"Stop arguing, each family sends one person, take turns, it's fair and just."
“My family goes first,” Huang Sheng said quickly. “I said so first, so my family goes first.”
"My family goes first!"
"My family goes first!"
"My family goes first!"
Farmers have their own shrewdness; everyone knows that such opportunities are rare and precious, so they fight tooth and nail for it, and no one is willing to back down. The crowd that had just been calmed down was in an uproar again in the blink of an eye.
"Shut up, all of you!" Huang Shi roared, standing on the rock. "What are you fighting over? One for each family, in order of seniority, from oldest to youngest."
"From eldest to youngest," Huang Sheng immediately asked, "Should your second wife's family be included as well?"
He felt that the second wife shouldn't be counted, but since the second wife had already separated from the family, if she were included, no one could say anything.
"The second wife is not included."
"What about the eldest son's family?" Huang Sige hesitated for a long time before speaking. "Should we exclude them?"
“The eldest son’s family,” Huang Shi replied after a moment of confusion, “It’s not out of the question. They’re all from the Huang family, and there’s not much difference between them.”
Apart from a few children, the adult males of the eldest son's family were sent to guard the graves in the back mountains. After the eldest son's family declined, all the other branches of the family were implicated.
The entire Changfang branch seemed to have vanished from Huangjiakou, completely losing its presence.
If Huang Shi hadn't heard it from others, he would have forgotten that these people were also members of the village.
"The eldest son's family should be investigated too," Huang Sheng said, somewhat disappointed. "The eldest son's family committed such a serious mistake, why should they be investigated as well?"
According to seniority, it takes another round before it reaches his family. If the eldest and second sons are no longer in line, then he can be in the first batch.
“The eldest son’s family isn’t the only one; there are others as well,” Huang Shi explained. “In any case, what happened in the past is in the past, and the eldest son’s family has paid the price. They also have the right to participate in clan affairs.”
How others view the eldest son's family is their business.
As the clan leader, he had to treat everyone equally, even though he didn't like the eldest son.
“Fine,” Huang Sheng said reluctantly. “You’re the clan leader, so you have the final say.”
Huang Shi felt uncomfortable hearing this, but he didn't want to argue with Huang Sheng. He glanced at Huang Sheng indifferently and continued, "If you want to keep watch at night, just let me know and I'll register you. Starting tonight, your wages will be settled the next morning."
With this arrangement, no one had any objections, and the matter was resolved in no time.
Huang Shi returned home and had barely sat down, not even having taken a sip of water, when he heard his wife say, "Husband, I'll find you in the next life."
“Clan leader, I have a favor to ask of you,” Huang Laisheng said, getting straight to the point. “Could you lend me some money?”
He was embarrassed to say that.
My brother-in-law had just swindled someone out of money, and the next thing he knew, he was coming to borrow money. It's so embarrassing to even talk about it!
But there's no other way now.
Recently, my family received some money, and we wanted to build two houses, but we're still short of funds.
"Borrow money?" Huang Shi asked, puzzled. "What do you need it for? How much?"
“One tael of silver,” Huang Laisheng explained, “My wife can’t stay at home any longer, and she absolutely refuses to go back to her parents’ home. She’s currently at home making a scene and trying to kill herself.”
"Is the person injured?" Huang Shi asked in surprise. "Should we get medicine and see a doctor?"
That's all the woman can do. When something goes wrong, she tries to kill herself, which is useless and only makes you lose money.
In an instant, Huang Shi's goodwill towards the Tie family plummeted even further.
“No,” Huang Laisheng said, his face flushed. “We discovered it in time and didn’t let her succeed, but this woman absolutely cannot stay in the house any longer.”
He really didn't dare keep anyone there. He ran around like a madman with scissors, scaring the children in the house. They were stunned and didn't respond until he called them several times.
Upon hearing this, Huang Shi raised an eyebrow and asked, "What, you're going to divorce her?"
“We can’t divorce her,” Huang Laisheng explained with a dark face. “The clan chief knows what kind of people her family is. She won’t have a chance to survive if she goes back. No matter how bad she is, she is still the mother of several children. We can’t just watch her die. She still has two sons who are not yet engaged. Without a mother, no good girl will want to marry into the family.”
"Then what are you going to do?" Hearing this, Huang Shi was even more puzzled. "Neither rest nor stay, it's a difficult situation!"
“It’s not difficult,” Huang Laisheng said after a long silence, “I plan to build two houses at the end of the village so she can live alone.”
He thought about it for a long time before coming up with this idea. Although there might be gossip in the village, he couldn't care less about that now.
He really didn't want to live with the Tie family anymore.
The old woman, despite her advanced age, acted like a young girl, completely exhausting Huang Laisheng's already limited patience.
“That is indeed a solution,” Huang Shi nodded. “Having experienced hardship himself, he knows how good life is now, and he won’t dare to cause trouble again.”
Huang Shi believes that Tie's various antics stem from having too much free time and being idle.
There are many women who protect their maternal families, but none of them are as clueless as her. Or maybe she's just too idle. If she were busy all day long, she wouldn't have time to think about such nonsense.
"Yeah, that's what I think too. Let her live alone and let her do whatever she wants. Out of sight, out of mind. If she's courting death, I'll have the kids observe mourning for her."
That's a harsh statement. It seems they'll completely despise the Tie family in their next life.
Huang Shi silently turned his head and changed the subject, saying, "When are you planning to build the house? The village probably can't help us in the next few days."
"It's alright, no need for the village to help. Everyone needs to do spring plowing and earn money. I can take care of it with my sons. It'll only take five or six days."
"As long as you know what's going on," Huang Shi handed him the silver and patted his shoulder reassuringly. "There's no hurdle you can't overcome. Just get through this and things will be fine. Our Huangjiakou will definitely get better and better. Your clueless wife will regret it sooner or later."
“Yes,” Huang Laisheng felt a pang of sadness upon hearing these words, and his eyes reddened. “Our Huangjiakou will definitely get better and better, and I will definitely be able to get through this.”
These things had been weighing on Huang Laisheng's mind, and he had long been feeling incredibly frustrated.
However, he can't show it at home. He's the head of the household; if he's in disarray, the whole family will be in disarray too.
His younger brother was capable of speaking frankly, but he couldn't keep his mouth shut. After a couple of drinks, he would spill all the family secrets. If the whole village knew about such a shameful thing, how could Huang Laisheng ever face anyone in Huangjiakou again?
Huang Shi's words struck a chord with him, instantly bringing tears to the eyes of this man who never sheds a tear.
He blinked, holding back the tears that were about to fall, and patted his chest to assure the clan leader, "Don't worry, clan leader. We've weathered so many storms over the years, we can't afford to fall because of something so small."
So what if he married a spendthrift woman? So what if his wife sides with her own family? What's the big deal?
He refused to believe that this woman could bring him harm if they lived separately!
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