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“You don’t have to worry that I will favor the people from the original Hululu Village. I will be fair to everyone. Whoever makes a mistake will be held accountable. I will also tell the villagers that if you have any problems with planting fruit trees, you should ask them for guidance. Now that we are all one village, we need to set aside all the messy matters and focus on living a better life.” The village chief looked at them sternly and said.
“Yes, village chief, we will listen to you.” With the village chief’s words, the people of Lin Village felt completely at ease. They trusted Hu Lin more than they did Lin Zhi and his group. Without Hu Lin, Hululu Village won’t be have this opportunity.
The county magistrate, seeing Hu Lin’s determination, nodded in satisfaction.
“Now that you have all agreed, I will take my leave,” said the county magistrate. He felt that he needed to report this matter to the prefect, so they didn’t have to worry about the difficult times these two villages might face in winter.
After sending off the county magistrate, the village chief was about to start working when he was stopped by Lin Zhi’s family.
“Hu Lin, you damned traitor! You actually harmed my husband just to gain control over Lin Village!”
Hu Lin frowned at the hysterical woman before him, who turned out to be Lin Zhi’s wife, Lin Shi.
Hu Lin bluntly replied, “The county magistrate hasn’t gone far, yet. If you think I schemed against you, I can go and bring the county magistrate back. Let’s discuss this face-to-face.”
“You…” Lin Shi knew very well that they were in the wrong. If the county magistrate were brought back, she might also end up getting arrested.
“You haven’t suffered any losses yet. Why are you treating my husband like this? Go plead with the county magistrate and set him free,” Lin Shi pleaded, looking at Hu Lin. “Our whole family relies on him to make a living. Now you’ve taken away his position as the village chief…”
“Hold on, Lin Shi, you need to make things clear today. What do you mean by saying I took away the position of the village chief? Do you think I have any interest in being the village chief of Lin Village? If it weren’t for the county magistrate insisting that I take on this responsibility, do you think I would willingly do it?” Hu Lin retorted. Did she think he was eager to manage the mess that was Lin Village?
Lin Shi’s words fell on deaf ears among the Lin Village’s Villagers. They looked at her displeased and said, “Lin Shi, didn’t you hear what the county magistrate said? It took him a long time to persuade the village chief to agree. Look at the current state of our village, who would willingly take charge?”
“After Lin Zhi was thrown into jail, you’re saying such things. You’re going too far,” Lin Shi said angrily. “You don’t need to flatter others to this extent.”
People around them burst into laughter. “You’ve got it all wrong. We’re not flattering anyone; we’re just speaking the truth. Just because you’re deaf doesn’t mean we should all become deaf, too.”
“That’s right! Look at the current state of our village. We can barely afford to eat. With a village chief supporting us, we have confidence in managing our orchards. Lin Zhi never once mentioned helping us look after our orchards, and finding buyers was even more unlikely,” the villagers of Lin Village remarked bitterly, thinking about the village’s conditions over the past few years.
Lin Zhi’s family had much better living conditions than theirs. They never had to worry about food and drink. But they did. Just the thought of having to eat watery porridge and vegetable soup every day during the Lunar New Year, unable to afford anything better, made them deeply distressed.
It wasn’t their choice to be in this situation. People have their own choices, and they would resort to any means necessary to achieve the results they desired. If Lin Shi thought they were in the wrong, they had nothing to say. After all, she was no longer the village chief’s wife, and they saw no reason to put on a facade for her.
“You talk so eloquently. If he didn’t tell us, how would we know where to start planting? Do you really think it’s all Lin Zhi’s fault that we are reluctant?” Lin Shi retorted angrily.
Did these people dare to speak so self-righteously? Weren’t they ashamed of themselves?
“Haven’t we considered planting on our own? Initially, we were dedicated to growing fruit trees. Why did we stop? It’s because he kept telling us there was no point in planting when there was no market demand. He said we should find other work, something more profitable than wasting our time here,” the villagers replied.
“Yeah, who would think about planting fruit trees seriously when he can just go around telling people it’s useless?” Wang Jinhe stared at the villagers of Lin Village in disbelief. Was this person a village chief or an enemy?
Even if they couldn’t sell all the fruits, they could at least sell the best ones at a lower price, right? It could still earn them some money to sustain their lives. How could planting good-quality fruits be considered useless?
“Su Yu, have you ever encountered someone like this? This person is really bizarre,” Wang Jinhe couldn’t help but comment.
No wonder Lin Village’s orchards were abandoned, with some trees even dying. There was clearly something wrong with this situation.
“I haven’t seen anything like this before.”
“Me neither.”
Upon hearing the complaints from the villagers of Lin Village, Hu Lin furrowed his brows in frustration. “This is simply absurd. Is this how a village chief should behave?”
“Is she out of her mind?” Wang Jinhe said with a frown.
” Uncle Hu, we’ll leave now. This matter…,” Wang Jinhe glanced at Lin Shi.
“You can go back first. I can handle things here. Thank you for your help today,” Hu Lin said quickly, realizing it was getting late.
“Alright.”
On their way back, Wang Jinhe and Su Yu discussed the situation, both wearing puzzled expressions. “This Lin Shi is really peculiar. Blood isn’t always thicker than water,” Wang Jinhe commented.
“Indeed, how could she say such things?” Su Yu wondered.
….
Back in Xie family Village, just as they arrived at the doorstep, they heard a voice calling out.
Su Yu smiled and lifted Xiao Bao down from the carriage. As soon as he stood on the ground, Xiao Bao rushed to Zhang Zhilin’s side, eagerly asking, “Brother, why did you take so long to come back?”