After being jilted, the entire neighboring village was filled with deep regret.

Chapter 197 Inside Story
Madam Zeng became interested. "That's easy. Didn't Shen Zhuang's eldest son marry the Wei family girl from Liujiazhuang? Shen Mu's big dog is also engaged to the Wei family's second daughter. Just have them go over and tell the Wei family to keep an eye out for him."
As for the township head, that's easy to say. Just tell him that no one in the village with children wants to take them, and ask the township head to take the children away and make other arrangements. Don't mention Shen the Cripple either. I don't believe the township head would be willing to take on this hot potato!
I'll have to go explain things to Shen Yi later, so he doesn't misunderstand and think we don't care about the villagers!

Upon reflection, Shen Ying realized that this was indeed the case. He had been blinded by the promises made by the township head. Once he understood, he immediately went to Shen Mu's house.

The reason for choosing Shen Dagou was that he was not yet married, and if he frequently visited Liujiazhuang, others would not think too much about it.

Upon learning this, Shen Dagou immediately agreed.

Shen Ying breathed a sigh of relief before leisurely heading to Liu Guangyao's house in Liujiazhuang.

"Township Chief, I've come to talk to you about something." Shen Ying entered the house unhurriedly.

Liu Guangyao quickly led him to a corner of the yard to talk, "What's wrong?"

Shen Ying sighed and shook her head. "Mayor, I've been looking for suitable families in the village as you requested, but there are only a few, and nobody is willing to raise her! How about I bring the child here with me, and you can try to find someone for her again?"

Liu Guangyao's face immediately fell. "Shen Ying, you're not being honest! What? Haven't I taken care of you? If there's been any benefit, I've brought shame upon your Shen family village. Now, all I'm doing is finding an adoptive family for a child, and you're making excuses. That's not fair!"

Shen Ying was even more worried and slapped her thigh hard. "Township Chief! You've really wronged me! Just now, I invited Shen Yi and his wife, who are the wealthiest family in our village, to come over. I tried everything, from gentle persuasion to threats, but they just wouldn't agree. Plus, they have both a son and a daughter and really don't want to raise them. What could I do?"

"That Su family has the entire Dongmen Village backing her up. I've heard that Su Changfu, the mayor of Qingsha Township, has an excellent relationship with the town official, and Shen Yi himself also has connections with the town official. Do you really think I, a mere village head, can force them?"

Liu Guangyao pursed his lips and remained silent.

Shen Ying raised an eyebrow and sighed again, "If the township head really wants Shen Yi and his wife to adopt that child, I'm willing to risk turning against them. But I'm afraid they'll send the child to the town to ask the town official for help. The town official already has a lot of misunderstandings about you, and I'm afraid it will implicate you!"

These words made Liu Guangyao's face even uglier.

Town official Liu Tiechui is from Liujiazhuang, but he lost both his parents at a young age and did not receive any help from the villagers. Instead, he experienced all kinds of hardships in the village and was treated coldly by his relative. Not only did he lose face with Liu Tiechui, he was also often picked on. If Shen Yi really exposed the matter, it would be terrible.

"Alright, alright, what can I do now that you've said that?" Liu Guangyao frowned and waved his hand in annoyance, no longer intending to entertain Shen Ying.

Shen Ying, shameless as ever, pressed on, "Should I bring the child to you?"

"What are you going to do with me?" Liu Guangyao was so shocked that he jumped up and took two steps back, avoiding me like the plague.

Shen Ying feigned a blank expression, "Isn't the township head going to find a good family for that child? We can't find a good family in our village, but we can find one in your village and other villages. As long as the township head gives the word, there will definitely be a response."

Liu Guangyao roared, his face ashen, "Get out! You clean up the mess in your village yourselves, I don't care anymore!"

This was exactly the result Shen Ying wanted, and she deliberately lingered with Liu Guangyao for quite a while before leaving. Only after the difficult Shen Ying was gone did Liu Guangyao head towards Niu Cuihua's house.

“Sister-in-law, I’ve come to tell you that no one wants that child. The Shen family in Shenjiazhuang is planning to send the child to the town official and leave him alone. I just gave Shen Ying a good scolding, and I reckon he won’t dare to do it. But I really can’t interfere with which family the child ends up with,” Liu Guangyao said with a sigh.

If it weren't for Niu Cuihua saving his grandson's life years ago, he wouldn't want to get involved in this kind of thing.

Niu Cuihua glared at him indignantly, "Then Shen Yi doesn't care either? Isn't the child near his house?"

Liu Guangyao said, "Shen Ying's idea is that Shen Yi and his wife are determined not to take care of them. If they really want to raise them, they will send them to the town official and let the government arrange it. You know the situation there. What kind of good life can a child have in a shelter? So I suppressed the matter. I guess Shen Ying will find another family for the child in Shenjia Village. The conditions probably won't be much better."

Niu Cuihua's eyes instantly reddened, filled with resentment and anger. "How could Shen Yi be so cold-blooded and heartless! If it weren't for his family, that child wouldn't have been abandoned. People like that deserve to be struck by lightning and die a horrible death!"

Liu Guangyao frowned. "Sister-in-law, you can be angry, but try to control yourself. Nobody knows the child's background right now. If the Shen family finds out, they'll definitely send the child back, and they might even have to ask your sister for money!"

Niu Cuihua felt a pang of sadness when she thought of her powerless younger sister. Her energy and spirit were visibly fading away, yet she still had to exchange polite greetings with the township head.

Wei Gang watched this scene from afar, feeling puzzled, but he quickly ignored it.

With spring plowing in full swing, his family decided to follow the trend and plant some watermelons and strawberries this year, making them the first in the entire Liujiazhuang village to do so. They were ridiculed quite a bit for it, but to save face, he had to work hard.

After noon, he finally managed to rest and sat on the edge of the field to catch his breath when he saw Shen Dagou coming over with a hoe. He was pleasantly surprised and asked, "What brings you here, kid?"

Shen Dagou grinned at Wei Gang and sat down beside him, mimicking his manner. "Uncle, I came here specifically to help. We don't have much land, and my dad is busy taking care of my younger siblings, so I came to check on things here."

"Hey! You're much more interesting than Shen Liang! Even when Shen Liang was arranging a marriage for Da Ya, you weren't as diligent as I am," Wei Gang teased without any reservations.

Shen Dagou shook his head seriously, "That's different. Shen Liang's family has much more land than ours! Before, there were only four people working in their family. They worked from dawn till dusk, barely managing to finish the farm work. They didn't have time to take care of anything else. Even now that there's one more person, they're still very busy."

I'm freer than them, so it's normal for me to come over and fawn over them, hehe.”

Wei Gang laughed heartily, unable to do anything about the shameless Shen Dagou.

Seeing that he was happy, Shen Dagou changed the subject and explained the purpose of his visit: "Uncle, this is something our village chief asked me to do. He didn't ask me to do anything specific, he just asked me to talk to you about it and ask you to keep an eye on it."

Upon hearing this, Wei Gang immediately became serious. "When you mention it, I do recall something strange. Today, while I was working, I saw your village chief coming from afar. I was thinking of going over to say hello, but when I saw him enter the township head's house, I didn't go over. I was thinking of going over after he left, but guess what happened?"