The gong in front of Zheng Lizheng's house was struck again. Unlike Zheng Lizheng's smugness before, this time he was obviously haggard.
This time it wasn't him who led, but Patriarch Xue.
On the steps in front of the main room, there were several chairs, all of them were well-respected people in the village. Only Patriarch Xue stood, holding a dry cigarette in one hand, and spoke with a serious face to the densely packed villagers below.
"Let's not mention the previous matter. No one has made a mistake. Old Zhengtou wants to do things for everyone. I will testify about this. He's been in a hurry these days, I came to see him before, and he didn't get off the kang for a few days."
Immediately, countless eyes turned towards Zheng Lizheng, who was sitting above him, and there was nothing bad in their eyes, most of them were pity and sigh.
But putting this pity and sigh on Zheng Lizheng's head makes him a little uncomfortable. It's just that he can't blame anyone, who is he to blame? Patriarch Xue's words really made the villagers' grievances dissipated. Even if the other party really had any intentions, it was because he was careless and was tricked by nobles, and now he was mocked by his old enemy.
"Let's not say anything else. No one is happy to let everyone waste their time. Now that things are like this, it's useless to complain. Now that there is such a thing in front of us, some people want to buy this mountain. Or not to sell it? If you sell it, the price will definitely not be as high as that of the noble man, but everyone knows that the mountain is not worth so much money. So tell us about this matter, don’t be greedy for those who shouldn’t get it yourself It's so easy for money to fall from the sky, and it is the last word to be honest and work-oriented."
"The patriarch is right, if we don't greedy for the money, we won't let that noble person play tricks."
"Still greedy."
This sentence is obviously sighing and sighing, but it also seems to be sighing and sighing for Zheng Lizheng. It is obviously not mocking him, but it is like saying to him. Really shrewd for a lifetime, stumbled in front of the old horse, showed his shortcomings in front of the old enemy, and was discussed by the villagers as if to show the public.
Just when Zheng Lizheng sighed to himself, there were already villagers on the field who asked who wanted to buy it and how much money they paid.
Patriarch Xue showed a slight smile, raised his hand and pressed it first, and waited for the villagers to calm down before saying, "We all know this person, and he's our own person. He won't be like that outsider harassing us, after all, in the village Folks, know the bottom line."
"The patriarch, tell me, who is it?"
"Yeah, who paid so much for this place?"
Patriarch Xue said: "It's the dog of Xue Lianxing's second room. He is willing to pay one hundred taels of silver to buy this hill."
There was a sudden screech below.
"The dog in the second bedroom of the Lianxing family?"
"Didn't that kid go to school to study?"
"What did he buy the land for?"
Patriarch Xue raised his hand and pressed it again, and said, "Well, this old guy can't tell, let Gouzi himself tell everyone."
Following his voice, a young boy walked up from the side, who was the dog of the second room of the Xue family.
However, this dog seems to be different from the previous ones. Many villagers have seen Xue Gouzi before. The boy's name is what does he say, and his appearance is not bad. He just doesn't like to talk. Like the country dog that haunts the village.
Now it is different, the waist is straight, and the style is different. Anyway, the villagers didn't know a single big character, and they didn't know how to describe it. It felt like they had changed from a local dog to a hunting dog that the hunters raised specially for hunting. He was full of energy, and his temperament and style were different from those in the village at first glance.
I went to the town to study, and people were reborn!
Of course, some people recalled the previous match at Xue Lianxing's family, when Xue Gouzi showed something unusual, and ordinary people would not let the two master scholars praise him. It's just that it didn't concern me at that time, but now it's about me. Looking at Xue Tingyan who was standing in front of the crowd, she felt extra kind.
After Xue Tingxiang stood still, he first bowed to Patriarch Xue and other village elders, and the old men who won all nodded with their beards pinched before turning to face the villagers below.
"Hello fellow villagers and elders, this kid is being polite here." He bowed in a salute, and after straightening his waist, Fang smiled shyly: "Actually, my cousin asked me to say it, and I can't say any big reason. I feel that everyone has spent so much effort on the hilltop, and it is a pity that it is deserted. I happen to have two classmates, and the family is in business. I took the lead and led them to buy it. Or raising chickens and ducks, planting some fruit trees, etc., it will not lose money."
After a pause, he said again: "Of course, if there are other resettlement in the village, just pretend that this kid didn't say that, everything is based on the interests of the village."
After he finished speaking, he stepped aside, and Patriarch Xue said again: "It's almost like this, this time it can't be like last time, one or two people can decide what to do. Let me come to the court. This child is also to solve the problems for everyone. Even if he pulls his classmates into business, he has to go to our village, Shangshui Village in front, and Niujiaoling, which is far from our village. When you come up, people will choose us to come here, and it is also for Ting Xian's face."
There was a lot of chatter and chatter.
After a long while, someone hurriedly said, "If not, then sell it. If you don't have five hundred taels, one hundred taels is also good, and everyone can always share a little bit."
"Anyway, it's useless to put the mountain there, and the little boy who is still worried about the ignorant ran in and was cut by thorns."
"Let's not say that I am short-sighted. That broken thing is too much smoke to burn as firewood. If it is dried in the sun and burned on a fire, it will be gone."
Someone takes the lead, and naturally more people follow.
Patriarch Xue asked again, but some people had objections, and where did the villagers have any objections. Although the family is less than two or two cents, and a few hundred wen is also silver, it is not enough to sweat a few times these days, and the fart can't be as strong as one.
"Since everyone agrees, I will let Ting Yan take the money to Lizheng. When Zheng Lizheng goes to finish the contract, everyone will come here to collect the money."
"Okay, okay, the old patriarch has spoken, what else can we say, even if we get the blessing of the dog this time."
"What's the name of the dog, they changed their name, it's called Ting Yan." Someone interrupted.
"Yes, yes, it's called Ting Yan. Ting Yan is really capable now. If you find two classmates at random, you can raise one hundred taels of silver to solve our problems."
"It's called terrifying after birth."
This is what happens every time a village discussion is over. After the business is finished, he chats and talks about everything, but today there is a central character, and that is the boy Tingyan from the second room of Xue Lianxing's house.
Naturally, some people compare Xue Juncai and Xue Tingxiang from the big house, not to mention that they were compared before, and now they are even more incomparable.
In a corner of the crowd, the Xue family was standing there.
Xue Qingshan's face was full of disbelief, not to mention that Yang's eyes were about to fall out of shock, and Father Xue's face was also very complicated. For such a big thing, Xue Tingxiang didn't say hello to the family, but went to tell the patriarch before.
Mrs Sun glanced at the couple in the big house and said to her man, "Ting Yan is really capable and does practical things, unlike some people who only make false claims."
As soon as the voice fell, someone came over to talk to Mr. Xue.
"Lian Xing, this grandson of your family is really incredible, and he will definitely be a great talent in the future."
"If you have the ability, the future is limitless."
"Lianxing will enjoy great fortune in the future."
The people who came to talk were a few old men in the village, either about the same age as Mr. Xue, or an elder with a family name. Mr. Xue could only smile and deal with it vaguely.
On the other side, the faces of the couple in the big room were even more ugly.
…
Here, Patriarch Xue said to Zheng Lizheng with a smile: "Brother Lizheng, this matter is up to you, you can step up and the villagers are waiting."
Zheng Lizheng had a mouthful of old blood in his heart, and all the good people did it for Xue.
The key point is that he can't refuse, who said that the goddamn young master Mao actually played the leg of lamb with his dog and made him miserable!
"Don't worry, this will be done soon."
Patriarch Xue nodded with a smile, patted his shoulder again, and then Shi Shiran left.
Zheng Lizheng is a mouthful of old blood again.
Patriarch Xue came out of Lizheng's house and went home, with Xue Tingxiang by his side.
When he got to the door, Patriarch Xue turned to look at him: "Okay, don't accompany this old man anymore."
"Cousin."
"You are very good, you have won glory for our Xue family."
Xue Tingxiang smiled embarrassedly: "Cousin, I don't see everyone getting angry and anxious. Because these things are not worth it, I will do my best if you can."
Patriarch Xue patted him on the shoulder: "Okay, you little bastard don't have to put on pretence in front of me, the old man. No matter what you want to do, Grandpa, everything is based on the interests of our Xue people!"
After speaking, he hummed an unknown tune and entered the courtyard gate. It's been a long time since he raised his eyebrows so cheerfully. Seeing Zheng Lizheng's sullen old face, Patriarch Xue could eat a few more bowls of rice today.
Xue Tingxiang stood in front of the door.
Everything is based on the interests of Xue people.
To bring glory to the Xue family, it would be better if they could suppress the surname Zheng by the way. Xue Tingxiang used this to easily invite Patriarch Xue.
Patriarch Xue is like this, just as he supported Xue Qingshan before, just as he used to force Old Master Xue to send Xue Gouzi, just as Xue Qingshan went to invite him, he chose to stand on the side of Xue. On the Qingshan side, as this time he did not hesitate to let himself be satisfied.
Xue Tingyan smiled and turned to leave.
Zheng Lizheng was very quick in his work, and he knew that he couldn't delay it, so he got the title deed the next day.
The villagers all gathered at his house to share the money, but Zhao'er did not go, nor did Xue Tingxiang.
"Give you."
Xue Tingxiang handed the title deed with the big red stamp on it to Zhao'er, but Zhao'er was not at all happy.
It is correct to say that she has been a little worried these days.
"What's the matter?" Until then, Xue Tingxiang realized that it was because he was too busy for the past two days when he came back.
Zhao'er suddenly sighed and glanced at him: "Do you know why I raised dozens of taels of silver and added it together?"
Xue Tingxuan pursed his lips, did not speak, and pretended to be willing to hear the details.
But for a while, Zhao'er didn't know what to say, just said: "Don't do this in the future."
Such a move made Xue Tingxiang unusually unaccustomed, and it also reminded him of the quarrel with him every time in his dream. After the two got married, they quarreled a lot. Although Zhao'er didn't want to quarrel with him, he always held back from quarreling with her, but the two were always at odds with each other.
He insisted that he was right, she would perfunctory if she didn't say a word, or silent if she couldn't, but what to do or how to do it. He was particularly angry that she didn't understand him, and she wasn't happy. Sometimes, for some unknown reason, it became like this.
"You think I'm doing something wrong?" His voice tightened.
Zhao'er sighed inwardly, and forced a smile: "Let's not talk about this matter, all in all, it's a good thing."
In fact, she also blamed her for this matter. The little man couldn't do it alone, and she got involved in the subsequent wind direction and fueling the flames. It's just that she didn't expect things to turn out like this. It should be correct that Xue Tingxiang's grasp of people's hearts was too high, and Zhao'er was completely caught off guard.
In the first half of the incident, she was happy, but when she went to the mountain and looked at the villagers who were working hard on the mountain with a smile on their faces, this joy suddenly disappeared without a trace.
She didn't know why she was unhappy, felt guilty, and felt that she had fooled the big guys for her own selfishness. No one owes anyone anything, why did they play the whole village just because they wanted to get what they wanted smoothly.
This kind of random trick to fool people makes Zhao'er heart palpitate. So she found Xue Qinghuai and others superfluous, obviously she could do it with only fifty taels, but she negotiated with others and raised another fifty taels in the name of joining the team.
"You think I'm wrong?"
"Dog, let's..."
"You think I'm doing something wrong!" This sentence was an affirmative sentence, Xue Tingyan pursed the corners of his mouth even tighter, his jaw tightened, and his eyes were fixed on her.
"No, it's not that I think you're wrong, I know you're trying to get things done. I just..."
"You just what?"
"I just think that we shouldn't fool people at will, no matter what we want, we should use proper means, instead of playing others around... You don't know when I go up the mountain and see everyone happy... I, My heart is very uncomfortable... I think people should have a sense of awe, and they shouldn't play around with applause just because they are smart... This kind of feeling is particularly bad... "
Zhao'er spoke incoherently and kept staring at her Xue Tingxiang, the black mist in his eyes was getting thicker and thicker, and a low air pressure enveloped him.
And Zhao'er hadn't noticed it yet, and was still muttering to himself in a disorderly manner: "Dog, sister knows you are smart. Even if they say you are not as talented as Xue Juncai, I know that my dog is smarter than him. But you shouldn't let you be smart. Rely on it, you have to put your wisdom on the right path... You make me very worried. Today we fooled others, and someday others are stronger than us and fooled us. If you always use this method, you will experience it for a long time. When it comes to the taste, my sister is afraid that you will do something even more extraordinary and cause a terrible disaster..."
What else is there to do, control the Chao Gang and play with imperial power
In fact, she was right, he was such a person in his bones. There is no king's law, no obedience to discipline, everything is self-serving first, never caring about others, hurting no one.
Zhao'er still hasn't read a book, she understands many big truths but can't speak them out, but Xue Tingxiang understands her meaning from her few words.
His reaction was scornful, even disdainful to explain. But listening to her babbling on like this, what he thought more about was that she actually cared about him.
So she had an extra 50 taels of silver, so that she was afraid that someone would find out someday, and she would be infamy on her back? So she knew that he didn't want to hear it, but she still said it.
The storm with low air pressure disappeared silently, Xue Tingxiang relaxed the muscles of his cheeks, and his tight mouth also relaxed.
"Then have you ever thought about what legitimate means do we rely on to get this piece of land?" he said suddenly, interrupting Zhao'er's muttering.
"us… "
"Yes, we can go to Zheng Lizheng directly. With a little more effort, we should be able to take down this land. But have you thought about the future? I can see that you attach great importance to this land, and you must have no intention of moving on it. Small. With your ability, you should be able to make a lot of money, but have you ever thought that if you really make a lot of money by relying on this land, what should you do if someone is jealous and regrets making trouble? Just one or two, if the whole village has What if half of them are red-eyed?"
Zhao'er wanted to say something, but Xue Tingxiang covered his mouth: "Don't say you have a title deed or something, you should understand what rules are in this country!"
Zhao'er was struck by lightning.
Yes, this place in the countryside is different from other places. If it is said that the rules of the government are useful, it is also useful, but if it is said that it is useless, it is also useless. Sometimes the deterrent power of the government is not as strong as that of a family with many males and a large number of people.
Zhao’er had seen two villagers in the dry year who were fighting for water and beat people to death. If they were beaten to death, they were also killed. The government couldn’t control it, because there were too many people at that time, and they didn’t know who killed them. It's just that the two villagers are sitting together, and you say a word to me, and a person's life is solved like that.
She has also seen a family without a male. When the man died, only the orphans and widows were left. The clan decided to forcibly give the house and land of this family to relatives with the same surname.
"Zheng Lizheng has always regarded the Xue family as a great enemy. Even if we spent a lot of effort to buy the land, if someone really moves his mind in the future, he will definitely contribute to the fire. And don't forget the big house and grandpa. And grandma. These people are all elders. As long as we don't leave here for a day and our surname is Xue, we have to guard against them.
"I know you want this piece of land, and that's why you use the means, just to remove your worries. If you don't like it, I won't do it in the future." At the end of the voice, it turned into a bit of aggrieved sadness, he said. His eyes were dim, like a gem that had lost its luster.
Seeing this, Zhao'er suddenly panicked: "I didn't say you were wrong, I just—" She anxiously wanted to comfort him, but didn't know what to say: "Oh, it's all my fault, I shouldn't have misunderstood. You, I'm just afraid that you will learn badly..."
Xue Tingxiang smiled suddenly, his eyes lit up again, and there was a warm light in it. It seems a little unworldly, and a little sly: "But don't be afraid, it will be fine when I pass the examination for Xiucai. When I pass the examination for Xiucai, we won't need to use these methods."
"Dog..."
"You misunderstood me, you have to compensate me. Zhao'er, I always want you to kiss me, so just kiss me as compensation."
Uh…