Chapter 284 How can we continue discussing this serious matter after such a mess?
It is not difficult to determine the ownership of tea trees.
Mo Ding Mountain was originally an ownerless place. Apart from the tea trees growing on the cliffs of Mo Ding Mountain, due to the special terrain, there had never been any human habitation before today for hundreds of years.
There is actually no need to argue about this.
But what happened today was all caused by this.
Whether it was robbery of other people's property, or someone was greedy because of the sight of money, the cause and effect are obvious at a glance and there is no need to say more.
After Sang Zhixia finished speaking, no one dared to respond. Lord Zhao was annoyed when he saw this and said, "Why are you all silent?!"
"Wasn't there such a big fuss earlier, with everyone claiming this thing was theirs? Now no one is saying anything?!"
Lord Zhao swept his eyes over everyone present and said, suppressing his anger, "Whoever said this thing was his, and who wanted to stop Mr. Sang from moving the tea trees, stand up now and explain it clearly in front of me! Anyone who has been wronged will be dealt with by me right now!"
The village chief, who had injured his arm in an argument with Sang Zhixia, had a gloomy face and said nothing.
Those who were seen by Lord Zhao felt their faces burning. There was a commotion in the crowd. The man who had first challenged Sang Zhixia stood up with a red face and said weakly, "That...that tea tree doesn't belong to anyone..."
"Earlier, we had no idea there was a tea tree growing halfway up the cliff. This... this was all the village chief's idea!"
As soon as this was said, someone immediately echoed: "Yes, yes, it was all the village chief's idea!"
"These people first came to the village and said they wanted to buy tea trees, but the village chief said no one would sell them and no one would be allowed to take anyone to look at them."
"The village chief also said that these people will definitely not be satisfied if they can't buy the tea trees. They might find tea trees somewhere else. They want us to send people to follow them quietly. Once they find the tea trees, they will insist that they belong to our village!"
"The village chief also said that as long as we claim the tea trees they found belong to our village, no one will dare to do anything to us if there is a commotion. We can also share the money we earn from the tea trees we found!"
"That's right! That's what the village chief said!"
The villagers quickly betrayed the village chief with a flurry of arguments. Lin Yun, whose face was pale from excessive blood loss, gritted his teeth and said coldly, "As soon as we found the tea tree, the people from Heiya Village surrounded us, claiming that the tea tree belonged to their village. If we want it, we have to pay five thousand taels of silver."
"I was so angry that I argued with them for a few words. Then the villagers rushed over and started making a commotion. Then someone took advantage of the chaos and cut the rope."
Chen Feng and Xie An were selected because of their outstanding Qinggong skills, and were tied with ropes around their waists to climb down the cliff.
Fortunately, these two people are first-class in lightness skills.
Otherwise, if someone fell from such a high cliff, they would have died instantly if they had reacted a little slower.
"Five thousand taels of silver?"
Sang Zhixia looked at the village chief who was forced to kneel on one knee, with a half-smile on his face, and said sarcastically, "An ownerless tea tree, and the village chief can ask for a high price just by asking."
Not to mention that the tea tree was originally found by Lin Yun and his team.
Even if you paid the money to buy it, there would be no way that the price would be so high!
The village chief's face was uglier than ever. He knew the situation was hopeless, but he still gritted his teeth and said, "They're so scared they're afraid of being implicated. They're so panicked they're talking nonsense. I wonder if anyone actually believes it?"
"These fools..."
"Who are you calling bullshit?!"
The person who spoke glared in dissatisfaction and said angrily, "You were the one who asked us to do these things in the first place. Why are you saying it's all our fault now?"
"that is!"
"At first, we didn't realize that the person who wanted the tea tree was our lifesaver, but we didn't intend to raise the price and cut his rope! Wasn't it you who made us do it?!"
An elderly man who had rushed over after hearing about the commotion said with deep sorrow, "I've always said that being too greedy will lead to big mistakes sooner or later. Why didn't any of you listen to my advice back then?!"
The noisy villagers quieted down because of the old man's words.
Sang Zhixia noticed that the old man's clothes were covered with countless patches. Her gaze fixed on the old man's face, a thoughtful look on her face.
The old man was supported by several middle-aged men. He walked up to Sang Zhixia and knelt on the ground without saying a word.
"Benefactor, we..."
"Old man, get up quickly."
Sang Zhixia was startled and reached out to help him, but the old man with white hair and beard pushed her hand away and insisted on kneeling down.
Sang Zhixia quickly dodged the old man's gift by moving to the side.
The old man said with red eyes: "My benefactor may not remember me, but I will never forget the great kindness of saving my life."
"A few months ago, outside the North City, I took a few young men from the village who were still able to move to the city to seek food. I was so hungry that I almost fainted on the way. It was my benefactor who stopped his carriage and gave us five bags of rice. He also asked for an escort to take us and the rice back to the village."
Five bags of rice weigh a total of 500 kilograms.
This little bit of food may not mean much under normal circumstances, but when the famine is at its worst, it is a real life-saving blessing.
A vague image flashed through Sang Zhixia's mind, and she remembered what had happened. She sighed with a headache and quickly bent down to help.
"Old man, aren't you shortening my life? How can I, at such a young age, deserve such a generous gift from you?"
"Old man, please get up quickly. If you have anything to say, let's get up and talk..."
"I can't get up."
The old man wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes with a hoarse voice. The hand that was holding Sang Zhixia was so thin that only a loose layer of skin was left, but his strength was astonishingly great.
He said: "I am not only kneeling for my life, but also for those in our village who have let down the good people."
"Your benefactor is probably too busy to know that the 500 kilograms of rice I received from you saved hundreds of lives, big and small, after I brought it back to the village. Nine out of ten people who made the most trouble here today ate the food you gave them."
If it weren't for Sang Zhixia's momentary kindness, the corpses of the starved people would be scattered all over the ground in Heiya Village. What would be the point of enclosing so many tea trees?
The old man sobbed and cried again and again.
Sang Zhixia's eyes suddenly turned red. She held the old man's wrist, exerted force with her hand, gritted her teeth and helped the man up.
"Let's put things in perspective. I've already forgotten what happened back then. Why should I keep remembering it?"
Xue Liu quickly reached out to help, and the old man who refused to get up was helped up by Sang Zhixia and Xue Liu.
When one problem is solved, another problem arises. An old man was just helped up, and the people who came with him all knelt down in unison.
Before Sang Zhixia could say anything to stop him, the others who witnessed the scene followed suit and banged their heads on the ground without a care in the world, then fell to their knees.
An unexpected scream got stuck in her throat, and Sang Zhixia's head expanded.
With things like this going on, how can we continue discussing this serious matter?
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