Volume 1, Chapter 19: The Entire Village Springs into Action, Defying All Infamy!

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Tang Xionghua had already planned to expand his purchasing scope. Seeing that the villagers were all concerned about this matter, he naturally announced to everyone:

“I was just about to tell you all about this. I specifically asked a friend at the county feed factory, and he said there’s still a strong demand for dried small fish and shrimp.”

“Let me collect a bit more from the village. I came back this time to tell everyone that from now on, the whole village can get involved.”

“But it’s limited to our village only, no other villages. Otherwise, we’d have too much to handle.”

“So, I hope everyone keeps this within the village and doesn’t let others bring their catch here. Each household roughly knows how much they can handle. If it’s too much, I won’t buy it anymore!”

Hearing this, everyone instantly brightened with joy.

“Really, Xionghua? You better keep your word!”

“That’s great! Don’t worry, Xionghua, you’re working for the village’s benefit. We won’t let outsiders interfere and cause trouble.”

“Exactly! If anyone tries to spoil this, we won’t stand for it. The whole village will resist!”

...

Immediately, the twenty or so people gathered in the yard all expressed their agreement.

Tang Xionghua could rest assured that the rules would not be broken.

At the same time, they showered him with endless praise!

Fortunately, Tang Xionghua’s mind was full of business thoughts and he wasn’t swayed by the villagers’ exaggerated admiration.

He continued, “Alright, thank you all for your support! Starting tomorrow, you can go collect. Just bring the goods directly to my house. My old man will be responsible for weighing. Whatever you bring, I’ll buy on the spot and settle the payment immediately!”

“Yay! Finally, we can go fishing in the river!”

“Xionghua is great—he’s been a role model for the village youth since childhood, truly capable.”

“Yeah, that old Jixiang really raised a good son!”

...

The villagers kept praising him as they gradually dispersed back to their homes.

Watching their departing figures, Tang Yichen approached his father with a sly smile, “Dad, it must feel pretty good to be admired like this, huh?”

“It does feel good,” Tang Xionghua smiled and nodded, not bothering to put on a front in front of his son.

At that moment, Tang Yichen shifted his tone, “People are like that. They’re praising you now because you bring them benefits. Dad, don’t get too carried away.”

“I guarantee once word gets out about our business and they see how much profit you’re making, they won’t praise you anymore. Behind your back, they’ll call you a bloodsucker, a wicked capitalist with no conscience…”

“Of course, not everyone is like this, but some will feel uneasy.”

“Ah, well…” Tang Xionghua frowned deeply, lost in thought.

He obviously knew this was true.

But deep down, he didn’t want people stabbing him in the back, even though he felt he hadn’t done anything wrong.

“Secrets can’t be kept forever. This will be known sooner or later. Yichen, do you think this might damage your grandfather’s or uncle’s and aunt’s reputation in the village?”

Tang Xionghua asked with furrowed brows, clearly worried.

“We haven’t done anything morally wrong; what’s there to worry about reputation for?” Tang Yichen shook his head firmly.

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Tang Yichen’s reason for pouring cold water on his dad at this critical moment was simply to keep him grounded.

When people get arrogant, bad things happen.

As for being criticized behind your back, it’s unavoidable.

If you have ability and stand out, people will accuse you of showing off.

If you don’t have ability and keep quiet, people will call you useless.

The only difference is that when you have more skills and more people know you, the number of critics behind your back also increases.

As long as your conduct is upright, you needn’t fear unjust criticism. These are necessary trials on the road to success.

Over the next thirty-plus years, social wealth gaps widened noticeably.

Tang Yichen was very familiar with hatred of the rich and envy.

But his father, Tang Xionghua, hadn’t experienced this. In this era, most people were still relatively poor, with a mindset favoring “you win, I win, everyone wins.”

Tang Yichen continued, “Dad, I’m just reminding you to be mentally prepared.”

“You don’t have to take it too seriously. The more you experience, the more people will naturally accept it.”

“To be honest, these dried small fish and shrimp in the village are actually worth this price. We’re paying 90 cents per unit, which is even a bit higher than the market price.”

“We’re providing an extra income channel for everyone, so it’s natural they’re grateful to you.”

“As for those who complain you’re making too much and curse you behind your back, that’s just jealousy and imbalance.”

“Do you think we can just leave money on the table or publicize this business for everyone to share?”

“That’s impossible. If some people earn more and others less, it would cause even more resentment and criticism.”

“We’ll have more opportunities to earn more money in the future. Once you succeed, you’ll inevitably face criticism.”

“That’s okay. If you’re uncomfortable with it, wait until you have enough ability to do more for the hometown, giving everyone more choices and opportunities.”

“As long as you genuinely help people, I believe the villagers will sincerely appreciate you.”

“People’s hearts are tender, and justice resides within them!”

Tang Yichen’s words enlightened Tang Xionghua.

He nodded knowingly, “Indeed, we should focus on lifting ourselves out of poverty first and think about the future later.”

No matter what, he couldn’t let envy keep him poor for life.

That made no sense.

He had already suffered the painful memory of watching Tang Yichen’s mother pull out her tubes and commit suicide because of poverty. He never wanted to endure that again!

After composing themselves, the father and son returned inside to prepare for dinner.

Since returning from Chuzhou, they hadn’t eaten a single bite and were starving.

At this moment, the family was all together, each wearing a smile.

“Xionghua, Yichen, come sit down and eat.”

Unexpectedly, the warmest welcome came from the usually stingy elder aunt.

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Usually, when Tang Xionghua brought Tang Yichen back to the countryside, the elder aunt didn’t smile much.

Of course, it wasn’t that she disliked Tang Xionghua and his son or that there was any feud between the families.

It was simply because she worked dawn to dusk, exhausted, yet barely earned any money.

Still struggling to make ends meet...

Who could wear a cheerful face every day under those conditions?

But now, things were different!

For the past week or so, the elder aunt had been able to catch about twenty pounds of small fish and shrimp daily.

On average, that was about seven or eight yuan a day, totaling fifty or sixty yuan.

Grandpa Jiaxiang’s catches were similar. Since the elder aunt and grandpa still ate together at the same table, this sudden extra income meant they could even afford meat at the dinner table and add a bit more oil to their stir-fried vegetables.

How could they not be happy?

And all these changes in such a short time were thanks to Tang Xionghua.

“All right, sister-in-law, you’ve worked hard. Come and join us,” Tang Xionghua said with a smile as he sat down.

Honestly, the elder aunt had indeed worked hard these days. Besides household chores, she helped handle the small fish and shrimp, assisted grandpa with collecting them, and at the day’s end, prepared meals with grandma for the whole family.

“My dear grandson Yichen, come here and give grandma a kiss!”

Grandma emerged from the kitchen, barely washing her hands, and hugged Tang Yichen, showering him with kisses.

The old lady’s drool covered Tang Yichen’s face—a blissful annoyance...

“Grandma, I’m your grandson too, can’t I have some kisses?” Tang Yifan, jealous, rolled his eyes nearby.

Grandma was in a good mood today and went over to Yifan too.

But Yifan dodged and complained, “I’m just joking, it’s all drool. People would laugh at me to death!”

“You little rascal!” Grandma scolded playfully.

“Ha ha ha...” The whole family burst out laughing.

“Let’s eat, today we have meat,” Grandpa Tang Jiaxiang, the head of the family, announced.

“Wait, Dad.” Tang Xionghua noticed someone missing from the table.

He suggested, “I’ll go call Kunfei and Chunhua. They probably haven’t eaten yet.”

Hearing that he wanted to call his sister and brother-in-law, uncle Tang Jianhua asked, “What’s up, Ah Xionghua? Is there something you need to tell them?”

“Yeah, I do,” Tang Xionghua answered straightforwardly without hiding anything.