Countdown to Awakening

Ma Hui shouted at the crowd, "I'm doing this for the good of the village. If these beasts bite anyone, who will you turn to?"

Qi Yuanyuan opened her mouth to say something, but Zheng Haifeng pointed at Ma Hui's nose and said, "Stop flattering yourself. We know exactly what kind of person you are."

"You..." Ma Hui turned to Sun Pandi, who was afraid to speak, and said, "Pandi, do you also think that what I did was wrong? I'm doing this for the good of our village. You're the most well-behaved of the three. Unlike those two who talk back to me... After all, I'm your elder... You're so rude..."

Although Sun Pandi didn't say a word, she still felt that Ma Hui was disgusting in her heart.

What kind of elder is she? If she were an elder, she wouldn't have said she wanted to marry me... She's really just trying to establish kinship wherever she can, she's completely shameless!

"Don't talk about these nonsense. Just tell me how you are going to deal with it. You have poisoned the dogs in two villages. If you don't say something useful, believe it or not, I will go to your house and throw dirty water on you right now?!" After Zhang Mei finished speaking, she raised the spoon and pointed at Ma Hui.

Ma Hui still didn't want to do anything, so he asked, "I... I've already killed it, what else can you do? Do you want me to go to town and buy you a dog? That's impossible! I don't know how filthy that animal is!"

Zhang Mei was unyielding: "Pay me money! Pay me money! If you don't, I'll bring people to your doorstep! You won't live in peace for a single day!"

The rest of the villagers also supported her.

Seeing this, Ma Hui suddenly became nervous. He was being asked to pay compensation for a beast?! This was ridiculous! So he said reluctantly, "Is it really that serious for a beast? Are you so kind to your own parents? The dog was useless. You still want me to pay compensation? Then what about my son Qiangzi being bitten? Isn't it fair?"

"Stop talking nonsense! Just go find whoever's dog bit your son Qiangzi. What's the point of involving these innocent dogs? The dog from the neighboring village bit your precious son, but you didn't go find their family. Instead, you caught a dog in your own village and poisoned it? Who do you think you are?!" Zhang Mei ignored what he said.

"You..." Ma Hui was furious.

Naturally, some villagers supported Zhang Mei. "That's right. If this continues, there won't be any dogs left in the village. They're just guarding the house when we need them, but when we don't, they can't survive. Do you have the final say in this village?"

Seeing that the villagers all supported Zhang Mei, Qi Yuanyuan's mouth corners suddenly curled up.

Seeing so many people supporting Zhang Mei, Ma Hui felt a bit trapped. He turned around and looked at his two subordinates. He couldn't help but mutter inwardly, "You idiots! You can't even do a job properly!"

Then Ma Hui changed the subject: "Tang Qing'an, seeing how much you support Widow Zhang, is there some unspeakable secret between you and Widow Zhang?! An old lover, right? You need to tell your wife about this..."

Zhang Mei was not happy when she heard this: "Bah! Ma Hui, why are you so mean?!"

The other villagers were also talking in low voices, but they were not talking about Zhang Mei. Instead, they were saying that Ma Hui wanted to default on his debt and not pay the money.

Who would be happy about a healthy dog ​​being poisoned to death? And he doesn't even want to pay for it?

Then Ma Hui said to everyone, "Okay, okay, let's not talk about anything else. I'll pay you back. The last thing my Ma family needs is money... But first, let me change my clothes. I stink..."

Only then did everyone relax and follow him all the way to the door of the Ma family.

When they arrived at the Ma family’s door, Qi Yuanyuan took a closer look.

Oh my god, the Ma family is indeed the richest in the village...

This building is similar to a small house, but the yard is bigger than others. It is not used to dry crops, but is full of flowers and plants. It is a real small mansion in the style of the Republic of China...

With these conditions, I wonder how much my pockets will be filled...

After a while, Ma Hui actually changed his clothes. Anyone could see that he was reluctant.

He didn't allow the villagers to enter his yard. He said he was afraid that those doing dirty work in the fields would dirty the ground in his yard...

Naturally, the villagers were not happy to enter his yard.

Qi Yuanyuan rolled her eyes. She was speechless. The Ma family was only the richest in the village. In her time, it was nothing...

Ma Hui took the money and distributed it to the dog owners reluctantly.

"You've taken it all, right? If you've taken it all, go back and don't show up at my doorstep!" Ma Hui said unhappily.

Old Li held Wangcai in his arms and the money, saying, "You've compensated us with the money, but who knows if you'll poison the dogs again? What if you kill someone in the village? No, you have to sign a document! Promise that you won't harm dogs again!"

Everyone thought it made sense. Tang Qing'an said, "That's right. Our dog is guarding the house. If you poison it to death, where can we go to seek justice? We have to write a letter of guarantee and put our fingerprints on it!"

The village chief took out paper, pen and official seal from his pocket.

No one would find it strange because the village chief always carried these things with him.

Someone brought a stool for the village chief to sit on. After he sat down, he began to write something.

Qi Yuanyuan stared at the village chief.

His hair was almost entirely white, like the countless white clouds in the sky. Time had also left indelible marks on his face—those intricate wrinkles. They seemed to tell the story of his life...

He looked like he was already over 70 years old. Thinking of this, Qi Yuanyuan couldn't help but feel a mixture of joy and sorrow. She was happy that the village chief was still working so hard at his age, but she was worried that there wasn't anyone else in the village who was as dedicated as him, which was why he was still sitting in that position...

Everyone was silent for a while, and after watching the village chief fill a piece of paper, they turned their eyes to Ma Hui.

"Sign it." The village chief pushed the paper away, then looked up at Ma Hui.

"Village Chief, that's not enough! He should pick it up and read it like they do on TV. I think it's called an oath... Well, anyway, just make him pick it up and read it!"

Although the villagers didn't understand, they all thought it made sense.

Ma Hui was about to complain a few words, but when he met the gazes of other people, he dared not complain a single word.

He picked up the paper, read its contents aloud, and then signed and put his fingerprints on it.

Old Li seemed to be crying with joy: "That's right! It will prevent him from harming other people's good dogs again! If you poison and kill other people's dogs again in the future, you will not have a good death!"

He hated Ma Hui so much when he thought about his Wangcai being poisoned to death! His good Wangcai was gone just like that!

Ma Hui suddenly remembered something and shouted to the crowd, "What about my son? I'll pay the money, but what about Qiangzi being bitten?"

The villagers scoffed. "What's this got to do with us? Go find the dog's owner. You want us to chip in money for your son? Don't even think about it! Aren't your Ma family the ones most in need of money? Why are you thinking about our money now?"

In fact, everyone knows how the Ma family got their money. Besides their small business in the city, aren't some of them just plundering the people's wealth?

Even those small businesses of his family are not sure whether they can be seen in the light...

The crowd dispersed.

Qi Yuanyuan, Sun Pandi, and Zheng Haifeng returned together. They had been like this since childhood, and it was still the same now.

But many people would gossip about her behind her back. Seeing that Qi Yuanyuan was not easy to bully, they started to talk about Sun Pandi and Zheng Haifeng.

But Zheng Haifeng wasn't one to be trifled with, so they changed their target and focused solely on Sun Pandi. They all knew the rumors in the village. But Sun Pandi hadn't responded to anyone. So, let them talk. She was bound to leave the village sooner or later anyway...

It wouldn't matter as long as she left the village to go to college. Everything that happened here had nothing to do with her. Once she got to Youcheng, no one would force her to marry Ma Hui, and no one would keep talking about her.