Chapter 414

·

·

·

Protagonist:

Li Xiulan

Wang Xiaohua roughly understood the basic situation, thought for a moment, and then gave his suggestion.

"Actually, there's no need to collect annual fees door-to-door; we just need to have the villagers who newly connect to the tap water pay a lump sum, use that money as a maintenance fund, and it should last for a while. Now many people working outside have returned to the village to build houses, and they'll definitely need to install tap water for their new houses. Charging several hundred yuan per new household for the tap water connection fee is perfectly reasonable."

Zhang Zhongtian's eyes lit up upon hearing this suggestion:

"Your idea is good! New houses connecting to tap water indeed need to be charged; if it's free, it's unfair to the villagers who contributed labor and effort to the tap water project earlier, and most villagers probably won't have any objections to collecting this fee either."

Zhang Zhongtian immediately laughed and praised:

"Xiao Hua, your mind is indeed more flexible."

Then he asked Wang Zhanggen:

"Zhanggen, what do you think of Xiao Hua's suggestion?"

Wang Zhanggen did not answer immediately, but asked:

"Then the new house we're building now, does it still need to pay the tap water connection fee?"

Wang Zhanggen cared most about his own interests; as for the village collective's long-term interests, he didn't care and didn't want to bother with them — after all, he wasn't a village cadre, so why should he bother?

"Yours is a new house built on the foundation of the old house; this situation doesn't require an additional fee, otherwise it would be duplicate charging. We only charge for houses built on new foundations, and only once per household."

Wang Zhanggen's expression eased a bit upon hearing this.

"Then you decide yourself; you're the one who calls the shots in the village."

Wang Zhanggen said this.

Zhang Zhongtian stood up laughing:

"Alright then, I'll go back and plan carefully — how to carry out the work specifically, how much to charge each new household — all this needs proper planning. Once I've worked it out, I'll convene all the villagers for a collective meeting and publicly solicit opinions on the fees."

When Zhang Zhongtian was leaving, he didn't forget to praise Wang Xiaohua once more:

"Xiao Hua, you truly live up to being the most educated in our village; your mind is so sharp!"

Wang Xiaohua was a bit embarrassed by the praise, only laughing awkwardly:

"Uncle Grandpa Zhang, I just said it casually; I didn't expect you'd actually adopt my suggestion."

Wang Xiaohua thought this counted as doing his part for the village.

His old father should be proud of him.

Unexpectedly, the moment Zhang Zhongtian's front foot had just left, Wang Zhanggen launched into a scolding tirade at Wang Xiaohua:

"Village affairs are complicated; what are you blindly meddling for! If problems arise later because of the tap water fees, and other villagers blame us, how am I supposed to face people!"

Wang Xiaohua's face was full of shock:

"No, I just casually offered a suggestion; I did it for Shangou Village's good, do you need to react like this?"

But Wang Zhanggen said coldly:

"You don't understand at all; you just love meddling in other people's business!"

"Fine, fine, fine, just treat it as me meddling then; I can't be bothered to talk to you."

Wang Zhanggen gave Wang Xiaohua a dark look, and Wang Xiaohua threw it right back.

He wasn't like his mother, meekly accepting everything.

"You think your wings have hardened, huh, not listening to a word I say anymore!"

Wang Zhanggen was huffing with anger.

Wang Xiaohua rolled his eyes directly:

"If I'd always listened to you, I'd have gone to Dongguan to work long ago; would I be like I am now? You should be glad your son has his own mind!"

"You've really turned against heaven! You're angering me to death!"

Wang Zhanggen grew angrier the more he spoke, his whole body trembling.

He really wanted to beat Wang Xiaohua up.

But thinking back to when he committed domestic violence against Li Xiulan, Wang Xiaohua had pinned him to the ground unable to move — he already couldn't beat Wang Xiaohua, so he could only swallow it and not lay a hand on him.

"What's going on?"

At this moment, Li Xiulan walked in from outside.

She heard arguing sounds inside the house, so she hurriedly stopped what she was doing and came over to see what was happening.

"You still have the nerve to ask what's going on; it's all your fault — you've spoiled this brat rotten, now he doesn't have me as a father in his eyes at all, not only does he not listen to me, he even dares to talk back!"

Wang Zhanggen huffed and scolded Li Xiulan.

He couldn't vent on Wang Xiaohua, so he vented on Li Xiulan.

"Xiao Hua, what happened?" Li Xiulan hurriedly asked Wang Xiaohua.

Wang Xiaohua spread his hands, a face of innocence:

"Zhang Zhongtian came to ask about the tap water fees; I merely gave a casual suggestion, and then he got unhappy, scolding me like a mad dog."

"Who are you calling a dog!" Wang Zhanggen exploded directly, slamming the table and standing up.

Wang Xiaohua was startled.

But he calmed down quickly:

"I'm not talking to you anymore; after lunch, I'm heading straight to the county town."

Li Xiulan hurriedly tried to keep him:

"Didn't we agree you'd stay home for two days and go to the county town the day after tomorrow?"

Wang Xiaohua said:

"Mom, just let me go. With the situation as it is, to tell the truth, I really don't want to stay at home, not for a single moment."

Hearing this, Li Xiulan couldn't help but wipe away tears, but she still agreed:

"Alright, alright. Then go after you finish lunch. Mom won't stop you. Once you reach the County Town, find Uncle Chunsheng to get a mobile phone, and call home so the family won't worry too much."

"Okay, okay."

Seeing his mother secretly wiping away tears, Wang Xiaohua felt terrible inside.

But he also knew that he must have the courage and determination to leave decisively.

Staying at home, that old man would always inexplicably knock him down and suppress him, to display his authority as a father.

If that old man truly had ability, it would be one thing, but the most fatal thing is he has no ability at all, his own life is a complete mess, yet he insists on pointing fingers at Wang Xiaohua's life.

Wang Xiaohua really couldn't stand this kind of anger.

Even more, he didn't want to be influenced by that old man's mood and mindset.

So he had to leave urgently.

"You're not allowed to go anywhere! If you dare leave, watch me not break your legs!"

Wang Zhanggen angrily spoke these words at this moment.

Wang Xiaohua listened, and was directly dumbfounded.

How can this person be unreasonable to such a degree?

Seeing Wang Zhanggen was already on the verge of rage, Li Xiulan didn't want the situation to worsen, didn't want the conflict to escalate, and instead came over to dissuade Wang Xiaohua:

"Xiaohua, why don't you stay two more days? We agreed before that you'd go to the County Town the day after tomorrow. Your dad's health isn't good, can you not anger him again? Just afraid he'll get some illness from anger."

Wang Xiaohua was also angry inside, and a vicious thought even floated up in his heart: why not anger that old man to death, settle it once and for all! Save trouble from all sorts of messy things appearing later!

But this thought only flashed by, and was pressed down by him.

He took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing his inner displeasure, and ultimately, for the sake of his mother Li Xiulan's face, chose to compromise:

"Then fine, I'll still leave the day after tomorrow."

Finishing these words, Wang Xiaohua turned around and walked out the door.

Li Xiulan shouted at his back:

"Where are you going? You haven't eaten lunch yet!"

Wang Xiaohua didn't turn his head back:

"I'm going outside to get some air. You eat first, I'll come back and eat later."

After Wang Xiaohua left, Wang Zhanggen still had a black face, and angrily rebuked:

"Should've known not to let this brat study so much. Junior High School graduation and then let him go work would've been fine. Really, studying ruined his brain. He doesn't even know to respect his own birth father. A person like this, what use is studying so many books!"

Li Xiulan sighed:

"Calm down, can you stop talking? If you get a cerebral infarction relapse from anger, this new building of ours will probably end up unfinished again."

With Li Xiulan saying this, Wang Zhanggen then stopped saying anything.

He just sullenly smoked cigarettes.

……