As for the previously mentioned plan to invest in and open a shop in Fuhe City... given the family's limited financial resources and Xu Zhengyang's meticulous and cautious nature cultivated from running a small business for over a year, it was decided that they couldn't fight a battle they weren't sure of winning, and shouldn't take a left-leaning, adventurous approach. What if they lost money? Of course, the dream of opening a shop still existed, provided that the family's savings account had at least 40,000 yuan left after deducting the money for his younger sister's schooling, in addition to the money for rebuilding the new house.
Only after accumulating enough money (20,000 yuan) can you invest it.
Based on current average income, realizing this dream seems very far away.
However, this did not discourage Xu Zhengyang. He was not one to aim too high. He believed that as long as there was hope, and as long as he worked hard towards that goal, he would eventually succeed. Besides, didn't he have some minor supernatural abilities? Who knew that one day good luck would strike and he would find a few more gold nuggets?
The revolution is not yet complete; comrades must continue to strive.
Therefore, Xu Zhengyang continued to run his Xiaomi business, working hard to make money without any slackening.
Time flies, and more than a week has passed in the blink of an eye.
Xu Neng, an honest and simple man who only knew how to scold and beat his son at home, couldn't find a job. Even the construction teams in the village had enough workers, so he couldn't get a job as a laborer.
So, Han Dashan, the owner of Dashan Cement Products Factory, once again asked someone to propose marriage to Xu Neng's family. He believed that more than a week had passed, and Xu Neng hadn't found another job, and his family's financial situation was poor; the couple should have realized their mistake and regretted their decision by now. Given the direct conflict between the matchmaker, Wang's wife, and Xu Neng's family last time, Han Dashan didn't send Wang's wife this time. Instead, he sent Widow Liu from the west end of the village.
Widow Liu was no pushover either. Relying on the wealth and power of Han Dashan's family, and the promise of five hundred yuan after the deal was done, Widow Liu went to Xu Neng's house and used both kindness and threats in her words, determined to make the match a success.
Unexpectedly, Xu Nengren, though honest, was stubborn, and coupled with Yuan Suqin's stubborn nature—she wouldn't yield to force—she managed to kick Liu the widow out of the house. Yuan Suqin even chased her into the street, yelling, "You deserve to be a widow! You're utterly despicable! You wanted my daughter to marry a man with no one to rely on? You should have married a man with missing limbs! You married a man who died young, leaving you a widow in name only! Now you're working like a dog for those rich factory owners, what are you yelling about? Are you getting paid to have affairs?"
Widow Liu was no match for them, and besides, she was in the wrong, so she slunk away.
Seeing the growing crowd of neighbors watching, Yuan Suqin became even more determined, relentlessly launching into a veiled attack: "Don't think you're so great just because your family has a little money. Just because we're not related by marriage doesn't mean we can't work in your factory. Does anyone think they can't live without someone else? What good is your family's wealth? Your second son is still a 'road bumper,' why? Because he's done too many bad things. He thinks he can just pay to smooth out the road beneath his feet... A toad trying to eat swan meat! Have a daughter and marry your son off! Be a better person, accumulate some good karma, maybe heaven will open its eyes and let that road bumper get married. Otherwise, he'll never get married! Your eldest son did get married and gave you a grandson, but how's that? I heard he's been seeing ghosts these past few days, crying and making a fuss every night. Why? Because he's done something immoral. You can't do anything wrong, or there'll never be peace in the family..."
Seeing that his wife was getting more and more into her tirade, Xu Neng quickly pulled her away and tried to persuade her to go back.
At first, the Han family members were too embarrassed to come out, but as they heard the harsh shouts and curses, they became increasingly angry. Their eldest son, Han Kuisheng, finally ran out in a rage, carrying a stick to beat Yuan Suqin, but was forcibly pulled back home by his wife, Huaixiu.
Actually, the reason Han Kuisheng went home was probably because he saw Xu Zhengyang riding his bicycle back to exchange millet from afar, so he quickly took advantage of his wife's persuasion and pulled him along, and went home.
Xu Zhengyang saw a crowd gathered at the entrance of his alley from afar, and heard his mother cursing loudly: "Oh, who are you trying to scare? If you have the guts, come and hit your great-grandmother! If you don't dare, your whole family are bastards..." Xu Zhengyang's anger flared up immediately. Damn it! It sounds like someone wants to hit my mother? Has she gone mad!
"Mom, what's wrong?" Xu Zhengyang rushed into the crowd, steadily leaned his old bicycle against the wall, helped his panting mother, and asked calmly, "Who tried to hit you?" As he spoke, Xu Zhengyang raised his head, squinted, and scanned the crowd of onlookers without a trace of anger.
The onlookers couldn't help but step back, afraid that Xu Zhengyang might misunderstand.
Everyone knows that a dog that bites doesn't bark, and Xu Zhengyang is a notorious ruthless character in the village. Everyone knows that when he fights, he never shouts to cheer himself on, just like the big black dog of the village secretary Zhou Qingguo. It never barks, but it bites the most people. Three wolfhounds can't beat it. It bites quickly, ruthlessly, and accurately.
Knowing her son's temper, Xu was afraid things would escalate, so she quickly pulled the mother and son towards home, saying, "Let it go, let's talk about it at home. No one will hit us then."
Yuan Suqin was tired of cursing, so she angrily cursed a few more times in that direction, spat a few times, and then went home.
Xu Zhengyang glanced at everyone with a gloomy expression. Seeing that the neighbors were starting to disperse, he pushed his bicycle home, wondering who had made his mother so angry.
After returning home and learning the whole story from his parents, Xu Zhengyang was both angry and amused. He thought that his mother's display of power this time was a slap in the face to the Han family. In the future, the Han family should not send anyone to propose marriage again. Besides, even if they did, who would dare to speak on their behalf?
So, the matter should have been settled by now, right?
Unexpectedly, the next day, a rumor spread throughout the village that Xu Neng's family wasn't unwilling to marry into Han Dashan's family, but rather that Xu Neng and his wife had demanded 50,000 yuan as an engagement gift from Han Dashan's family, plus a house in the city, before they would agree to marry their daughter. As for why such high conditions were so demanding, the rumor claimed that Yuan Suqin had said her daughter, Xu Rouyue, was a graduate of Tsinghua University—in the village, there were fewer than five graduates with even a junior college degree, let alone graduates from prestigious universities—and that she was worth that much. Han Dashan's family initially thought that since their son had a leg problem, they could accept the extra expense. However, Yuan Suqin later added conditions, saying that since her son wasn't married yet and their house was old and needed rebuilding, this wouldn't do; they demanded that their family own 40% of the factory's shares.
That's going too far!
As a result, Han Dashan's family refused, and Xu Neng's family turned their backs on them.
The story spread like wildfire, making it seem as if Han Dashan's family had suffered some great injustice.
That's not all. Even more outrageous, rumors circulated that Xu Neng's daughter, Xu Rouyue, didn't go home for summer vacation, not to earn money as a tutor in Beijing, but because she was being kept by a wealthy man...
The village is small, and these rumors can spread like wildfire throughout the village in a single day.
Without a doubt, it was a rumor fabricated by Wang's wife, Liu's widow, and Han Dashan's family.
But even though they knew who did it, Xu Neng and his family of three were helpless because no one would say these things to their faces. Besides, they couldn't just go looking for someone to take revenge without any evidence.
Young Xu Zhengyang was furious, wanting nothing more than to tear the person spreading the rumors to pieces. However, he didn't act impulsively, maintaining a frighteningly calm demeanor. Even when Cao Gangchuan, having heard the rumors, approached him asking to help teach Han Dashan's son a lesson to vent his anger, Xu Zhengyang shook his head and refused. He was no longer the impulsive youth who advocated solving problems with violence, and he knew very well that resolving issues with force would only result in mutual destruction and provide the police station with an opportunity to impose fines.
What their family fears most right now is being fined, as they are struggling financially!
However, this does not mean that Xu Zhengyang accepted his fate and refrained from revenge or venting his anger.
He was thinking of another way, considering going to Han Dashan's house that night to take a look around and see if there really was some ghostly thing causing trouble at his house.
Rumors are circulating in the village that Han Kuisheng's six-year-old son has been crying every night for the past three days, saying he has seen a ghost.
I don't know if it's true or not.
Volume One, Land Chapter 010: Using Ghosts to Deceive People
As the saying goes, "If you do nothing wrong, you won't be afraid of ghosts knocking at your door in the middle of the night."
Xu Zhengyang wholeheartedly agreed. He thought it would be truly strange if Han Dashan's house didn't attract ghosts. Back in his youth, that guy was a notorious thug in the village and even the whole township, using his size and strength to bully and torment people. Later, he partnered with a friend to open a cement products factory, and after discovering the huge profits, he forcefully drove away his partner and took over the business entirely.
In Shuanghe Village today, apart from a few families who do business elsewhere and rarely return home, Han Dashan is definitely the richest man in the village.
Because of his family's wealth and connections, as well as his infamous reputation from back then, no one in the village dared to mess with him.
Oh no, it's that most people don't dare to mess with him. A small minority, well, like Xu Zhengyang and his group of young people, aren't afraid of Han Dashan at all, but they won't go looking for trouble with him either. Everyone has some reservations; he's rich and powerful. Back then, when Chen Chaojiang brutally beat Han Dashan's eldest son, Han Kuisheng, the entire Han family mobilized, stormed to Chen Chaojiang's doorstep, and threatened to ransack his house. Chen Chaojiang's parents were so frightened that they hid inside, too afraid to move. Chen Chaojiang, alone, stood outside the gate with a kitchen knife, dressed in black, his face as white as snow, calmly smoking a cigarette as he stepped aside, saying, "I've opened the gate. Anyone with guts can come in. I'll chop them all up..."
Han Dashan roared, "You little brat, are you trying to scare your grandpa? If I don't teach you a lesson, you won't know your own limitations."
Chen Chaojiang replied without a trace of sarcasm, "I really don't know my own limitations, but if you don't kill me today, I can easily kill your son later."
Actually, Han Dashan was a notoriously fierce man back in the day, so how could he be intimidated by such a threat?
Even the most thug wouldn't back down in this situation. But that time, Han Dashan did back down. He didn't know why, but seeing Chen Chaojiang's ashen, empty, and lifeless eyes, Han Dashan was afraid.
So when Chen Chaojiang's father came out to plead for mercy, Han Dashan immediately took the opportunity to back down, said a few harsh words to save face, and slunk away with his whole family.
The subsequent fights involving Xu Zhengyang, Chen Chaojiang, and their gang made Han Dashan thankful he hadn't let his anger cloud his judgment; otherwise, clashing with a young man like Chen Chaojiang could have had unimaginable consequences. Han Dashan's two sons were terrified of Xu Zhengyang and his group.
Of course, this wouldn't make Han Dashan afraid of Xu Zhengyang.
Xu Zhengyang, of course, wasn't afraid of Han Dashan. From the conflict between Chen Chaojiang and Han Dashan's family, Xu Zhengyang clearly understood that Han Dashan was old and had family responsibilities, so he definitely wouldn't dare to act as recklessly as these carefree young people. As for his two sons, needless to say, they might bully honest people because of their family's wealth... but if they encountered someone tough, they would be typical cowards.
To put it simply: "Those who wear shoes are afraid of those who are barefoot."
We've gone off on a tangent again.
Well, when the village was talking about how Han Dashan's grandson had been crying and seeing ghosts every night for the past few days, Xu Zhengyang thought it was probably true. Although no one in the village believed in ghosts or gods these days, Xu Zhengyang was different. He had personally seen Zhao Laoguang's ghost and even helped the ghost deliver a message to his family. Moreover... he himself was the local earth god.
On the night the rumors about his younger sister Xu Rouyue's marriage to Han Dashan's family spread throughout the village, Xu Zhengyang did not go to sleep early, but sat quietly in the house waiting for midnight to come.
It started raining outside around 10 p.m.
Xu Zhengyang was a little annoyed. He didn't want to go out in the rain in the middle of the night just to find a ghost that might only exist.
Fortunately, the thunderstorm stopped after lasting for more than half an hour.
The dark clouds in the night sky dispersed, revealing a sky full of stars, and the bright crescent moon hung in the deep night sky, casting a silvery glow across the land.
His parents were already asleep. Xu Zhengyang, wearing shorts and cloth shoes, tiptoed out of the house, opened the courtyard gate, and walked into the street.
The night after the rain is cool and humid, with a gentle breeze, making people feel a rare cool comfort in the summer.
The streets paved with black ash and slag were not muddy, but they were filled with water. When you walked by, you would inevitably splash water droplets, wetting your calves. It felt cool and refreshing, but it wasn't annoying.
The summer day was unusually cool, with a pleasant temperature, so the villagers went to bed early, and the village was quiet.
Han Dashan's house was much larger than the average household's, occupying the area of three plots of land. He built a three-story house and still had a large courtyard. The cement walls of the courtyard were over four meters high, topped with red tiles, and the gate was decorated like an ancient gate tower, grand and imposing. The house faced south, with the gate facing east. There were alleys running north and south in front and behind, and streets to the east and west on the left and right, with no other houses adjacent to it.
Xu Zhengyang circled around Han Dashan's house twice, but did not encounter any ghosts.
He wondered if the ghost had already entered the house, or if it hadn't arrived yet, or... if there was no ghost at all.
Could it be that the ghost has already entered the underworld? Xu Zhengyang remembered that Zhao Laoguang's ghost said that after a person dies, the ghost can only stay in the human world for seven days.
Xu Zhengyang lit a cigarette and stood at Han Dashan's door, pondering something, when he suddenly noticed a figure drifting in from the south. The figure moved incredibly fast, appearing eerily elusive in the moonlight. Xu Zhengyang chuckled. "Good heavens, it's here!" At this moment, he wasn't afraid of ghosts at all. After all, he was a "god," and it should be the ghosts who feared him.
Sure enough, the figure drifted away and stopped when it was about ten meters away from Han Dashan's house. It looked at Xu Zhengyang, trembling as if in fear, but did not turn around and run away.
Xu Zhengyang beckoned to the ghost and called softly, "Hey, don't be afraid, come here, come here."
The ghost suddenly retreated several meters away. After hesitating for a moment, it finally floated slowly over. When it was about four or five meters away from Xu Zhengyang, it stopped, then slowly knelt down, trembling all over, but dared not speak.
"Hey, is it you who comes here every day to scare Han Dashan's grandson?" Xu Zhengyang asked.
The ghost trembled again, seemingly terrified. After kowtowing several times, it said with a wronged expression, "Earth God, please calm down. It's not that I wanted to scare Han Dashan's grandson, I was just so angry! I wanted to scare Han Dashan, but they can't see me..."
"Do you have a grudge against Han Dashan?"
"No, no..." the ghost shook its head repeatedly.
Why are you scaring their family if you have no grudge against them?
Hearing the questioning tone in Xu Zhengyang's voice, the ghost was so frightened that it floated back two meters and said unwillingly, "When Han Dashan used to run a factory, he borrowed 10,000 yuan from me and still hasn't paid it back... Now that I'm dead, my wife and children are even less likely to ask him for it. So, so, I wanted to scare their child and hope that Han Dashan would be scared and remember the money he borrowed from me and pay me back as soon as possible."
Xu Zhengyang scratched his head and asked, "Why didn't you ask him for it earlier? Besides, if he wouldn't give it to you, you could have sued him!"
"I didn't dare to offend him, and besides, we used to have a pretty good relationship, so I was too embarrassed to ask him to write an IOU..."
"Damn it!" Xu Zhengyang cursed, then thought that if his buddies borrowed money, he probably wouldn't dare ask for an IOU either. Of course, he was confident that none of his buddies were like Han Dashan. Well, talking about it was pointless. Thinking this, Xu Zhengyang nodded and asked, "Where are you from?"
"I'm from Wangjia Village, and my name is Wang Zhu," the ghost answered honestly.
"Oh." Xu Zhengyang sat down on the stone platform by the door, smoking a cigarette, and said, "It's not right for you to scare a little kid like that. The kid has no grudge against you. Besides, Han Dashan doesn't believe in ghosts. And he's done so many bad things, do you think he would remember that he still owes you money and that your ghost is coming to bother him?"
The ghost said with difficulty, "He... he should know I'm dead."
“That’s true…” Xu Zhengyang shook his head and said, “It still won’t work. Here’s what we’ll do: don’t scare the child anymore. I’ll give you the authority. Han Dashan and his wife can see you. Hmm, go scare them.” As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Zhengyang felt a wave of dizziness, which quickly subsided. For a moment, he even felt a little weak.
"Really?" The ghost suddenly raised its head and said excitedly, "Thank you, Earth God, thank you so much..."
Xu Zhengyang wondered if this would require divine power. He pursed his lips and waved his hand, saying, "No need to thank me, but I have to remind you, you're just a ghost and you can't actually hurt anyone. Besides, Han Dashan might not actually be afraid of ghosts. Tell him that heaven is watching what people do. The local earth god outside the village is watching his every move. The fact that you were able to cause him trouble this time means that the earth god agreed. If he dares not to pay back the money and dares to continue doing bad things in the future, then his whole family will suffer."
"Yes, yes, thank you, thank you so much." The ghost nodded hurriedly and began to kowtow again.
Xu Zhengyang didn't say anything more, but waved his hand, indicating that the ghost could go to Han Dashan's house.
Upon seeing this, the ghost named Wang Zhu kowtowed several more times. Only after Xu Zhengyang left without looking back did he get up and walk towards Han Dashan's house.
The tightly closed vermilion gate could not stop the ghost from entering; Wang Zhu's figure disappeared inside.
Xu Zhengyang hadn't gone far when he turned back to look. Seeing the ghost was no longer on the street, he knew it had entered Han Dashan's house. A slight smile of satisfaction appeared on his lips. Then he frowned, wondering if he could truly grant the ghost the ability to appear before people.
According to local records, the Earth God has the authority to grant ghosts the power to manifest themselves before designated people.
That's why Xu Zhengyang thought of using ghosts to scare Han Dashan. This was no joke. No matter how brave a person is, or how fierce and domineering they are, when faced with something that completely defies the laws of nature and modern science, probably no one would be unafraid. Xu Zhengyang is brave enough, isn't he? Although he doesn't like to cause trouble, deep down, apart from his biological parents, he's truly not afraid of anyone. Even so, when he encountered the former Earth God at the Earth Temple, he was still so frightened that he wanted to run away immediately.
The unknown is what is most frightening.
Of course, simply sending a ghost to scare Han Dashan into paying a debt wouldn't be enough for Xu Zhengyang to fully vent his anger. This isn't hard to understand. To illustrate, imagine passerby A being verbally abused, beaten, and stabbed three times by passerby B in front of a crowd… In the end, passerby B is arrested and sentenced. But can passerby A's hatred be fully satisfied? The answer is definitely no.
If you want to get revenge and vent your anger, then you have to let the other person know who you messed with, that you'll regret it, and that you'll suffer a great loss!
Xu Zhengyang had Wang Zhu's ghost tell Han Dashan that Heaven is watching what people do, and the Earth God in the village temple remembers Han Dashan. Naturally, Han Dashan would be even more afraid of the Earth God than of ghosts. And the Earth God... well, if Han Dashan's house is constantly tormented and thrown into chaos by a ghost, he will definitely go to the Earth God temple to burn incense, kowtow, and beg for forgiveness in his fear.
If he's willing to go and he believes it, then things will be easy.