The head of the pavilion, feeling somewhat embarrassed by the stares, explained, "The reason I haven't told anyone is because I'm afraid some people with ill intentions might covet it. Wealth shouldn't be flaunted. Don't worry, I've kept records of every single transaction of this silver. My family would never take any of this silver..."
"No, no, no, that's not what I meant, Chief Zhao," Zhao Xiangbei quickly explained.
He still possesses the most basic trust between people.
"Chief, we didn't mean that at all. Don't overthink it."
Zhao, the village head, nodded. "The village school was able to be built and a teacher hired; it all came from this money. And the money for buying seeds last month also came from that..."
Upon closer examination, it turns out there have been quite a few miscellaneous expenses in the village this year.
If this money isn't used to generate more money, it will only decrease.
If it succeeds, then it will be considered a good deed he, as the village head, has done for the village.
“Alright, since that’s the case, let’s get started on this. Village head, is it still possible to make adobe houses now?” He Tiantian remembered that when the village collectively built houses before, they always waited until the weather was warm.
But now it's already late autumn.
Zhao Tingzhang was very familiar with building houses, so he immediately made the decision.
"Yes! As long as it doesn't rain or snow, and the adobe bricks dry, the house can be built."
“Okay, then I’ll provide the land. We’ll find a suitable spot at the foot of the back mountain and build a row of adobe houses first.”
"A row?" Zhao Tingzhang thought for a moment. That place was quite spacious. If they built houses there, they could build quite a few.
"Yes, about a dozen houses can be built."
Moreover, building chicken and duck pens doesn't require much sophistication. It's much simpler than building a mud-brick house.
“Alright, then I’ll take charge of recruiting. I estimate we’ll need to hire several dozen people to get the houses built quickly.” Zhao Tingzhang immediately made the decision, feeling very motivated.
The young people were very ambitious; starting their own business was much better than working for someone else.
If they accidentally become rich, they can live a wealthy life in the future.
Two major business matters kept the group talking from day to night.
Everyone was filled with excitement, as if they could see wonderful days beckoning them.
The children seemed to see hope for their future, and even when they went to sleep at night, they fell asleep with a smile on their faces.
As night deepened, every household in Changfeng Village locked their doors and lay down in bed to rest.
But the sound of a child crying broke the tranquility of the night.
It was Zhao Youcai's house. The whole family could only hear the sound of five or six-year-old Lingdang crying loudly.
"Mother, Father, what's wrong with you?"
"Waaah... Wake up, everyone! Grandma, Grandpa..."
The first place to discover it was at the home of Wang Dazhuang, Zhao Youcai's next-door neighbor.
Wang Dazhuang was exhausted after a full day of work at the mine.
Qian Shuishui woke up and nudged Wang Dazhuang awake. "Dazhuang, Dazhuang. Go see what's wrong next door. I heard Lingdang crying."
Qian Shuishui knew about the child Lingdang; she had even given the child some food a few days ago.
Wang Dazhuang was half asleep. "The child's crying is his parents' problem, why should we worry about it?"
Qian Shuishui listened carefully again, "But all I heard was the child crying and calling for his parents, but there was no response."
Wang Dazhuang then suddenly opened his eyes and became fully awake.
He hurriedly got out of bed and started getting dressed. "I'm going out to check. You stay here and lock the door."
Qian Shuishui nodded, feeling a little scared.
At Zhao Youcai's house, six-year-old Lingdang knelt on the ground, crying, shaking Zhao Youcai and Tao Guihua who were lying on the ground. Also present were Zhao Youcai's elderly parents.
The whole family, four adults, were lying on the ground, while only one child was crying uncontrollably.
Wang Dazhuang shouted a few times from outside and kicked the door a few times, but there was no response from inside.
In the end, he was helped in by others to climb over the courtyard wall and get in.
Once inside, he quickly opened the door from the inside and rushed into the room to see what was going on.
Several nearby households rushed over upon hearing the commotion, including Liu Yonghe, Zhao Neng, and Zhao Yan.
Several people hurriedly entered the house and saw the adults lying on the ground.
"Oh no! Did he eat some rat poison?!" Liu Yonghe shouted.
The four adults had white foam at the corners of their mouths. What else could it be but rat poison?
"Lingdang, when did your parents become like this?" Wang Dazhuang asked anxiously.
Zhao Lingdang sobbed uncontrollably, "Waaah... last night, last night my mother punished me by not letting me eat. She locked me in the room... Waaah... I later pried open the door myself and saw... saw my grandparents, and my parents lying on the ground..."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Yan quickly went to check the food on the table, which turned out to be just ordinary porridge.
He sniffed it, but couldn't discern anything special about it.
"What should we do? There's no doctor in our village. Call the village head, Yan'er, go and call the village head over," Zhao Neng urged.
Zhao Yan quickly ran out.
Attorney Wang and Liu Yonghe wanted to carry him to the bed first, but when they touched Zhao Youcai's cold body, their hearts sank.
Zhao Neng squatted down and checked the breathing of Youcai's parents; his expression was also not good.
"Lingdang, is it your mother who won't let you eat dinner tonight?"
Bell, crying like a kitten, nodded. "My mom said I did something wrong and won't let me eat..."
At this moment, Qian Shuishui also came in.
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