Chapter 262: Strawberry Delivery

Translator: Lonelytree 

After returning to the Gong family, Gong Tianhao told Xiao Wang and Xiao Zhang, “This Zhang Chunjiao will be a huge disaster if she stays in the village.”

She would occasionally show up around Xiao Lingyu. Even if she didn’t cause any substantial harm, it was still extremely annoying. Furthermore, she was vicious enough to incite others to start a fire.

If they didn’t deal with her now, she might actually harm the Xiao Family in the future.

The two of them were slightly stunned and said, “Eldest young master, what do you mean?”

Gong Tianhao said indifferently, “Just make sure she disappears from Taoyuan Village.”

Xiao Wang and Xiao Zhang immediately understood. “Of course.” This was a piece of cake for them.

…

The next day, as promised, Mother Xiao gave two catties of strawberries to all the families who participated in the fire fighting.

This made the villagers both excited and happy.

The strawberries from Xiao Zhengyang’s family were extremely expensive. The villagers would be happy with two teals, much less two catties. Two catties of strawberries were worth hundred of RMB. Xiao Zhengyang’s family was really generous.

Since the whole village helped out, the fire didn’t take that long to be extinguished. The fire was put out in less than thirty minutes.

“Two catties of strawberries are around four hundred RMB. Qiuying and her family send them over without thinking. It’s surprising.”

“It’s not that surprising. Xiao Zhengyang’s family has always been clear-minded. We helped put out the fire. They owed us a favor.”

“Yeah. If it weren’t for everyone’s efforts to put out the fire, the fire would have burned the entire strawberry field, and the loss would have been even greater.”

What she meant was that the Xiao Family should give them the strawberries. If it weren’t for them, the Xiao Family would lose even more.

“This Zhang Xiaolan is really something. She has a good life, but she insists on committing a crime. Now she has to spend the rest of her life in jail.”

“Who would have thought the consequence of arson will be so serious?”

“Zhang Xiaolan must be in deep regret now.”

“So what? Can it change the fact that she’s going to jail? But it’s shameful that our village has a criminal now. Xiao Lingyu is a bit too harsh. She didn’t even care about giving the villagers face and directly call the people from the police station to arrest Zhang Xiaolan.”

“Harsh?” Someone countered. “You’re saying that because it isn’t your land which is destroyed. If you’re the victim of the fire, you would have asked the police to shoot the culprit. And you want Lingyu to give the culprit face? What nonsense!”

The woman said weakly, “But it won’t be good that our village has produced a criminal. What about our children’s future?” She was worried about this point. Her family’s children had reached the age of marriage.

“Yu Ying, it’s not that I want to lecture you, but…” Someone said with disappointment, “Once our standard of living improves, do you think people won’t marry our children? Haven’t you noticed that since Xiao Lingyu returned to the village, the lives of many villagers have gotten better? Even if they just work for Xiao Lingyu, they have earned a lot of money.

“Furthermore, Xiao Lingyu promised to buy the vegetables that we grow. She will be there to make sure we won’t suffer any losses.

“In short, you mustn’t be stupid and go to offend Xiao Zhengyang’s family. If they refuse to hire your family to work for them in the future, you’re going to cry.”

Nowadays, when rural people got married, it were usually based on their character and family background. The characters of their neighbors couldn’t affect them that much. As long as they had an upright morality, what was there for them to worry about?

“Besides, do you really want to indulge the arsonist? What if she decides to burn down your house next time? If we don’t arrest Zhang Xiaolan, she’ll be an extremely dangerous factor in the village.”

Yu Ying snapped back to clear understanding. She shook her head and said with a smile, “You are right.” She was just muddled by what Xiao Chengcai said the night before.

Xiao Chengcai said that if Taoyuan Village had a criminal, it would affect the village’s reputation. They would be the next Chen and Lan Villages. When they went to the town, there would be people pointing fingers behind their backs.

Most importantly, it would seriously affect the marriage of young people.

“If the villagers didn’t put out the fire in time, the loss would have been millions. The crime would have been even more unforgivable.”

“When the police came yesterday, they said that people who commit intentional arson shall be sentenced to more than ten years of imprisonment, or even death.

“If Zhang Xiaolan has burned down the entire field, she would be sentenced to death.”

“It’s that serious?”

“Yes. None of us know that in the past. In the future, we need to be more careful. It’s true that they say we shouldn’t play with fire.”

…

Mother Xiao delivered everyone strawberries. Well, not everyone. The few families who had capable men but didn’t help with the fire didn’t get any strawberries.

There were a few families that only had orphans and the elderly. Mother Xiao also gifted them the strawberries. These families were so grateful that they cried. Even though they didn’t come out to help with the help, they got up last night and lent out fire extinguishers.

The Xiao Family always knew the right from the wrong. If you treat me well, I will treat you better.

The villagers knew the Xiao Family’s character, so they chose not to offend the Xiao family as much as possible. They also tried to curry favor with them so that they could share some benefits. This was just human nature.

The strawberries cost several hundred RMB. Normally, they wouldn’t be able to afford it. Even if they could get the strawberries at a lower price, they still cost quite a bit.

“Qiuying, thank you so much. We didn’t help much yesterday. You don’t have to do this.” An old woman in his seventies declined.

Mother Xiao smiled and said, “Auntie, you did help us yesterday. You lent us a bucket to put out the fire.”

“That was nothing. There’s no need to give us so many strawberries.” The old aunt said with a smile, “How about this? We’ll only take a bit, and you can take back the rest.”

“Auntie, my family doesn’t lack strawberries. Please take them. You can share them with Uncle and your grandchildren. Auntie, I have something to do. I’ll leave first.”

With that, Mother Xiao quickly left.

Before the old auntie could say anything, Mother Xiao had walked far away.

“Qiu…” The old lady wanted to call her back, but Mother Xiao had already disappeared. She could only carefully carry these strawberries home. “Qiuying and her family are really good people. Old Man, come. Qiuying just sent a lot of strawberries over. Let’s have a taste.”

Then, an old man with a cane walked out. When he saw the strawberries in her basket, he immediately said angrily, “Old woman, these strawberries are so expensive. Why did you buy them? We can’t afford to eat them.”

The Auntie said with a smile, “Qiuying delivered them to us. She told us to accept them. In the future, we need to help her family when they need it. Old man, come and have a taste.”

The old man saw the tempting strawberries and said, “I’ll have a taste. We’ll keep the rest for the grandkids.”

“Okay!” His wife agreed with a smile.

However, after a few minutes, only half of the strawberries were left in the basket.

The old couple looked at each other speechlessly.

Then, they quickly put away the strawberries.

If they continued to eat, their grandchildren would not be able to eat a single strawberry.

…

As for those families that didn’t receive the strawberries, they felt that it was very unfair.

Why did everyone have strawberries, but they didn’t? They said that they didn’t hear anything because they were sleeping too soundly. If the fire happened during the day, they would have helped.

The other villagers only chuckled.

Of course, those few families didn’t really dare to go to the Xiao Family to demand the strawberries.. They didn’t have the face to do so.

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