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

Chapter 350 Ximen Village Seeks Help
Su Tai smiled and pondered for a moment, then said, "The last batch of cattle and sheep will be delivered after this year's autumn harvest. We can start construction once the Daxun River freezes over."

They have already repaired the ports on both sides of the river and fastened the wooden piles and iron chains. Once the river freezes, they can fasten the iron chains connecting the two banks first. When the snow melts in the spring, they can drive the reinforcing stone piles into the middle of the river and then begin laying the leather bridge deck.

As for the reinforcing stone piles, they were naturally processed by Su Tai's Fire Time and Space Brick Kiln Factory. Made with special raw materials for bridge piers, the stone piles are absolutely stable and sturdy.

The two construction workers went from frowning at first to suddenly understanding and began to have a vague sense of anticipation for the project.

That evening, Shen Yi returned from Daxun River, and the three of them sat together to discuss the bridge repair in detail. For the next few days, You Kang and Tian Ziyan seemed to live by Daxun River. Except for returning to the village to eat, they spent the rest of their time writing and drawing, and no one knew what they were writing.

Shen Yi was very busy, and Su Tai, being a woman, couldn't stay with them all the time, so she could only have Shen Yuezhang and Shen Congrong accompany her and occasionally help them out.

The siblings benefited greatly from being around two knowledgeable people.

Su Tai observed for two days and, seeing that the children were happy and You Kang and Tian Ziyan were at ease, stopped interfering and simply made some fresh snacks to send to the riverbank every day.

The busy days continued until the end of the autumn harvest.

After the crops were harvested, the villagers of Shenjiazhuang did not dare to delay at all. They immediately turned over the soil, burned the wheat stalks and weeds, and then used the waste as fertilizer.

After fertilizing the fields, everyone neglected them, leaving them to rot. Just then, Ke Dasong led several hundred people and herded tens of thousands of cattle and sheep into the village, and the villagers all pitched in to work.

Su Chunlin also brought villagers from Dongmen Village and Zhongmen Village to work and pay them wages.

When the people of Ximen Village saw that they were all from the same township, they realized that no one would include them in any good things. Of the three villages, Dongmen Village was rolling in money, Zhongmen Village followed Dongmen Village and ate scraps, and the villagers were doing just fine. Only Ximen Village had nothing. They had followed the trend of planting crabapples before and only started to make a profit in the last two years. But now that more people in Moshi Town were planting crabapples, and they didn't have any connections, they could only sell them at low prices to merchants who came to the countryside.

The families in Dongmen Village and Zhongmen Village who grow crabapples can sell their fruit to the Su family, who offer fair prices.

The villagers of Ximen Village had long been dissatisfied with the comparison, and when they heard that the Su family was making money with two other villages while leaving Ximen Village out, the villagers couldn't sit still any longer and went to the village chief Gao Zhi's house to make a scene.

"Village chief, we can't continue to be at odds with Dongmen Village, otherwise the young men and women in the village will have trouble finding husbands!"

"Yes! A while ago, my son finally found a wife, but as soon as the other party heard that we were from Qingsha Township, they immediately started asking around, asking if we grew fruit, how much money we made, how big our house was, and how much land we owned. I didn't know how to answer them."

"Let's not even talk about Dongmen Village, just look at Zhongmen Village. Who still lives in those dilapidated thatched houses now! Even the worst ones have newly built mud-brick houses. What about our village? Half of the ten households are impoverished. What hope is there for us?"

The villagers were very disheartened and had many complaints, which put even more pressure on Gao Zhi.

The more he thought about it, the more he regretted it. The incident started with the water dispute and escalated because the Xiong and Mo families broke off their engagement. That incident also completely offended Dongmen Village and Shen Yi. Now Xiong Kai was dead, and his parents and son were nowhere to be found. On the Mo family side, Mo Laotian had lost one son, and the remaining son had broken off with them and separated from the family because the old couple were not clear-headed.

Mo Chunxiang is also ruined; the villagers don't even want to cause trouble for them.

Sigh! If he hadn't favored the Xiong and Mo families back then, would things have been different?

Thinking of this, Gao Zhi looked several years older. He struggled to stand up and said weakly, "I'll take some things to Dongmen Village and see if I can find some things for everyone to do."

This was the only method he could think of. When Gao Zhi arrived at Dongmen Village, he found that only some elderly, weak, and children remained in the village. The young men and women had all gone out to work. As the village chief, Su Changxi could not go with them, so he stayed in the village to oversee things.

Seeing Gao Zhi arrive with a pile of things, he had a vague idea of ​​what was going on.

"Village Chief Gao, what brings you here? Do you need something from me?"

Faced with Su Changxi's sarcastic remarks, Gao Zhi was completely speechless, only able to sigh with a worried expression, "Village Chief Su, I really have no other choice but to beg you, please see if you can help our Ximen Village."

Su Changxi never expected that Gao Zhi, who had never bowed down to him during the years of drought, would suddenly become submissive now that everyone's lives had improved.

"Are you possessed by an evil spirit?!"

Gao Zhi raised his eyelids in frustration, glanced at him, and continued to sigh.

This left Su Changxi at a loss. "Hey! Why are you worrying so much at your age! You wouldn't have to worry about anything if you weren't the village chief!"

"Easy for you to say!" Gao Zhi became even more depressed.

Seeing his expression, Su Changxi frowned as well. "Here's what we'll do. I'll ask around at Daxun River if they need any workers. If they do, I'll let you know. But let's make it clear first: you choose the people. Don't choose those who cause trouble or who don't get along with the Chunlin and Shenyi families, so it won't be awkward for everyone and will affect other people's earnings."

"Alright, alright! Then I'll wait for your news, brother!" Gao Zhi looked at Su Changxi pitifully, turning back every few steps as he left.

This gave Su Changxi goosebumps all over.

After everyone left, Huang came out with a long face and asked, "You really intend to help?"

Su Changxi chuckled and touched his nose. "We have to help him for my brother's sake! As the township head, my brother is in charge of several villages, and Ximen Village is the poorest of them all. It doesn't look good on him. Now some people are saying that he's taking revenge for personal reasons. I get angry when I hear that. Now that Gao Zhilai has bowed his head and apologized, we can't be so heartless."

If this succeeds, Ximen Village will owe us a great debt of gratitude.

After hearing his analysis, Huang's expression softened a bit. "If you want to go, then go. Come back soon. Also, don't force Shen Yi. If he really doesn't want to, then don't say anything more!"

"I understand, I understand!" Su Changxi quickly drove the donkey cart away.

It was already dark when he arrived at Shenjiazhuang, just as Shen Yi returned.

After the two shared a drink, Su Changxi revealed his purpose, "Shen Yi! I wanted to ask if you need any more people here?"

Shen Yi nodded without hesitation, "We do need a lot of people this year, and we'll need manpower until next spring. Does Uncle have anyone to do the work?"

"Yes, yes, yes." Su Changxi nodded with a smile, then sighed and told him about Gao Zhi from Ximen Village coming to see him.

“I’m just here to make this trip for him. If it doesn’t work out, then forget it. I’ll find an excuse to get rid of him later.”