Unlimited estates for rural beauty

Chapter 43: Chapter 43 Beaten to Death (1)

Feng Jia’s weathered face turned beet red, and without another word, she delivered a hefty slap to Feng Gao’s face. Receiving the blow, Feng Gao felt a surge of fury, rolled up her sleeves, and reached for Feng Jia’s hair. She grabbed Feng Jia’s hair and gave her a beating, seizing the chance to scratch at her face whenever she could.

Feng Jia cried out in pain from the stinging on her face and swung her arm to hit Feng Gao back. Their feet joined the fray, and they both fell to the ground, throwing punches and kicks in a heated brawl. By the time the onlookers snapped out of their amusement, the two were entangled in an inextricable fight, impossible to pull apart.

The village chief was overseeing the rice planting at the edge of the field when someone ran over, telling him that a fight had broken out. Following the direction pointed out by the villager’s hand, he saw a crowd gathered, some egging on the fight.

Walking to the outskirts of the gathered crowd, the village chief shouted loudly, "What are you all doing here?"

The onlookers who spotted the village chief retreated a few steps to make way. As the chief saw the two entangled in a fight, neither willing to concede, his anger boiled over, his face turning the color of iron as fury burned within him.

"What’s with you two, getting full and idle, and starting a fight for no reason? Get up this instant. What kind of behavior is this?" The village chief reprimanded them furiously.

Feng Jia and Feng Gao exchanged glances, then both let go and stood up, dusting the dirt off themselves.

"Speak up, what’s going on?" the village chief asked, hands behind his back, scrutinizing both of them.

"Village chief, I was just thinking of the villagers’ welfare, wanting to help them earn more silver," Feng Jia said, subtly stirring up discontent among the villagers with her clever words. They glared at Feng Gao.

"Village chief, Feng Jia knew Feng Xuxu intended to hire people in the village for planting, and she wanted to charge too much, pressuring Feng Xuxu to raise the wage for every worker," Feng Gao stated.

As soon as Feng Gao finished speaking, some villagers chimed in. "That’s right, village chief, what Feng Jia said isn’t wrong. Could you speak to Feng Xuxu about this? If not, perhaps you could raise the wages for us a bit."

"Village chief, you’re in charge of everyone in this village, so raising it by just a few copper coins wouldn’t mean much to Feng Xuxu, but for us, those few copper coins could improve a meal dramatically."

"That’s true, village chief, please have a word on our behalf," several villagers urged the village chief.

The village chief looked on coldly at Feng Jia, who was smirking confidently, then at the greedily wanton villagers. Sighing in resignation, he closed his eyes, and when he reopened them, his gaze sharply swept over those asking for a wage increase. His voice, icy and harsh, questioned, "Are you few suggesting that earning twenty-five copper coins a day is too little, and that’s why you want a raise? Or do you think that without raising wages, Feng Xuxu won’t be able to hire others to plant fields?"

The people admonished by the village chief blushed with embarrassment and hung their heads in shame. Seeing them silent, the village chief continued, "Working in town for a day, you’d earn at most twenty-five copper coins—what kind of meals you’d get, all of you are well aware. You rush to the town before dawn and only get back home well after dark. Now you have such good work in the village, receiving the same pay as in town, eating better than you would there, and not having to travel in the dark, yet you’re still not content. What kind of wages and treatment are you looking for? Go on, say it, let me broaden my horizons too," he said, filled with indignation. He couldn’t fathom that a few thoughtless words from an ignorant village woman could incite these people so quickly to pressure Feng Xuxu, as if they were mad for silver.

"Village chief, I’m sorry. I didn’t think it through and just wanted to earn more silver to improve our meals," Feng Bao, rendered speechless by the scolding, thought over the village chief’s words and realized his own excessive greed. Thus, he awkwardly admitted his mistake.