had a meal and need to walk it off. Take me to your medicine field then. If there’s indeed a problem, the evidence will be clear, and I will stand up for you.”

”Alright, Master Bai is fair,” Liu An said happily, but then grimaced and said, ”A guard was fierce this morning and injured my leg, so I might not walk fast.”

Muyu, standing at the back, got agitated and pointed at Liu An, saying, ”You really dare to pin this on me? I just grabbed you by the collar and threw you outside the Inn. How did your leg get injured? If anything was injured, it should’ve been your neck that broke!”

Liu An shrank his neck with a wronged face, ”Master Bai, your servant is too fierce. Does he look down on us medicine farmers?”

Bai Ruozhu squinted her eyes. Liu An was clearly a rascal among the medicine farmers but also a shrewd one, knowing how to sow discord.

”You’re wrong to say that. Muyu isn’t a servant; he has an official status, and he never looks down on medicine farmers. He only warned you because you were causing a disturbance at the Inn, affecting my rest. As for beating you, that’s impossible. If he hit you, you wouldn’t be standing here; a broken arm or leg would be minor,” Bai Ruozhu said with a calm voice.

Some medicine farmers couldn’t help but mutter, ”Master Bai has sharp eyes. Liu An is just a rogue.”

Liu An glared fiercely, and the person murmuring immediately shut their mouth, seemingly not daring to confront Liu An directly.

Bai Ruozhu didn’t bother arguing with Liu An, ”Let’s go. If you’re unable, someone else can lead the way. If your leg is seriously injured, you might as well stop renting the medicine field to avoid being unable to manage it.”

”Master Bai, why are you so protective?” Liu An asked discontentedly.

”I am protective, but I support reason over relationships too,” Bai Ruozhu smiled softly as she spoke.

Sui Ge, seeing this, directly led the way, ”This way, please, Master. Let’s first take a look at his medicine field.”

Soon they arrived at Sui Ge’s medicine field. At a glance, it was indeed like the other problematic fields, with the medicinal materials all withered, very unfortunate.

”Master, regarding the other problematic fields, I’ve documented them before, but his field was fine until suddenly two acres had problems. Clearly, he intends to fish in troubled waters. I found out that because of his laziness, he didn’t plant well; many didn’t thrive, likely not even covering costs. So he thought of this method to swindle money,” Sui Ge pointed at Liu An’s field.

Liu An jumped up, seemingly about to hit Sui Ge, ”You’re lying! What’s wrong with my medicine field? If it weren’t for this strange illness, it wouldn’t be like this. Did I work so hard just for some money?”

Bai Ruozhu raised her hand to stop their dispute and walked straight into the medicine field. Inside, she squatted down and turned up the soil with her hand.

That fair and delicate hand didn’t mind turning the soil at all. It was as if she weren’t an aristocrat’s lady but was like them, living off the medicine field and caring for the soil’s condition.

Liu An’s heart skipped a beat, and he suddenly had a bad premonition, but he quickly comforted himself, what could she see? Could Master Bai possibly be an Immortal?

Bai Ruozhu threw away the soil she had grabbed, then dusted off her hands and stood up, ”Do you know why the medicine field has problems?”

”Isn’t it a strange illness?” someone asked.

Bai Ruozhu shook her head, ”Someone secretly poisoned the soil in your fields, but I configured an antidote last night. As long as you follow my method, the soil will recover to normal in as little as one month, or three to four months, allowing you to continue planting medicinal materials.”

”Poisoned? Who’s so wicked?” The medicine farmers looked incredulous.

Bai Ruozhu smiled, ”Which family doesn’t have a few competitors? Some compete fairly, while others do shady things like this. But these actions will eventually bring retribution.”

As she spoke, she walked out of the field step by step towards Liu An, ”Since I can create an antidote, I can tell if someone poisoned the soil. Liu An’s field did have dead medicinal materials, but the soil wasn’t poisoned; the medicinal materials had a large amount of herbicide applied.”

At that time, all fertilizers were homemade, as was the herbicide, but if applied in large amounts directly to the medicinal materials, it would cause them to wither.

”What? When did I do such a thing? Master Bai, aren’t you just trying to avoid compensating? Does your big family care about this little money? Why must you pick a fight with a medicine farmer like me?” Liu An shouted.

Arguing with such a rogue, even if you win, you’d be sullied.

So Bai Ruozhu didn’t bother with him, directly addressing the other medicine farmers, ”I can waive rent and provide compensation because of my faith. But one rat spoils the whole pot; some people take advantage and try to cheat. I, Bai Ruozhu, dislike such things the most. If this continues, I can’t bring myself to give out the compensation either!”