A thunderous roar filled the sky, followed by a torrential downpour.
Inside the newly renovated red gate, under bright lights, is a large table laden with delicious dishes: roast chicken, roast duck, fish, and meat.
The group sat around the table, chatting and laughing.
"Oh dear, it just rained this morning, why is it raining again tonight?"
"Qiangzi, why don't you stay at my house tonight instead of going back?" The village chief raised his glass and clinked it with Ye Sanqiang's, saying.
Ye Sanqiang took a sip of wine, shook his head and said, "No, Su Yue doesn't like sleeping on a kang (heated brick bed), she has to go back no matter how late it is."
"Oh, I see!" The village chief nodded in realization.
"Hmph, who said I'm not sleeping on the kang?" Su Yue snorted and said, "I'm not going back tonight, I'm staying at Yunzi's house."
"Ah, you're not going back?" Ye Sanqiang asked, somewhat surprised.
"What, is that not allowed?"
“Okay, of course. Look, the rain is really heavy. Let’s stay here together tonight.”
"Who wants to live with you? Go find your own place," Su Yue said irritably.
Upon hearing this, Ye Sanqiang appeared somewhat embarrassed, but was secretly delighted. He had been racking his brains for an excuse to leave, since they were going to eat eel tonight, and he couldn't let all that nourishment go to waste. He needed to give that little vixen a good try.
"Hey, Qiangzi, why don't you come stay at my house? I have plenty of rooms." The village chief said.
With a way out, Ye Sanqiang naturally nodded in satisfaction, "Alright, then I'll sleep at the village chief's house tonight."
As they were talking, Ye Yun came out carrying a large bowl of braised eel and placed it in the middle of the table.
"Wow, this looks delicious!"
"Yunzi is really good. She handles both catching and cooking eels, eliminating middlemen and their markups. That's truly impressive."
"It smells good, it smells good just by smelling it."
Of all the dishes on the table, this freshly prepared braised eel was the highlight.
"If you like it, Qiang, eat more," Ye Yun said with a smile.
"Hey, hey, then I won't stand on ceremony, you sit down and eat too!"
As soon as Ye Yun sat down, Ye Sanqiang said, "Yunzi, your sister-in-law is staying here tonight, is that alright?"
Ye Yun was slightly taken aback, then nodded and said, "No problem. The house was just renovated the day before yesterday, and there is one empty room."
"That's fine then. I'll stay at your village chief's house tonight." With that, Ye Sanqiang picked up his chopsticks and ate a piece of eel.
"Hmm, not bad, that's why wild ones are always the best."
"Brother, let me toast you."
"Oh, come on, everyone, let's have a drink!"
The group ate and chatted for a while before finally getting to the main topic.
"Village chief, have you discussed this land contracting matter with the villagers?" Ye Sanqiang asked.
"We've almost reached an agreement, but a few families are unwilling," the village chief said rather awkwardly.
"Unwilling? Who is it?!"
"Gousheng, those guys, those lazybones just want to make more money. They refuse to leave the fields and demand exorbitant prices."
"How high could it be? Just give it to him and that's it," Su Yue said nonchalantly.
“That won’t do. If we raise the price, the whole village will be unhappy and demand a higher price, which will amount to a huge sum of money,” the village chief said.
Ye Sanqiang nodded and said, "We can't just raise the price arbitrarily. It's fine if it's done privately. But Gousheng is a loose tongue. If we really raise the price for him, it'll be the whole village talking about it in less than a day."
"Then what should we do? Maybe we should just give up their land?"
The village chief sighed and said, "I'd like to, but the key problem is that these people's land is scattered across important locations. If we don't take their land, it will be quite troublesome to develop an orchard later, as there will be gaps here and there."
"Yes, the village chief is right. This matter is indeed quite troublesome."
"What trouble is there?" Su Yue snorted and said nonchalantly, "It's just a few scoundrels like Gou Sheng. Let Yun Zi handle it. Gou Sheng used to be Yun Zi's underling. When he came back a while ago, Yun Zi beat him up."
"Oh, is that so?" Ye Sanqiang's eyes lit up.
Uncle San nodded in agreement. "That's right. Gou Sheng isn't afraid of anyone except Yun Zi. Yun Zi is ruthless; he left that guy covered in bandages."
"That day he was the one harassing my sister-in-law Shuyue, so I took action," Ye Yun explained.
Lin Shuyue, who was standing to the side, still feels a pang of emotion when she recalls that scene.
"Hehe, Uncle doesn't blame you. That kid Gousheng really deserved a beating," Uncle said with a smile.
Ye Sanqiang stroked his chin and looked at Ye Yun, saying, "Yunzi, your sister-in-law is right. Gousheng is so afraid of you, so it's most suitable for you to handle this matter. What do you say?"
Ye Yun nodded, "Of course, but..."
Seeing his hesitation, Ye Sanqiang understood his meaning and said to the village chief and others, "Who do you think is suitable to manage the orchard?"
The group exchanged glances, each lost in their own thoughts, hesitant to speak.
"I think..."
“Yunzi, is there even a need to ask?” Su Yue said first.
Uncle San slapped his thigh and exclaimed, "That's right, Yunzi! If we're talking about fighting, who can beat Yunzi? And in terms of education, Yunzi is the only college graduate among us. He's both scholarly and martial—truly a master of both!"
“Hey, Uncle, you can’t say that. Being both literate and martial is different from being a manager.”
"How is it different? If you don't have a strong fist and some education, how can you manage? Back in high school, Yunzi was a school bully with hundreds of followers. Managing an orchard was a piece of cake for him."
With Uncle San leading the charge, even the village chief and the others were too embarrassed to say anything more. After all, none of the people they were relying on could compare to Ye Yun.
"Yes, his third uncle is right, Yunzi is indeed capable." The village chief nodded repeatedly while smoking.
Seeing that the village chief said so, everyone agreed.
“Alright, since everyone says so, let Yunzi manage the orchard.” Ye Sanqiang made the decision.
"Thank you, Brother Xie Qiang. I will definitely live up to your expectations and manage the orchard well." Ye Yun stood up, picked up the wine bottle, and poured wine into Ye Sanqiang's glass.
"Hey hey, I trust you 100%, but you also have to take care of things for Gou Sheng and the others."
"That's nothing. As long as I take action, Gou Sheng and his gang will definitely hand it over obediently," Ye Yun said confidently, patting his chest.
"Tsk tsk, look at him, even though this kid is wearing glasses now, his gangster vibe is still as good as ever!" Ye Sanqiang teased.
"You know what, to deal with Gousheng and his gang, you need someone like Yunzi, otherwise you can't keep them in check," Uncle San said.
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