I was watching my father and a few villagers repair the courtyard wall when Qiao Xin arrived. Qiao Cheng was with him. In his hands, Qiao Cheng was holding a woven bamboo basket. Inside was a bag of sugar, a piece of meat, and a new porcelain jar. This gift could be considered especially valuable, but I didn't even glance at it. I just said I was busy and didn't even let them in the door.
Qiao Xin's face immediately darkened. In his heart, he cursed my family for being so ungrateful and shameless.
Qiao Cheng, on the other hand, was quite tactful. He said that their Yuanzhong was young and hot-headed. The money had been paid, and he hoped our family could go to the township and withdraw the complaint and say a few good words.
Hearing these placating words, Luo Wenxin felt half his anger disappear. He was just about to invite them inside to sit down, but I stopped him.
Qiao Cheng's eyes fell on my family's new enamel pot, and he looked a little surprised, but he didn't say anything, just looked around the room. Qiao Xin sat fuming in his chair, his usual arrogant demeanor gone. His expression only softened after a sip of sugared water. He noticed that in my family, even the children drank sugared water. His heart sank, sensing that this discussion was not going to go smoothly. The Luo family was much wealthier than he had imagined.
Sure enough, just as Qiao Xin was trying to get our family to back down, I let out a cold snort. "If you Qiao family were truly sincere, you wouldn't have blocked my father on the road and cursed him two days ago. This is non-negotiable. Qiao Yuanzhong has to go to jail."
As soon as the words left my mouth, Qiao Xin couldn't hold back any longer, saying I was just a kid who didn't know what he was talking about.
Seeing Qiao Xin lose his temper made me angry, too. "Qiao Xin, how much longer do you think you can be the village chief? Do you really think this village belongs to your family?"
As soon as I said that, the color drained from Qiao Xin's face. Luo Wenxin was also startled. He never expected that I would dare to talk back to the village chief.
Seeing the situation going south, Qiao Cheng pulled Qiao Xin away. As they were leaving, I even stuffed their gifts back into their hands.
"You had your chance, but you blew it. Just you wait." Qiao Xin's voice was very loud. The helpers outside heard everything. Everyone started trying to talk some sense into us. Offending the village chief will only bring you trouble. After all, the Qiao family calls the shots in this village.
"Mom, don't worry. Just focus on making a good dinner. Don't give the villagers anything to gossip about. There are standards when it comes to feeding the helpers. The white rice can't be mixed with other grains, and the dishes have to be rich and oily. Otherwise, our reputation will be ruined."
Li Shufang prepared six dishes: stir-fried eggs with chili peppers, pork stewed with radish, and a pot of tofu and catfish. When the food was brought to the table, the helpers' mouths started watering.
"Your family is so generous. How can you still have fish at a time like this?" Yang Shan, a quick worker, was very surprised to see such a big fish.
Following the story we had agreed on, Li Shufang said she had bought it in the county town and had been raising it. No one doubted it.
After the meal, Old Lu came over with a request. He wanted to invite Li Shufang to help cook a meal in a few days for his family's wedding celebration. Li Shufang immediately agreed.
After several days of hard work from everyone, our family's courtyard wall was finished. It was a full two meters high. Luo Wenxin got a lot of cacti from Uncle Wang's house and planted them on top of the wall. That way, no one would dare to climb over it. I immediately felt a sense of security.
But Qiao Xin wasn't happy about it. He was constantly trying to think of ways to make my life difficult.
It hadn't rained for days, and the village wells had all dried up. At the village meeting, Qiao Xin announced that he was assigning me the most dangerous job: using dynamite to blast rocks in the mountain stream to get water. One wrong move and you could die. It was obvious that Qiao Xin was trying to get revenge.
"If you refuse, you can forget about your work points and grain for the year," Qiao Xin threatened with a cold expression.
I calmly stood up and made a suggestion. "Since there's water in the mountain stream, it means there's plenty of ground water. Why don't we just dig a well in the village? It's much safer than blasting the mountain."
Wang Jun was the first to stand up and support me. Chen Shuhong also chimed in, and even the party secretary of Qiaojia Village nodded and said I could give it a try. Qiao Xin had no choice. He gave me half a month, saying that if we couldn't find water, we'd have to blast the mountain.