During his nine years in the army, Zhang Jizhou sent home more than 6,000 yuan in allowances and spent more than 1,000 yuan building a house.
Since Fang Yan chose not to live here, Zhang Zongde had the accountant convert the house payment into cash and give it to Fang Yan.
As a result, Huang Hongmei and Old Man Zhang stood on the same line again, crying and shouting that they had no money at home.
Anyway, they're both incredibly stingy, and nobody can get a single penny out of them.
Zhang Zongde was highly respected and quite capable in handling matters.
So you absolutely refuse to pay, huh?
“Then bring out the grain from your house and give the third brother’s family eighty catties of grain first. Starting from this month, for the next six months, the third brother’s allowance will all go to the third brother’s family. After six months, the third brother’s allowance will be split equally between the two families.”
"This is outrageous! You're trying to bully my whole family to death!" Huang Hongmei immediately sat down on the ground and started crying and cursing.
Zhang Zongde and the village chief's faces immediately darkened. They threw the bill they had calculated directly in front of Old Man Zhang. "Fifth son, more than six thousand yuan. If you and Fatty each spend two hundred yuan a year, then in nine years you've only spent three thousand six hundred yuan. Plus, more than a thousand yuan was used to build the house. If we're being fair, you should at least give the third son's family more than a thousand yuan. But now you keep saying you have no money. You know in your hearts whether you've used the remaining money to feed the pigs or the dogs."
Pigs and dogs can eat up Ji Zhou's allowance of over a thousand yuan, so why can't Ji Zhou's wife and children receive the allowance for the past six months?
"The half-year allowance is only a little over five hundred yuan. If you also think this calculation isn't fair, then fine, we'll recalculate it and give you the one thousand-plus yuan we calculated before. I'll personally go to the county to call Ji Zhou later. From now on, the village committee will send someone to collect the allowance every month and hand it directly to Lao San's family until they pay back this one thousand-plus yuan!"
Does crying and making a fuss mean you win?
Zhang Zongde was a master at dealing with those who cried and made a fuss.
Old Man Zhang's face darkened with anger. He kicked Huang Hongmei repeatedly, then turned to Zhang Zongde and said, "Uncle De, whatever you say goes. I'll listen to you."
Zhang Zongde was increasingly disdainful of Zhang Laowu, and deliberately misinterpreted his words, saying, "Then let's divide the family property according to the amount of a little over a thousand yuan?"
"No...no, Uncle De, you're killing me! Let's do it the way we agreed before," Old Man Zhang quickly said.
The onlookers couldn't help but chuckle quietly.
Fang Yan was surprised to find that Zhang Zongde, who looked quite serious, had such a mischievous side. She smiled slightly.
What was thought to be an endless struggle over the division of the family property was unexpectedly completed.
From a fair and just point of view, Fang Yan still lost out a bit.
However, there is no fairness or justice in this world. Besides, Fang Yan was already very satisfied with receiving half a year's allowance and eighty catties of grain.
"Get out! Make her get out right now!" Half a year's allowance, that was all her precious wealth! Huang Hongmei was heartbroken and immediately told Fang Yan to take the child and leave.
"Eldest daughter, I'm keeping a close eye on her. I won't let her take even a single thread or a grain of rice from our house!"
Fang Yan thought to herself, "I don't even care about your stuff."
She went back to her room and tidied up the quilt that the original owner had brought with her after her marriage.
The original owner's and child's clothes were too worn out; every piece of clothing had more than two patches.
Fang Yan was particularly disgusted, but before buying new clothes, she still needed to change and wash them, so she brought along the few sets of clothes she had.
She didn't want the rest.
Over there, with the help of Zhang Zongde and the village chief, they had already brought out fifty jin of rice and thirty jin of flour from the kitchen.
"People are going to die! How are we supposed to live like this...?"
"Fifth Brother!" Huang Hongmei yelled, and the village chief, impatient, shouted at Old Man Zhang, "Keep an eye on your wife."
Huang Hongmei, relying on Zhang Jizhou's allowance, felt richer than others and always treated people with a condescending attitude, making her extremely unpopular in the village.
Old Man Zhang had intended to indulge Huang Hongmei, letting her cry and make a scene, hoping to get a smaller share of the grain.
But when he saw Zhang Zongde glare at him with a fierce look, he quickly went over and dragged Huang Hongmei away, kicking and hitting her.
After taking the items, Fang Yan took the child and left with Zhang Zongde.
The village chief and the accountant helped carry the rice and flour, and they went with them.
"Thank you all for your help today. Once I'm settled, I'll invite you all to my home for a meal."
Fang Yan, holding her child, bowed to the onlookers in gratitude.
The baby was still a little confused, not knowing what had happened, but seeing his mother thanking the person, he imitated her, saying, "Thank you!"
"Oh, don't be so polite," Aunt Wang said, smitten with the baby's innocent voice. She teased him and then said to Fang Yan, "Third son's wife, you go and settle things with Chief Zhang about the house first. If you need help cleaning the house later, just come and call us."
"That's right, just call us if you need anything later. We don't have anything to do right now." The neighbors are all very nice people.
Fang Yan was extremely grateful, and thought to herself that there were still more good people than bad people in this world.
As soon as they left, Huang Hongmei started fighting with Old Man Zhang in the house. "Now you're quite capable, aren't you? Why were you so cowardly just now? That old bastard Zhang isn't your father, why are you so afraid of him?"
"Shut up!" Old Man Zhang punched Huang Hongmei, knocking her head to the side. "What do you know? If you dare to go out and spout nonsense, I'll beat you to death!"
Zhang Zongde was the most respected elder in the entire village, and his prestige far exceeded their expectations.
In Gouzi Village, they can provoke anyone, even the village chief, but they absolutely cannot disrespect Zhang Zongde.
Otherwise, it would incite public outrage.
Zhang Zongde single-handedly ensured that not a single person in Gouzi Village starved to death, even in those difficult times when people were starving and dying everywhere else.
During the era of vigorous rural development, everyone worked together to ensure that every household could earn work points and receive money.
It can be said that Zhang Zongde is the most respected person in Gouzi Village. Anyone who dares to provoke him is courting death.
Although Old Man Zhang was muddle-headed, greedy, and vicious, he was not stupid.
They would never dare to provoke Zhang Zongde.
Meanwhile, Fang Yan followed Zhang Zongde for more than ten minutes and stopped in front of an old house.
“You and the child can stay here for now. I’ll go find a few more people this afternoon to help fix up the house,” Zhang Zongde said to Fang Yan as he opened the door.
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