Chapter 10: Free Labor?

After everything was set up, Tu Shan moved directly into the house. Before moving in, she circled around Auntie Wang: "Take a look, is the quality as good as the furniture you used to keep in your room?"

Several aunties were tied together in a circle, facing each other. Unable to move their upper bodies, they shuffled their feet, leaning in to look at the stool Tu Shan was holding.

"Yo, I didn't see it before, but you actually have some skill."

"Let me see, it's just so-so."

"Tsk, rough, nothing special."

"Looks like it's still falling apart."

It was clear that each of them was more stubborn than the last.

Tu Shan wasn't annoyed; she just looked at Auntie Wang.

Auntie Wang was forced to spin around several times, making her head dizzy.

"Fine, fine, Tu Sanmei, hurry up and untie us."

Tu Shan smiled as she untied them, successfully earning several heavy eye-rolls.

The aunties grumbled as they reached out to inspect Tu Shan's handiwork.

Although they were stubborn, they had to admit that Tu Shan actually had some talent.

"Tu Sanmei, if you fix the bed in my house, I won't hold it against you for tying me up, how about that?" the "smart" auntie said, chin held high, with a look that suggested Tu Shan should be grateful for the offer.

Tu Shan wasn't afraid of them holding a grudge; after all, everyone in the courtyard combined couldn't beat her.

But she needed to save face; she had to make up for the mess Tu Sanmei had made.

"Fine. Whatever you have that needs fixing, get the materials ready, and I'll fix it for you. Once it's fixed, today's business is wiped clean, and no one is allowed to bring it up again."

There was such a good deal?

The aunties were happy, though they didn't show it on their faces: "This is what you said, if you can't fix it, just wait to be shot. Hmph, you're really getting off easy."

One by one, they turned and ran toward their rooms, rummaging through everything. In a poor household, who didn't have a few broken things?

Auntie Wang crossed her arms and looked Tu Sanmei up and down: "What kind of scheme are you cooking up again? Let me warn you, no matter what you're doing, we agreed on three days, and that's three days. Not a second longer."

Tu Shan curled her lips: "Don't worry, just three days."

She turned to move her things; she still had to cook after tidying up. She hadn't eaten all day; she was hungry.

Auntie Wang frowned as she watched Tu Shan's back, feeling that something was wrong—very wrong.

Tu Shan didn't pay her any mind and walked out after moving her things.

She needed to find some wild vegetables to make porridge and, while she was at it, use her ability to grow some peanuts.

She was fast, moving like a gust of wind, and Auntie Wang didn't even get a chance to say another word.

After leaving the house, Tu Shan went straight through the small woods to the foot of the mountain. Few people came here, so there were plenty of wild vegetables.

She found a mustard plant and, after using her ability back and forth, ended up with a large handful.

Then, she shelled some peanuts, buried them in the soil, and used her ability to grow them.

She didn't necessarily have to bury them to grow them, but following the natural growth habits of all things made the results better.

Two peanuts, four seeds, grew into over eighty peanuts. Her ability optimized them, adding an extra pod to each, with three plump, energetic kernels in every shell.

She picked out ten more seeds and grew them again, getting over three hundred peanuts.

Each peanut was large and full, totaling over ten pounds.

She packed them into the worn-out burlap sack she had brought and carried them home.

It had only been half an hour by the time she arrived home.

Many people in the courtyard had returned from work.

A large pile of junk was stacked in front of her door.

Everyone was curious, asking the aunties what was going on.

They must have already learned the cause and effect, because as soon as Tu Shan stepped through the gate, she became the center of attention.

They had originally wanted to ask her to fix their broken household items, but their attention was drawn to the large handful of fresh wild vegetables in her hand.

The women, in particular, crowded around: "Where did you find these? We've searched all around here, and there's nothing this fresh."

Tu Shan didn't hide it: "At the foot of the mountain, through the woods ahead."

Some were surprised, others didn't believe her. The woods outside weren't small, and the straight-line distance to the foot of the mountain was at least a kilometer.

Half an hour wasn't enough to go there and back, let alone find so many vegetables.

Besides, even at the foot of the mountain, there wasn't anything this bright and fresh; they knew every inch of the land within a ten-mile radius.

Tu Shan didn't have the energy to care whether they believed her or not.

She took her broken clay pot to the well to wash it, cleaned the wild vegetables, then tore them up and boiled them in the pot with the corn grits and broken rice she had bought today, using the makeshift stove.

She used the leftover wood scraps from repairing the furniture for fuel; there wasn't much, but it was enough to cook a meal.

She used a branch she had snapped off earlier to stir it occasionally to prevent it from burning.

Then, she looked at the pile of junk at her door.

There was so much, it was almost a mountain. These people really hadn't held back.

Perhaps they felt a bit guilty themselves, as they didn't dare look at Tu Shan.

After she had left, Auntie Wang had also moved out a lot of junk. She was much more righteous about it than the others: "If you fix everything, not only will I let today's business slide, but I'll give you another bowl."

Tu Shan's door was wide open, and everything in the room was clear at a glance. She saw that, aside from this broken clay pot, there were no other cooking tools.

Tu Shan chuckled: "Fine. But I only handle the repairs; I'm not responsible for providing materials. Whoever owns these things, keep an eye on them and prepare enough wood. I don't have the ability to conjure it out of thin air."

Auntie Wang snorted: "I know, I'll have it ready tomorrow."

Since it had come to this, the others quickly crowded around: "Tu Sanmei, since you're already fixing things, it wouldn't hurt to fix ours too, right?"

"That's right, we don't have much, just a few stools with wobbly legs. It's just a flick of the wrist for you."

"We're neighbors, we should help each other out. We didn't give you little to eat and drink in the past."

"You should be grateful. We aren't asking you to pay us back, helping out is the least you can do."

The more they spoke, the more entitled they sounded.

The impatient ones had already placed their items in front of Tu Shan.

"Look, it's just a small thing, you can fix it while you're at it. I'm leaving it here, don't forget, and don't lose it."

Ha, not only did she have to fix them for free, but she had to guard them for free too.

Tu Shan glanced at the cracked box at her feet and kicked it away. The box flew, landed, and shattered into pieces.

Everyone:...

"Tu Sanmei, you cheap wretch, pay for my box!" A woman with dark skin, in her thirties, with a square face—Cao Lan by name—reached out with her dark, ten-fingered hands to claw at Tu Shan's face.

Tu Shan grabbed her wrist and twisted it backward.

Cao Lan let out a miserable shriek, pinned to the ground by Tu Shan, unable to move, cold sweat breaking out from the pain in her arm.

"Let go, you bitch, let go! My arm is broken, it's going to break!"

The others came to their senses and rushed over to break up the fight.

Tu Shan didn't linger; she let go, stood up, and stepped back two paces, letting the crowd pull Cao Lan up and console her.

Cao Lan cursed and wailed: "You tell me, you tell me! When she was starving to death, I saved a mouthful of steamed bun from my own mouth to keep her alive. Now she won't even fix a box for me? Is this kind of person even human?

I couldn't even feed myself, yet I gave her food, and this is how she treats me? There's no justice in this world! Doing good deeds only gets you struck by lightning!"

The group chimed in, agreeing and consoling her, looking at Tu Shan with great anger.

Tu Shan smiled: "Is it because yesterday's fish turned into shit and was flushed away that you've all forgotten about it?"

Those who were shouting the loudest instantly shut their mouths. They hadn't been able to bear eating it all at once and still had more than half a bowl left.

Cao Lan wasn't convinced: "How is that the same? The fish yesterday was what you owed us; it had to be repaid. But the bun I gave you before was life-saving food.

I saved your life—can a bowl of fish buy your life?"

Tu Shan raised an eyebrow: "If you put it that way, it does make sense."

Cao Lan triumphantly lifted her chin: "Of course."

"But, are you sure that bun you gave me was actually given to me, and not that you were intentionally teasing me with it, dropped it by accident, and I just happened to get to it first and eat it?"

Dead memories attacked her. The scene flashed through Tu Shan's mind, and she felt sick to her stomach.