I Got Rich in Period Fiction
Chapter 471: Not Irreplaceable

Chapter 471: Chapter 471: Not Irreplaceable

After saying this, there was an uproar below, with all sorts of whispers and exclamations. Qiao Zhiyuan and Uncle Sun sat at the front, watching the people from the Qiao Family Team with a calm demeanor.

Someone shouted loudly, "Team leader, just like that it’s canceled? Weren’t all the construction efforts and money wasted then?"

"There’s nothing we can do. When the time comes, we’ll sell what we can from the demolished buildings," Qiao Zhiyuan said with a frown.

"What about the technicians, engineers, and experts in the village?"

"Of course they’ll return to their own units."

"But some of them were transferred to our team, weren’t they?"

There were quite a few who understood the situation.

Uncle Sun added, "The Qiao Family Team may not be suitable for seed production, but that doesn’t mean other teams aren’t either. Whichever team is suitable, that’s where they will go. These experts and technicians are valuable assets; they won’t be lacking places to dine."

Everyone looked at each other, bewildered.

So what was really going on?

Why did this suddenly happen?

Indeed, why has this come up all of a sudden?

What exactly is the matter?

Why don’t you use your brains and think for yourselves?

The shrewd ones already grasped the meaning behind today’s meeting.

In fact, not only the Qiao Family Team, but also some people from Hejia Village who were badmouthing behind others’ backs, though they were few. If a wife got involved with outsiders, a sensible head of the family would pull her back and not let her spread rumors.

But there was one person, and that was Limp Wang’s wife, Zhang Lihua.

There were others regardless who were bold enough to speak up, "Old Qiao, you are also part of the Qiao Family Team. Your Old Qiao Family has dozens of members here. If our village thrives, you also thrive, right? If it doesn’t work out, won’t you suffer as well?"

Qiao Zhiyuan didn’t answer; he just chuckled.

Qiao Shengbao said casually on the side, "Who said we have to stay in the Qiao Family Team forever?"

Qiao Genbao nodded, "My grandfather has been urging us for a while now. He wants us all to move to Yun City. That’s a big city, and it’s not just for the two of us. Think about the different opportunities that both children will have when they go to school there."

Indeed, how could everyone forget that?

The Old Qiao Family may have many members here, but they also have a way out. Not to mention Qiao Qingyu, could Yun City, such a large city, not have a place for them?

There were lands and villages around that city too, and it was said that it wasn’t just one crop a year there—they could grow two seasons worth.

The debate continued.

Then Uncle Sun tapped the microphone, "Alright, alright, quiet down, quiet down. I have an announcement to make..."

He then read out the document from the county recognising Qi Feng’s courageous act.

The certificate arrived with the document, and though everyone was still confused, they clapped and cheered Qi Feng onto the stage to accept the award.

Regardless of the circumstances, not everyone had the courage to jump into the freezing water.

Afterward, a county official also spoke, highly praising Qi Feng’s actions and encouraging and urging everyone to learn from him.

Then Qiao Zhiyuan announced the end of the meeting, telling everyone to be prepared that if the certification couldn’t pass this year, then the base could be moved to another team.

The excitement of the past few days seemed to have been doused with a bucket of cold water.

And most people knew in their hearts that Qiao Zhiyuan might have had ulterior motives, that he seemed to be using this incident to admonish everyone, but to be honest, it wasn’t just about scaring people.

Now, many were envious that they had become a seed production base.

In the entire North City, they were the first, and it was an exclusive privilege.

Just as Sun had said earlier, is it difficult to become a seed production base?

Not at all!

Is the land fertile only in the Qiao Family Team’s area? Is their terrain the only one suitable?

Teams all over North City met the criteria.

Once people knew the Qiao Family Team wasn’t the only option and was replaceable, they panicked, and then they remembered.

Although everything they had now was built by them, the foundation had been laid by Qiao Qingyu. Even now, Qiao Qingyu was still supporting them as they moved forward.

Why hold onto that little girl’s past issues?

As long as the couple is happy, that should be enough.

Besides, what business is it of yours whether they are happy or not?

Shouldn’t you be ashamed to ridicule them?

Ingrates, all of you. Isn’t it said that you can’t help people—there are too many with the hearts of wolves and the lungs of dogs. After reaping such great benefits, can’t you say anything other than praise?

Then Limp Wang’s home was splattered with manure, and some even called for Limp Wang’s family to be banished, not to let one rotten apple spoil the whole barrel.

Limp Wang’s mother hadn’t expected things to get so serious.

Together with Limp Wang, they had beaten Zhang Lihua so badly she couldn’t get off her kang. Although the act was indefensible, it did indeed provide some vindication. Then, another piece of news spread—it was said that Zhang Lihua had been so determined in spreading rumors because she was paid.

A stranger had given her one hundred yuan to go around discussing the past between Qiao Qingyu and He Xiuyu.

The one hundred yuan was confiscated, and Zhang Lihua was detained by the team’s security squad.

The villagers felt that they had been fooled by an old woman and suggested that these idle old women should be put to work. Though winter had arrived and work was scarce, there were still tasks like manually selecting seeds—let them do that work in exchange for work points, as in the past.

Tired out, they’d have no energy for idle gossip.

Everyone was satisfied with this arrangement, and Qiao Zhiyuan and Uncle Sun agreed as well.

For such an incident to have a perfect resolution was impossible.

But it was necessary to let everyone know that nothing remains unchanging; nothing is irreplaceable. It was important to instill a sense of crisis in them and make them aware that there were many who could take their place.

Then there was the matter with Wang Mei, but Wang Mei was also over fifty years old: crying, making scenes, threatening suicide—she simply refused to leave the Old Qiao Family.

However, Qiao Zhihai took his three sons to the Wang Family’s house.

The past could be put aside, but the one hundred and eighty yuan Qiao Ye had given them and the two thousand five hundred yuan they owed were debts the Wang Family had to pay.

This time, the Old Qiao Family was aggressive, and Qiao Zhihai was particularly ruthless, bluntly telling his nearly eighty-year-old mother-in-law, "The ’wonderful’ daughter you raised has conned me my whole life. I don’t want her anymore. What can you possibly do to me? If you have the nerve, sue me, but the money you owe must be paid back. Otherwise, the dozen people from Wangjia Village working for the construction crew—I won’t keep a single one, they’ll all be sent back."

If it were just an issue with the Qiao Family, the Wang Family might have been able to act shamelessly—after all, the Qiao Family were their relatives, and they couldn’t do much about them.

But these dozen or so people were working for his construction crew.

Whether they were laborers or bricklayers, they earned quite a bit, nearly as much as regular workers did each month and ate well too. Because of this, the Wang Family was quite favored by many in the village. If indeed these more than ten people were sent back because of them, they would become the enemies of these more than ten families, and their lives would never be peaceful again.