Chapter 77

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Protagonist:

Li Xiulan

"Why does Zhang Zhongtian want to be Village Committee Secretary so badly?"

After Zhang Zhongtian left, in the convenience store, Lin Xiaofang, Niu Chunsheng, and Lin Dajun started chatting idly.

"Shanggou Village is so poor and remote; village cadres get little pay and lots of work. Is he really that eager to serve selflessly?"

Lin Xiaofang looked at the gifts Zhang Zhongtian had sent over on the table and couldn't help but complain.

"No profit, no early rise — there's definitely something in it for him. Otherwise, why would he have started maneuvering for the Village Committee reelection so early?"

Lin Dajun said this while drinking tea.

As a middle-aged man in his fifties, he had experienced too much, so he saw through Zhang Zhongtian's purpose at once.

It was very obvious this guy wanted to be Village Committee Secretary not to serve the villagers, but to scrape some benefits for himself.

"What benefits could there be? Shanggou Village is poor as dirt!"

Lin Xiaofang really couldn't figure it out.

Niu Chunsheng fell into thought.

At this moment, Lin Dajun asked Niu Chunsheng:

"Chunsheng, I heard Shanggou Village is facing demolition. Is that true?"

Niu Chunsheng nodded:

"Mm, it's true. The villagers have all signed the demolition agreements. Li Xiulan is building a new house precisely because of the demolition."

Lin Dajun suddenly realized:

"Then it's obvious. He can definitely profit from the demolition! Demolition is a big project; the kickbacks are probably substantial!"

Shanggou Village entrance.

Zhang Zhongtian rode his motorcycle back.

He was beaming, very pleased with himself.

Today he went to the town and greased the wheels with Niu Chunsheng, making him feel he had an even better chance at next year's Village Committee reelection.

So now, he greeted everyone he saw with a proactive smile, happy from the bottom of his heart.

Seeing that huge pile of construction materials at the village entrance, he suddenly thought of Li Xiulan.

Li Xiulan was in the middle of building a new house. Because of a conflict with Yang Xiaocai, the construction materials couldn't get in and had to be moved by manpower.

Li Xiulan was notorious for being hard to deal with. Previously, Liang Yuanchao was forced to resign voluntarily because he hadn't handled Li Xiulan's demolition matter well.

He, Zhang Zhongtian, absolutely could not follow in Liang Yuanchao's footsteps.

If he could do a few things for Li Xiulan now, perhaps he could win her favor, buy her loyalty. Later, after becoming Village Committee Secretary, dealing with Li Xiulan would be much easier.

Thinking of this, he turned the motorcycle around and headed straight for Yang Xiaocai's home.

At this time, Yang Xiaocai happened to be at home eating lunch with his wife and children.

Zhang Zhongtian parked his motorcycle at the door, walked in, and greeted them.

"Xiaocai, eating lunch?"

Yang Xiaocai hurriedly came to welcome him:

"Brother Zhongtian, you're here. Have you eaten? Want a bowl of rice?"

Zhang Zhongtian hurriedly smiled and declined politely:

"No need, no need. I've eaten already. You all just eat."

Then he hurriedly took out a pack of Double Happiness Cigarettes he'd bought in town and handed it to Yang Xiaocai.

These cigarettes were originally for his own smoking, but now to communicate properly with Yang Xiaocai, he casually gave them away.

"Someone gave me these cigarettes. I'm not used to this brand. Throwing them away would be a waste. You, Brother, and I got along really well back when you were Women's Federation Director, so I thought of you first. I'll give them to you. You won't look down on this brand, will you?"

Seeing Zhang Zhongtian proactively offer cigarettes, Yang Xiaocai immediately accepted with a beaming smile:

"How could I? How could I? I've smoked this brand. It's pretty good!"

Yang Xiaocai put down his bowl and chopsticks to entertain Zhang Zhongtian, and even had his son brew tea for Zhang Zhongtian.

Zhang Zhongtian said very politely: "You don't need to mind me. Just eat!"

Then he added:

"I see your doorway — wasn't it originally a main road? How come it's been blocked off recently, leaving only a small entrance?"

Yang Xiaocai gave a dry, hollow laugh:

"Isn't it all because of that shrew Li Xiulan? She hauled materials past my doorway and still acted all high and mighty, wouldn't give me a good look. So naturally I wouldn't indulge her!"

Zhang Zhongtian hurriedly passed a cigarette to Yang Xiaocai:

"Xiaocai, not that I'm lecturing you, but why bother quarreling so much with a woman? A fortune teller said Li Xiulan carries bad luck. That's why her life's never gone smoothly. You're tangled up with her — be careful she infects you with that bad luck! Back then, Secretary Liang got tangled up with her, caught her bad luck, and ended up forced to resign as Village Committee Secretary!"

Rural people are quite superstitious about feng shui and fate. So when Yang Xiaocai heard Zhang Zhongtian put it so convincingly, he immediately froze, feeling there really might be something to it.

Zhang Zhongtian went on:

"Also, you sealing off your doorway — isn't that blocking your own family's feng shui? Originally it was smooth sailing, but now you've barred the good wind and good water outside, causing the feng shui to stagnate. You're losing the big picture over a trifle!"

Yang Xiaocai took out a matchbox, hurriedly took the initiative to light Zhang Zhongtian's cigarette, and immediately said:

"Brother Zhongtian, what you say really makes a lot of sense."

Yang Xiaocai's wife spoke up at this moment:

"What do you mean 'makes a lot of sense'? Brother Zhongtian is speaking the plain truth! Right after you sealed the doorway, the kid caught a cold a couple days ago, and I went to the fields and took a fall! If you ask me, tear down those two walls in front of the door. Don't block the feng shui!"

Yang Xiaocai's wife also believed in feng shui quite a bit; she had farmed for so many years in her life and had never fallen in the fields, but a couple of days ago she took a sprawling tumble, as embarrassing as could be.

Moreover, she didn't want to contend with Li Xiulan; Li Xiulan was just a joke in the village, and contending with her would only make herself a joke too!

Just live your own life well; why go getting mixed up in so much feces and urine?

Seeing Yang Xiaocai's wife also helping to persuade, Zhang Zhongtian struck while the iron was hot:

"Xiaocai, listen to your wife, hurry up and tear down those two walls at the door; feng shui problems can be big or small, it's no joking matter. Additionally, what you're blocking isn't just Li Xiulan's access, but other neighbors' access too; you don't want to create conflict with the neighbors because of Li Xiulan, right?"

Yang Xiaocai nodded repeatedly:

"Yes yes yes, Brother Zhongtian is right, I was momentarily confused, actually contending with that resentful woman Li Xiulan; I'll go tear down the walls in a bit, I won't bother with that unlucky resentful woman so much!"

Under Zhang Zhongtian's persuasion, Yang Xiaocai finally agreed to tear down the two walls in front of the door.

Have to admit, Zhang Zhongtian indeed has a set of methods in handling matters.

Ordinary people wanting to persuade Yang Xiaocai and Li Xiulan to compromise would probably not succeed even with Herculean effort, but Zhang Zhongtian cleverly used feng shui as an angle, plus gave cigarettes beforehand to win goodwill, and analyzed the pros and cons of blocking the road, to persuade Yang Xiaocai to take the initiative to give up contending with Li Xiulan.

That afternoon, Yang Xiaocai took a hammer and tore down the two walls blocking the main road in front of the door.

Li Xiulan was moving materials into the construction site; seeing Yang Xiaocai's action, she was immediately very surprised, very puzzled.

She didn't understand why Yang Xiaocai would suddenly take the initiative to tear down the walls.

But she didn't dare ask more, because Yang Xiaocai still didn't give her a good look.

Yang Xiaocai just buried his head tearing down the walls; when Li Xiulan passed by, he didn't even glance at her.

He tore down the walls only out of consideration for his own family's feng shui, not to let Li Xiulan off the hook.

The resentment in his heart toward Li Xiulan had not diminished by half because of this.

……