“That’s… That’s not what I meant!”
After being yelled at by Patriarch Liu,An Hung naing was less of a shrew,but that still wasn’t enough to shut her up, “Patriarch, what I meant to saywas, after the incident at the Cheng’s a while back, now only were there scaryanimals like snakes and tigers and wolves outside and it was a ha.s.sle for us toleave town also. Isn’t it only fair for us to ask for compensation from theCheng’s? We need our livelihood too, right, everyone?”
Toward the end, An Hung niang turned and asked the villagers.Her purpose was, naturally, to stir up discontent and hoping there she was ableto get more villagers to stand on her side.
Sure enough, her instigating words madea few villagers stir afterward. A 40-something villager stood up, looked ateveryone and said, “Patriarch, we are all aware that Mr. Cheng is a nice manand he has always been nice to us. We all remember that, but the wife ofSanzhen made a good point. My livelihood is to drive ox-drawn carriages forothers but now I can’t even leave the village. I am going to starve to death intwo days! I still have a wife to feed. Something has got to be done!”
“Liu Daming, sit down first!” Patriarchtook a look at him and said.
Liu Daming did not cause any furthertrouble. An Hung niang saw thatn.o.body else had raised a fuss and sat down disgruntledly.
Cheng Xiao Xiao has remained silent thisentire time. With the exception of the trouble-causing An Hung niang, she has to consider other issues.
For the safety of the villagers, she hadessentially put these villagers under house arrest. They were right that thishad caused great inconvenience for every one. Perhaps she needed to give themback their freedom.
As for the other issues…
Cheng Xiao Xiao look at her father,curious how he would address this.
It was true that Cheng Biyuan wasthinking about this. He looked at the villagers somewhat apologetically, “Weare truly sorry. We had, indeed, overlooked that. Rest be a.s.sured, thevillagers will be able to leave the village starting tomorrow. We won’t bestopping anyone anymore!
“That being said…” Cheng Biyuan pausedand frowned, “I believe that there will be dangers outside. Old Patriarch, Iwant to say this upfront, if anyone ran into any kind of dangerous outside ofthe village, we will not be liable for that. Of course, if anyone broughttrouble into the village. Those are not on us either. I hope Old Patriarch willlook into issues like that when they arise!”
“Mr. Cheng, you mean there will still bethose who’d harm our villagers?” asked Old Patriarch with uneasiness.
Cheng Biyuan shook his head, “OldPatriarch, I can’t say for sure. Maybe, maybe not. We’ve all heard ofself-fulfilling prophecy. I certainly wish for everybody’s safety!”
“Old Patriarch, Mr. Cheng. Don’toverthink this. What could possibly happen? As long as we leave everybody elsealone. I have been wanting to leave the village for a while now. Let’s go andget some supplies from the town tomorrow!”
“Yeah, we can’t be kept hereindefinitely. How’s that different than being in jail? Even thought Mr. Chengsaid this was for our safety, but we can’t stay here forever, am I right?”
“What trouble could there be? We don’thave any treasures. It’s not like anyone want to rob us for our possessions. Wehave been needed to refill our supplies for a while now!”
“…….”
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