Pan Yunping appeared to be bribed by Cai Tiangui, but it was Feng Xue who went to negotiate.
She managed to convince Pan Yunping to willingly sell his medicinal herbs to Cai Tiangui, though how she did it remained a mystery.
Feng Xue guessed that Cheng You would not tolerate Pan Yunping's actions, so she seized the opportunity to sow discord in front of him.
She also mentioned her plan to contract land for growing medicinal herbs to Cai Tiangui.
However, Cai Tiangui was still hesitant, delaying his decision.
Doing so would mean a complete falling out with Cheng You.
"Dad, you should say something," Cai Xiaoyu urged.
Cai Tiangui replied, "We can't afford to offend Cheng You's in-laws."
Cai Xiaoyu rolled her eyes and pouted, "We're doing business, what does her family have to do with it? A wise bird chooses its perch. Cheng You fired Pan Yunping herself, and she won't let us take him in? Dad, this is a great opportunity for you to win people over."
If they could win Pan Yunping over this time, he would surely owe Cai Tiangui a favor.
Cai Tiangui expressed his difficulty, "The problem is, where can I find such a large piece of land to contract?"
Cai Xiaoyu said, "Don't we have a lot of barren land in our village?"
"Cheng You has already contracted all of that."
Cai Xiaoyu smiled meaningfully, "She didn't contract all of it, and even if she did, the villagers can still break their contracts."
If they could snatch Pan Yunping, why not the land?
Cai Tiangui found her childish and couldn't help but chuckle.
"If they signed a contract, wouldn't they have to pay a penalty for breaking it?"
Cai Xiaoyu said as a matter of course, "With the Qiu family's connection, Cheng You won't be too concerned about it. Besides, the medicinal herbs have just been planted, so Cheng You won't lose much. She's so rich, why would she fuss over villagers?"
Cai Tiangui thought about it carefully and felt that Cai Xiaoyu made sense.
However, Cai Xiaochen, who was beside them, said, "That's not proper. We're not the only village, and we don't have to compete with Cheng You."
Cai Xiaoyu spat at him, "I think you're just blinded by lust!"
Cai Xiaochen snorted, "Am I blinded by lust, or are you? Ever since Cheng You got pregnant, you've been complaining about her at home. Frankly, aren't you just jealous that she married Qi Chengyan?"
Cai Xiaoyu, as if her sore spot had been touched, jumped up in anger.
"You're talking nonsense!"
Cai Tiangui also sternly admonished him, "Xiaochen, don't talk nonsense!"
Cai Xiaochen found it extremely boring and got up to leave.
Meanwhile, Cai Tiangui, successfully persuaded by his daughter, decided to go to the countryside to discuss contracting land with the villagers.
Of course, he wouldn't be able to win over all the villagers, as the old Cai family's reputation in the village had always been less than stellar.
However, driven by money, some people were still willing to give him their land.
Cheng You's contract with them offered a pretty good price.
But it wasn't cash upfront; payment would only come after the medicinal herbs were grown.
Who knew if anything would go wrong in the process, or if the harvested medicinal herbs would truly be that valuable.
After much deliberation, they decided to contract their land to Cai Tiangui and receive payment on the spot by signing the contract.
When Mother Qiu mentioned this matter to Cheng You, she was also furious.
Those people not only broke their contract but also refused to pay the penalty.
Cheng You asked, "How many people have broken their contract?"
Mother Qiu brought the contracts and placed them on the table.
"Just these."
Cheng You flipped through them, finding about seven or eight households.
"Then let it be. Auntie, could you please ask around if anyone else wants to terminate their contract and let them know as soon as possible?"
Mother Qiu quickly replied, "No one else. I've already asked. These seven or eight households are all distantly related to the old Cai family. Seeing Cai Tiangui making money, they wanted a piece of the pie."
Cheng You directly tore up the contracts and threw them into the trash can.
"We won't quibble over the penalty. Let them have it. I have something else to tell you. My medicinal herb garden is short on workers. If it's possible, could you please help me ask if anyone wants to work here? If so, they should go to Zhen Shan Tang to interview with Director Chen."
"What are the requirements?"
"Not too many. Good character and diligence are enough."
Cheng You felt that anyone would be acceptable as long as they weren't like Pan Yunping.
"One more thing, I won't hire any of the households that just broke their contracts."
Mother Qiu nodded, "I understand. I'll be going back now."
She had two sons who had always stayed in the countryside, farming the land, and she thought they could try working at Cheng You's place.
She heard that Cheng You's medicinal herb garden even had dormitories, and workers could be allocated housing based on their tenure.
Although it wasn't a house in the city, it was still a building.
As a result, her eldest son was actually hired after the interview, directly replacing Pan Yunping and becoming the director of the medicinal herb garden.
Qiu Tingting almost thought it was Cheng You giving her brother preferential treatment, otherwise, how could he become a director right away?
Cheng You smiled and explained, "Brother Chen is in charge of everything. I didn't interfere. Your brother becoming the director is his own capability."
Hearing this, Qiu Tingting became even happier.
With these new workers, the medicinal herb garden was back on track.
As for Pan Yunping, who had left the medicinal herb garden, he was hired by Cai Tiangui to manage the land he had contracted.
The idea of contracting land to grow medicinal herbs was proposed by Feng Xue, and she wanted a share of it.
But Cai Tiangui believed she had no right to a stake since she hadn't invested any money.
Because of this matter, the two nearly came to blows.
Cai Xiaoyu intervened, "My dad is right. You can only get a share if you put in money. Contracting this land requires money for seeds and seedlings."
Feng Xue gritted her teeth and mortgaged Feng Yaojun's house to the bank, taking out a loan of thirty thousand.
As long as it was profitable, this thirty thousand would be recouped sooner or later.
For thirty thousand, Cai Tiangui only gave her a thirty percent share.
With the funds in place, Pan Yunping began working furiously, determined to grow medicinal herbs better than Cheng You's garden.
But at the very beginning, Pan Yunping discovered something was amiss.
The seeds he had handled at the medicinal herb garden germinated and grew quickly, with a very high germination rate.
But when it came to Cai Tiangui's place, why was it different?
The germination rate was pitifully low.
This meant that just buying seeds and seedlings would incur a significant expense.
This problem became the first stumbling block in Cai Tiangui's medicinal herb cultivation journey.
He frowned and looked at Pan Yunping, "Is there anything you might have overlooked?"
Pan Yunping racked his brain but couldn't figure it out. He reviewed everything from beginning to end, feeling that he hadn't missed anything.
"That's impossible. I'm doing exactly as I did before, and even the place where I bought the seeds is the same!"
But the germination rate was just too different.
Cai Tiangui anxiously grabbed his collar, "Pan Yunping, I'm paying you a high price to help me, so don't betray me! If you hadn't guaranteed it, I wouldn't have dared to contract such a large area to grow medicinal herbs!"