Translator: Lonelytree
The graduation banquet was lively and grand. How could it not be with several county leaders attending it?
Xiao Lingyu and Xiao Lingye’s friends from the county also came.
It was then that the villagers knew that the Xiao Family had such deep connections. They actually knew the county leader!
‘When Xiao Chengcai’s family and Zhang Chunjiao’s family saw this, their eyes turned red with jealousy. This was especially true for Xiao Chengcai. He had lost both his wife and money.
‘The money he got from betraying the Little Cattle King had been compensated to Xiao Lingyu. The rent he got from Xiao Lingyu contracting the mountains had been taken away as compensation too.
Xiao Lingyu didn’t show him any kindness. If Xiao Chengcai didn’t want to pay, they would send him to jail for selling out trade laws. He could stay in prison to accompany his ex-wife, Zhang Xiaolan. No matter how common Xiao Chengcai’s mother rolled on the ground, the Xiao family would not budge.
In order not to go to jail, Xiao Chengcai gritted his teeth and paid the compensation.
Even though Xiao Chengcai and Zhang Xiaolan were already divorced, Zhang Xiaolan still had a share of the money due to her claim to the mountains at Taoyuan Village.
Xiao Chengcai’s family had a total of six people, so they could get more than 40,000 RMB. Adding the previous 30,000 RMB, the money was enough to compensate Xiao Chengcai’s remaining debt of 54,000 RMB.
In the end, Xiao Chengcai only got less than 10,000 RMB after all the compensation had been taken away. The whole village laughed at him.
‘The entire village was happy celebrating after they got the rent. Many people built new houses and the younger generations got married. Only Xiao Chengcai held the 10,000 and didn’t know what to do. His two adult sons were old enough to get a wife. Their house was decrepit with many leaky roofs.
They should get 70,000 RMB originally. That was more than enough to find two daughters-in-law and build a new house.
But now…
Hehe, all their efforts were for naught.
‘Was there hatred and resentment? Of course!
‘They even wanted to take revenge.
However, how could he even do that? Xiao Chengcai was not dumb.
Since Xiao Chengcai couldn’t take revenge and was ostracized by the villagers, he remained silent and worked.
However, Xiao Chengcai’s mother didn’t know when to stop. After the Xiao Family took away the compensation, she would go around the village to curse the Xiao Family. The Xiao Family couldn’t care less. As long as she didn’t come to their house to scold them, they pretended not to hear her.
Logically speaking, Xiao Chengcai’s family had already fallen out with Xiao Zhengyang’s family.
However, Xiao Chengcai’s family came to attend the banquet. They also came with some negligible gifts. They didn’t send people to help out in the kitchen or set up the venue. It was quite shameless for Xiao Chengcai to bring his whole family over for the free food.
Many people scolded Xiao Chengcai’s family for being shameless.
However, Xiao Chengcai’s mother said righteously, “Hmph, we’ve given them a precious gift. So why can’t we attend the banquet?”
‘They would feel dumb if they didn’t come to eat the free food. If possible, they wanted to eat until the Xiao Family went bankrupt.
The villagers saw how thick-skinned Xiao Chengcai’s family was. However, since Xiao Zhengyang didn’t say anything, the villagers only gossiped among themselves.
As for the Xiao Fugj’s family, they also came. However, only Xiao Fuqi attended.
In the past, Xiao Fugi’s family didn’t have a good relationship with Xiao Zhengyang’s family, but Zhang Chunjiao had a lot to do with it.
‘When she was young, Zhang Chunjiao took a liking to the handsome Xiao Zhengyang. She tried to seduce him several times, but Xiao Zhengyang did not care at all.
This made Zhang Chunjiao jealous of Chen Qiuying.
Chen Qiuying was also beautiful when she was a young wife. She was the perfect match for Xiao Zhengyang.
Xiao Zhengyang was indifferent to Zhang Chunjiao’s seduction. Naturally, Zhang Chunjiao vented her anger on Chen Qiuying. She spread rumors to slander Chen Qiuying’s reputation, saying that she had hooked up with several men in the village.
Of course, Chen Qiuying would not let Zhang Chunjiao bully her like this. She immediately retorted and warned Zhang Chunjiao to stay away from her husband.
Xiao Fuqi was about to be thirty years old before he married Zhang Chunjiao. So she was very precious to him.
No matter what Zhang Chunjiao did, even if she went overboard, he would condone her.
Zhang Chunjiao got into conflict with Xiao Zhengyang and his wife. Instead of warning Zhang Chunjiao, Xiao Fugi sided with her.
Just like that, the conflict between the two families grew bigger and bigger. This enmity continued for more than twenty years.
However, after the incident with Zhang Chunjiao on the street, she became more obedient.
She had originally wanted to attend this banquet, but after being glared at by Xiao Fuqi, she immediately shrunk back. She didn’t want to be beaten again!
Xiao Fuqi was genuinely happy that Zhang Chunjiao had become so obedient.
He drank and said, “Now I understand you need to beat some sense into women. Only then, they’d become obedient.” Xiao Fuqi shared his experience. His drinking buddies were moved.
Then, they smiled and agreed, “You’re right. This woman will only listen to you if you beat her up. Otherwise, they will control you. If people find out you’re being controlled by your wife, it’ll make you lose face.”
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Zhang Chunjiao’s change was obvious to everyone in the village. This was the product of Xiao Fuqi beating Zhang Chunjiao.
Soon, many men followed suit and began to beat their wives. However, these wives were confused.
Xiao Fuqi beat Zhang Chunjiao because she had done something wrong and shameful. Her maiden family couldn’t care less about her. Zhang Chunjiao lost her support and caved.
However, the situation was different for the other women. These wives had done nothing wrong, and they were being beaten. Which parents would allow their daughters to be beaten for no reason? Naturally, they came to demand an explanation. So many sons-in-law were beaten back in return.
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This immediately shut down the trend of domestic abuse. Only Xiao Fugi continued to beat his wife.
During the banquet, Xiao Fugi said happily, “I’m the only one in the village who has beaten my woman into submission.”
The men at the same table revealed a look of disdain.
‘The man was being cuckolded, yet he was so smug. It was really embarrassing. No one talked to Xiao Fuqi. They only shared alcohol with him.
‘The other people watched, and no one came to say anything. Honestly, the whole village was ashamed after Zhang Chunjiao did such a thing.
She had ruined the reputations of the females at Taoyuan Village. If not for the village’s rising standard of living, she might cause many daughters to miss out on a good husband. Therefore, the villagers looked down on Zhang Chunjiao.
Anyway, back to the graduation banquet.
No one came to cause trouble at the banquet. This made the villagers understand that things were changing. There was someone in their village who was connected to the county leader.
After the graduation banquet and the teacher appreciation banquet, Xiao Lingye needed to go to university early. It was for orientation.
Xiao Lingye rejected his parents’ offer to send him off. He carried his luggage and went straight to the capital.
Parting was always a little sad.
Thankfully, Xiao Lingye had always been independent. So they were not that worried about him.
“Yu’ Er, the peanuts in the field are ripe. We can pick them now.”
After Mother Xiao went around the field, she realized that the peanuts and soybeans were all ripe..
