Chapter Thirty-Two


    After dining with Su Wan, Long Xiaoshan went home. With Long Xiaoling taken care of by Su Wan at the Lily Hotel, he had nothing to worry about.


    He withdrew twenty thousand yuan from the bank in town and pocketed the money.


    Back in the vige, he called Couple Long Dashan into the house and took out the twenty thousand yuan.


    The eyes of Couple Long Dashan bulged.


    "Xiaoshan, did you really sell them?"


    "Yes, I still have almost ny thousand in my ount that I haven''t withdrawn," said Long Xiaoshan as he also took out his bank card.


    Couple Long Dashan were speechless for a long while.


    He Xiangyue eximed in shock, "How could you sell them for so much? How much is that per pound for thoserge shrimp?"


    "Mom, you don''t need to worry about how much per pound. I sold the shrimp to a big hotel in the county. They paid me in real cash, so stop fretting over it," Long Xiaoshan said.


    "With this twenty thousand and the eighteen thousand from yesterday, that should be enough to repay the debts, right?"


    "Enough, enough, old man, we can really pay off those debts," He Xiangyue said, her eyes welling up with tears of excitement.


    "Yeah, yeah, it''s all thanks to Xiaoshan''s capabilities," replied Long Dashan, equally excited.


    Those debts loomed over them like boulders pressing down on their hearts.


    Now that they could pay off the debts, it lifted their greatest burden.


    "With the extra money, let''s buy some good liquor, dishes, cigarettes, and such to give away. After all, they''re our fellow vigers. Some of these debts have been owed for so many years; they would have rued interest if left in the bank. If it''s not enough, I''ll just withdraw more," Long Xiaoshan said.


    "You don''t have to tell us that," they said.


    He Xiangyue and Long Dashan hurriedly fetched the ount book from their room, checked off each debt, and then headed out the door with the money.


    They were busy until darkness fell before Couple Long Dashan returned, carrying many items in their hands.


    Both of their faces were glowing with a healthy flush, as if the wrinkles had lessened and they had rejuvenated by several years.


    "Mom and Dad, have all the debts been repaid?" Long Xiaoshan asked.


    "Paid off, paid off," Couple Long Dashan answered, cing the various-sized packages on the table. "We''ve repaid the debts and brought some tobo and liquor. They gave us lots of things in return."


    Long Xiaoshan saw that the packages were all local produce.


    He thought to himself that, after all, his fellow vigers were honest and simple. They had been incited toe collect the debts previously, but now that the debts were settled, they even gave gifts in return without fussing over interest. In the city, it would be unheard of to lend money without interest for several years.


    Thinking of how impoverished Longyang Vige was, with even pickup trucks scraping bottom on the mountain roads.


    "To get rich, build the roads first."


    The poverty of Longyang Vige wasn''t without reason.


    In the future, if he really wanted to start an industry, it would be better to do it in the vige. Building a road, cultivating and breeding in the vige would be more convenient. Moreover, it could help the vigers prosper. Long Fakui used to bully the vigers and exploit the women in the vige with his little wealth, and Long Xiaoshan would certainly not stand for that.


    If everyone in the vige had money, who among them, like Zhang Widow, would sell themselves to Long Fakui for a few bucks?


    Moreover, this would be a good deed too.


    It wasn''t only through healing the sick and saving lives that one could umte merit.


    Long Xiaoshan had a blueprint in his heart, and the urge to get started was stronger than ever.


    The next day, Long Xiaoshan ran to the vigemittee. Electricity had not yet been installed in his home, so he went to themittee. Ergouzi and a few idle young men from the vige were squatting outside, smoking and ying cards.


    Seeing Long Xiaoshan approaching, Ergouzi and the young men quickly stood up.


    The tone fierce but the heart timid, shouted, "Long Xiaoshan, what do you want to do?"


    Last time at Long Xiaoshan''s house, he got beaten up by Long Xiaoshan, and Ergouzi had developed a shadow in his heart. Seeing Long Xiaoshan walking towards him, he thought Long Xiaoshan was going to hit him. Although there were two or three people nearby,st time it was also three people, and they still got beaten up by Long Xiaoshan.


    Long Xiaoshan said, "I''m not going to do anything, you pulled my electricity, now pull it back for me."


    As soon as Ergouzi heard Long Xiaoshan was here to get the electricity reconnected, he puffed up and snorted, "Wishful thinking. Your house still owes the vige for water and electricity bills and hasn''t paid yet. It''s a rule, thew, for the vige to limit your electricity. What, are you nning to break thew?"


    Long Xiaoshanughed, "You''re lecturing me on thew now, forget it, I won''t argue with you. I have brought the money; I''ll pay whatever I owe."


    Long Xiaoshan took out a stack of money, indeed a wad of red Chairman Maos.


    It made Ergouzi''s eyes stick out, a glint of greed appearing in them.


    "Long Xiaoshan, just paying the overdue water and electricity bill is not enough. Your family also owes the vige three thousand yuan for the contract fee. Have you forgotten?" Ergouzi chuckled.


    Long Xiaoshan''s face turned cold; he was well aware of the contract fee. After he was imprisoned, his family really had no money. Just then, Uncle Laotie was the vige chief and took care of his family by giving them a quota for a five-guarantee household to contract a wastnd for free. But Long Dashan had bad luck; that year, he contracted the wastnd to nt fruit, and a drought happened, causing him to lose money on the seedlings as well.


    The so-called contract fee had already been waived.


    Long Xiaoshan was not a man of good temperament. He took two steps forward and stared at Ergouzi, "Ergouzi, are you trying to extort me?"


    Being stared at by Long Xiaoshan, Ergouzi felt a chill on his back, and a shiver shot up his spine. He then remembered that Long Xiaoshan was no longer the bookish guy he used to be; the guy had changedpletely aftering back from prison.


    Ergouzi took a few steps back, got tripped up by the threshold of the vigemittee door and stumbled into the doorway.


    Before he got up from the ground, he yelled, "Help, Long Xiaoshan is hitting people, help, he''s going to kill someone!"


    A few people ran out of the vigemittee.


    Vige chief Long Fakui was among them and he bellowed, "What''s going on?"


    Not to mention, Long Fakui had mixed it up in the county before, and now not only was his business doing well, but he had also be the vige chief. His roar was quite imposing.


    Long Xiaoshan walked into the vigemittee door and said, "I don''t even know what''s wrong with Ergouzi. I haven''t touched him and he''s yelling about being hit and being killed."


    Ergouzi''s face reddened, but now that the vige chief had appeared, he felt like he had backing. He got up, ran to Long Fakui, and pointed at Long Xiaoshan, "Long Xiaoshan, don''t be arrogant, you''ll have a tough time ahead."


    Long Xiaoshan ignored Ergouzi and said, "Vige chief, I''m here to get the electricity reconnected. I''ve paid my water and electricity bills, no problem, right?"


    Long Fakui said, "There is no problem with you getting electricity, but your family''s five-guarantee household is not following the rules. The vigemittee has already decided, and that time contracting the wastnd was also a vition of the rules. You must pay the contract fee."


    Long Xiaoshan frowned and said, "That was waived by Uncle Laotie when he was here, and it''s been two years since. Why the need to pay now?"


    Long Fakuiughed coldly and turned to a woman beside him, "Jin Lian, you''re the vige ountant, tell him."


    This woman was indeed Long Fakui''s wife, named Jin Lian, who was as beautiful as Pan Jinlian from the Water Margin, extremely attractive, and only in her thirties. They say when Long Fakui married her, she was not even eighteen, so she''s not that old even now. It''s a mystery how Long Fakui, who resembled a ck monkey, managed to marry such a beautiful wife.


    Jin Lian didn''t look rustic; on the contrary, she had a bit of a city dweller''s air about her.


    But Long Xiaoshan remembered Jin Lian had always been in the vige. Long Fakui had bought a house in the county a long time ago, and he had never seen him take his wife out.


    When Long Fakui called her, Jin Lian nced at Long Xiaoshan and said with a hint of pity, "Xiaoshan, your family''s five-guarantee household status was in vition of the rules. A five-guarantee household is only for houses with only elderly, disabled, or minors, which yours isn''t. Since it was a vition, it must be canceled, and those contract fees must be paid."


    "Auntie Jin Lian, you know the situation of my family. At that time, I was in prison and my family was indeed in a difficult situation. I don''t mind the cancetion of the five-guarantee household, but it''s not fair to ask me to make up those fees, surely the vigemittee cleared these old ounts long ago, what''s the meaning of bringing them up now?" Long Xiaoshan said, dissatisfied.


    Jin Lian looked at Long Fakui and kept silent.


    Long Fakui snorted, "The wastnd belongs to the vige, it''s a collective interest. If you don''t pay, you''re harming the collective interest, you''re breaking thew. As long as I, Long Fakui, am the vige chief, I absolutely will put a stop to such corrupt practices. No one should think of shearing the vige''s wool."


    Long Xiaoshan, upon hearing Long Fakui''s hypocritical words, really wanted to p him across the face.


    However, with Long Fakui harping on this loophole, knowing full well that Long Fakui was making a mountain out of a molehill, he found it hard to rebut. Could he really beat up Long Fakui? That would be useless; this wasn''t jail, and fists alone wouldn''t solve the problem.


    Long Xiaoshan silently shifted his thoughts, then said, "Fine, since you put it that way, vige chief, I, Long Xiaoshan, am not unreasonable. I can make up the contract fee, but I want to renew the lease on those mountains. I have the right of first refusal."