"We're looking for trouble? Village chief, you be the judge! Not only were we beaten, but the workshop might not hire us again in the future. We have to make them compensate us!"
Sun Youcai had a stern face.
“You all know why Sun Xing went to cause trouble for Shuxia Village. This is no small matter. Shuxia Village wants Sun Xing to apologize. If Sun Xing doesn’t go, our village’s soybeans may not be able to be sold this year. The Li family is offering one coin more than the market price.”
"If our village loses an income source because of your family..."
"More than that, the Li family has said they want to build a workshop, and they're hiring people from nearby. They've even reported it to the officials in the county. If we make enemies with Shuxia Village now, where are we going to find workers so close by?"
"This...this...Village Chief, brothers, don't panic! Sun Xing is just a child, he doesn't know any better. How could it be so serious?"
"Whose kid is in their early twenties? They're old enough to get married and have kids, how shameless!"
A woman suddenly appeared and spat at Sun Youtian.
She is Sun Dahua, the gossip of Futian Village. Her husband went to fight with Sun Xing today, and she was furious after hearing the whole story from the crowd.
"Oh dear, Sister Hua! This workshop is still just a rumor, and who knows what kind of family it is when looking for workers?"
Sun Youtian's wife quickly went to stop Sun Dahua.
"Pah! They're paying a penny more for soybeans than the market price, and it's been approved by the government. How could the workers' treatment be bad?"
Sun Dahua stood with her hands on her hips, pointing her index finger at Sun Youtian's family.
“Let me tell you, Sun Youtian, my husband was tricked by Sun Xing into fighting with the people from Shuxia Village. If the workshop doesn’t hire my family, I’ll hold your family responsible! Don’t talk to me about friendship, give me the money!”
"That's right, pay up!"
"...Village chief, we are all clansmen."
Sun Youtian was extremely aggrieved. He cursed the people of Shuxia Village every day, but who knew his foolish son would actually dare to cause trouble for them? And with something as important as cutting off their water supply.
"Stupid!" Sun Youtian kicked Sun Xing, making Sun Xing howl in pain.
"That's enough!"
Sun Youcai finally spoke up.
"Take Sun Xing to Shuxia Village to apologize to the Li family. Our village must not be affected by this workshop matter. If this is handled well, we can let today's matter drop..."
"How can you just let it go like this, Village Chief? Did my husband just take the beating for nothing?"
"Yes, village chief, Sister Hua is right. We were beaten for nothing?"
Sun Dahua was dissatisfied, and the other villagers were also unhappy.
"Alright, what else do you want? We're all family. Sun Youtian, you must beg the Li family for forgiveness. If our village doesn't get a spot in the workshop, you'll have to go and compensate me from one family to another. I don't care how much they want you to compensate them."
"village head·····"
"You reap what you sow!"
Sun Youcai left in a huff.
Seeing that the village chief had reached this point, the others had no choice but to stop talking about the money loss.
"You little brat got off easy! Let me tell you, if you don't get the Li family to forgive you, you'd better pay us back!"
Sun Dahua, looking fierce, grabbed her husband and turned to leave.
"Go to the Li family and apologize right away, or else, hmph."
"It's just to give the village chief face. One day you'll have to discipline your own sons properly. None of them are any good."
The crowd slowly dispersed.
Looking at her son, who had been beaten so badly, and then at Sun Youtian, who was still defiant, Sun Youtian's wife was overcome with grief.
"What a disaster! Heavens! Why haven't you taken me away yet?! These guys are all debt collectors!"
No one paid any attention to her cries.
"Dad! They hit me so hard! I don't want to go!"
"Why should we help the village benefit if our family doesn't get any benefit? I'd rather die than go!"
"You idiot! Did I tell you to go and cut off the water supply to Shuxia Village? Did I tell you to go?!"
"It's all because of you, Dad, who keeps saying that Shuxia Village harmed my brother. I just want to avenge him. What did I do wrong?"
"you·····"
Sun Youtian felt as if he had been shot by an arrow, and his heart felt extremely suffocated.
"What a tragedy! What a tragedy!"
His mother's crying grew even louder.
———
By the time Pan Jinhua learned of this, Li Qingzhang had already returned.
Pan Jinhua had experienced fights over water before.
When she was a child, her father would guard the water every night, and she would often sit with her family on the edge of the field to watch the water flow during the day. Whenever the water level dropped, it meant that the people upstream had cut off the water supply, and she would run to tell the adults. At that time, her father would carry a hoe and go to argue with them.
Sometimes, when she was guarding the water, some adults would not take her seriously at all and would dig right in front of her. If she tried to stop them, she would be scolded or even slapped. Later, it would escalate into arguments and fights between the two families. There were many cases of families becoming estranged from each other for life because of fighting over water.
However, this is a big deal after all.
In ancient times, village chiefs and clan leaders held very high positions because they had the power of life and death.
Fighting over water is a bad habit, and Pan Jinhua doesn't like it.
People are always selfish. They even fear that less water from the river will flow into their own fields than into others. Pan Jinhua could understand this, but she did not agree with it.
"Father."
Li Qingzhang returned to the Li family home, whereupon Li Xuming summoned him.
"Haha, you did a great job today."
Li Xuming was genuinely happy; his son was far too reserved.
He is composed, but he has lost his edge.
They were overjoyed to hear this today.
“Father, I just did what I was supposed to do.”
The village under the tree has a small population, and nowadays it's basically led by the Li family. If the Li family doesn't step forward after something like this happens, wouldn't that damage their prestige? As a member of the Li family, he naturally can't let this happen.
“Father, today’s incident is all due to the malicious nitpicking of others. My Li family is innocent, and the people of Shuxia Village are innocent. We should not let everyone be smeared.”
"Yes, that's right. Qingzhang, you should act in the same way from now on. Our Li family has the confidence to do so!"
"Big brother is amazing! I heard even the village chief of Tomita Village didn't dare to reply."
Li Qing jumped in, looking at his older brother with immense envy. How come he missed out on this excitement!
Li Qingtong and the twins also patted their chests in agreement.
"Brother, if something like this happens again, just call us! We'll be your bodyguards."
Looking at his younger brothers' enthusiastic expressions, Li Qingzhang's pursed lips curled into a slight smile.
"Then we'll need your protection. All the uncles and elders are here."
The adults were quite pleased to see this scene of brotherly affection and respect.
“We need to reward our injured clansmen. Water is a major issue right now. If Futian Village insists on going its own way, we'll have to put in some effort. We still need to send people over there to keep watch for the next few days.”
"You kids, get back to work. In a few days, we'll be starting to plant rice seedlings."
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