Chapter 37: The Lion's Mouth



She slowly opened the wooden box, ready to enter the space at any time.

However, the moment the box was opened, she was shocked.

The box was actually filled with golden beads, shining brightly and dazzlingly.

Each gold bead weighs one or two taels. There must be hundreds of them in this box.

It is equivalent to several thousand taels of silver.

There are no markings on the gold beads, as if this was done intentionally for fear of revealing any clues.

Shen Yizhi guessed who sent the gold without even having to think about it.

Didn't you just leave? Didn't you leave without saying goodbye? Didn't you want to draw a line between you and her? What's the point of sending these gold beads now? Are you using your last sum of money to buy out all the things you had before? Gu Xueting, hello, you are so nice!

Shen Yizhi suddenly closed the box, threw it into the space, and said to Yichang: "Find a place to bury it!"

Out of sight, out of mind.

* "I called everyone here today because I have something to discuss with you."

In the village ancestral hall, the village chief stood behind a table and spoke to the representatives of each family who were sitting or standing in the yard.

There are a total of eighty-seven households in the village, and usually the person in charge of the household attends meetings.

Shen Yizhi was holding Qingbao and sitting on a long bench in the corridor, next to her were Aunt Zhao and Aunt Zhang. The two of them were not paying attention to the meeting at all, and kept teasing Qingbao in her arms.

There was also a circle of women surrounding them.

They are all praising Qingbao.

“This child is really good looking.”

"Yes! He's white and plump, so pleasing to the eye!"

"Hey, look, he's smiling at me. He's so adorable."

Faced with the enthusiasm of the crowd, Qing Bao remained calm and gave a smile from time to time, which made the women scream with excitement.

Shen Yizi, the mother, was a little overwhelmed.

Fortunately, the village chief quickly got to the point, and everyone's attention was diverted a little.

"...Zhi Niang wants to buy the few acres of land around the house where she lives now. This matter concerns everyone in the village, so I called everyone here to ask for your opinions on what price is appropriate for the land."

Aunt Zhang was the first to express her opinion: "It's just a few acres of wasteland. You can't grow any crops or vegetables on it. How much can it be worth? I would say just give it to Zhi Niang for free. After all, everyone has seen her contribution to the villagers over the past few years, right?"

This statement was unanimously agreed by Aunt Zhao, Li Jingeng and others.

But Old Lady Wang started to cry out: "That's our Lijiazhuang land, why should we give it to her for free? You, Li Zhaodi, are really good at using other people's things as favors! Besides, how can it be considered wasteland? I've seen that the vegetables grown by Doctor Shen are very juicy, better than those grown in my vegetable garden.

"That piece of land is worth a lot of money! I will never agree to sell it for less than five taels of silver per acre!"

Her words were supported by several families headed by Zhang Cuihua.

But more people have a neutral attitude.

As the village chief's daughter-in-law, even if Aunt Zhao wanted to speak up for Shen Yizhi, she couldn't do it too obviously, so she winked at Aunt Li.

Aunt Li started to get angry at Old Lady Wang, "Auntie Wang, you have to be conscientious. Two years ago, you slipped down the slope and twisted your waist. Did Zhi Niang go to see you in the rain? Last year, your daughter Yinhua had a rash. Did Zhi Niang cure it? Have you forgotten all this?"

Old Lady Wang felt a little guilty, but when she thought about the money that would be shared equally among the families after the land was sold, she felt more confident and said, "This is a different matter! What we are discussing now is how to sell the land! Besides, didn't I pay her for treating us? I paid for the consultation!"

Aunt Li was so angry that she was speechless. "You call those two green onions the consultation fee? You have the nerve to admit it, but I am too embarrassed to say it."

"Li Zhaodi! How can you talk to me like that? I am your elder! According to seniority, you should call me auntie!"

Aunt Li curled her lips, such elders, haha.

"Alright! What are you arguing about?" The village chief slammed a piece of wood he had just found on the table.

He looked around at everyone and said in a deep voice: "Actually, I want to sell it to Zhiniang for three taels of silver per acre, but since someone disagrees--"

As he said this, his eyes swept across Old Lady Wang's face.

"Then let's make a compromise, four taels of silver per mu, how about that?"

For a moment, no one spoke.

Old Lady Wang jumped up again, "How can that be! Second Master, are you deliberately favoring her because she saved your Yunzi? I won't agree to that! This is the land of the whole village, why should you take it as a favor? Can you give us the rest of the money?"

The veins on the village chief's forehead jumped. "This won't work, and that won't work! Then tell me, how much is appropriate?"

"At least seven... eight... nine... ten taels."

Old Mrs. Wang opened her mouth very wide.

This even caused Zhang Cuihua to look sideways.

Aunt Li sneered, "One acre of wasteland is sold for ten taels of silver. Aunt, why don't you go and rob it? We are from the same village, and you are greedy in such an ugly way."

She turned around and said to Shen Yizhi in a warning, "Zhi Niang, if anyone from their family comes to you for treatment in the future, ignore her! This kind of ungrateful person will never remember your kindness no matter how much you help her. Why bother?"

Old Lady Wang was not convinced, "Li Zhaodi, who are you calling an ungrateful person?"

Aunt Li rolled her eyes and said, "Whoever agrees to my words will be the one to listen."

"you!"

The village chief slammed the wooden board again, "Okay! One acre of land will be sold--"

Shen Yizhi interrupted him and said, "Master, I have an idea. Do you think it will work?"

"you say."

Shen Yi knew: "How about this, we follow the principle of minority obeying majority and let's vote. Sir, when the vote comes, I will wait outside, and you can ask everyone to raise their hands if they are willing to sell me one mu of land for three taels of silver, and then you can count them.

"Same for four taels, five taels, and six taels. Ask them all. In the end, we'll see which opinion has the most supporters, and we'll go with that price. What do you think?"

"Yes."

"Can."

"Okay then. I'll go out and avoid it for a while. I'll come back when I get the result."

Shen Yizhi carried Qingbao out of the yard and waited under the persimmon tree outside.

She came out to let everyone vote without any scruples, but she also wanted to use this opportunity to see clearly who the people who truly support her are.


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