"Luckily, I was cautious and didnât follow in planting," said the man next to him. "Otherwise, it would have wasted two seasonal harvests in the fields."
"Exactly, Old Qian, I think you should cut down the trees. Cut them now and you can still plant a season of cabbage. Even if the fruit trees grow well, they wonât make money, and your family canât survive on thin air," someone else advised him.
Old Qian sighed heavily and took a few peaches from the basket to share with everyone.
Unable to sell them, he might as well let everyone enjoy, gaining some goodwill.
A few people took the peaches and began to express sympathy for Old Qian, offering him ideas one after another.
Lin Yongqiang straightforwardly started cursing the village chief. "If you ask me, this matter shouldnât end like this. When the village chief shouted over the loudspeaker for everyone to plant peach trees, everybody followed his call. Now that the peaches canât be sold, we have to demand an explanation from him."
"Right, Old Qian, gather others who planted peach trees. This matter must be addressed by the village chief. Donât be afraid; the eyes of the masses are sharp. Everyone will support you."
"Exactly, the village chiefâs family has money and can afford losses, but the rest of us are honest farmers. We canât let ourselves be taken advantage of like this..."
As people voiced their opinions, someone secretly went to call other peach tree growers, planning to confront the village chief together.
Lin Yongqiang stood in the back of the crowd, hands behind his back, with a faint smile.
They must have a good discussion with the village chief, and it would be best to drag Lin Chuxia into this.
Why does the Sun Family now act so arrogantly in the village?
Aside from the title of village chief, isnât it because their chicken farm has made both sons rich?
He used to wonder how they could suddenly raise so many chickens without a word.
Raising that many chickens requires a lot of money. Moreover, how do you sell them once theyâre grown?
After a while, it became clear that the brothers were sending all the chickens to Xiyang Food Factory.
Lin Chuxia obviously belongs to the Lin Family. Under her, there are also sons and daughters, yet sheâs not close to them. Instead, she gets along with the Sun siblings.
What has his sons and daughters done wrong to her?
This time, he wanted to show her that outsiders canât be relied on.
While they were chatting, someone keen-eyed saw the village chief and his son driving a tractor into the village.
Lin Yongqiang immediately said, "Look at them, with so many peach trees, selling them clean every day. Maybe they have a way but wonât tell you."
These words sparked discussion among villagers, whether they had peaches or not.
Sometimes, the village chief couldnât sell their peaches, which they knew. But every time Sun Bingnan took peaches out, he came back with empty baskets, which some had witnessed.
"Letâs go ask the village chief."
Soon, Sun Bingnanâs tractor was surrounded by villagers.
Although surrounded, no one wanted to take the lead.
Seeing them become mute before the village chief, Lin Yongqiang cursed them inwardly as cowards, deserving to be duped.
The village chief stood on the tractor, scanning the villagers. Most of them were peach tree growers, he knew.
He was about to announce good news, since everyone was here, it wouldnât hurt to make them happy.
But when his gaze landed on Lin Yongqiang, he swallowed his words and pretended not to know anything.
"Did everyone just come back from the fields? Itâs getting late, why not go home for dinner?"
Seeing the village chiefâs smile, some felt guilty.
To be fair, Sun Jian Country has been the leader here for over a decade, always considerate of the villagers.
When it came to planting peach trees, he made it clear over the loudspeaker, urging voluntarily.
Confronting the village chief now seemed inappropriate.
In the crowd, some began to back down, even thinking of accepting losses.
What use was facing the village chief? They had planted more than anyone else.
Lin Yongqiang recognized the villagers were giving in again, and couldnât help but shout among them.
"Village chief, are you selling peaches again? Your peaches sell for a good price, but you canât neglect the villagers. Everyone followed your lead in planting fruit trees. Now that the trees are planted and you donât help sell them, arenât you misleading us?"
The village chief, standing high, saw Lin Yongqiang right away, even though he spoke softly.
Since encouraging fruit tree planting, Lin Yongqiang had been instigating discord among villagers. Today, thanks to Chuxia, he solved a major problem; otherwise, whether he could remain village chief was uncertain.
"Misleading everyone?" The village chief repeated this question, glancing at other villagers. "Does everyone think Sun Jian Country would do such a thing?"
Silence enveloped the crowd, no one willing to be the spokesperson.
Lin Yongqiang cursed them again as useless. "Chief, who would dare say it? Though timid, isnât it obvious? When you urged planting peach trees, I said the peaches werenât recognized here. You pushed people into fire pits for your son, didnât I prove right? Let Old Qian say, those baskets of peaches havenât sold for days, arenât they going to spoil at home? Isnât that misleading everyone?"
"Lin Yongqiang," Village Chief Sun directly named Sun Yongqiang, "Since planting yellow peaches, youâve been instigating discord, now encouraging tree cutting before they yield fruit. I recall you didnât plant peaches, why are you more anxious than us peach growers? What do you want?"
"Me... What can I want? I feel hurt seeing everyoneâs peaches rotting, afraid youâll suffer."
Village Chief Sun sneered, "You care so much, how about I let you be village chief for a bit?"
After speaking, he looked at everyone, "The yellow peach seedlings were brought back by my son after months of research, a superior variety. At the start, I sought everyoneâs opinions on voluntary planting. However, Iâm not saying I wonât care for everyone. I merely wish to remind us, we shouldnât jump to conclusions or follow ill-intentioned people. Our Daqing Mountain Village should unite, striving together for prosperity."
"Nice words, but theyâre worthless if unsold."
Lin Yongqiang whispered among the crowd.
Village Chief Sun glanced at him but didnât argue, loudly saying, "Everyoneâs concerns are mine. Iâve noticed the low peach prices. Today, my third child and I went to the city, where weâve negotiated with Xiyang. From today, thereâs no need to struggle at the market. The village peaches will be purchased at ten cents per pound, collected by my third child. After picking, you can deliver directly to my house."