Chapter 166: Villagers' Meeting with Ulterior Motives

"Yes, she really came to see me last night, but she only came to see me about something; it's not at all what you guys imagined." Ye Cheng originally wanted to say that Zhang Guafu was trying to seduce him, but thinking it would also be bad for her reputation, he changed his words to say there was something else.

Seeing Ye Cheng's serious, not-like-lying demeanor, Ye Guowei felt a bit shaken,

"You really didn't do it with her?"

"What nonsense, big bro, I'm this handsome—of course I can get women if I want; why would I need someone that old?"

"Besides, you don't see you looking for women either; you're still single." Jiang Yunxiang interjected quietly.

Ye Cheng's face darkened with black lines; "My sister-in-law, is this really the time to say that?"

Ye Guowei gave his wife a glance, then continued, "That's good, that's good; those villagers love to gossip, spreading everywhere that you've slept with her—I really thought you'd lost your mind, it scared me."

"Exactly, A Cheng, you don't know how convincing they sound—me and your big bro are worried sick; she's a widow, and so much older than you—if you really got involved with her, we wouldn't know how to advise you." Jiang Yunxiang also started lecturing Ye Cheng, chattering away.

Ye Cheng's ears were ringing; he hurriedly pulled out money to interrupt them, "Sister-in-law, this is the money from selling oyster pearls today—please take it."

The money should go to the sister-in-law; giving it to big bro Ye Guowei basically won't be accepted.

Sure enough, Jiang Yunxiang took the money, glanced at it, and exclaimed, "Wow, that's a lot—several thousand dollars?"

"Yeah, we sold ten thousand; we split it half and half."

"That wouldn't do; these are the oysters you got, we can't take the money." Ye Guowei waved his hand, wanting to refuse.

Ye Cheng quickly said, "No, big bro, there's also a pearl that Dou Dou ate in here; oysters are just a few bucks each, and not everyone can get a pearl from them—I've already deducted the oyster cost, you can rest easy."

Hearing Ye Cheng mention that his own son also got a pearl, Ye Guowei felt an inexplicable pride and wasn't so insistent on refusing the money.

"Sister-in-law, take it; I've deducted the oyster cost."

Jiang Yunxiang smiled and took it, saying, "All right, I'll take it, A Cheng."

"Take it, must take it; I've got nothing else to do, I'll head out now." After handing over the money, Ye Cheng planned to leave—staying here to be lectured was pointless.

Just then, a loud, rough voice with some static rang out in the air,

"Hey, hey, hello everyone, I'm Village Chief Chen Jinhai; please have each household send one person at 6:30 PM for the village committee meeting."

"I'll repeat: I'm Chen Jinhai, come to the meeting at 6:30."

Ye Cheng looked at his big bro doubtfully, "Anything big happening in the village lately?"

Usually, if there's nothing major, the village wouldn't hold a villager assembly; the village committee is elected every five years, and it seems not yet time for re-election.

Ye Guowei scratched his head, "I haven't heard of anything big; we'll talk after we go tonight. It's not early either—why don't you eat something here, then we'll go together later."

Ye Cheng is already an adult, and mainly because he's separated from the family, he counts as an independent household and thus has the right to participate.

Ye Cheng checked the time; it was indeed late, so he agreed.

The two ate something casually, timed it, then set out; the village committee building is now better than before, with a meeting room, so no need to bring little stools—before you had to bring your own.

Along the way, they ran into several groups of people; Ye Guowei greeted each, asking what they were up to tonight, but nobody knew.

"That old fox Chen Jinhai is surely up to no good," Ye Cheng said.

After saying that, he felt a twitch; using the excuse of a smoke break, he went out to make a call, letting Xiao Hu come over—he had a premonition that it likely concerned him, and without backup he'd be at a disadvantage.

After hanging up, Ye Cheng followed Ye Guowei toward the village committee.

Baiyun Village isn't huge, nor is it tiny; it has several dozen households big and small.

A crowd noisily plopped onto the stools; most were men, not caring about image, then lit up cigarettes—damn, the PM2.5 went off the charts, Ye Cheng could barely tolerate it.

Fortunately the meeting room windows were large; opening both sides cleared a lot of the smoke smell.

At 6:30, a coughing sound came from outside, then Chen Jinhai rushed in, shouting at the crowd,

"Come, come, put out the cigarettes—the elder's here; he can't stand this much smoke."

"The elder's here?"

Ye Guowei suddenly felt an ominous premonition; he glanced at Ye Cheng.

Others also glanced at Ye Cheng; lately the only thing connected to the elder is Ye Cheng—he said Ye Cheng offended the Sea Dragon King, and now they've suddenly called a meeting, so it's probably about him.

Ye Cheng's expression didn't change; he coldly stared at Chen Jinhai, wondering what he could do.

Chen Jinhai and a clansman nephew helped the elder Chen inside; the old man's name—whatever, everyone's forgotten—he's 90, stooped; supposedly when young he was also a tall 1.8‑meter guy, but now he's old and shrunken.

Taking the chance, Ye Cheng looked back; Xiao Hu was already seated behind him, which eased Ye Cheng considerably—on some matters, even his own older brother might not support him as much as Xiao Hu does.

"Um, everyone quiet down—today we called you because the elder has something to say." Chen Jinhai pressed his hand down, signaling everyone to stop talking.

The hall quieted; everyone craned their necks, wanting to see what the elder would actually say.

"Hey, hey, cough cough." The elder coughed twice into the mic, then shakily rose to his feet, looked around, and began to speak,

"Not long ago I dreamed of the Dragon King, who said that in our village someone is using dark arts to drive away the sea."

As soon as he finished, murmurs rose from below; many started glancing secretly at Ye Cheng.

That rumor had been heard by many before, but this time it was said in a formal setting—so it's different.

As for whether the Dragon King is real or not, that's beyond their consideration; they've already taken it as true.

Ye Cheng looked up at the ceiling, saying nothing.

The elder continued, "The Dragon King said, if this person keeps doing this, he will bring punishment upon our village; then when we go out to sea we won't catch any fish."

As fishermen, not catching fish is like cursing the farmer elders who can't grow crops—it's rather vicious.

Now the people below couldn't sit still; they began to shout.

"No, who is it? You go offend whoever yourself—you're making it so the villagers have no livelihood."

"Exactly, this is cutting off people's livelihood—Village Chief, who is it?"

"Speak up, let's see who it is."