Crossing Over to Yamada Love

After the two finished their meal, they let out a satisfied burp. Mo Lan then called everyone to Mo Quan and Wang Shi's room and explained the incident of blocking the road.

After hearing this, Qiu was the first to speak, saying, "What? You were stopped? These damned bastards, they're a menace, they deserve to die a horrible death. Lan'er, are you alright?"

"Mother, I'm fine. I just don't understand. We've only been gone for two months, how could this happen?" Mo Lan indicated that she was alright, but judging from everyone's expressions, apart from her grandmother and father, everyone else obviously knew about it.

Mo Changhai looked at everyone and began, "Let me tell you. This happened about a month ago. The 'Eighth Master' they're talking about is from Shangwan Village. There's a family named Shang there. The patriarch's name is Shang Cai, and he had eight sons and two daughters. The sons were named Shang Da to Shang Ba. None of the eight were good; they were all very arrogant. Because there were so many brothers, his family was the tyrant of the village. Nobody dared to mess with them. One of them, Shang Liu's brother-in-law, was a constable in our Shangchang Town, which made them even more arrogant. They made everyone call the eight brothers 'Eighth Master.'"

A month ago, a new shop opened in Shangchang. This shop specializes in buying things from our area, such as wild vegetables, mushrooms, walnuts, tarts, and dried vegetables. They even send people to various villages to deliver messages, asking people to sell at their shop. They say they'll even cover the travel expenses for those who live far away, and the prices are a little higher than ours.

The items they collect are mostly unclaimed property. Who wouldn't be happy to make more money? They also cover transportation costs and offer higher prices, so naturally, more people come to their door.

When the eight Shang brothers saw such a good opportunity, they conspired together and, together with some others, began to block the roads in various villages at the foot of the mountain under the guise of government constables. They wouldn't allow outsiders to go up the mountain except for those they permitted. If anyone wanted to go up the mountain, they had to pay them money or share half of their harvest with them.

They visited the homes of the clan chiefs and village heads in various villages, accompanied by the constable. They offered some bribes, and the clan chiefs agreed. These people were powerful, and they couldn't afford to offend them.

And so, they would send people to patrol the mountain every day, guarding the foot of the mountain, afraid that someone would secretly go up the mountain to pick up things and not hand them over. If anyone resisted, they would beat them up; after all, they were bullies, and no one dared to mess with them. In the past month or so, quite a few families had been injured by them, but they could only curse a few times and accept their bad luck.

Mo Changhai gave a brief explanation of the matter, which made Mo Lan frown.

"Uncle, that shop's practice of buying mountain products like this will definitely affect us. Did we harvest a lot of mushrooms and pine nuts this year?" Mo Lan asked in a deep voice. In the past, these things mostly ended up in their own home, but this year it's probably uncertain.

Hearing Mo Lan's question, Qiu's face fell. She was in charge of the vegetable harvesting, so she knew what was going on. She said angrily, "There aren't many people selling vegetables this year. Most of them are from our village. There are some from other villages, but not many. The ones from our village are mostly ordinary people who are doing well. The rest have all been sold to shops in town."

What's infuriating is that those people sell to others, fine, no one's stopping them, but they still come and badmouth us, saying we offered too low a price, that we're heartless, only caring about making money for ourselves, and that we're all from the same village, yet they have the nerve to cheat us out of our money. I'm so angry I haven't been able to eat for days. Don't they remember how they used to speak well of us? This mountain is still ours, and they got it for free, profiting at our expense and then spewing nonsense. It's infuriating!

Qiu Shi bristled at the mention of this, clearly indicating that many people in the village had said unpleasant things to her. Mo Lan sighed inwardly. That's just how people are. Before her family opened the shop, nobody bought these things, so they were just like that. But after they started buying them, everyone fawned over them because they could get money for free and their lives would be better. But now, if someone offers a slightly higher price than them, they go to other shops, all for a little profit. There aren't many who care about human relationships.

Who sent these people to collect them? Mo Lan pondered this. If she wasn't mistaken, it must have been someone sent by the Xue family in the capital. Xue Lingfeng had told her that he hadn't given the Xue family any new prescriptions in a long time, and the Xue family was angry, so they sent people to collect the mountain goods. From now on, they wouldn't have to rely on her family to send supplies to the capital. This would also indirectly cut off the Mo family's source of mountain goods, so they wouldn't have to worry about anyone competing with them.

No way! If we let them continue like this, our own mountain products will really be cut off. Besides, they are harming the people. All the money is going to those eight tyrannical brothers. We can't let this kind of trend continue. I heard from my uncle that they have already injured many honest people. We can't let them continue like this.

But she didn't have enough men of her own. Should she go find Xue Lingfeng? Wait a minute! Mo Lan suddenly had a flash of inspiration. No, that's enough, she had enough men. She had almost forgotten that the old Marquis's guards were still there. Thirty guards would be more than enough to deal with those eight brothers and one constable.

When Mo Lan shared her thoughts, everyone in the Mo family fell into deep thought. The Mo family were kind and honest people, with the integrity of farmers, and generally did not want to cause trouble or damage harmony.

"Girl, is this a good idea?" Although Mo Quan also hated those people for being domineering, he hesitated to use the old Marquis's guards to deal with them. Perhaps it was because he was getting old, but he always hoped to live peacefully.

"Sir, let's not even talk about how much mountain produce we'll need to send to the capital once the shops open. What we've collected isn't even enough for the capital, let alone for our own use. If we have nothing to do business, who will sympathize with us?"

Besides, those eight tyrannical brothers are causing harm by doing this. Everyone who comes up the mountain has to pay them tribute, so why should they reap the benefits without contributing anything? They need to be suppressed, otherwise they will become increasingly domineering, and honest people will suffer. They spend most of the day collecting things on the mountain, exhausted, and finally manage to carry the goods down, only to have to share half with others. Who would be happy about that? If they don't comply, they will be beaten, and their goods will be stolen. What kind of logic is that? How are these eight brothers any different from bandits?

"They're thinking of others, but do they think of us? The moment someone offers a higher price, they immediately sell themselves. And they talk about us like this? Why should we be such pushovers?"

As soon as Mo Lan finished speaking, Qiu Shi was the first to agree: "Lan'er is right. Just thinking about what they said makes me unhappy. They should be suppressed. Let's see if they're still so arrogant!"

The others nodded in agreement, agreeing that it made sense.

Mo Lan continued, "I've thought it over. After we suppress those bullies, the mountain will remain open. Anyone who wants to go up the mountain to pick things can go. We won't stop them. What they pick is theirs, except for what they keep for their own families to eat. The rest must be sold to our family. Since others don't show any leniency, we won't either. Anyway, the Xue family has connections, so we'll send people to guard the town. If anyone sells to a shop in town, they won't be allowed to go up the mountain next time."

"This, this isn't right, is it? We can't be so domineering. We're all from the same village, it's embarrassing. Besides, it's such a hassle." Mo Quan felt that doing this would be a loss of face.

“Father, I think Lan’er makes sense. The mountain belongs to our family. We shouldn’t let them collect the scavenging materials for free. We should pay them whatever price they are entitled to. It would be unreasonable for them to sell it to other families.” Qiu Shi retorted to Mo Quan.

"Yes, what the second son's wife said makes sense. We all give face to others, but who gives us face? We have to look at human relationships from both sides. If they appreciate our kindness, we can get along well. If they don't appreciate it and only want a higher price, then why should we care about face and relationships?"

This matter can't be ignored, so let's do as Lan'er says. But don't say this mountain belongs to our family yet, say it was bought by Feng'er, and have Steward Xue accompany us. The Xue family is famous in Shangchang, and their name will be useful.

"When the time comes, Changhe, you take your men and get things done. I reckon they'll resist, but we can't afford to kill anyone. The sooner we get it over with, the sooner we'll be at peace. After this, I doubt any bullies will dare to try anything like this again. Things will gradually become more regulated, and then it'll be fine. When the time comes, you can send those people to sell their goods elsewhere, but they won't go." Madam Wang made the decision.

"Yes, you're right. Let's do it this way then. I'm not involved anymore. Jin'er and I will just be hands-off managers." Mo Quan agreed. He was happy to have some peace and quiet. With his children and grandchildren taking care of things, he could enjoy his retirement.

"I... I'll stay and enjoy my retirement with my elder brother." Mo Jin chuckled. In truth, he agreed with Mo Lan and Wang Shi's opinions. He felt that although their methods were somewhat harsh by village standards, they were the best approach.

"Master, Second Master, you can't just enjoy your retirement. If something happens, you have to step in. We'll have to trouble you again then," Mo Lan said with a smile.

"Oh? We two old men have to get involved too? Sure. Just tell us when it's time, Lan'er. Your second uncle and I will take care of it perfectly." Mo Quan agreed. He was more than happy to contribute to his family's affairs; at least it showed he wasn't useless.

After exchanging a few jokes, the group began to discuss how to implement the plan. Mo Lan suggested that they first send someone to the Xue family to inform Xue Lingfeng and ask him to send a steward. They also suggested sending someone to the yamen to make it public that he had bought the mountain. After that, no one in the yamen would be able to cause trouble behind their backs, and that constable would no longer be able to stir up any waves.

Then, he ordered Mo Changhe to lead Bai Da and twenty-five guards directly to the Shang family in Shangwan Village. "Serve the king first, then the thieves," he reasoned. "Suppress the eight Shang brothers, and their allies will be silenced."

Mo Quan and Mo Jin went to the clan chief's house to lay out the matter and asked the clan chief to gather the people in the village and tell them that the Xue family had bought the mountain. Mo Changhai also told the other villages that the Xue family allowed each village to go up the mountain normally, but the produce they collected in the mountain must be sold to the Mo family, who would buy it at a fair price. If it was found that the produce had been sold to another family, then no one would be allowed to go up the mountain in the future.