novelraw Chapter 47 Forget about insiders and outsiders, I only stand on the side of reason.
Chapter 47 Forget about insiders and outsiders, I only stand on the side of reason.
"Aren't you all curious why we don't enjoy life in the city but instead come to the countryside to suffer? Let me explain!"
Tong Jiahui thought to herself, rather than letting them guess, it would be better to explain things directly so that no one would be curious anymore.
Everyone fell silent, waiting to hear what happened next. No one paid any more attention to Old Lady Lin, who was still throwing a tantrum on the ground.
"My husband and I have a very good relationship, as everyone can see. We have seven lovely daughters. He left behind a job after his sacrifice, but according to the policy, several of my children will have to go to the countryside."
Everyone thinks life is better in the city, but have they ever considered that everything costs money in the city? Even tap water costs money. I have so many children; how am I supposed to support them all—school, food, clothing—with just my apprentice's salary?
Unlike in our village, where we can catch some fish and shrimp in the spring, and collect wild duck eggs in the summer, and even the wild vegetables in the fields can sustain us.
The villagers nodded in agreement. Their sense of superiority as farmers was being acknowledged, and they felt a surge of pride. "Exactly!" they thought. "If rural life is so bad, why do so many children from the city come to the countryside? Isn't it because they can't get enough to eat?"
People starve to death in the city because there's no food, but not in their village. Nobody starves to death here!
"I thought to myself, my daughters will all be going to the countryside for several years in a row, and they'll be scattered all over the place. I'll be worried about this one and that one, and I'll be anxious about several places."
In addition, living in that pigeonhole-like dormitory in the factory area, I saw my husband's shadow everywhere. Seeing things reminded me of him, and I couldn't shake off my bad mood.
After thinking about it for a long time, I made a decision: I'll let my four older children graduate early, I'll quit my job, and the whole family will move to the countryside!
Tong Jiahui's explanation was very reasonable, and the villagers began to sympathize with the family. Without a strong laborer, would they be able to earn enough food to eat in the future?
Even if their two eldest daughters are strong enough to work, it can't keep up with the younger ones who can't work and need to be taken care of.
"Don't worry that we won't be able to do much work. We are not afraid of hardship and fatigue. We will do the same amount of work and earn the same work points as most of the women in the village."
We sold my husband's job for a few hundred yuan and rented this house in the village. We're here to settle down and contribute to rural development, not to cheat or take advantage of others.
We will use our knowledge to build a better new countryside. Don't believe me? Ask the village chief; we paid ten years' worth of rent all at once!
This determination and statement improved the villagers' impression of the family considerably. They had money; if they didn't have enough food, they could buy more, so they didn't need to borrow from the village's reserve grain, and it wouldn't affect them.
"My husband's comrade-in-arms said that the people in our village are good and the atmosphere is upright, so we asked our friends in the county and commune to help our whole family move here."
Tong Jiahui's words also implied that she was trying to imply that the villagers also had powerful backers.
Sure enough, many people understood and thought it made sense. Without someone above them, the captain would definitely not want a family of women and children who wouldn't do much work and would cause a lot of trouble.
This time, everyone looked at their family with a more cautious eye.
"We hope to be part of the village and that everyone will accept us. I hereby promise that my daughters and I will not do anything to harm anyone's interests, and we will strive to bring honor to the village! Please supervise us!"
"Good! Well done! Welcome to Chenjiatun!"
Tong Jiahui, as expected of someone who works in propaganda, possesses exceptional language skills and persuasive abilities, which have earned her widespread applause from the villagers.
"Auntie, we'll be living in the same village from now on, so a little playful bickering won't hurt. My eldest daughter has a short temper and knows a bit of martial arts. She can't stand people talking badly about me. If you don't provoke her, she definitely won't bully anyone."
Tong Jiahui didn't say her daughter was wrong. If she hadn't firmly fought back when others said such bad things the first time, who knows how many more unpleasant things she would have said in the future!
Every village has a few shrewish women and one or two scoundrels. Coincidentally, Old Lady Lin was one such shrew. When she started cursing, the whole village could hear her, which earned her the nickname "Big Loudspeaker Lin."
"Captain, don't be fooled by their sweet talk; they're not very good at getting things done. That wild girl is ruthless; before I could even say anything, she slapped me several times!"
"Oh dear, I'm so old, and I'm being bullied by a little brat! Is there no justice in this world?! Captain, you have to stand up for me! They're bullying an old person, you have to call a meeting and criticize them!"
The brigade leader didn't want Old Lady Lin to cause trouble, so he said, "Alright, you know you're old enough as it is. Why bother arguing with a little brat? You're talking badly about her mother, and if she can't win an argument with you, she might just resort to violence!"
"So you're saying she's right to hit me?! Captain, why are you siding with outsiders?!"
"Don't talk about insiders or outsiders; I only stand on the side of reason. More than half the people in our village are from the Chen family. Have I protected the Chen family and bullied you outsiders? No, right?"
Old Mrs. Lin shut her mouth, thinking that when her son came back, she would put a sack over that wild girl's head and beat her until her head was a pig's!
Tong Yuheng: What, you want to steal my patent?
The captain turned to Tong Yuheng and said, "You're not right either. You just started hitting her without warning. Aunt Lin isn't some class enemy. Write a 500-word self-criticism and hand it in!"
"Captain, so from now on we'll only talk back when others insult us, and then we'll hit them back after they make the first move?" Linglong pretended not to understand and used words to trap him.
"What kind of talk is that! In any case, it's best not to fight!" The captain was shrewd enough not to fall for it.
"Yuheng, I didn't know you were so quick! Don't hit people so easily anymore. Give me the report tomorrow! Everyone, you can all leave now!"
The brigade leader made Tong Yuheng write a self-criticism, but didn't make her apologize to Lin Dalaba. However, this appeased Lin Dalaba, and she left angrily without making any more noise.
The village aunties and grandmas also realized that the girls in this family were quite formidable and not to be trifled with. They all decided not to get too close to them; they weren't on the same wavelength.
"You don't need to argue with the women in the village anymore. It's not good for young women to swear; it'll ruin their reputation," Tong Jiahui instructed the children.
"Okay, Mom," Linglong nodded in agreement.
"Mom, we didn't come to the countryside to be bullied. If anyone provokes us, we'll beat them up!" Yuyao said. Xiao Wu and the others next to her raised their fists in agreement.
Tong Yuheng chuckled. Her younger sisters were so cute. She said to Yuyao, "Who wrote my 500-word self-criticism? Yuyao, why don't you do it?"