Lin Li gripped his pipe tighter and tighter in his hand. If it weren't for his elder, he would have already smashed it down with the pipe. He shouted angrily, "Enough! Stop hitting me, Third Uncle. You don't need to come here anymore. The persimmon cake workshop can't hold a Buddha like you!"
"Hey, nephew-in-law, how can you talk to your third uncle like that? I wouldn't do it even if you asked me to. It's not comfortable sleeping here. But you have to pay me for these past few days." Ma San Gong said shamelessly.
Lin Lizheng was so angry that his eyebrows shot up as he glared at Ma Sangong. "You still have the nerve to ask for wages?! Third Uncle, let me tell you, although you are my wife's uncle, since it was your fault, you have to pay for the loss of these moldy persimmons!"
"What?! You want me to pay you back? I've never heard of a niece's family asking her uncle to pay her back. You want me to give you a single penny? No way! Let's see what you can do to me." Ma San Gong said shamelessly.
Lin Lizheng, upright and incorruptible, said, "Then, Third Uncle, don't blame me for upholding justice even against family ties. Let's go to the yamen and talk about it!"
When Granny Ma heard that her husband was to be taken to the yamen (government office), she was furious. She still vividly remembered how her brother and sister-in-law had been beaten. She quickly stepped forward and said, "Uncle Dazhuang, it's not that bad, it's not that bad. Our family will pay for it, our family will pay for it." She then tried to pull her husband away, saying, "You old fool, don't you know what kind of temper your nephew-in-law has? Don't go to the yamen for nothing. Go home and get some sleep, don't embarrass yourself here!"
Meanwhile, Ma Sanpo's two daughters-in-law were also working there. They already disliked their lazy father-in-law, and now that he had caused this mess because of their laziness, they were extremely resentful of him. But since he was their father-in-law, they couldn't go up and scold him like their mother-in-law. But since things were about to escalate to the yamen, they had no choice but to step in and try to mediate.
"Dad, you should hurry home and stop making my cousin-in-law angry! Otherwise we'll all be kicked out. Do something good for him."
As soon as the village headwoman heard this, she knew her husband wasn't joking, so she quickly went over to pull him away, saying, "Third Uncle, you should leave now and never come again. Just pretend you don't have a niece like me. Oh dear, you've really ruined me!"
"Don't pull me! You old woman, we don't have any money to pay compensation. You're old and your mind is failing! Da Zhuang's father, you actually want to take me to court? I'm Da Zhuang and Er Zhuang's maternal great-uncle! You're being unfilial! My dead sister will definitely come looking for you..." Ma San Gong struggled and shouted.
Lin Dazhuang and Lin Erzhuang exchanged a glance and went over to help their third great-uncle up, saying politely, "Third great-uncle, you're old and can't walk anymore, we'll take you back."
When Auntie Lizheng and Granny Ma saw that Uncle Ma had been taken away, they breathed a sigh of relief. What kind of thing would it be if their own family members took each other to court?
Turning around, she saw that the village head's face was as dark as could be, and her breath caught in her throat again. The village head's aunt timidly stepped forward and said, "Husband, this is all my fault. I thought that although Third Uncle was a little lazy, he could still do this easy work. I didn't expect... Sigh, you can hit me or scold me as you please. I have no face to say anything more."
Lin Li glared at her fiercely, but despite his anger, he couldn't bring himself to scold or beat his wife who had been with him for so many years.
Seeing this, Granny Ma immediately stepped forward and said, "Nephew-in-law, don't blame Aunt Dazhuang. I begged her before she softened and agreed. It's all our family's fault."
Lin Lizheng said helplessly, "Ah, Third Aunt, this persimmon workshop doesn't belong to our family, it belongs to the entire Lin Family Village. As the head of Lin Family Village, I have to be fair and impartial. Even if you are my wife's family or my maternal uncle's family, I can't show favoritism. I won't argue with Third Uncle's side, even if we can't get along. Your family still has to compensate for the loss of the persimmons."
Granny Ma sighed, "Uncle Dazhuang, we're losing money, but there are over a hundred catties of persimmons. We really can't afford that much money. How about this, Dadi and Erdi's wives and I will pay you back with our wages. You don't need to pay us back then. You can pay us back when we've finished paying it off, okay?"
Upon hearing this, the two daughters-in-law of Ma San's family immediately frowned. Their father-in-law hadn't earned a single penny for the family and had even dragged them down with him. No way, they would negotiate with their mother-in-law when they got home. They could use their wages to offset the debt, but in the future, they would have to keep half of their wages instead of handing them over entirely.
Lin Lizheng said, "That's the only way." He looked at the thirty female workers in the workshop and said sternly, "You've all seen this. There are no kinship ties here. If you don't work hard, even if the King of Heaven himself came, I wouldn't show you any mercy. If you lose money, you'll have to compensate. If you don't work hard in the future, don't blame me for firing you!"
He then said to his wife, "You don't need to come to the workshop anymore. Even if I work myself to death, I will manage it myself!"
Upon hearing this, the workers in the workshop dared not slack off anymore. The village head was truly worthy of his title. Even though Ma San Gong was his maternal uncle, he showed no mercy and even fired his own wife.
Song Anxin knew that the village head had already done a good job. The bond between blood relatives was the hardest to untangle, especially in the village where there were many relatives who had to help each other. It was understandable that the village head's wife brought in her own family members, because relatives knew each other's true nature and would help her in any way. However, she really shouldn't have been soft-hearted towards Ma Sangong.
At this moment, Lin Dazhuang ran in from outside and said, "Dad, something bad has happened. A lot of villagers have come to the door and are demanding that we return the money."
Song Anxin's expression darkened, and she walked towards the courtyard gate.
"Refund! Refund! Refund..."
"Give us our money back! Give us our money back! We can't let it go to waste!"
"I knew Aunt Lin would be so kind as to offer this business to everyone. Look, now there's a problem, and your money is going to go down the drain."
Aunt Fang shouted energetically in the crowd. This time, she had received instructions from her clan leader, so she shouted with even more confidence.
As soon as Song Anxin and Lin Lizheng arrived at the workshop entrance, they saw a large group of villagers surrounding the place, shouting for a refund.
Lin Lizheng was furious. "What the hell are you all yelling about?! Be quiet!"
After Lin Lizheng's shout, the villagers immediately fell silent. One villager stepped forward and asked, "Lizheng, I heard the persimmon business failed. Is it a success or not?"
"Yes, we invested our money because we trusted you, Village Head, and Fengnian's mother. How come the persimmons grew mold while they were growing properly? Is this method even reliable?!"
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