Chapter 566: How Despicable
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Su Ming watched the crowd with a growing sense of irritation. Standing at the back of the crowd, he bellowed, “Have you all eaten so much that you have nothing better to do? What are you arguing about? What are you causing a ruckus for? Why have you come to the Su family’s doorstep? What are you planning to do? Have you no shame?”
His words had an immediate effect. The clamoring villagers gradually fell silent, their gazes turning towards Su Ming. As he walked to the center of the discussion, where Gu Zi was standing, the crowd watched him intently.
In the midst of the earlier chaos, Gu Zi had remained remarkably calm. She watched the argument unfold, seemingly unaffected, as if she was waiting for the dispute to end before she would speak.
Su Ming’s words were clear to everyone present. In the past, the three villages had been filled with people who were hungry and cold, with not enough food or warm clothing at home. Out of pride, and to lessen the burden of feeding another mouth, some had watched their elderly family members starve or freeze to death. The memory of such poverty was a bitter one.
Su Shen was the one who had led everyone to change this situation. After he established the pig farm, the villagers’ lives improved, and they became more affluent. Although the greatest benefits were reaped by Daqing Village, where Su Shen lived, the conditions in Chen Village and Little Lin Village also improved significantly. These changes were something that other villages of the same level could not achieve, no matter how hard they tried.
The older generation always said, “When drinking water, remember the one who dug the well.” But the people of Chen Village were different. They saw Su Shen dig a well of prosperity, but instead of being grateful, they wanted to gain more benefits. They even repaid kindness with ingratitude, slandering the pig farm and the Su family at every opportunity. Su Shen was busy dealing with the village’s power outage, and they took advantage of his absence to bully his wife at home. It was despicable!
As the shared village chief of the three villages, Su Ming had to stand up and uphold justice. This was also the intention of the village secretary, who had asked him to come. He could not let the troublemakers from Chen Village bully Su Shen’s wife, nor could he let Su Shen, who had contributed so much, become disheartened.
“The power outage is clearly caused by the high power consumption of the pig farm. Do you really think we villagers are easy to fool? We may not be well-educated, but we are not stupid. The village chief shares the same surname with Su Shen. We were one family five hundred years ago, so of course we will speak for the Su family.”
“Yes, I think Da Zui is right. Whoever caused the damage should pay for the repairs. The cost of restoring power should be borne by Su Shen. We can’t possibly expect every household in our three villages to contribute. The Su family alone can afford it. This amount of money is just a drop in the bucket for them.”
Su Ming heard the people of Chen Village whispering among themselves. A surge of anger rose in his heart, but as the village head, he had to maintain his composure. So, he spoke with a stern face, “We must speak based on facts. Before the cause of the power outage is determined, whoever pushes the responsibility onto others will bear a significant part of the repair costs.
“Furthermore, I must tell you that the power supply bureau’s people came early this morning. I believe the power will be restored in five or six days. Light up the kerosene lamps, burn the firewood, and it will pass quickly. If it weren’t for Su Shen’s timely action, we, being in such a remote place, would have to wait at least ten days to half a month for the power supply bureau to send someone.”
Su Ming’s words finally quieted the people of Chen Village. As the situation gradually stabilized, Gu Zi wanted to say something. Su Ming noticed this and asked her, “Gu Zi, do you have anything to say to everyone? Feel free to speak. I am here too, and I can bear witness today.”
Gu Zi nodded with a dignified smile, “Thank you, village head. I do have something to say. Just now, a fellow villager from Chen Village said that the cause of the power outage cannot be found. In response to this, I want to say that of course it can be found. Su Shen went into the city overnight and will surely bring back a clear and reliable answer.”
Gu Zi believed that Su Shen’s rush to the city was not only to restore power as soon as possible, reducing the losses of the pig farm and facilitating the villagers’ lives, but also because he had a plan in mind.
She would wait for his return. However, before that, if these people wanted to slander the pig farm and make the Su family take the blame for no reason, morally kidnapping her husband, she would not allow it.
She continued, “Also, if you insist that the Su family should take responsibility, that’s not impossible. When he returns, if it turns out that the power outage in the village was indeed caused by the high power consumption of the pig farm, then I will apologize to the people of the three villages. As Su Shen’s wife, I will go door to door to apologize.”