"Zhou Dazhui, if you old man don't give me an explanation today, I will bang my head against your door and die." Grandma Jinhua was unexpectedly agile. After stumbling out of the crowd, she reached out and grabbed Zhou Dazhui's collar.
"Jinhua, let go. If you have anything to say, we sisters can fight it out. Don't hold a man here and make trouble." Zhou Dazhu's wife Hu Yulan was angry.
Her old man had been the village chief for decades, but this was the first time someone had come to his door. Damn it, they thought her old man was easy to bully now that he was no longer the village chief, right? If she, Hu Yulian, didn't suppress this evil trend, she wouldn't be named Hu.
"Old village head's wife, you've wronged Jinhua this time. She's not at fault this time." An elderly woman, roughly Jinhua's age, stood up and spoke fairly. "Yulian, don't blame Jinhua. She had no other choice but to come to us. This is the dishonest behavior of your two men."
Huh? Two men? And it's about Hong Ming? Hu Yulan was confused and stunned.
"You little bastard, come here and tell me what happened?" Zhou Dazhui saw Zhou Hongming tiptoeing away from the crowd and yelled angrily.
Seeing Zhou Hongming's guilty look, Zhou Dazhu knew that it must be Zhou Hongming who caused the trouble. This kid has been like this since he was a child. He wants to run away when he gets into trouble.
Pfft! Some of the onlookers laughed out loud. There was nothing they could do. The old village chief's words were too funny. Calling his son a "little bastard" made him, as a father, who was he? An "old bastard"?
"Dad." Seeing that his father specifically asked him to speak, Zhou Hongming had no choice but to squeeze into the crowd and walked to Zhou Dazhui.
"Dad? I'm telling you to speak!" Zhou Dazhu cursed angrily. His son really disappointed him. He became the village chief but didn't have the self-consciousness to be a village chief. He didn't even dare to show his face when he saw someone cursing in the street.
"Zhou Dazhu, your son is cutting off the food supply for my son's family. My son's family was injured because of the production team's old cow. You promised me two years ago that the village would take care of his family forever. And now? It's only been two years! You don't even leave them a way to survive. Are you two officials like this?" Granny Jinhua said this before she sat down on the ground, slapping her thigh and wailing: "Oh my God! My son's family is starving to death, and I won't live either! The officials have lost their conscience! God, please strike down a thunderbolt and take away Zhou Dazhu's family!"
Zhou Dazhu was stunned by Grandma Jinhua's chatter.
Cut off from food? Cut off from what food? Why didn't he understand at all? Qi Jia was a good young man. If he hadn't held on to the mad old cow, the cow might have injured many people!
"Grandma, Grandma, stop crying. Your health is important." Qiuxiang squeezed out of the crowd and went to support Grandma Jinhua on the ground. If she really couldn't live anymore, Qiuxiang couldn't let Grandma cry in front of Zhou Dazhu's house. Grandma was in her seventies and not in good health. What if she became sick because of her family's affairs?
"Qi's daughter-in-law, tell me what's going on?" The old village chief finally breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing Qiuxiang. It would be no joke if Granny Jinhua collapsed from crying at his doorstep. The villagers' spit alone would be enough to drown him and Hongming and his son. With his own daughter-in-law looking after her, at least someone would be there to take care of Granny Jinhua, even if anything happened to her.
Seeing her daughter-in-law come to persuade her, Granny Jinhua's wailing became quieter. After all, she came today to solve her son's family's problems, not to make enemies with Zhou Dazhu.
"Old Village Chief, I know you're fair. This time, the young village chief really went too far. He didn't want to leave our family any chance of survival!" Qiuxiang raised her sleeve to wipe the tears from her eyes and continued, "During the grain distribution this year, the team members took pity on our family and asked for a few pounds of grain and a few cents less from each family to pay off our debts. Qiuxiang is deeply grateful for the generosity of the villagers. We are such kind people in Zhoujia Village!" Qiuxiang took the opportunity to express her gratitude to the villagers who had lent a helping hand. After all, she had received so much kindness, and even though she couldn't currently repay them, she still felt it was her duty to say a few kind words.
Many of the villagers who were watching had helped Qiuxiang's family. Seeing Qiuxiang's gratitude, they all nodded and smiled. This daughter-in-law of the Qi family was really sensible. Even though her family was short of a few pounds of food, she felt relieved.
"Old village chief, it's been a few days since the grain distribution. This morning, our team leader, Brother Qimin, came to my house and said that the young village chief did not agree with the villagers paying off my family's debts, and asked my family to return the grain! Qi's family is lying in bed and can't move. The children at home are still young, and I only have two hands. The centimeters I earn are indeed not enough, but... I have no choice! Everyone in the village knows about Qi's family..." Thinking of her family's predicament, Qiuxiang choked and couldn't continue.
But even if Qiuxiang only said this, she had already explained the whole story clearly.
The villagers are paying off the debts for his family, and Hong Ming still gets involved?
Zhou Dazhu was so angry he was shaking. How could he have given birth to such a foolish son like Hongming? How could he have done such a good job of offending people? The food that Qiuxiang's family used to pay off their debts was collected by the team members themselves, and it was none of Guan Village's business. Was Hongming doing this to make his family look bad in Zhoujia Village?
Zhou Dazhu had only one son and two daughters, both of whom married in town. In Zhoujia Village, Zhou Hongming had no brothers to help him, and could only rely on the connections Zhou Dazhu had accumulated over decades and the support of the villagers in Zhoujia Village.
If the problem with Qiuxiang's family is not resolved, Zhou Hongming's prestige in Zhoujia Village will definitely decline a lot. After all, the villagers are kind-hearted, and they will definitely be dissatisfied if they see Zhou Hongming making things difficult for Qiuxiang's family.
Besides, who can guarantee that they won't encounter disasters? If their family is in trouble and they are treated like this by the village chief, wouldn't that be like forcing people to die?
When Zhou Dazhu thought of this, he felt cold sweat breaking out all over his body.
"Sister, I'm sorry. Hongming didn't think things through. Consider this piece of wild boar meat as his apology." Zhou Dazhu walked up to Grandma Jinhua, stuffed the piece of wild boar meat in his hand into Grandma Jinhua's hand, and said guiltily.
"No, I can't have your wild boar meat. It's precious." Grandma Jinhua, needing no help from Qiuxiang, scrambled to her feet and thrust the piece of wild boar meat into Zhou Dazhu's arms. She had come to Zhou Dazhu's house to make a scene, to plead for her son's life. It was rare that the old village chief was understanding; she couldn't take his wild boar meat. Life wasn't easy for anyone these days!
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