"It would be strange if a fight didn't break out," Old Huang said with a sneer. "Uncle Gensheng's family is mostly old and young, with very few people who can do the work. They also have a lot of land, so they certainly don't want anyone to ruin things today."
"Where are your grandpa and your uncle?" Jiang Nuan's eyes flickered slightly. "What was their reaction?"
"His face was particularly ugly, cold yet radiating fire," Xie said in a low voice. "The clan elders all went over, and their faces were similar to Father's and Uncle's."
To be honest, she felt a little smug seeing this scene.
Serves him right!
Why do you have to create all this trouble?
Xie's description was spot on; with just one sentence, Jiang Nuan felt as if she could see the elders' furious yet forced-to-suppress expressions.
"Is anyone in the village following suit?"
“Not yet,” Xie said after a pause, “However, I feel that several families have ideas, but they dare not act rashly for the time being. They are probably waiting for the clan’s decision on how to deal with Aunt Youliang.”
“The clan may not be able to do anything about Aunt Youliang,” Huang Xiaosan analyzed. “The fact that Uncle Youliang’s family is getting better and better is all thanks to Aunt Youliang’s good management of the household. She also saw her parents-in-law off. She has done nothing to wrong the Huang family.”
As for going against the clan's decision, that's understandable. After all, they really suffered a great loss, and everyone has a temper.
“Why would someone from the Youliang family suddenly go back to their parents’ home? Even if they’re dissatisfied, it shouldn’t be that bad,” Jiang Nuan said, puzzled. “After all, it was a decision made by the clan.”
She thought it would take at least four or five days for the various conflicts to escalate, but she never expected it to turn out like this before it even started.
Tsk tsk, as expected, people won't budge an inch when it comes to matters of personal interest.
“Perhaps it was because she was so frustrated,” Xie said, understanding her feelings very well. “Uncle Youliang’s family had little land and they were always hungry. In order to keep his youngest son alive, he was sent to work as an apprentice at a stonemason’s house when he was seven or eight years old. The work was heavy and hard, and the stonemason’s wife was a formidable woman who didn’t treat the apprentices like human beings at all. You can imagine what kind of life they lived.”
Her third brother is a perfect example.
When I was an apprentice at Wuweilou, even with my father-in-law as my backer, I still had to work from morning till night every day. The only good thing about the restaurant was that I could get a full meal; otherwise, I probably would have ruined my health long ago.
"As expected, Mother was right," sighed Old Master Huang. "This matter is far from over."
"Go ahead and make a scene," Huang Lao Er chuckled maliciously. "The bigger the fuss, the better."
"Let's not talk about this anymore," Jiang Nuan changed the subject. "Let's have breakfast first, and wait for the clan's notification."
"We won't take care of it?"
"It doesn't matter, it has nothing to do with our family."
"Yes, it's true, it's really okay."
Jiang Nuan considered the reputation of the old family home, and knew that some things could only be compromised, but there was no shortage of insightful people in this world.
Huang Gensheng's excessive entanglement, coupled with the cold indifference of the clan chief and other influential elders, thoroughly enraged Huang Youliang. He shook off the two people holding him and walked straight up to Huang Shi. "The clan chief didn't say a word, but he thinks Huang Gensheng is right. Does that mean I, Huang Youliang, deserve to be scolded to my face?"
“Of course not,” Huang Shi’s expression froze, startled. “There are already people trying to break up the fight.”
"Then why did you let Huang Gensheng run wild without stopping him?"
Who do you think is a fool?
This thought-provoking question caused Huang Shi's expression to change.
Before Huang Shi could explain, Huang Youliang scoffed and continued, "My wife was so angry that she went back to her parents' home overnight to offend your authority, right? You're upset, aren't you? You want to vent your anger, right? Why should you?"
"Why is my wife so angry? Do you dare say you don't know the answer?"
"When my family was so poor that we couldn't afford to raise our children, and we sent our sixth child to become an apprentice, did anyone in the clan help us? Did anyone give us even a single grain of rice?"
"Every family here, I, Huang Youliang, have never taken advantage of anyone except the Huang Mu family!"
"Speaking of which, it's even funnier. Huang Mu's wife has a good temper, but she can't just pluck the hairs off one person. She built the school, repaired the roads, and even helped the whole village make so much money, but in the end, she has to work for the village. After sucking blood, she still has to drain the bone marrow. Isn't that disgusting?"
"Chieftain, you are a kind person. In the past, when the Huang family was in such dire straits, did Huang Chuan, a mere boy, lend a hand in digging ditches, plowing the fields, and carrying sacks?"
Upon hearing this, Huang Shi stared intently at Huang Youliang without uttering a word, his deep pupils seeming to be brewing a storm. "Huang Youliang, don't go too far!"
Huang Youliang glanced at him indifferently and continued:
"I was originally going to tolerate this, but you've gone too far!"
"We work together when we work, so shouldn't we share the grain too? We raise our son with so much effort, only to have him raised by outsiders. What's the point?"
"Huang Gensheng is making such a fuss and he still won't say a word of justice, so why should I have to suffer in silence?"
"If you want to plant rice together today, then plant together, but don't include my family. And if this happens again in the future, don't include my family either."
As he spoke, he walked up to Huang Gensheng, clenched his fist, and swung it hard at him. "You think you're right just because you're weak? Helping is a favor, not helping is my right. Have you been spoiled like this? If you cause trouble again, I'll have my son at home beat you up."
"Some people just pretend to be confused. They won't explain themselves and will act like they don't know. But who doesn't know what they're thinking?"
"I'd like to see who's so shameless as to have the Huangmu lineage work for them."
After saying this, Huang Youliang ignored everyone else's reactions and hurried home to bring his wife back.
“Village Chief,” Huang Sheng spoke first, “my family will not participate in this matter. We are too ashamed to continue to take advantage of it. Although it sounds unpleasant, it makes a lot of sense. Doing so would indeed be unfair to Huang Mu’s lineage.”
Although he was happy to see this happen, someone had already brought it to light, and no matter how thick-skinned he was, he couldn't pretend not to know.
Besides, Huang Sheng felt that this matter had indeed gone too far and hurt their relationship too much; Granny Jiang would definitely remember it.
She's a contradictory person. She's magnanimous and doesn't usually hold grudges, but she remembers everything clearly. If you really piss her off, she could turn the whole village upside down.
“My family doesn’t participate either,” Huang Youquan said. “I’m a hunter. If I don’t hunt, I won’t have any food. If I’m delayed for too long, I’ll run out of food.”
"My family won't be participating either."
"My family is the same."
Before long, the vast majority of people had expressed their opinions.
As things progressed to this point, Huang Shi didn't even have time to utter a word of rebuttal before he saw groups of people disperse after finishing their conversation.
Huang Shi glared at Huang Gensheng, holding a grudge against him, "This is all your fault!"
"Never mind," Old Man Huang said wearily. "It's come to this, let's go back."
He felt he had done something wrong.
There are many ways to unite people's hearts, but they used the stupidest one.
Unfortunately, I hadn't realized it yet, and if someone hadn't pointed it out, I still wouldn't have thought much of it.
A heavy sense of powerlessness arose spontaneously.
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