The next day at noon, the sun was dazzling, and Mingjing was awakened by a ray of intense sunlight, sitting up in a daze.
"Mingjing, dinner's ready!" Sun Yunmei called out as she brought out a plate of banana fish towards Mingjing's room.
Mingjing got up to wash up, then sat down at the dining table. There was banana fish, raw marinated drunken crab, dog head fish soup, and a large bowl of stewed pig's trotters with soybeans.
Sun Yunmei served the dishes while laughing, and towards the end she was laughing so hard she almost bent over.
"Mom, did you eat bee poop? Why are you laughing so happily?" Mingyue interjected.
Sun Yunmei's voice trembled, and she laughed so hard her eyes were almost closed, "You don't know, yesterday some scoundrel treated the Song family like a cesspool and smeared them with shit."
"They even set off firecrackers. Old Song's tigress was covered in shit from the explosions. Everyone in the village says the Song family is now a living shit family."
Mingjing's lips twitched. "Mom, how can you call that immoral? They're our great benefactor."
"Yes, yes, yes, my great benefactor." Sun Yunmei was in a really good mood and immediately said, "They deserve to suffer. Heaven has eyes. Maybe they offended someone and that's why they're being retaliated against."
Hearing this, Ming Dahai felt relieved, but when he looked down at the food in his bowl, he felt a little nauseous.
"Yunmei, why is your rice so thick?"
Mingyue stared at the millet porridge in her hand, stirred it with her chopsticks, and found that it felt similar to yesterday's. She immediately felt nauseous and couldn't eat.
"Then you shouldn't eat it, you're making trouble."
Sun Yunmei sat down and looked at Mingjing.
"Mingjing, those fish sold for a lot of money yesterday. Didn't Boss Dong say anything when you went so late?"
"No, I'll bring him something nice next time, otherwise I feel like I'm always bothering him."
“Mingjing is right. We can’t do without social obligations. We’ll need his help in the future.” Sun Yunmei stood up and served Minglei a bowl of soup, placing it on the table.
"Eat quickly, after you finish eating, I'm taking Minglei and Mingyue to town to register for school today. School starts soon, and we can't let them miss school."
Upon hearing that they were going to school, the two of them grinned happily.
"Then go ahead and bring back a chicken. I want to drink some old chicken soup." Mingjing felt that she was feeling very weak lately and needed to replenish her energy.
"OK."
After finishing his meal, Mingjing, having nothing else to do, decided to go out and ask the village chief about the land foundation.
When they reached the convenience store, Old Wang waved to her.
"A clear mirror!"
Mingjing turned her head and glanced over. "Uncle Wang, what's wrong?"
"I have some news about the Song family. Buy me some things and I'll tell you."
"It's just that the Song family got blown up by shit, what's there to say? Everyone in the village knows."
Mingjing turned and left.
Old Wang held a bottle of sweet cola in his hand, gritted his teeth, and threw it on the table, saying, "You don't even listen to your second uncle's news?"
"Give me a bag of melon seeds," Mingjing said, turning back.
"Add a bottle of Coke, and it'll be ten yuan."
Old Wang pushed the can of cola forward.
Sweet Coke?
Mingjing took out a ten-yuan note and pen, impatiently cracking melon seeds, and said, "Speak."
“That boat was rented by your second uncle, and note that it was provided by the village chief Zhang Ping. Now your second uncle doesn’t want the boat anymore, and Song Yugui is figuring out how to get you to rent it.”
Are you still renting that boat?
Mingjing smiled, took the cola and sunflower seeds, and left with a mysterious smile, "Guess?"
Back home, Mingjing felt suffocated. If the village chief could instigate Ming Dashan to steal her boat, then that piece of land would probably be difficult to deal with as well.
Seeing that his daughter was troubled, Ming Dahai came over to inquire out of curiosity. When he heard that it was the village chief who did it, he couldn't understand why the village chief would do such a thing when he had no grudge against him.
"It's all because of that women's director's affair."
"We can't let this go unpunished. We have to teach him a lesson. I'll tear his house down tonight," Mingliang said, his teeth itching with anger.
Mingjing shook her head. "Don't ruin my plans. Don't get yourself into trouble instead of getting things done."
"So we're just going to let them bully us like this?"
"That's still not allowed. Have you ever heard of using someone else to do your dirty work?"
Mingliang clapped his hands. "I get it. You want someone else to teach these two bastards a lesson? We don't have blood on our hands?"
Mingjing took a sip of cola, pondering in his mind who would be suitable to light the fire.
After thinking it over, he thought of someone.
Ming Dahai was also thinking about it, and after a while he said, "Let's not cause trouble. Let's just let this go and look for another way. A grown man can't be killed by holding his pee, can he?"
“Dad, we can’t let this go. Why does the village chief have the right to hog us like this? If the boat issue isn’t resolved, the land issue will also be difficult to resolve.”
After Mingjing finished speaking, he looked at Mingliang and said, "Big brother, go to town and buy some braised dishes, the more the better, and a case of beer too. Dad, call Lao Wang and Lao Zhao over."
"I told them I needed their help and invited them over for a meal. When they arrived, Dad talked to them about buying seafood and casually mentioned that Lao Zhao had been arrested."
Ming Dahai became increasingly confused. "I have to go and tell them? What are you trying to do?"
"Dad, the village chief is trying to suppress me now. I have to outmaneuver him so that he won't dare to touch me and will obediently hand over the land to me. If you do as I say, nothing will happen."
Mingliang stood there, stunned, staring at Mingjing. "What did you just call me?"
"Big brother, you have to go quickly..."
Before Mingjing could finish speaking, Mingliang turned around, grinned, and ran out, saying, "I'll be right back."
"Dad, wait a minute." Mingjing quickly called out to Ming Dahai as he was about to leave, "Do you have a boat driver's license?"
Ming Dahai nodded, "Who doesn't have that? Everyone who sails a boat needs one. Why are you asking?"
"Do all those ships need to be transferred to the Maritime Safety Administration?"
"Of course, all ships, regardless of size, must be registered. If you encounter a patrol at sea without a permit, you'll be in jail."
Mingjing nodded. She was quite certain that Song Yugui had not only failed to transfer ownership to the Maritime Bureau, but also did not even have a driver's license.
Because the maritime bureau and the local police station are now almost one entity, they often handle cases in the same place. The transfer procedures are complicated and require fees, so many people deliberately avoid the coast guard.
A boat driver's license is even harder to obtain. Without some education and connections, it's really not easy to pass the test, unless you're an old sailor like Ming Dahai who used to get licenses done on a whim.
As long as Song Yugui doesn't have a license, she can render his boat completely unusable and cause him to suffer a great loss.
"Mingjing, I'm going."
Ming Dahai didn't know what his daughter was thinking, but he knew she was a strong-willed person and wouldn't do anything illegal or disorderly, so he turned to ask Lao Zhao and Lao Wang for help.
After waiting for a while, Old Wang came first.
"Mingjing, what's wrong? Your dad's being all mysterious."
"Uncle Wang, please sit down. I've asked my brother to buy some good wine and food to treat you. He'll be right there," Mingjing said, gesturing for Old Wang to sit down. She then brought over a plate of drunken crab and handed him chopsticks.
"What's up?" Old Wang took the chopsticks and reached into the bowl. The crab grabbed his chopsticks and put them into his mouth.
"Uncle Wang, you're well-informed. Song Yugui's boat wasn't registered on the boat, was it? Not only was it not registered, but it also didn't have a driver's license?"
Old Wang is a recipient of the village's minimum living allowance, and his small shop is the second most important information hub in the village, even more valuable than the information provided by the older women.
“Yes, that’s right. You need to be literate to register in town. Song Yugui can’t read a single character, how could he possibly register? Do you still want that boat?”
Mingjing shook her head. "I'm not renting a boat, I'm buying one, but Uncle Song is a fickle man and hard to deal with."
"I think you should forget about it. Song Yugui is a shrewd person, and his mother is difficult to deal with. You're just a young girl, don't worry about it."
As soon as he finished speaking, Mingliang came in carrying a bag of braised food and a basket of beer.
"Uncle Wang is here. He ran into that female ghost again on his way here. Before he could ask her anything, she ran away. I wonder whose relative she is, she's acting all strange."
"What woman?" Old Wang asked curiously.
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