Chapter 384: Market Ideas
Elder Lin was furious. She had wanted to use this opportunity to make Ruan Chanchan give them some benefits; of course she was the most reluctant to hand Ruan Chanchan any benefits in return. In the past, her mother had suppressed her too much; how could she not take some interest back from her daughter and son? But who would have thought that Ruan Chanchan refused to play by the rules!? She would rather arrange her meals on her own than back down. This woman was in desperate need to be tamed or else she would dance on top of their heads.
She turned to look at the rest of the elders; they were looking sullen as well but Ruan Chanchan’s remarks were right on. The heated beds were her ideas; if she wanted to give the idea to someone else, could they stop her? If they stopped her, then they would have to stop everyone who wanted to share their own share of ration and whatnot. If they did such a thing, then they would definitely evoke a sense of wrath from the members of the tribe.
"What else are we supposed to do?" Elder Qian was also unwilling but at the same time she could not find a reason to punish Ruan Chanchan. She believed that as long as they suppressed Ruan Chanchan and then promised her some tiny benefits, she would give them something good as well, who would have expected that she would still be holding a grudge against them for refusing to give her the benefits that the chief promised her?
She glanced at Elder Lin, who seemed like she was about to froth from her mouth, and added, "There is no point in getting angry. Ruan Chanchan seemed to be too determined to not work for us; look at her. She clearly stated that since we revoked her benefits, we can forget about her helping us. What are we supposed to do? Hand her the benefits that we have taken away? What would happen to our reputation and face then? Won’t the people in the tribe think that we are shameless for doing such a thing?"
"Of course not! How can we give away the benefits that we have taken away? What will the members think? Won’t they all start to act up if we return the benefits to Ruan Chanchan?" Elder Lin had taken away most of the benefits under the pretext that Ruan Chanchan did not deserve them, that her skills were not worth giving away so much money. What face would be left of hers if she returned those benefits? She definitely couldn’t!
Elder Qian sighed. "Then I don’t think that there is any point in even trying to talk about this matter with Ruan Chanchan. She has cleared the matter up; she will not help the tribe through us." They wanted to use Ruan Chanchan’s ideas and present them as their own such that the tribe members would start respecting them all over again. In exchange they would give some measly benefits to Ruan Chanchan, but the woman would rather break the pot than give them a chance to control her.
"Then what are we going to do? Are we going to watch her go out of control like this?" Elder Lin disliked Ruan Chanchan, but she also knew that the woman was the only one who could turn the situation of the tribe around; if they suppressed her and made her one of them, they would be able to become the most crucial people of the tribe; all they needed to do was to control and win Ruan Chanchan’s loyalty.
"There is no need to hurry." A vicious glint flashed in Elder Qian’s eyes. "Isn’t Xie Daiyu pregnant? There are many chances to make those two submit to us. You all just need to be patient."
**
"What kind of trick is this?" Xie Daiyu was really unhappy; as soon as the two of them returned to the cave, he could not help but explode. The elders were unreasonable; this was something that he knew, but he never thought that they were this shameless. How could they do such a thing?
He sucked in a breath and continued speaking, "How could they ask you to continue working for the tribe without getting anything in return? Have they lost their mind?"
"They are thinking of using me," Ruan Chanchan took out a can of cola for herself while she handed a cup of coconut water to Xie Daiyu. "They want me to help them rise to prominence. Even if the tribe’s members don’t say anything, they still remember the cowardice of the elders, which has led them to become more or less useless to the tribe. So they want me to share my ideas with them such that they can implement it and use it to gain the same reverence."
Ruan Chanchan was not a fool; she could see what those old foggies wanted to do. She sneered and said to Xie Daiyu, "You should be careful these days. Since they failed to make me submit to them, they would definitely try to make a move on you and the children. Try to stay at home as much as possible and don’t go out alone; I am not restricting you but I hope that you will be on your guard."
Xie Daiyu nodded when he heard Ruan Chanchan’s words. Indeed, he was also worried about this one thing. What if the elders tried to harm him and his kids? That would be really troublesome. He sucked in a breath and promised, "Don’t worry, I will keep an eye on things around me and I won’t go anywhere alone."
Xie Daiyu also realised that he had become a vulnerability to Ruan Chanchan now. If he was not careful, then the elders would use him against Ruan Chanchan. That would be too much. When he thought about how he had been pushed into a corner like this, he could not help but frown.
"What are you thinking?"