The front door of Huo Hanjie’s house was packed with curious onlookers. Some women, cracking melon seeds, muttered, “What’s going on now? Why did Old Man Huo’s family provoke that kid again? Didn’t that big hole teach them a lesson? Goodness, they really aren’t afraid of death.”
Others, valuing seniority, spoke up for Huo Hanjie: “That wolf cub is still the same after all these years. After all, Hanjie is his uncle. Even if there’s deep hatred, he shouldn’t act like this.”
Huo Hanjian, another relative, had arrived at some point. He couldn’t help but feel a little thrilled watching Huo Chen tear into his older brother’s house. His wife had been smart, telling him not to provoke Huo Chen, or else their own family would face a terrible storm. Tsk, tsk, tsk, he thought, his eldest brother deserves this for being so greedy.
“Huo Chen, I know, and your uncle also knows he’s wrong. Please, don’t smash anything else! We only have so many valuable things in the house. If you smash them all, you’ll force us to die! God, what evil have our Huo family done? How did such a monster get into our house? Please, God, open your eyes and strike this man dead with a thunderbolt!” Huo Hanjie’s wife knelt on the ground, wailing.
“If God really has a vision, he should strike us all dead with a thunderbolt!” Mrs. Huo appeared, shouting angrily from the crowd. The onlookers quickly made way for her. She faced the crowd and declared, “My grandson is not an unreasonable person! It’s Huo Hanjie’s shamelessness. Yesterday, my grandson earned over ten yuan, and you all saw it. It’s not enough for this man; he has to be greedy and demand money!”
“Everyone knows that I, Old Mrs. Huo, gave birth to two sons and two daughters, and not one of them is filial! As soon as my man died, these children wished I would die too. They immediately came to the house and wanted to cut ties with me, fearing I would harm them! I signed the renunciation letter at the beginning. Over the years, whenever I was sick or something, Huo Chen was the one who took me to the doctor. He is closer to me than my own grandson! When my husband died, he left me two gold bracelets. I thought that when my grandson marries, I would give these gold bracelets to his wife. When this shameless man saw it, he tried to steal my gold bracelets! He even put on a show of power in my house, taking a broom to smash my home. If my grandson hadn’t been so strong, he would have smashed my house into rubble! Now that you’re in a hurry, why weren’t you in a hurry to do something useful?”
Mrs. Huo spoke angrily, wishing her grandson would show more affection. He didn’t explain himself, always making everyone think he had a bad temper and was unreasonable. She had to clear her grandson’s name. Her grandson was a good man! He could earn money and was still filial.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk, Huo Hanjie is truly shameless! When Mrs. Huo was seriously ill and almost died, he insisted on cutting ties with her. Now that her life is getting better, he has the audacity to come asking for money!”
Father Xu also rushed to the Huo family after hearing the news. Since he had decided to let his daughter marry Huo Chen, Father Xu naturally sided with him. He puffed out his chest, exuding the authority of a captain, standing there like a mountain. “Huo Hanjie! Mrs. Huo gave birth to you and raised you. Even if the relationship is severed, as her son, you should still be filial to her. I didn’t expect you to have no sense of shame and dare to come here demanding things! I think I’ll forgive you if I don’t smash your house to pieces. Huo Chen, don’t waste your time with this shameless man. Take your grandma home! If Huo Hanjie dares to bully you again, tell me directly, and I will deal with him then.”
After Father Xu finished speaking, he glared fiercely at Huo Hanjie. This was the first time Huo Chen had been defended by someone in the village, and it was the captain himself defending him! Suddenly, the villagers’ eyes changed when they looked at Huo Chen. Regardless of the reason, Huo Chen was clearly under the captain’s protection. If they wanted to bully him in the future, they would have to consider the captain’s feelings. Huo Chen smiled gratefully at Father Xu. “Thank you, Uncle Captain.”
Father Xu waved his hand, telling them to go back quickly. He turned to look at the people watching the commotion. “No one is selling vegetables today! What are you all doing gathered here? Why don’t you go back quickly!” Father Xu sternly commanded, and everyone smacked their thighs in sudden realization. They had forgotten about selling vegetables! They all ran faster than rabbits, hurrying towards home.
Huo Chen’s family didn’t have many vegetables. Mrs. Huo was old, and her body couldn’t handle growing too many. All Huo Chen sold was meat. This time, there was more meat than last time, and he sold it for over 20 yuan. If it stayed like this for a month, the Huo family would probably be able to build a new house soon.
Mother Xu almost smiled from ear to ear when she saw that Huo Chen had sold his goods for over twenty yuan, as if the money belonged to her. She even asked Xu Jingjing to calculate: “Twenty yuan a day, how much is that a month?”
“Six hundred yuan a month!” Xu Jingjing blurted out.
Mother Xu was incredibly happy. According to this calculation, Huo Chen, who was so poor, would become rich in just one month! It was only because of her daughter’s ability that she had found such a lucrative opportunity.
In just two days, the commune had made a lot of money, and the smile on Director Sun’s face never faded. Little Xu is still amazing! he thought. I never thought of such a way to make money before, mainly because I had no other options. As expected, Brother Xu is lucky to have such a good daughter! Director Sun held his head high as he considered that the leader would be coming to inspect the countryside soon. Just let them come, he thought, my old self isn’t afraid anymore. This time, our Yushan Commune’s economy has increased so much compared to before, so this time the outstanding and advanced quota must belong to our commune! He felt it would be most appropriate for Brother Xu to receive this award.
“Old Ren, I remember that girl Xu Ying’s brother teaches in a commune school?” Director Sun asked, picking up his water glass and taking a sip. The person he called “Old Ren” was the deputy director of the commune, about the same age as Director Sun, but Director Sun liked to call him Old Ren.
“He teaches in a commune. He’s a pretty good young man,” Deputy Director Ren confirmed, recalling Xu Shengcai. His own children studied in his class, and he often heard them praise Teacher Xu, saying his teaching methods were new and, most importantly, the children had made great progress.
“Every year in our commune, there’s a quota for someone to be admitted to the county town to teach. What do you think if we give it to him?” Director Sun asked.
Deputy Director Ren was a little surprised. “Isn’t this against the rules? Teacher Xu has only been in the commune for a short time.”
Director Sun looked unhappy. “How long has he been here? I am the most fair person. I don’t look at how long people work, but at their wisdom. If he is smarter and goes to the county to teach more students, he will be able to train more students for our country.”
Deputy Director Ren’s mouth twitched. Since you old man have already made up your mind, why are you still asking me? Seeing his silence, Director Sun said directly, “Okay, after we have carefully considered this matter, Teacher Xu is a good person, and the recommended quota for this year will be given to him.”
Deputy Director Ren grew anxious. “Why did you decide that with me? You old man, why are you still acting like a fool?” Director Sun had already disappeared without a trace.