Wu Baoan was amused by Old Lady Chen's shameless behavior. "Auntie, your thatched houses are 800 feet away from here. How could unloading bricks here possibly be within your sight? Don't talk nonsense."
Old Mrs. Chen pursed her lips and said, "Wu Baoan, how do you know it won't block the view? Do you or I live here? I say it's blocking the view, so it's blocking the view."
Seeing her being so unreasonable, Wu Baoan had originally intended to be a peacemaker, but now it seemed that dealing with the unreasonable old lady Chen was simply not going to work.
He sternly looked at Old Man Chen and his wife, and reprimanded them without any politeness.
"People like you have corrupted the atmosphere of our Nanshan Village."
How can people of your age have no sense of shame and resort to such shameless behavior to extort money? Your actions have seriously violated the laws of the Great Qing Dynasty.
If Qingya reports you to the authorities, you two will be beaten and put in shackles. If the law is used, even if you old bones don't die, you'll be skinned alive.
Getting beaten up isn't the worst part; the worst part is paying the fine. If you can't afford it, you'll be waiting to die in jail!
Old Mrs. Chen pointed at Wu Baoan's nose and shouted provocatively, "You want to sue me? Go ahead and sue me, I'm not afraid."
“You said it yourself.” Wu Baoan snorted coldly. “Da Niu, Er Zhu, go find a rope and tie these two old people up. They extorted money first and have ruined the reputation of Nanshan Village. They are expelled from the village today and will never be villagers of Nanshan Village again.”
"Alright, village head, we'll go right away."
Da Niu and Er Zhu agreed and went to find the rope.
Upon hearing this, Old Man Chen's head buzzed, and he almost fainted.
Expelling him from the village would be tantamount to taking his life.
His thoughts were immediately drawn back to his youth.
There used to be a young man in the village named Afu.
He lived a lonely and miserable life without parents.
One year, there was a severe drought and a poor harvest. Afu had not eaten for several days and was starving. In order to fill his stomach, he secretly climbed into a house to steal something to eat.
However, he was caught on the spot by that family, who immediately tied him up and reported him to the village head at the time.
To uphold the village's moral standards, the village headman decided to expel Afu from the village according to the village rules.
After being expelled, Afu wandered from place to place, homeless, and could only temporarily find shelter in a dilapidated temple outside the village.
The dilapidated temple was drafty, and the nights were bitterly cold. Rats roamed freely, making it impossible to get a good night's sleep.
Food was even more difficult to obtain. In the past, even if people were poor in the village, they could occasionally receive help from their neighbors or go to the mountains to pick some wild fruits and dig up some wild vegetables.
After being expelled, the surrounding mountains and forests were considered public property by the village, and outsiders were not allowed to enter at will.
Afu ventured into the mountains several times in search of food, but was always driven away by the forest rangers. He could only search for something to eat along the road; sometimes he was lucky enough to beg for half a piece of coarse grain, but when he was unlucky, he would go hungry.
Six months later, the last time Old Chen saw Afu, he would never forget the scene. Afu was emaciated from the ordeal, fell seriously ill from hunger and cold, and finally died in the dilapidated temple outside the village...
Old Chen's face turned ashen as he recalled Afu's tragic end.
Hearing Wu Baoan say he was going to expel them from Nanshan Village, he nearly wet himself in fear and hurriedly began to explain in a trembling voice.
"Security guard, what are you doing? We were just joking around, teasing the young girl. Why are you trying to kick us out of the village?"
Wu Baoan was only trying to scare the two men, but seeing that Old Man Chen was ashen-faced with fear, he gave him an annoyed glare.
"Is this some kind of joke? A cart wheel ran over a piece of firewood in your yard and you're making a fuss? What kind of explanation do you want? If Qingya offered you money, would you dare take it?"
"If you dare to accept her money, not only will Qing'er never forgive you, but as the village head, I will immediately hand you over to the authorities and remove you from the roster of Nanshan Village."
Old Mrs. Chen knew the gravity of the situation. If they were truly expelled from the village, not only would her third son's future be tarnished, but she and her husband would also likely die far from home.
She lost her earlier arrogance and quickly scrambled to her feet from in front of the oxcart, her eyes darting around as she forced a smile.
"Yeah, look what you're doing. We were just joking around, but you're talking about the government and being expelled from the party. It's really scary."
Seeing that they were scared, Wu Baoan cleared his throat and said, "Don't make excuses. I've heard what happened. I'm not trying to be mean, but you've lived most of your lives, why don't you do something productive?"
"Your third son is supposed to be a scholar, and you're doing this without embarrassing him? If he really becomes a high-ranking official in the future, and people find out he has parents who extorted money from people, how despised he'll be!"
Wu Baoan knew they cared about Chen Zhancai's reputation, so he deliberately used Chen Zhancai to intimidate them in order to keep them quiet in the future.
Old Chen wiped away a cold sweat with trembling hands and retorted, "You underestimate us men too much. How could I dare to do such a despicable thing? As the saying goes, it's better to starve than to rob, and better to be poor than to steal. We men may be poor, but we have high aspirations. We would never do anything illegal or disorderly."
With a stern face, Wu Baoan warned, "Fine, since you say you didn't do it, I'll believe you for now. I won't hold it against you this time. But if there's a next time, don't blame me for being ruthless."
The paperwork for Qingya to build her house has already been issued. Since you've sold this land to her, the autumn harvest will be ready in a few days. You should hurry up and harvest the crops in the field so as not to delay her house construction.”
"Alright, alright, I've got it. Don't worry, we'll start harvesting as soon as the autumn harvest season begins." Old Chen nodded and bowed, his face beaming with smiles.
Grandma Chen laughed awkwardly a few times and said to the group of people working, "You can continue, I won't disturb you." After saying that, she pulled Grandpa Chen up and headed home.
Old Chen felt incredibly embarrassed and kept complaining, "Look at what you've done! You didn't even manage to extort the money, and now you've made a complete mess of things. How will you ever face anyone again?"
"Stop talking nonsense! Who knew doing something like this was illegal!"
Old Mrs. Chen returned to her own courtyard, spat fiercely towards the gate, and muttered a curse under her breath.
"That damned Wu Baoan, he thinks he's all that just because he's a village head. He can't even treat everyone fairly, always siding with that brat. He even tries to intimidate people by bringing up the government. In my opinion, he's just a wicked man, blinded by that brat's beauty. You wait, when my son becomes a high-ranking official, I'll make sure you all suffer."
"Alright, old woman, stop talking. Learn from this and don't cause any more trouble."
"Look at you, so spineless. You can't take any responsibility. You chicken out over the smallest thing. This is nothing. As the saying goes, failure is the mother of success. Nine out of ten attempts will fail, but one attempt will succeed. As long as we get a chance to extort that brat once, we'll have made our money."
......
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