Chapter 13: Construction Begins

“I…”

“You know deep down that many people are dissatisfied, but you pretend not to know. After all, no one dares to speak up in front of you. It’s been fine a few times, but if it happens repeatedly, how can people still respect you as the village chief? It’s a good thing you sent him away today. After tearing the relationship apart, they will think twice before asking for your help, and you can choose not to assist them.” The village chief’s wife seemed to understand the situation better than the village chief himself. The village chief always had the idea of not having a son and wanting his nephew to take care of him in his old age, which led to this situation.

The village chief let out a heavy sigh. “You’re right. I’ve indeed done many things against my conscience over the years. If I could stop now, it would be a good thing.”

“As long as you understand.”

Frustrated, Xie Gui returned home and started complaining to his mother, “Mother, what does my uncle mean? This time, he completely ignored me.”

He had already prepared himself to inherit the position of village chief after his uncle’s death, but now his uncle was saying that he wouldn’t let him take care of him in his old age anymore? What did this mean? They wanted him when they needed him, but they chased him away when they didn’t?

Who did they think Xie Gui was?

With a frown, Xie Gui’s mother looked at her son. “What’s going on? Your uncle used to help without hesitation whenever you had something to ask. What happened this time?”

Xie Gui recounted the village chief’s words, and his mother’s thoughts aligned with his own. “I think he’s doing this on purpose. He doesn’t want to help you, so he made up such nonsense. No, I have to go and talk to him.”

Xie Gui quickly followed along. When his mother took action, there was nothing that couldn’t be achieved.

“Brother, what do you mean by this? Didn’t we agree before that Xie Gui would take care of us in our old age? What is this now? You won’t help even with a small matter concerning Xie Gui.”

“This is not a small matter, and I can’t explain it to you. Today, I’ll just leave my words here. I don’t need your son to take care of me in my old age anymore. I’ll find a son-in-law, and I’ll let my son-in-law and grandson take care of me. Who cares about your son? If you have the ability, go and deal with Wang Jinhe and the others yourselves. Don’t come to me with these messy matters.”

As the village chief remained stubborn, Xie Gui’s mother realized that he was serious this time.

After realizing the gravity of the situation, Xie Gui’s mother’s expression changed instantly, and she tried to please him, saying, “Brother, no matter what, Xie Gui is your nephew, your only nephew. You can’t just stand by and let him be bullied. It’s a great loss of face for you, don’t you think?”

The village chief was amused by the shamelessness of this mother and son, especially his sister-in-law, who was quite adept at changing sides.

“I don’t have such a big ego to always support Xie Gui. I have already supported him for such a long time, but now I can’t do it anymore, nor do I want to,” the village chief said candidly, looking at his sister-in-law.

“Wang Jinhe caused me to lose my wife and son, and you lost your grandnephew. Shouldn’t we settle this account?” Xie Gui said angrily, his unwillingness evident. It almost made people believe that there was some truth to it.

Hearing Xie Gui’s words, the village chief laughed in anger, “Why did the Song family break apart? It’s because you were having an affair with another woman, and not only that, you even physically assaulted Song Rou. Moreover, you almost caused her to miscarry. If it weren’t for Wang Jinhe calling the doctor, it could have been a double tragedy. Not only are you ungrateful, but you can also utter such heartless words.”

It was the first time the village chief had heard someone turn their savior into an enemy.

“I didn’t know she was pregnant. If she couldn’t even keep the child, it’s her own fault. What does it have to do with me?” Xie Gui refused to admit that Song Rou’s condition was a result of his actions and stubbornly insisted that it was Wang Jinhe’s fault.

The village chief’s wife couldn’t bear to listen anymore. She grabbed a broom and started hitting Xie Gui, then stood at the doorway with a grim face, wanting to shout angrily, “My family doesn’t have such heartless relatives like you.”

Seeing Xie Gui’s mother in this state, it was evident that her thoughts aligned with Xie Gui’s, both blaming Wang Jinhe.

After saying that, she closed the door, leaving Xie Gui and the village chief outside.

The village chief touched his nose, not knowing what else to say.

While there is a commotion here, the parties involved are completely unaware as they are busy dealing with those bricks.

Five days later, the people who were supposed to build the house finally arrived. Xie Gui secretly watched from a hidden spot, and his expression turned even uglier when he saw the foundation they were digging.

Wang Jinhe’s family was actually building such a big house. Is this huge house meant for Wang Jinhe and his family to live in?

Wang Jinhe felt a malicious gaze and turned her head to see Xie Gui hiding in the corner, looking at her with resentment.

Such a gaze furrowed Wang Jinhe’s brows. What does Xie Gui want to do? If someone doesn’t know the situation, they would think she had killed their entire family, and they were seeking revenge.

Xie Gui, realizing that Wang Jinhe had spotted him, clumsily got up and ran away.

Wang Jinhe shrugged her shoulders. Did she do anything wrong? This person ran away so quickly, as if there was a dog chasing after him, but in reality, there was nothing.

Thinking about dogs, Wang Jinhe felt that she should go and catch a few dogs to keep, as they could help guard the melon field in the future.

With this in mind, Wang Jinhe went to find the old lady and asked, “Grandma, do you know who has puppies?”

“You want to keep dogs?”

“I want to keep two or three dogs, to guard the house and the melon field later,” Wang Jinhe shared her plan.

The old lady thought for a moment and remembered who had some, saying, “I actually know a family that has puppies. They belong to your grandmothers’ side. They were just born less than a month ago. I’ll go and bring them back in a few days or ten days.”

“That’s great. I’ll give Grandma some money then.”

“Puppies don’t hold much value in the village. If you give money to your grandmother, she’ll get upset. I’ll bring her some eggs instead. Little Flower has been doing well lately, laying two eggs every day. But I don’t understand Big Flower. She ignores some eggs and guards others like they’re her precious calves. I really don’t know what she’s thinking.”

“The ones she’s guarding are probably the ones that can hatch into chicks. She’s likely keeping the eggs that can hatch and giving us the ones that can’t,” Wang Jinhe speculated.

Out of the five eggs laid by Little Flower, four of them were not suitable for hatching chicks, but at least their family wouldn’t run out of eggs to eat.

Grandma Wang carefully considered and realized that it might be the case.

“That works too. When Little Flower hatches the chicks, we’ll also keep them. Who knows, we might end up with more eggs by then,” the old lady said with a smile.

“Okay,” Wang Jinhe naturally agreed.

The eggs laid by Little Flower were much tastier than the others, lacking any hint of a fishy taste, perhaps because she drank water from the spiritual spring.

“Little Flower carries the hope of a thriving family.”