Chapter 123: Settling It Privately

The village chief of that village was also quite dissatisfied with the two brothers. When they applied for the assistance program, the town officials had already made it clear that, due to limited special funds, each village could only have one assistance quota for the current year. Upon approval, the recipient would receive an interest-free loan capped at thirty thousand yuan.

Their village was populous, with over a hundred households, and more than twenty met the application criteria. Among them, the brothers’ family was the most impoverished. The village even held a meeting to discuss the matter, and most people opposed awarding the first quota to them because, aside from being opportunistic, they were unwilling to do any work. Ultimately, it was only because the brothers threatened the village—claiming that if they didn’t get the quota, no one else would be able to proceed—that the village chief decided to grant them the first quota.

The chief reasoned that they were at least from his own village and genuinely poor. He was confident that their application materials would be fully approved by the town. After a thorough explanation from the chief, the villagers reluctantly agreed.

But no one expected the brothers to have only a fleeting interest, unwilling to do any work yet still dreaming of quick profits. Not only did their efforts come to nothing, but they also botched things and then tried to sabotage the Zhang family’s village. Had this happened years ago, the brothers’ limbs would have been broken long before they had a chance to return for help.

“All right, you tell me, how exactly should we handle this? Give me some rules. If you don’t want to settle privately, fine. It’s almost dawn. We’ll wait for the police to arrive and then let them decide how much compensation is due and how it should be paid. After that, it’s no longer up to you.”

Fortunately, the brothers hadn’t yet harmed the Zhang family’s livestock farm; otherwise, no amount of money would have sufficed to resolve the matter. But the Zhang villagers were determined to teach the brothers a lesson, to set an example for the other villages. They wanted to make it clear that Zhang Village was not to be trifled with. If anyone caused trouble in the future and tried to pin it on Zhang Village, they would have to consider carefully whether they could bear the consequences.

After some bargaining, the brothers were forced to compensate the owners of two dogs, each dog valued at two hundred yuan. They also had to sign a written agreement stating that if similar incidents occurred again in Zhang Village, the brothers would be held directly responsible. If they disagreed, they could investigate the truth themselves.

The two brothers complained that the terms were too harsh. They argued that if others also disliked Zhang Village and wanted to act against it, wouldn’t they be the ones taking the blame?

“I don’t care whether you take the blame or not. Because you have a record, I’m naturally suspicious of you. If you’re innocent, you can report it to the police and let them find the real culprit. But until a conclusion is reached, we will hold you accountable.”

The village chief’s words were like a tightening noose around the brothers, effectively making him the Zhang family’s protector.

Originally, the brothers’ own village chief had wanted to have them work off their debt by laboring at Zhang Debing’s farm. But Zhang Debing refused. He said the brothers already resented them, and if any problems arose during their work, how could anyone determine who was truly at fault?

The Zhang family understood that the other village chief’s intention in proposing this was to have the brothers learn some animal husbandry skills while working off their debt. After all, the initial investment they made was not entirely covered by the approved loan. Moreover, since an accident had occurred during the breeding process, they could now apply for a low-interest loan. If the brothers really learned the skills and rebuilt a bamboo rat breeding farm, there would be hope to repay the interest-free loan to the credit union.

By the time the matter was settled, dawn had already broken.

Yan Chunhua couldn’t stay still at home and sat propped against the bed, waiting for her husband and father-in-law to return.

Hearing noises in the yard, she quickly put on her clothes and left the room. Her mother-in-law was already in the kitchen preparing breakfast, but with her large belly, Yan Chunhua couldn’t help with the cooking and instead did other chores.

“Dad, brother, you’re back? Come wash your face quickly and eat.” Seeing the red rims around their eyes, she hurried to pour water for them to wash and urged them to eat quickly so they could rest a little afterward.

Zhang Debing saw her carrying the water and rushed to take the basin from her.

“I’ve told you, you’re heavy now. You should avoid carrying heavy things.”

“I’m not made of glass. What’s wrong with carrying a bit of water? If I do nothing at all, my bones ache from inactivity. Come on, tell me, how was it finally settled?”

When Yan Chunhua heard that the brothers had wanted to work off their debt, she thought it was a good idea. She didn’t mind. But Zhang Debing gently stopped her.

Seeing her husband’s expression, she didn’t press the matter. She knew he usually respected her and never interrupted when she spoke. This time, however, his silence meant there was something she didn’t know.

After breakfast, Zhang Baba went back to sleep, and Yan Chunhua followed Zhang Debing to the breeding farm. There, Zhang Debing recounted the whole incident in detail and analyzed the brothers’ temper.

“I’m not stingy about sharing breeding techniques. The problem is those brothers are utterly shameless, and they’re not cut out for this kind of work—they can’t endure the hardships. Rather than giving them this chance, it’s better to let others from their village learn. The selection for this year’s assistance is about to be finalized. I figure there are others in their village interested. We can ask the village chief if any from our village want to learn. Before you give birth, we might as well hold a breeding training class. You won’t be able to come out and teach them at the farm during your confinement, after all. Besides, their village won’t have our best interests at heart and won’t watch over those brothers. But if they attend the training, they’ll want to keep an eye on those two for their own sake.”

Yan Chunhua considered this reasoning. Indeed, only a thief working a thousand days can guard against thieves for a thousand days. Moreover, during the last two months before her delivery and the one month of confinement afterward, she certainly wouldn’t be able to manage the farm. That’s roughly three to four months when they’d need someone to help Zhang Debing. Otherwise, just the two of them and the hired workers wouldn’t be enough.

If they held the training early, those interested would need a place to practice before starting their own farms. What could be better than their own breeding farm? Especially since trainees from the village wouldn’t require wages—just two meals a day and free technical instruction. Such an opportunity would be highly sought after.

Yan Chunhua was not a difficult person. Since her husband had made the decision, and it seemed her father-in-law agreed, she would simply follow the majority opinion in the family. If anything went wrong during the process, they could correct it later. After all, a family must live in harmony and discuss matters amicably to lead a good life.

“By the way, brother, there’s one more thing I want to talk to you about. You tell me if it’s appropriate.”