Transmigration: Space-Aided Rise to Power and Prosperity-Chapter 143 - 68 Silver Belongs to Everyone

Gu Chengyu felt quite headache looking at the scene before him. This Mrs. Wang was just being unreasonable, and it was hard to communicate with such a person. Moreover, she was an elder, so his interjection seemed abrupt. However, if he didn’t dismiss her, it would be never-ending. Silver certainly couldn’t be given; they were only in-laws, how could they let their family support all the relatives? No amount of silver would be enough.

"Hey? I say, since you in-laws are in trouble, it’s only right for your family to help them out!" The villagers watching the commotion also started chiming in one after another. Some, envious, were adding fuel to the fire.

Gu Chengyu glanced at the village chief and found him standing aside with his hands behind his back, looking amused.

It seemed this Lin Lize still harbored resentment from the last incident, or perhaps he was also envious of the Gu Family for getting so much silver, as there were no signs of him helping the Gu Family out of the situation.

"Exactly! Your Gu Family got so much silver. What’s wrong with helping your in-laws?"

"But, speaking of this ginseng! I thought about it; that piece of Changling Mountain wasn’t sold, and that’s the village’s hilltop. So shouldn’t the ginseng belong to the village?" The one who spoke was Yang Laosan. A few days ago, everyone went up the mountain to dig for ginseng, but found nothing. So why did the Gu Family manage to dig up ginseng? That hilltop wasn’t Gu Family’s, and the ginseng definitely wasn’t theirs.

"Hey? You don’t say! Yang Laosan has a point! The mountain is the village’s, so shouldn’t the ginseng be too?" There were voices of agreement from the crowd.

"Yang Laosan! Do you have no shame? The Gu Family dug up the ginseng on the mountain, that’s their own good fortune. If you have the capability, go up the mountain and dig some yourself! We promise not to covet yours. You get envious when others earn a bit of silver, it’s so disgraceful!"

Gu Chengyu followed the voice and saw that it was Aunt Wang speaking this time, she must have just arrived, as he hadn’t seen her earlier.

Although Aunt Wang helped with an explanation, the crowd’s gossip didn’t subside. Instead, they felt that Yang Laosan’s words made sense. Why should the Gu Family get so much silver when they have to sell land to pay forced labor with silver? 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Only given a two-day extension, time was short, and land wasn’t easy to sell. Currently, only Mr. Zhao from the village was willing to buy land, but the Zhao Family was pressing down hard on prices, offering only six taels of silver per excellent acre, two taels less than usual. After paying, future days would still be worrisome, as selling land meant reducing livelihood; those were rations!

As the voices of discussion grew louder, Gu Chengyu felt that letting the village continue gossiping like this was very unfavorable to their family.

Mr. Gu glanced at a few most vocal people and found that they were usually the laziest slackers in the village. They didn’t think about earning money the right way, but loved to gain without labor.

"Village chief! Please, give us your judgment! You say, this ginseng should belong to everyone, and the silver from selling the ginseng should also belong to everyone, right? How could the Gu Family have it all?" Yang Laosan, seeing the village chief didn’t intervene, guessed that the chief was also unhappy with the Gu Family.

Wang Yue felt a surge of joy at the scene. If the Gu Family could be made to bring out their silver, then at least every family could share a few taels, right? Look, the Gu Family is buying land and planning to build houses, they must have sold a lot of silver.

Gu Chengyu almost laughed out of anger at Yang Laosan’s words. How shameless must one be to say such things?

Mr. Gu, filled with anger, tapped his tobacco pipe on the bench beside him; this Yang Laosan, usually quiet, now truly lived up to the saying, ’A biting dog doesn’t bark!’

"Yang Laosan? Don’t you feel guilty saying this? I could even say that the silver your family has is the village’s! Truly shameless." Mrs. Lv pointed at Yang Laosan with one hand and scolded with the other hand on her waist.

Mrs. Wang was still sitting on the ground in a daze, not quite understanding. She came to ask for silver, so why was the Gu Family’s silver suddenly not theirs? Seeing no one paid attention to her now, she had no choice but to get up from the ground and hide at one side, intending to first gauge the situation.

"Lin Lize! What do you say about this matter?" Mr. Gu saw Lin Lize standing by without stopping or agreeing, only with a hint of a smile on his face, wanting to see the chief’s opinion.

"Brother Gu! As I see it, your in-laws came to borrow silver, which is your private business; I shouldn’t intervene. But now that I’m here, I need to speak some fair words! If the silver is yours, whether to lend or not is your own business, we all can’t interfere. Everyone gathered here just wants to advise your family! After all, they are in-laws, you can’t just watch them perish without helping!"

Lin Lize stroked his beard, speaking with a smile.

Gu Chengyu understood the village chief’s character. This opening line was already accusing the Gu Family of being stingy and ignoring in-laws’ life and death, using such words to gain favor with everyone. It was clearly about gaining a good reputation, while the latter sentence was accusing them of being ruthless, leaving them to die; his heart was condemnable! Yet, surely there would be more to follow; the chief wouldn’t end it with just these two sentences.

"Hey! Hey! Yes, Lin Lize is a good man!" Mrs. Wang immediately nodded in agreement when she heard Lin Lize mention her.

"But, what Yang Laosan said isn’t without reason. After all, this hilltop is the village’s, and the ginseng was found by you, truly a tough spot! Although my relationship with Brother Gu has always been good, I cannot favor your family openly, right? At the very least, I should be fair, so everyone is convinced!"

The words had reached this point, not only the Gu Family but even the onlookers heard the village chief’s implication, and people were whispering amongst themselves. Some even began calculating how much silver the Gu Family earned from the ginseng.

Yang Laosan’s eyes brightened upon hearing this, having known that the village chief probably wanted that silver too, right?

Gu Chengyi listened till now, thinking the Gu Family must have offended the chief from the start. Even though they sent gifts last time and gave money, considering the chief’s appetite, those might not even fill the gaps in his teeth. It was just because he couldn’t find anything to blackmail them with last time, so he couldn’t demand more silver.

As developments reached this point, if the Gu Family didn’t bring out their silver, they feared the whole village wouldn’t let them go. These shameless people.

Gu Chengyu scanned the surroundings, noticing that most of the people were rubbing their palms in excitement, as if they already had the Gu Family’s silver in their grasp. Only a few were merely watching the scene, with expressions of skepticism and neutrality. Very few seemed disapproving, these were the ones with some conscience, like Aunt Wang’s family.

After observing, Gu Chengyu gauged the situation and stepped forward, standing firm. He looked directly at Lin Lize, offering a salute first; no matter what, politeness was essential.

"Uncle Lin! This junior has some confusion. I’ve always heard of Uncle Lin’s profound knowledge and extensive experience. Could Uncle Lin enlighten this junior?"