latelenovela Chapter 109 The Village Chief's Notice
Chapter 109 The Village Chief's Notice
"Okay, Grandma You understand. I'll wait for your news."
Zhao Shengan lived next door to the Zhao family. When Zhao Shengan learned that Shen Ming had prepared so many things and so much money for Zhao Taohua's betrothal, he was extremely anxious.
Although Uncle Ershu ultimately refused and disagreed with the marriage, Zhao Shengan was still worried that Zhao Taohua would be married off to someone else.
"Mother, please ask Matchmaker You to help me arrange a betrothal for Peach Blossom!"
Zhao Shengan urged anxiously.
Madam Zheng was surprised by Shen Ming's generosity; sixty taels of silver was no small sum.
But if I could marry a daughter-in-law like Peach Blossom, it would be worth it!
Madam Zheng immediately agreed, "Alright, Mother will go find Matchmaker You right away."
Don't worry, Mother will prepare even better for you than Shen Ming did!
Just now, she saw Zhao Ershu very righteously reject Shen Ming, so she could deduce that Shen Ming had no chance.
As a parent herself, Zheng naturally understood Zhao Ershu's concerns.
Shen Ming is so much older than Tao Hua, and he doesn't have any elders in his family to help him, so of course he wouldn't agree.
However, Sheng'an from their family is different. He is about the same age as Tao Hua, only one year older than her.
Both she and Guangkun are alive and well, in excellent health. Their families live just a wall apart, making them practically destined in-laws!
"Boom! Boom! Boom..."
Just as Zheng was about to go out to find Matchmaker You, the sound of gongs suddenly rang out in the village.
"Everyone, gather at the village entrance. I have something important to tell you!"
The village chief walked through the village, banging a gong and shouting.
Upon hearing this, everyone walked from their homes or fields toward the village entrance.
Seeing this, Zheng had no choice but to postpone her plan to go see Matchmaker You.
Before long, a large number of villagers gathered at the village entrance, all waiting for the village chief to speak.
When Zhao Taohua arrived at the village entrance, she immediately spotted Shen Ming with his silver hair in the crowd.
Shen Ming also saw her. Their eyes met, and they both saw a faint smile in each other's eyes.
"Shen Ming, what do you think of your sister-in-law?"
Suddenly, Shen Ming heard the voice of the young widow, Madam Pan.
He looked down and saw that Madam Pan was looking at him with her eyes full of charm and her lips slightly upturned.
After saying that, she slowly moved closer to Shen Ming, her plump hands trying to place on his arm.
It's already March, but people still haven't taken off their thick cotton-padded coats.
However, among all the men in the village, only Shen Ming, despite wearing a thick cotton-padded coat, still displayed a tall and sturdy physique.
Outside the sleeve, his hands were large, his fingers long and slender, and his veins bulged, exuding masculinity.
More importantly, she hadn't expected Shen Ming to be so rich.
Just the betrothal gifts to the Zhao family amounted to sixty taels of silver and valuables!
Shen Ming is rich and generous. They are about the same age, and she is even a year younger than him!
Although she was a widow, she had never given birth, and Shen Ming was already nineteen and still single; she was more than a match for him.
Upon seeing this, Shen Ming frowned deeply, as if facing a formidable enemy, and quickly took two steps back to distance himself from Pan Shi.
"Sister Pan, please have some self-respect," Shen Ming reminded her.
Pan didn't care at all, swaying her voluptuous waist as she continued:
"Shen Ming, if you marry my sister-in-law, she'll guarantee you two big, healthy sons to carry on the Shen family line!"
Shen Ming immediately turned cold upon hearing this: "Sister-in-law, please have some self-respect. I don't want this kind of good fortune."
Pan panicked. She hadn't expected that even after taking such a proactive approach, Shen Ming would still reject her.
She asked, "You're not still hung up on Zhao Taohua, are you?"
Her father would never agree to let his daughter marry a man as old as you.
"But we're a match made in heaven!"
Pan had only been married to Zhao Shengqiang for six months when Zhao Shengqiang suddenly fell seriously ill and died.
The couple had only been married for six months and had not yet had any children.
Zhao Shengqiang's father only had one son, Zhao Shengqiang. After Zhao Shengqiang died, he did not drive Pan Shi out, but instead treated her like his own daughter.
Pan was already living a good life, and now that the entire Zhao family village has prospered, she is even more unwilling to leave.
However, she has been a widow since she was fifteen, and has been a widow for two and a half years now. She does not want to be a widow for the rest of her life!
"Don't worry about it!"
After saying that, Shen Ming walked straight past Pan Shi and headed towards the front of the crowd.
"you……"
Pan wanted to say something more, but at that moment, the village chief standing in front suddenly started to speak loudly, so she had no choice but to give up chasing Shen Ming.
Not far away, Zhao Taohua saw the way Widow Pan looked at Shen Ming. Her eyes were full of affection, like a pool of spring water that was about to drown Shen Ming.
Zhao Taohua immediately pursed her lips. Was Widow Pan trying to seduce Shen Ming?
A wave of bitterness immediately welled up in her heart, like eating an unripe fruit, leaving her feeling utterly miserable.
However, the fact that Shen Ming kept a distance from Widow Pan made Zhao Taohua's lips unconsciously curl up.
He is quite smart.
At the front of the crowd, the village chief stood on a bench and raised his voice:
"I've gathered everyone here today because I have something important to tell you."
Peach Blossom predicted that three months from now, summer rainstorms would cause landslides and mudslides in the surrounding mountains.
To prevent landslides and mudslides from causing devastating disasters to our village, I discussed with the village elders that each household in the village should send one person to participate in the construction of the slope protection project and the building of the retaining dam until the project is completed.
every day?
Does each household need to send one person?
As soon as the village chief finished speaking, the villagers present started to murmur among themselves.
If there are many people in the family, then it's not a problem, but for those with few people, won't the family be missing one person for the next three months?
The villagers with small families looked troubled.
Zhao Shenglin's face stiffened, because he lived alone.
Therefore, he will be going to the mountain to participate in the construction project for the next three months, but he still has four acres of medicinal herb fields at home to take care of.
His medicinal herb field was planted after his mother died in the heavy snow. He was about to be able to pick herbs and sell them for money, but he had to go and build a protective mountain project instead.
Zhao Shenglin frowned slightly, feeling somewhat displeased.
His gaze unconsciously drifted toward Shen Ming, who was standing in the front row.
In the village, Shen Ming was the only one left in his family, just like him.
Shen Ming's face remained expressionless; he simply stood there quietly, seemingly unperturbed by the matter.
Zhao Shenglin withdrew his gaze. If Shen Ming could solve it, then he certainly could too.
Some villagers with smaller households whispered their grievances, but no one dared to speak out.
Suddenly, Widow Pan loudly questioned, "Village chief, there are only three people in my family: my parents-in-law and me, a woman."
How can my mother-in-law and I go to repair the protective hillside? Only my father-in-law can go.
However, my father-in-law is the breadwinner of the family. If he goes to build the protective hillside, won't we be short one person to harvest our medicinal herbs?
The village chief, upon hearing her words, replied irritably:
"If you wait for landslides and mudslides to occur, do you still want to make money from the medicinal herb fields?"
All the medicinal herb fields in our village are going to be gone, and even our newly built houses are going to be gone!
After the village chief finished speaking, he looked at Widow Pan as if she were a fool.
Widow Pan retorted, "Is what Zhao Taohua said true?"
Don't they see how many mountains surround our village? With so many, how long will it take to finish this job?
Let alone three months, it wouldn't be finished even in three years!
Even if landslides and mudslides still occur, our medicinal herb fields and houses will still be gone!
Isn't this a waste of time?