Chapter 2: Earning Ten Yuan with Tears
"What are you doing? Are you relying on numbers to bully us people from Ma Family Village?"
Lai San, whose original name was Ma Kui, was just a local hoodlum and loafer. I haven't heard that he was interested in Xu Zhiqing, and the key thing is, he's not worthy of her. Unless Xu Zhiqing was crazy, how could she possibly fancy him?
But upon hearing Su Daqiang was going to call their Village Secretary, Lai San got a bit anxious. He knew very well that he was in the wrong here. Hitting someone in their Village, and instead of hitting him back, they went to their Village Secretary to reason things out. He was completely in the wrong from the start.
Saying this, Lai San was about to leave. If he really waited for Ma Sanyuan to arrive, he'd be skinned alive. After all, the Village Secretary is still very capable in the Village right now. There are plenty of ways to deal with you, like digging manure, sweeping streets, standing guard. In short, in this era, the Village Secretary is considered a powerful cadre in the Village.
"Stop him, don't let him run away."
The Village Chief spoke. Several people from the production team immediately surrounded them. There were only four of them, they couldn't make any waves at all, and were immediately pounced on by the crowd. They weren't tied up, but they were held down on the ground.
Not long after, Ma Sanyuan arrived leading these few people. As soon as he arrived, he saw Lai San and the others being held down on the ground.
"Su Daqiang, what's going on? Why are you holding down Lai San from our Village without asking clearly? What do you want to do? Bully people?"
"Bullshit, you motherfucker, don't play the victim first. Look at Su Yu from our Village first."
Saying this, he pointed at Su Yu, who was covered in blood. Looking at his appearance, it was as if he could die at any moment, but he was actually just hungry.
So, someone acted as a narrator and explained it clearly to Ma Sanyuan.
"Ahem... Da Qiang, this is not a big deal. We are all from neighboring Villages, fellow villagers. There's no need to make such a big scene, right? If the Commune leaders knew about this, wouldn't it be a joke?"
Upon hearing this, Su Daqiang curled his lip. As soon as the other party farted, he knew what kind of shit they were going to pull. Of course, he wouldn't give them Face, and immediately retorted, "According to you, if you run into someone else's Village and beat someone up, they deserve to be beaten? Look, look, a perfectly good young man has been bullied like this by your Village. You just lightly say it's not a big deal and let it go?"
Actually, Ma Sanyuan knew very well what kind of person Lai San was, and he was very clear in his heart. But as the Village Chief, he naturally sided with his own people, not what was right. Otherwise, if you sided with an outside Village to bully your own Village's residents, who would still want to elect you as Village Secretary?
Of course, he still knew right from wrong on major issues, he just wanted to try his best to excuse Lai San. However, looking in the direction Su Daqiang pointed, wow, the other party was indeed quite miserable.
"Ma Sanyuan, can you handle this? If you can't, then we'll report it to the Public Security and let the Public Security deal with them according to the law."
Su Daqiang was full of confidence. With Su Yu's miserable state, whether it was his fault or not, as long as he stood there, the other party would have to spend a few days squatting, or even a few years in severe cases, commonly known as labor reform.
"Ahem... It's not that serious, it's not that serious. We are all fellow villagers, let's resolve it privately, how about that?"
"That depends on Su Yu's own thoughts, I can't make that decision."
Su Daqiang looked over. Su Daqiang also had the surname Su, and was Su Yu's paternal Uncle. This was just a way of speaking; Su Yu naturally wouldn't be so unappreciative.
"Ahem... I will listen to Uncle Su, everything is up to you."
Upon hearing this, it highlighted Su Daqiang's prestige in Sanshui Bay. Su Daqiang was very satisfied, the young man was sensible.
"Ahem... Then you say, what should we do?"
Didn't you hear? Ma Sanyuan was even using respectful language. Su Daqiang was feeling pleased, but it wasn't good to extort too much.
"This is my paternal nephew, the kind within five degrees of kinship. Since he calls me Uncle, I can't let him suffer injustice. Ten yuan, consider this giving Ma Sanyuan Face."
"Fuck, ten yuan? How dare you say that? Just a scrape and a little blood, and you dare ask for ten yuan? You're really shameless."
Ma Sanyuan really didn't want to deal with Lai San's matter, but who made him the Village Chief? He couldn't not handle it. But what is the concept of ten yuan? For rural folks, working hard for a month, the money earned from work points, getting three or four yuan a month is already good.
Otherwise, why would everyone envy those in the City who ate public grain? Do you think it's because people in the City ate their fill? Don't be ridiculous, it was the same nationwide, life was tight. It's just that people with jobs could earn at least fifteen yuan a month, which was the price for temporary workers. If they were regular workers, eighteen to twenty yuan was the minimum. Different jobs had different prices, but no matter what job, one month's pay could be equivalent to several months for ordinary folks.
But this is the Village! Su Daqiang, this dog thing, opens his mouth and asks for ten yuan. Isn't that asking for the sky? Getting married only costs ten yuan! If they really paid, it would be over two yuan per person on average for the four of them.
Simply put, it's a month's worth of work points, wasted effort.
"Hey, you're still not happy? Let me calculate this for you. Our Su Yu's head was injured. What if it's damaged? If there are sequelae, who do we go to? How about you take him to the County for an examination? Take a scan with that light thingy, check his brain?"
"Also, if his brain is injured, he needs rest, right? Don't you need to supplement him? As the saying goes, eat what you need to replenish. Buying a few pig brains isn't too much, right? Resting for a month isn't too much, right? What will he eat if he doesn't work this month? You'll support him?"
If you say resting for a month, it's completely unnecessary, but Su Yu's head did bleed a lot, especially being covered in blood by his own sister, it was indeed quite scary.
Whether he's sick or not, going to the big Hospital in the County, back and forth, food and expenses, and needing some kind of scan, it would definitely be more than ten yuan.
Su Daqiang had it figured out perfectly. He calculated that although ten yuan was a lot, this whole process would cost at least seven or eight yuan. Just to save two or three yuan, they'd make a trip to the City, and if there was really something wrong, ten yuan wouldn't be enough.
Su Daqiang calculated clearly, and Ma Sanyuan wasn't stupid either. Su Daqiang was certain that once they went to the City for an examination, the whole process would cost at least seven or eight yuan, which is why he insisted on ten yuan.
The key is the hassle. This isn't later generations where you can just take a taxi to the City. Now, if you go to the City, you need to get a certificate, find someone to accompany you, and all expenses need to be clearly recorded. After all, Lai San doesn't have ten yuan, it has to be advanced by the production team first. Then this expense needs to be clearly accounted for, otherwise this money belongs to the collective, and if you can't figure it out, who will you find later?
So, instead of such trouble, it's better to just lend money to Lai San from the production team and have him write an IOU. With a few people witnessing, this matter can be handled clearly and simply, without so much effort. Which is better is obvious at a glance.
"Alright, alright, I'm too lazy to argue with you. Lai San, they want ten yuan, what do you say? If you agree, the production team will agree to lend it to you, just write an IOU, and it will be slowly deducted from your work points later. If you don't agree, then I won't interfere anymore, I'll hand it over to the Public Security to handle. How do you choose?"