Chapter 80: The Truth is Cruel

Chen Xiaobei called over Cui Hongyu and Chen Qiaoer to have them join the inspection.

It was clear that Li Dong and the others had really put in the effort; every detail was meticulously done, even the inconspicuous corners were neat and tidy.

Cui Hongyu nodded repeatedly, clearly satisfied with everything.

Chen Xiaobei looked around. Now that the courtyard walls had been raised, the only thing that seemed a bit out of place was the main gate.

"Li Dong, I think I want to tear down the main gate and rebuild it. What do you think?" Chen Xiaobei asked.

"Sure, that's no problem. We'll get started today, and it'll be finished by tomorrow," Li Dong replied.

"However, you'll need to find a carpenter to make two new doors," Li Dong added.

Chen Xiaobei nodded, agreeing without hesitation. His bed had already been made by a carpenter, so it wasn't a big deal to have two more doors made.

Once the plans were finalized, Li Dong went to gather the workers to start removing the old gate. However, Chen Dayong approached Chen Xiaobei with a grin on his face.

"Captain, I want to discuss something," Chen Dayong said, his smile making Chen Xiaobei feel uneasy, suspecting it wasn't going to be anything good.

Sure enough, before Chen Xiaobei could respond, Chen Dayong continued, "Captain, I want to grow vegetables too. Can you give me some seeds?"

Chen Xiaobei was taken aback. He didn't expect Li Dong to spill the beans about the seeds. But thinking it over, it didn't seem too surprising, as he hadn't asked anyone to keep it a secret.

However, this time, he really couldn't agree with Chen Dayong because he had run out of seeds. Aside from the ones he had planted, the rest had been given to Li Dong.

"Brother Dayong, you can grow vegetables, but the seeds are all gone. I'll get some more when I go to the county town, and I'll bring some back for you," Chen Xiaobei explained.

Chen Dayong nodded and pulled out five big coins from his pocket. "Will this be enough?"

Chen Xiaobei took the coins and said, "It's not about whether it's enough or not. The more money you have, the more you can buy; the less you have, the less you can buy. But I'll say this upfront..."

Chen Xiaobei made sure to explain the risks as well as the rewards. "Right now, green-leaf vegetables are priced at one coin per pound, but that's not a fixed price. I don't know what the price will be when the vegetables are ready, so you need to be prepared."

This took Chen Dayong by surprise. He paused for a moment, then smiled, showing his teeth. "It's fine, it's fine. If I make more, I'll earn more; if I make less, I'll earn less. Anyway, it's just to supplement the family income."

With that, the situation became much easier. Chen Xiaobei had clearly explained the risks.

What surprised Chen Xiaobei was that, throughout the entire afternoon, three or four more craftsmen found an opportunity to approach him, expressing their desire to learn how to grow vegetables.

Of course, the so-called "learning how to grow vegetables" was just an excuse. The main reason was to ask Chen Xiaobei for help in selling the vegetables.

This wasn't a problem for Chen Xiaobei. After all, whether it was one sheep or two, he still had to go into the city to sell vegetables.

As evening approached, the sound of hurried hoofbeats was heard, signaling the arrival of He Laoqi, accompanied by the village head, Zhao Chunqiang.

Upon seeing Chen Xiaobei, He Laoqi gently patted his shoulder.

"Xiaobei, your courtyard wall looks quite impressive."

It was an affectionate gesture, one that came from the heart, and it made everyone around them envious.

Captain Xiaobei was truly impressive, being able to get so close to the county's head constable.

Zhao Chunqiang also stepped forward and cupped his fists toward Chen Xiaobei. "Brother Chen, congratulations!"

Chen Xiaobei was completely confused, looking at him in confusion.

Noticing that Chen Xiaobei hadn't yet realized what was happening, He Laoqi chuckled and said, "Xiaobei, from now on, you're the village head of Hetou Village. The county magistrate has already registered it."

Zhao Chunqiang immediately added, "Yes, yes, if it weren't for Captain He's strong recommendation, I wouldn't have known that Hetou Village had someone like you, Brother Chen, who is so capable of governing."

But that wasn't all. Zhao Chunqiang turned to the craftsmen in the yard and loudly announced, "Everyone, listen up. From now on, Chen Xiaobei is the village head of Hetou Village."

The people on site cheered once again.

Chen Xiaobei waved humbly at everyone, signaling them to continue working. Then, he invited He Laoqi and Zhao Chunqiang to the western courtyard to have tea.

Zhao Chunqiang took out ink, brushes, and paper from his bag and had Chen Xiaobei sign the relevant documents. Once all the paperwork was completed, he said seriously, "By the way, the donkey cart and the plow ox of the village will now be under your management. I've already spoken to Chen Ping. They're temporarily being kept at his house. Once your courtyard is ready, you can move them here."

Chen Xiaobei finally came to his senses. Yes, Da Cang Country provided a donkey cart and a plow ox for every village.

However, when Chen Anbang was the village head, the donkey cart and plow ox weren't available to Chen Xiaobei's family.

Now, all of that was under his control, which was quite an unexpected surprise.

"By the way, Xiaobei, according to Da Cang Country's laws, the roles of village head and village guard captain cannot be held by one person alone," Zhao Chunqiang added.

This was something that Chen Xiaobei hadn't expected. Since he couldn't hold both positions, he might as well give up the village guard captain position. But honestly, Chen Xiaobei still quite liked the role of captain.

Of course, he already had a suitable person for the role of captain — Li Dong.

Li Dong could organize work and had respect among the villagers.

In fact, the most suitable person for this position should have been Da Chun, but when Chen Xiaobei thought of Da Chun, he couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness. Perhaps in the near future, he would see him again.

After waiting for Zhao Chunqiang to finalize everything, He Laoqi slowly spoke, "Xiaobei, the matter with Cui Bansian has been settled. It's even more serious than you thought."

"He's always been eyeing the property of his village, Cui Fugui's family — yes, that's Cui Hongyu's father."

"He set up a big trap, first encouraging Chen Anbang to let his grandson, Chen Ping, marry Cui Hongyu, take over the Cui family's property, and then sell Cui Hongyu to the city's Baihua Lou."

"And he, under the pretense of helping the Chen family avert disaster, tried to find ways to swindle money into his hands."

"By the way, Cui Hongyu's previous husbands were all secretly killed by him."

"They even tried to harm you. They didn't expect that you would successfully resolve the crisis, leading to internal strife between them. He then took drastic measures, releasing snakes to bite and kill Chen Anbang."

Chen Xiaobei felt a cold sweat run down his spine as he heard this.

If those snakes had been placed at his own gate, where would he have a chance to survive?

"Have you figured out the snake situation? Does he still have any at his house?"

He Laoqi nodded, "I came specifically for this matter. He said there's a jar behind his house where he keeps bamboo pit vipers."

"He spent a lot of money buying them from a wandering monk, which means he's been planning this conspiracy for a long time."

Indeed, to achieve his goals, he was willing to disregard human life. This Cui Bansian was truly detestable.

No, not just detestable, a person like him deserves to be tortured to death.