Everyone finally understood why Granny Jinhua had come to block Zhou Dazhu's door. After all, compared to the lives of his family, the village chief's prestige was nothing!
Seeing that everyone had sided with her family, Granny Jinhua couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. In Zhou Village, the village chief was a supreme figure. Her family alone couldn't compete with Zhou Hongming and his son with their power.
Only by making the villagers' public opinion lean towards his own side will the village chief dare not go too far.
Granny Jinhua was born into a life of hardship, so she knows these things clearly.
When Granny Jinhua started crying, all the villagers who were at home near Zhou Dazhu's house came out to watch. Zhou Hongming had no idea Granny Jinhua was looking for trouble with him and his son, so he arrived too late, acting like a village chief.
When Zhou Hongming arrived, Grandma Jinhua had been crying for a while. Zhou Hongming did not hear the first few sentences about the old village chief telling Grandma Jinhua not to go to the town to complain, but only heard the last few words about Grandma Jinhua crying and asking Qiuxiang's family to return the food.
Zhou Hongming was just about to dive into the crowd to scold Grandma Jinhua. As the village chief, he had the right to take care of anyone, and he also had the right to withdraw the village's care for a certain family. Grandma Jinhua came to make trouble like this. Didn't she regard the collective and him as a village official seriously?
Before Zhou Hongming could show off his power as village chief, the villagers' words made him hesitate. In front of so many people, he still couldn't go too far. Granny Jinhua was from the older generation, and he had better not let people think he was disrespectful to the village elders.
You have to know that although the position of village chief is nominated by the town, it also requires the consent of the villagers. If many villagers in Zhoujia Village are disgusted with Zhou Hongming, he will not be able to sit firmly on the chair of village chief.
While Zhou Hongming was hesitating, the villagers were already discussing the details of Qiuxiang's debt relief. Many members of the First Squad were among the crowd, and they all looked down on Zhou Hongming for waving the collective flag and discussing Qiuxiang's affairs.
Hearing that everyone's words were biased towards Zhou Qijia, Zhou Hongming couldn't help but groan inwardly.
The issue of Qiuxiang returning the grain didn't bear scrutiny. Zhou Hongming simply seized on the fact that team leader Zhou Qimin hadn't reported the matter to the village in advance. Ultimately, the grain wasn't given by the village to pay off Zhou Qimin's debt, but rather by the villagers of Team One who had given up some of their own grain.
Zhou Qimin was caught by Zhou Hongming and was identified as Zhou Qijia's cousin, so he was accused of abusing his power for personal gain.
At that time, Zhou Qimin's mind was in a mess, and he was thinking: Oh no, what should my brothers do now?
Zhou Qimin didn't realize he was being led astray by Zhou Hongming, and didn't even consider who was responsible for the food. Facing Zhou Hongming's accusations, Zhou Qimin's mind was filled with nothing but disappointment. On the one hand, he was disappointed that he wasn't careful enough, and on the other hand, he was disappointed that he couldn't help Zhou Qi's family.
Zhou Hongming didn't dare rush into the crowd. He was afraid that if he showed up, he would be surrounded by villagers and asked why. His wife, Li Cuilian, was out again. How could he resolve the situation? Zhou Hongming stood outside the crowd, feeling a little flustered.
If Granny Jinhua made a fuss today, Zhou Hongming would have no other leverage to force Qiuxiang to submit except for food. If he couldn't get what he wanted from Zhou Daniu, who knew what the old man would do in the village?
Thinking of the shiny handcuffs and the dark prison, Zhou Hongming's forehead was covered with sweat for a moment.
Seeing his son standing nearby, Zhou Hongming quickly beckoned him to go find Li Cuilian and come home to help. Rural customs demanded that if an old woman came to a house and made a scene, the women in the family should come out to fight; the men were not allowed to intervene. After the women from both families had finished fighting, it was the men's turn to negotiate terms.
If the man in charge of the family confronts a woman who comes to make a scene, the family will be criticized no matter what, and people will say that the man is cowardly and only knows how to bully women.
Before Li Cuilian arrived, Zhou Dazhu and his wife had already returned home.
Zhou Dazhu was holding a pound of pork in his hand. It was pork belly with alternating fat and lean meat. Just one look at it made people drool.
People in this era were starved of fat and meat. Year-round, aside from the New Year pig slaughter, few in the countryside would buy meat to eat. A few years ago, even private pig farming was prohibited, so Zhoujia Village collectively established a pig farm. During the New Year, besides the pigs that were delivered to the government, a few were left over to be slaughtered and distributed to the villagers to satisfy their hunger.
Zhou Dazhu was thinking about his year-end bonus, and today at the market, he happened to see someone selling wild boar meat. The wild boar was hunted by a fellow villager in the mountains, and no meat coupons were required. Zhou Dazhu, thinking it was a rare opportunity, cut a piece of meat to satisfy his craving.
As Zhou Dazhu walked, he talked to his wife about how to prepare the wild boar meat. He said that they should cut the meat into finger-thick slices, drizzle it with soy sauce, and simmer it with potatoes to make a delicious braised pork. That would be delicious. He also invited his grandchildren to his house for lunch. The two little ones had said many times that they wanted to eat meat.
After returning to the village, Zhou Dazhu felt a little strange. In the past, he would always meet a few villagers on the way from the village entrance to his home. Why was there no one in the village today?
Seeing a large group of people gathered outside his house from afar, Zhou Dazhu realized that the idle people in the village had probably come here.
What happened? Zhou Dazhu was very surprised.
When he got closer, he saw his son Zhou Hongming hiding in a corner. In the crowd, he could hear the buzzing sound of people criticizing him. Zhou Dazhu was half deaf and could not hear clearly what everyone was saying.
Seeing his son still acting so unpresentable even after becoming village chief, Zhou Dazhu glared at Zhou Hongming. If he hadn't been his only son, he wouldn't have let Zhou Hongming take the position of village chief. In Zhoujia Village, there were several young men of Zhou Hongming's generation who were more capable than him. Zhou Chunping's eldest son, Zhou Zhigang, was one of them.
"Dad." When Zhou Hongming saw his father, he hung his head and called out.
Zhou Dazhu was even angrier. It looked like Hongming had done something to offend the villagers, and they had come to him to demand justice.
That's not right... Even if Hong Ming did something, we should go to Hong Ming's house. It's impossible for him to come to my house, the old man's, right?
Zhou Dazhu pondered to himself.
"The old village chief is back." Someone with sharp eyes saw Zhou Dazhu and shouted in a shrill voice.
When Granny Jinhua heard this, she stood up from the ground with a swish, pushed through the crowd, and rushed out.
It just so happened that she was afraid that the old man wouldn't be back until the afternoon. It would be exhausting to let her cry at Zhou Dazhu's house for most of the day, okay?
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