Chapter 24: 24: Such as This Tree
As the youth with the parted hair walked in, he immediately noticed the large shrimp shells on the table and couldn't help but swallow, exclaiming, "Wow, Uncle Dashan, you owe so much money to the people in the village, and yet you still have money to eat big shrimp. I think you're deliberately hiding money and refusing to pay up."
Long Dashan quickly stood up and said, "Ergouzi, what are you talking about? Xiaoshan caught these shrimp from the river; we don't have money to buy them."
"Haha," the youth with the parted hair laughed like a duck, walked up to the table, slapping it forcefully, and scoffed, "Long Dashan, I call you uncle as a courtesy, but don't take kindness for weakness. Caught from the river, you say? Why don't you also say that our village's little river can bring up turtle spirits? I, Ergouzi, have dined at the county's biggest restaurant with the village chief. These are lobsters, do you think I'm an idiot?"
Ergouzi's mouth watered at the thought; he had tasted big lobster only once before, and it was incredibly delicious. He never imagined that Long Xiaoshan's family would sneakily enjoy lobsters at home.
"Ergouzi, how dare you talk to your uncle like that? He's your uncle," He Xiangyue rebuked angrily.
In Longyang Village, there were many relatives and ties among families, and, strictly speaking, Ergouzi indeed had to call Long Dashan "uncle" as they were related.
"Auntie, you look good. Is your leg better?"
Ergouzi snickered coldly, "What about him being my uncle? Does that mean he doesn't have to pay back money? Having the money to eat lobsters but none to repay debts? Today we're settling accounts at the village committee. Your family still owes three thousand yuan from the last time you contracted wasteland from the village. I'm here on behalf of the village committee to collect money."
"Ergou, that three thousand yuan was forgiven, wasn't it? My family is among the five guaranteed households in the village, supported by government policies. When Laotie was the village chief, he forgave the debt," Long Dashan explained.
"Eating lobsters and still claiming to be a guaranteed household? The village chief has already removed your family from the list," Ergouzi shouted, "Are you not going to pay up? Hand over the money quickly!"
"Ergouzi, don't go too far. This debt has already been forgiven, why are you still asking me to pay? I don't have the money," Long Dashan was also starting to get angry.
"Damn it, being a deadbeat, I see," Ergouzi said to the two youths behind him, "Search them! If they can afford lobsters, I'm sure they've hidden quite a bit of money in the house."
Long Dashan sprang up, hurrying to stop them, but Ergouzi grabbed Long Dashan's collar, ready to shove him to the ground.
Suddenly, his hand was gripped tightly by a powerful force.
"Ow, it hurts, it hurts!"
Ergouzi yelped in pain and turned his head, only to see that Long Xiaoshan had stood up and was the one grasping his hand.
"Fuck your mother, let go of me!" Ergouzi grimaced in pain.
"Say that again!"
Long Xiaoshan slapped Ergouzi's face, causing a dull smack. Ergouzi's cheek swelled up immediately.
"Fuck..."
Smack!
Another slap from Long Xiaoshan made Ergouzi's other cheek swell as well.
Seeing things go south, the two youths accompanying Ergouzi lunged at Long Xiaoshan, throwing punches. Long Xiaoshan, quick and agile, grabbed Ergouzi and threw him towards the two, making all three tumble into a heap.
Long Xiaoshan launched into a flurry of kicks and punches.
The three village youths couldn't withstand Long Xiaoshan's heavy blows.
Crying for their fathers and screaming for their mothers.
"Little Xiaoshan, stop it, you'll kill someone," He Xiangyue cried out as she saw Long Xiaoshan beating the others so mercilessly, rushing over to intervene.
Long Xiaoshan finally stopped his assault, and Ergouzi and the others scrambled out, their faces filled with terror.
As they reached the outside, Ergouzi howled, "Long Xiaoshan, you just wait."
A fierce look flashed in Long Xiaoshan's eyes. He Xiangyue grabbed him tightly and said, "Enough, little Xiaoshan, you've just gotten out; don't get into trouble and go back in."
"Mom, don't worry. I know what I'm doing. If you don't teach them a lesson, they'll never fear or respect you," Long Xiaoshan, having spent years in prison, had his own philosophy of life.
Violence is by no means omnipotent, but sometimes it can have peculiar effectiveness.
Especially in these backward villages, violence and money are almost omnipotent.
In the afternoon, Long Xiaoshan was mulling over how to maximize the use of the Mysterious Liquid to improve his family's conditions. Growing vegetables and fruits was not bad, but it certainly wasn't as fast as breeding livestock. Currently, he didn't have much Mysterious Spiritual Liquid at hand.
Aside from applying it on the Knife, he also had to figure out how to obtain more Spiritual Liquid.
To get more Spiritual Liquid, he needed to perform good deeds for others, but heroic rescues—like saving a beauty in distress—were not always available. Right, treating diseases was a good method; he had decent medical skills and many miraculous prescriptions at hand.
Healing and saving people would not only earn him money but also merit.
It was an absolute win-win situation, killing two birds with one stone.
No sooner said than done, Long Xiaoshan took a hoe and measured out an area in the backyard, preparing to dig a big pond with an area of five square meters to raise some shrimps. Long Dashan was also helping Long Xiaoshan in the backyard.
While they were working intensely, Long Xiaoshan heard what seemed like a quarrel in the front yard.
Long Xiaoshan wiped off his sweat with a towel, put down his hoe, and quickly walked to the front where about twenty or thirty people had filled the courtyard.
Among these people, a woman dressed in red clothes had the loudest voice, "I'm telling you, He Xiangyue sister, it's not that I, Long Shuixian, am pressuring you to repay the debt. Ergouzi told me that your family can even afford to eat lobsters now! Look at this big lobster shell; I've never seen such in my life. Ergouzi said this goes for hundreds in the county. Now that you're so rich and yet stalling on the debt, we still don't know where to find the school fees for little Lian."
"Exactly, Brother Dashan, just hurry up and return the three thousand yuan you owe me!"
"Uncle Dashan, please be so kind, it's not easy for us to save money either."
"If you don't repay the money, I won't leave today."
Seeing the villagers' comments, Long Xiaoshan realized they were here to collect debts.
Ergou must have blabbered about it outside.
Normally the village folks, who knew the difficulties of the Long Family, even if feeling resentment, would not come to collect debts all at once. But when word spread that the Long Family could afford to eat large lobsters, the villagers were stirred up and all showed up at his door.
He Xiangyue and Long Dashan had their eyes rimmed red with urgency.
They kept explaining, but more and more people gathered, their emotions escalating to the point where it seemed they might resort to violence. However, these were not people like Ergouzi; many were elders, and Long Xiaoshan couldn't just hit them, moreover, his family was at fault for the debt.
Long Xiaoshan raised his voice, "All uncles and aunties, please listen to me, will you!"
His voice was loud and thunderous, quieting down the courtyard for a moment. As everyone looked at him, Long Xiaoshan said, "I understand everyone's difficulties. While I was in jail, my family relied on the care from all the uncles and aunties here. I, Long Xiaoshan am not an ungrateful person. I want to thank you all right here!"
Long Xiaoshan bowed deeply at a 90-degree angle, then lifted his head and said, "Here I promise all uncles and aunties, give me three days, within three days, I, Long Xiaoshan, will repay every cent I owe you. Please rest assured."
Long Xiaoshan's words were powerful and resonant, diminishing much of the villagers' anger who had come to demand debts. Some were already considering leaving.
A somewhat piercing voice rang out, "Long Xiaoshan, you talk a good game, but why should we believe you? A convict, and since you've come back, you've been fooling around with a young widow. Can your words be trusted?"
Long Xiaoshan's expression turned cold as he saw that it was Long Shuixian speaking.
Long Shuixian had previously come to propose a match for Long Xiaoling and was driven away by him, certainly holding a grudge. Long Xiaoshan suspected that it was this woman who had gossiped about him and Chun Tao. Long Shuixian's mouth was notoriously persuasive and glib.
Stirred up by Long Shuixian's provocation, the villagers who were about to leave showed signs of restlessness again.
Long Xiaoshan said sternly, "Aunt Shuixian, you say I've been fooling around with a young widow, do you have any evidence? One must not be too malicious. I, Long Xiaoshan, have been through reformation labor, but that was due to false accusations. Whether you believe it or not, I, Long Xiaoshan, am upright and just. If I don't repay the money within three days, I'll be like this wood."
Long Xiaoshan walked to the corner, picked up a thick piece of wood as thick as the mouth of a bowl resting there. He channeled a bit of energy and fiercely punched it.
Crack!
The thick piece of wood broke into two halves!
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