Era: Starting with the struggle to refuse being taken advantage of

Chapter 296 Regret
Upon being questioned, Aunt He immediately jumped up and shouted at the top of her lungs, "How could I possibly lie to you?"

"I spent two cents to buy this from the shopkeeper. I wouldn't have spent the money if it weren't for the fact that this matter concerns the fate of the entire Wangjia Village."

"Just you wait and see, by the end of the year, this year's work points will definitely be worth several times more than in previous years."

Aunt He truly lived up to her reputation as the village's intelligence captain; in order to obtain information, she even offered a hefty reward.

Although it was only two cents, its purchasing power in that era was not low. However, the purchase of a piece of news was a matter of opinion.

Upon hearing Aunt He say that she had spent money, Aunt Liu immediately stopped questioning it. In her mind, things bought with money are naturally good.

A hint of joy appeared on her face. Aunt Liu subconsciously looked in the direction of Dapeng Sugar Factory, a smile playing on her lips, and said:
"It's good that it's sold out, it's good that it's sold out."

"I was worried for a long time when I heard that Dapeng white wine was not selling well, but now I can finally put my mind at ease."

"No wonder I've been seeing Director Wang frequently heading out of the village lately, with a lot of stuff always on his bicycle. Turns out he's delivering goods."

At this point, Aunt Liu's expression turned wistful, and she said:

"What good fortune did Wang Fucheng's family burn? How come the whole family has suddenly become so successful?"

"First, Wang Fucheng killed the old director, turning Wangjia Village into a one-man show for the Wang family."

"Then Wang Zhong somehow got a job at the town's police station, and I even heard that he recently made some great contribution and is about to be promoted."

"Now even his most useless son, Wang Yong, has become our unapproachable Factory Director Wang. Looking at his hard-working and ambitious appearance every day, it's really hard to connect him with the street urchin who used to just loaf around and do nothing."

Speaking of Aunt Liu's words, Aunt He also recalled them, saying:
"Who says it's not?"

"The changes in Wang Yong are really significant; he never had this ability before."

At this point, Aunt He seemed to remember something and said mysteriously:

"Do you think the changes in the Wang family might be related to that so-called expert?"

"If there really is such a master, where would this master be, and how could he possess such great power?"

"Even if a master doesn't like us, I still have to pay him a visit. Maybe he can bring my family great fortune too?"

Faced with such a mystical explanation, Aunt Liu actually nodded in agreement and said:
"I reckon this expert must be in Shanghe City, because only a city could produce such a great person."

"That's just wishful thinking; we don't have that opportunity."

Aunt Liu paused for a moment, then said, "Oh, right, I have to tell everyone this good news."

“I reckon they are just as worried as I am about the Dapeng Sugar Factory. Now that there is finally some hope, we can’t let everyone live in fear again.”

She rolled her eyes at Aunt Liu and said irritably, "That's information I bought for two cents, how can you tell it to me?"

"You should rest well. If anyone should say anything, it should be me."

After rummaging in her pocket, Aunt Liu quickly pulled out a dime, tossed it to Aunt He, and said with a smile:
"It's the same as being broke."

"Take this penny; consider it as me buying half of the information from you."

“You go that way, I’ll go this way, let’s tell the whole Wangjia Village this good news together.”

If Aunt He really minded, she wouldn't have told Aunt Liu about it. Smiling, she pushed the money back, saying:

"Look at you, I was just joking with you, why are you getting so worked up?"

"I'll do as you say and go over there to spread the word."

"Today, the matter of switching to sugar beets is like a mountain weighing on the hearts of all the villagers in Wangjia Village. Although Wang Fucheng made a good promise at the beginning, saying that he would guarantee that everyone would get a share of the money."

"But nobody has ever handled this before, so we still don't know the answer."

"Now we finally have a result, which is really great news."

This is indeed good news, at least for the vast majority of people.

Zhao Yuju is getting old and doesn't do much work anyway; she spends most of her free time wandering around and killing time.

She looked ahead and saw a large group of people gathered together, talking about something.

Why don't you call me when you're discussing things?
With that thought in mind, Zhao Yuju went over to try and hear what the group of people in front of her were saying.

Before she could even get close, she heard Aunt Liu's loud voice coming from ahead:
"Everyone, the Dapeng white sugar from our village's sugar factory has sold out at the supply and marketing cooperative. We can look forward to the day when they come knocking on the door. We'll definitely get a lot of money at the end of the year."

"Some canteens are even actively seeking cooperation with sugar factories, which will allow them to sell a lot of grain coupons, so people won't have to worry about not being able to buy grain at the end of the year."

This explosive news immediately sparked a flurry of discussion among the crowd, with everyone offering their own opinions.

Zhao Yuju, who was about to squeeze in, froze on the spot, staring at Aunt Liu surrounded by the crowd, her eyes filled with disbelief.

What's going on? Everyone's saying that the white sugar produced by Dapeng Sugar Factory can't be sold, so how come it's suddenly sold out?
This is a scam! It's definitely a lie!

Zhao Yuju had just taken her son to the sugar factory and had a huge argument, which cost her the job she could have kept. She was one of the people who disliked the development of Dapeng Sugar Factory the most.

Her blood rushed to her head, and Zhao Yuju could no longer contain her anger, shouting:

"Liu Dazui, what rumors are you spreading here?"

“I went to the supply and marketing cooperative a while ago, and the salespeople there said that nobody was buying Dapeng white sugar, so how could it be sold out?”

Aunt Liu glanced at Zhao Yuju with disdain and explained:
"That's ancient history, who knows how many years ago. The current situation is that Dapeng white sugar is sold out. We have to go to the supply and marketing cooperative to deliver hundreds of bags of it every day or two."

"If I lied, may I never be able to eat fine grains for the rest of my life and may I have to eat cornbread every day."

Aunt Liu swore an oath, which immediately increased the credibility of her words.

However, Zhao Yuju refused to accept this and screamed, "Impossible! You must be lying to me. Dapeng Sugar Factory could never have developed like this!"

However, she regretted it as soon as she said it, but it was like spilled water that could not be taken back.

In fact, there are quite a few people who are not optimistic about Dapeng Sugar Factory; in fact, there are quite a few.

In their view, abandoning traditional planting and switching to sugar production methods using sugar beets is too risky and not a viable option at all.

Unfortunately, Wang Fucheng was the production team leader, and he had also killed Song Zhiyuan, who was at odds with him. Even if these people had such thoughts, they could only keep them to themselves.

After all, the die is cast. The Dapeng Sugar Factory is a matter of livelihood for the entire village. If they keep talking like that, Wang Fucheng won't even need to lift a finger; the other villagers who have high hopes for the Dapeng Sugar Factory could tear them apart.

Even when the future of Dapeng Sugar Factory was uncertain, the villagers were already committed to protecting its reputation. Now that the situation is settled and it's certain that Dapeng Sugar Factory can lead the villagers of Wangjia Village to a better life, even the small voices that once opposed it have disappeared.

It was precisely because of this that, faced with Zhao Yuju's outrageous remarks, some people immediately began to hurl insults:

"Zhao Yuju, what exactly is going on with you?"

"The fact that Dapeng sugar is selling out is a good thing for our entire Wangjia Village. How dare you curse the Dapeng Sugar Factory to go bankrupt?"

Immediately, another person chimed in: "Zhao Yuju, you usually do those shady things in secret and nobody cares, but now you're openly talking badly about Dapeng Sugar Factory in public."

"What? You're not a villager of Wangjia Village, so you can't stand to see our Wangjia Village doing well?"

At this point, their tone had become quite serious, but those people had no intention of letting Zhao Yuju off so easily. Aunt Liu even shouted at the top of her lungs:

"Oh, who do we have here? Isn't this Aunt Wang, the one who dragged her own grandson to the Dapeng Sugar Factory to yell at people?"

“Back then, I heard that you couldn’t stand seeing Dapeng Sugar Factory doing well, and you cursed the whole village’s hope to go bankrupt on the spot. I thought it was just someone spreading rumors.”

"Now it seems that this was not just a rumor, but a complete underestimation of your shamelessness."

"Fine, since you don't consider yourself a member of Wangjia Village, then you won't get a share of the year-end dividends. You'll just distribute them according to last year's ratio."

"After all, our village's dilapidated sugar factory is no match for someone as noble as you from another village."

Compared to her, Aunt Liu's attack was significantly stronger, leaving Zhao Yuju blushing and unable to utter a single word in rebuttal.

Seeing the "aggressive" attitude of her fellow villagers, Zhao Yuju finally managed to say, "I just misspoke, please don't take it to heart," before hurriedly running back towards her home.

If she stayed any longer, she was genuinely afraid that she would be drowned in the spittle of the crowd.

Watching Zhao Yuju's hasty departure, Aunt Liu cursed in an extremely loud voice:
"Pah, what a piece of trash, he just can't stand to see others doing well."

"He lost his secure job at the sugar factory because he couldn't distinguish right from wrong. Instead of repenting, he went even further."

"Now they're even cursing the sugar factory to go bankrupt. How could they have let such a piece of junk into our Wangjia Village in the first place?"

"Fortunately, Wang Tieshan's family separated from her quickly, otherwise who knows what kind of trouble she would have suffered."

"She was such an honest and hardworking person, but she was exploited and turned into the White-haired Girl. Her family members were all thin and their faces were pale and malnourished."

"They've only been separated for a short time, but look at Wang Tieshan's family, their health has improved so much."

Aunt Liu deliberately spoke very loudly, so that even though Zhao Yuju had walked quite a distance away, she could hear it clearly.

After she said that, not only Zhao Yuju's reputation was ruined, but even Wang Degong's reputation was tarnished.

Although they are still from Wangjia Village, they will inevitably be ostracized by everyone.

However, Zhao Yuju, whose face turned pale and then red after being scolded, did not have the courage to turn back. Instead, she quickened her pace of escape.

If she dares to turn around, someone will definitely be unable to resist spitting on her.

After running frantically for more than ten minutes, Zhao Yuju finally ran back to her own yard, panting heavily.

However, just as she was panting heavily, she heard Wang Desheng's concerned voice in her ear:

"Old woman, what's wrong with you? Why are you breathing like that?"

"Take a rest, I'll have them get you a glass of water."

Faced with Wang Degong's concern, Zhao Yuju's anger burned even more fiercely, and she burst into a tirade:
"Why are you pretending to care about me again? Aren't you just hoping to see me make a fool of myself?"

Wang Degong, who was being berated by Zhao Yuju, was completely baffled and asked loudly:
"Old woman, what's gotten into you?"

"I was just trying to be nice to you, but you acted like you'd just exploded and started cursing at everyone you met."

"If you want to talk things out properly, I'll listen. If you don't want to talk things out properly, I'm leaving."

Being scolded for no reason, Wang Degong lost his temper.

He was the head of the family, the absolute authority in the household. Zhao Yuju's actions were tantamount to disregarding him.

However, faced with Wang Degong's reprimand, Zhao Yuju cursed even more fiercely, saying:

"Go away, go away quickly, as if no one cares about you."

"If it weren't for..."

At this point, Zhao Yuju realized her slip of the tongue and quickly tried to correct herself:

"If you hadn't done something unnecessary back then, insisting on helping Xia An keep her job, I wouldn't be humiliated like this today."

Wang Degong: ...? ? ?
He really couldn't understand Zhao Yuju's thought process. She had begged and pleaded to keep Wang Xia'an's job, and now she was the one who had done something wrong.
Just as Wang Degong was somewhat bewildered, hurried footsteps came from outside, followed by Wang Jinshan's anxious voice:
"Father, Mother, something terrible has happened."

"When I first came back, I heard people say that Dapeng white sugar was not only not unsold, but was actually sold out."

"What's going on here? It wasn't like this a few days ago."

"By the way, Xia An's work."

"If the sugar factory had eventually developed, the jobs there would have been excellent. We shouldn't have done it in the first place..."

Upon hearing this, Wang Degong felt his blood rush to his head, and his vision went black as he nearly fainted.

Before he could even catch his breath, Wang Jinshan's mouth started rattling off like a machine gun:

"By the way, on my way back I also passed by the village bulletin board and saw the notice of punishment for Xia An by Dapeng Sugar Factory."

"Not only did they say that Xia An would be expelled, but they also added the words 'never to be hired'."

"Father, Mother, what should we do about this?!"

At this point, Wang Jinshan's eyes lit up, and he looked at Wang Degong with eager anticipation, saying:
"Dad, didn't you easily help Xia An keep her job last time?"

"Why don't you give it another try this time? You don't want to see your own grandson unable to find a job, do you?"

Hearing Wang Jinshan's self-righteous words, Wang Degong finally couldn't hold back any longer. He couldn't catch his breath and fainted, collapsing to the ground.

(End of this chapter)