Chapter 1417 - 1411: The Huang Family
"By the way, Fourth Uncle, I saw a small villa in the center of the village. Whose house is that? Everyone else lives in ordinary brick houses, but there's just one villa. I guess that family must be quite wealthy!" Lin Chuan quickly switched the topic, wanting to learn more about Stone Village. Huang Mengqi's fourth uncle was nearly sixty years old, presumably knowing all the major and minor events in the village.
Huang Guiguo took a deep drag of his cigarette, then exhaled the smoke and scoffed, "Of course they're rich, living off the people, doing nothing substantial, just busy with useless things, either building houses or getting married. Who can compare to them!"
Hearing this, Lin Chuan seemed to have some answers in his heart, and tentatively asked, "Could it be that the villa belongs to the village chief's family?"
"Besides his family, who else can afford a villa!" Huang Guiguo said through gritted teeth.
Lin Chuan sneered inwardly; corruption is truly prevalent. He didn't expect even a small village chief to dare plunder so brazenly. In today's world, it's not just about having money, but also power. Only with power can one travel the world.
From the afternoon's findings in the village, it was clear this remote village considered the village chief its local despot.
Earlier in the afternoon, when outsiders heard Lin Chuan asks about the village chief's family, they all scrutinized him, realized he was a stranger, and silently retreated to their homes, even locking their doors.
Lin Chuan was puzzled earlier, but now it all made sense. They probably thought he was a higher-up official secretly visiting the village to understand local sentiments.
Having figured this out, Lin Chuan deliberately asked, "Fourth Uncle, what's the village chief's reputation in Stone Village?"
"Ah, reputation? He has no damn reputation!" Huang Guiguo's anger erupted upon hearing this. However, upon remembering the young man in front of him was his future nephew-in-law, he suppressed his rage, taking a few fierce drags on his cigarette.
Lin Chuan didn't expect Huang Guiguo to react so vehemently, noticing that originally dark face gradually turning livid. He understood Huang Guiguo must've suffered under the village chief Shi Houcai, thus dared not probe further.
At this moment, Huang Mengqi entered, overhearing the previous conversation and interjected, "Forget discussing reputation. If it weren't for the many people surnamed Shi in the village, my fourth uncle wouldn't have lost the election. It wouldn't have been Shi Houcai claiming the village chief position."
"Alright, Mengqi. Don't say more. They have money and power, and we ordinary people can't afford to provoke them. Don't make your fourth uncle angry." Huang's mother also walked in, speaking with a sorrowful face.
"Mom. This is our own home. I'll speak how I please. Shi Houcai dictates everything, but he can't control my words." Huang Mengqi grew furious every time seeing her mother lower herself so much.
Lin Chuan increasingly understood the situation; apparently, Huang Mengqi's fourth uncle was once the village chief, and pushed out by those surnamed Shi. No wonder earlier mentioning Shi Houcai's reputation in the village triggered such fury from Huang Guiguo!
As Huang's mother sighed and moved into the inner room, Lin Chuan clearly saw a few tears escape her eyes before entering. His heart ached at the sight, wondering if anyone would ever shed tears over him in this lifetime.
For the rest of the conversation, Lin Chuan didn't ask much. Huang Mengqi and Huang Guiguo talked about the various events in the village over the years, sharing them all with Lin Chuan.
Huang Mengqi shared her uncle's sentiments; they had no hopes of Lin Chuan doing anything for them. It's as if the unease of these events weighed on their hearts like a stone; expressing them made them feel relieved.
After hearing their narratives, Lin Chuan was utterly shocked. The pressure Huang Mengqi had endured was entirely beyond his imagination. If he hadn't been present in Stone Village at this moment, he couldn't fathom how the mother and daughter would continue living.
The former village chief of Stone Village was Huang Mengqi's fourth uncle, Huang Guiguo. He served three consecutive terms, totaling nine years as village committee secretary. Under his leadership, Stone Village developed economically, year by year improving.
But during an election cycle, Huang Guiguo, who was expected to be re-elected, unexpectedly lost. The one elected was the village's biggest rogue, Shi Houcai.
As soon as Huang Guiguo was ousted, his former flatterers dispersed like monkeys. Villagers, who usually greeted him, now ignored him, deeply saddening Huang Guiguo who had dedicated his life to village affairs.
Later, Huang Guiguo learned that Shi Houcai had bribed some villagers, and most of the village, surnamed Shi, naturally sided with family, facilitating Shi Houcai's election as village chief, which was regrettably inevitable.
But what made Huang Guiguo angry was that as soon as Shi Houcai took office, instead of working hard to improve people's livelihood, he racked his brains for ways to make money. The clever part was that he didn't just pocket the money himself; he also shared some with his family members, which always secured him extra votes in every election.
Shi Houcai became the village chief, and with money, he naturally stood tall. He kept a bunch of hooligan thugs under him, who would beat up anyone who disobeyed the village chief's orders.
Huang Guiguo's eldest son, Huang Yonggang, couldn't stand Shi Houcai's atrocities. He went to the town to report Shi Houcai, and as soon as he returned to the village, he was severely beaten by Shi Houcai's men, and his legs were broken, so he is still lying in bed now.
Since then, the villagers no longer dared to speak ill of Shi Houcai. Shi Houcai, knowing when to stop, embezzled a large sum while building the village road, and after that, he stopped squeezing the villagers for their measly resources. This is why, over the years, everyone has been angry but dared not speak out. After all, not much loss had come to them, so they decided to make do.
Later, the second son of the village chief saw that Huang Mengqi was getting more and more beautiful and asked his father to arrange a matchmaker. Huang Mengqi's father knew what kind of person Shi Rongguang was and simply kept refusing. After some time, Shi Houcai felt that the Huang family was being ungrateful, so after Huang Mengqi's father passed away, he sent persuasive village women to Huang Mengqi's house one after another, persuading them until they agreed.
Lin Chuan was also furious after hearing all this. But thinking about it, corrupt officials are the same everywhere; which official doesn't love money? The key now was to think about how to solve the problem of Shi Houcai's second son, Shi Rongguang, pestering Huang Mengqi.
The sky quickly turned dark. Huang Tianyi, feeling a bit tired, smoked and left Huang Mengqi's house.
Huang Tianyi was still studying, and Huang's mother was also worried about future matters. However, Huang Mengqi ran up to Lin Chuan, her face once again glowing with her usual smile, and wrapped her arms around Lin Chuan's, laughingly saying, "Come on, let's go for a walk outside."
The night in the mountain village was tranquil and peaceful. A full moon illuminated the earth, casting a glorious light, which was hard to see in the brightly lit city. It gave Lin Chuan a different kind of beautiful feeling.
The evening breeze, capable of intoxicating a beauty, was nothing different!
Lin Chuan and Huang Mengqi sat on a stone bench in the courtyard, with a thick jujube tree beside them.
Huang Mengqi giggled and let go of Lin Chuan's arm, running to the kitchen to grab a bamboo pole, and started beating the jujube tree randomly. Lin Chuan, who was sitting under the jujube tree, initially relaxed, was suddenly bombarded with a barrage like hail, leaving him at a loss and very embarrassed.
"Hehe..." Seeing Lin Chuan looking so embarrassed, Huang Mengqi laughed, no longer showing her previous melancholy.
"Wait here, I'll wash some jujubes for you to eat." Huang Mengqi said, bending over to pick up the green jujubes that had fallen to the ground one by one.
Lin Chuan took out a fallen green jujube from inside his collar, wiped it casually, and started eating it in big bites while leisurely watching Huang Mengqi picking the jujubes.
The mountain wind was still quite strong, but since it wasn't long past summer, Huang Mengqi was wearing a relatively loose white T-shirt. Since she was at home, she wore nothing underneath, and as she bent over in front of Lin Chuan, this completely benefited Lin Chuan, the rogue.
But what troubled Lin Chuan was that because of the moonlight tonight, they hadn't turned on the courtyard lights. Thus, although there was a faint illumination from the hazy moonlight and the weak light inside the house, it was not enough to see clearly without a strong light.
Of course, Lin Chuan couldn't really suggest to Huang Mengqi, "Mengqi, can I turn on the courtyard lights to see your charming little bunnies more clearly?"
Lin Chuan was sure that if he uttered that, he'd end up sleeping in the deep mountains tonight, homeless.
Huang Mengqi, having picked up jujubes for quite a while, noticed Lin Chuan sitting silently on the side, and curiously raised her head, smiling as she asked, "Why aren't you talking? Have you become mute?"
"Ah, no, I was just watching you picking jujubes, and realized the world's most beautiful woman is right in front of me. At this moment, I'm deeply attracted by you. You're so elegant, so dignified, so virtuous, so ladylike, so... Oh, sorry, I forgot my words. Next time, I'll check the dictionary for more words to describe a woman's beauty."
After exhausting all the words in his vocabulary, Lin Chuan kept rambling, and finally, when he had nothing more to say, he smiled awkwardly.