bestfiction Chapter 335 He couldn't think straight.
Chapter 335 He couldn't think straight.
The village chief was carried to a resting place by Zhizheng, and after being put down, he continued to wail.
The village chief's wife, Jiang, was a few years younger than him and had given birth to four sons for him, so she felt that she had a great support in her later years.
To her utter surprise, her son and husband were bullied on their journey to escape the famine, and she couldn't help but shed tears of sadness and fear.
"Auntie, you shouldn't follow him. You should try to persuade him instead."
Zhizheng didn't know how to persuade the village chief, but seeing that Chen was also joining in the commotion, he quickly stepped forward to remind her.
Jiang wiped away her tears, feeling a pang of sadness. At her age, she still had to endure such humiliation. How could her husband not be heartbroken? What could she possibly say to comfort him?
However, Zhizheng was the leader of the guard, so even if Chiang was very upset, he still had to give him some face.
"Dad, stop crying. What if you hurt yourself by crying? We're both getting old, sob sob..."
Before she could even say a few words to the village chief, she started crying again, and her son and daughters-in-law also wiped their eyes.
It's not that he's too old to talk about it, but the fact that he's suffered such humiliation and deception at his age makes it even harder for the village chief to forgive himself.
"If we can't survive in this world, how will our fellow villagers live?"
On this journey of fleeing famine, it was incredibly difficult to collect thirty taels of silver from everyone. Everyone cherished their money like the apple of their eye, as they would rely on this little bit of money to survive in the future.
As a result, he lost the money, didn't get the water, and even had his bucket confiscated. If he had known, he wouldn't have bought such expensive water on his own initiative.
The more he thought about it, the more heartbroken he became. The village chief pounded his chest with both hands, unable to forgive himself in the slightest.
"Village chief, don't be sad. We have drinking water now, and we've found a water source for the wine."
Someone had just returned from fetching water and, seeing the village chief so heartbroken, quickly came forward to tell him the good news.
Hearing this, the people who had gone with the village chief were shocked. They quickly looked around and, seeing that people were returning with water, they cheered again.
"Village chief, we have water to drink now, and we don't have to suffer from other people's mistreatment anymore."
"Yes, that's all thanks to the fine wine."
"Yes, we all have hope now."
Everyone came to comfort the village chief, and he gradually emerged from his grief, though he still harbored resentment about being cheated.
Just when things were starting to look up, some clueless person mentioned it:
"What about the money we raised?"
"If you don't speak, no one will treat you like a dead person."
The woman who spoke was quickly scolded by her own husband, but the village chief still heard her words and felt a pang of sadness.
With a long sigh, the village chief stood up and said to his son and daughter-in-law:
“Each of you should contribute two taels of silver, and I will provide the rest.”
There were a total of thirty taels of silver. Wen Meijiu contributed twenty taels, the village chief contributed two taels, and the remaining eight taels were collected from each household.
It's fine with other people's money, but the twenty taels of wine are almost emptying the old couple's savings.
The village chief's four sons were all well-mannered, and when their father gave the order, no one stood up to object; they all went back to get the money.
Before long, all eight taels of silver, except for the warm wine, were collected. In front of everyone, the village chief handed them out one by one, silencing them all.
The village chief always knew that a leader can suffer losses, but he cannot let those who follow him suffer losses. Only by being extremely sincere can one earn five points of trust. A leader must have this kind of vision to become a leader.
The villagers hadn't eaten yet, but now that they had water and had their money back, they happily went back to cook.
"There are still twenty taels of silver left to pay back for the wine."
The village chief muttered to himself as he silently sat back in his carriage, his stomach growling loudly with hunger.
“We still have eighteen taels of silver. Let’s pay back ten taels for the wine first, and keep eight taels for ourselves. We can pay back the rest later. There’s plenty of time. The wine is also a good girl.”
Upon hearing this, Jiang quickly offered a few words of comfort before turning around and going to cook.
People need food to survive; if she didn't eat, her husband would become even more suicidal.
"She's a good girl, but I'm not a good grandfather. The wine also reminded me that I'm too competitive and I think I'm definitely not inferior to a little girl and that I'll definitely get the water."
Who would have thought I'd be inferior to a mere girl? I lost both my wife and my army.
The village chief muttered to himself for a long time, then suddenly laughed coldly at the sky. The hatred and regret in his heart made it impossible for him to forgive himself.
Unable to swallow this insult, the village chief stood up and addressed the Jiang family:
“You return all eighteen taels to the wine shop, and I’ll find the rest of the money.”
After saying that, without waiting to see if Jiang had heard him or not, he turned around, found a sickle in the carriage, tucked it into his waistband, and left.
**
After dealing with the village chief's affairs, Wen Meijiu rushed to the water source, fearing that if she was away for too long, others would discover her secret.
Fortunately, when she arrived, the villagers were focused on fetching water and no one noticed the hole in the grass on the bank.
Because she designed the water flow to be fast enough, the villagers filled their containers and left, and the circulation was quick, so there were no disputes or fights.
Once every household had filled their water tanks and no one else came, Wen Meijiu waited until the water puddles were full before quietly twisting the opening of the water bag in her spatial storage.
With the water problem solved, Wen Meijiu headed back. Before she even reached her own place, she ran into Jiang, who was frantically searching for someone.
Upon seeing the warm wine, Madam Jiang immediately asked:
"Fine wine, have you seen your grandfather?"
Wen Meijiu was surprised and couldn't help but ask:
"Didn't you come back from the village together?"
Jiang was so anxious that she paced back and forth on the ground, then stamped her foot and said:
"He came back, but isn't he leaving again?"
"Oh, what exactly happened?"
Wen Meijiu took Jiang's hand to calm her down and let her talk to her slowly.
Jiang recounted the whole story to her, her face full of worry, and said:
"He left after saying that, and I was busy cooking, so I didn't think much of it."
But when I finally had some free time and looked back, the person was long gone.
Wen Meijiu thought for a moment. She was in an unfamiliar place, so the village chief was unlikely to go to chat and drink with people. The most likely thing was that he went to settle accounts with someone.
It goes without saying who he went to see; Wen Meijiu already knew.
"Grandma, do you know who else is following him?"
"I've asked everyone, and they all say they haven't seen it."
When Jiang heard this, she became even more worried, and tears almost welled up in her eyes.
"I understand, Grandma, you can go back now. Don't worry, I will definitely bring Grandpa back."
After sending Jiang back, Wen Meijiu didn't dare linger and quickly headed towards the village entrance.
The villagers cook their meals on the banks of the river, separated by a main road. The village entrance is located about 200 meters west of the main road.
"Where's my grandpa?"
Upon seeing the soldiers guarding the village entrance, but not the village chief, Wen Meijiu felt a pang of anxiety and quickly stepped forward to ask.