Her shouting and cursing had gone on until her throat was hoarse.
Yet no one came out.
Zhang Qiulian sat collapsed on the ground, her face streaked with tears and her hair disheveled.
There was none of the gentle, virtuous appearance she had always maintained.
In the courtyard, Hu Yan poked her head out from behind Chen Guangze.
Seeing the bloody scrape on his arm, she frowned.
“You need to disinfect that properly. There are bits of brick stuck in the wound.”
Teacher Bai nodded as well.
“Fifth Daughter-in-law, take him to the clinic and have it disinfected.”
Then she couldn’t help complaining,
“Has Zhang Qiulian gone crazy? Stay away from her from now on.”
Everyone nodded, but they couldn’t help glancing toward their own houses.
Zhang Qiulian had desperately wanted their houses.
What secret could these houses possibly be hiding?
Everyone in the Chen family except Chen Guangze and Hu Yan was busy setting up kitchens in the backyard.
By the time Hu Yan and Chen Guangze came out of the clinic, it was already noon.
The villagers were returning from the fields.
The normally quiet village suddenly became lively.
When the villagers saw Chen Guangze and Hu Yan, they greeted them one after another.
“How come you two are coming out of the clinic?”
“Has your eldest sister-in-law left?”
“Teacher Bai is just too easygoing. She should’ve put that daughter-in-law firmly in her place instead of letting her walk all over her.”
“Don’t let her come back to the village. She’ll teach all the other daughters-in-law bad habits.”
“…”
Everyone had something to say about Zhang Qiulian, and none of it was flattering.
Chen Guangze and Hu Yan smiled and politely responded to one group of people after another.
They headed straight for the former educated youth compound they had purchased—the two-courtyard Western-style quadrangle.
Although Chen Guangze and the others had been hospitalized these past few days, the renovation work had never stopped.
The once-dilapidated courtyard had already undergone a dramatic transformation.
The old walls had been freshly painted, revealing a clean white surface.
The doors and windows had also been replaced with new ones.
The weeds in the courtyard had all been cleared away. Although the place looked somewhat bare, it no longer showed any signs of decay.
Hu Yan’s face lit up with surprise, her eyes filled with admiration.
“I didn’t expect this place to have so much character once it was renovated.”
Chen Guangze put an arm around her shoulders.
“It used to belong to a landlord, after all. They must’ve built it to look as good as possible.”
“From now on, this place belongs to us. With an area this large, the compensation when it’s demolished won’t be small.”
Hu Yan wanted to tell him that “not small” was an understatement.
The combined value of all the Chen family’s houses probably wouldn’t even compare to this place.
As they entered the courtyard, several bricklayers greeted him and reported on the renovation progress.
In short, the entire renovation would be finished tomorrow.
Chen Guangze walked around and inspected everything.
It wasn’t really necessary. They had hired villagers from their own community, and none of them would cut corners when working on a house.
After leaving the courtyard, Chen Guangze led Hu Yan toward the fields.
“The down jackets should arrive in a couple of days. I’ll have them unloaded directly into the courtyard, okay?”
Hu Yan nodded.
“Yeah. Once the weather gets cold, I’ll start selling them.”
Chen Guangze didn’t want her to work herself too hard. If she could sell them, great. If not, they could simply leave them alone.
“Okay. The homestead paperwork for this courtyard has already been completed by the village Party secretary. It’s registered under my name.
“You can do whatever you want with it.”
Today, Hu Yan had tied her curly hair into a high ponytail.
Her eyes were filled with excitement and anticipation.
She radiated a unique charm.
The more Chen Guangze looked at her, the more he liked her.
His wife seemed to have a thousand different sides, and he loved every single one of them.
Hu Yan couldn’t be bothered to look at the hungry expression in his eyes.
“As long as all the paperwork is in order.
“Also, keep an eye on that man Zhang Qiulian is involved with at the demolition office.”
Chen Guangze took her hand.
“Don’t worry. Before I leave for Shenzhen, I’ll take care of everything.”
“We only got six mu of farmland in total. Not much. It’s planted with sorghum.”
Hu Yan nodded.
Compared with the other families, they had definitely received less land.
The second branch had five people and fifteen mu of farmland. The third branch was the same.
The fourth branch had three people and nine mu.
Their household had no children, so they only received the six mu belonging to the two of them.
“Yan, I won’t be home, and you don’t know how to farm anyway. How about we rent our land to Second Brother?”
Hu Yan had been thinking the same thing.
Second Brother was an excellent farmer.
Third Brother and Fourth Brother both had regular salaries and weren’t short of that little bit of income.
“Sure. Then what should we do about this year’s autumn harvest? Harvest it ourselves or hire someone?”
As they talked, they reached the edge of their fields.
There really wasn’t much land. They could probably finish harvesting it in two days.
Chen Guangze pointed at the sorghum and explained,
“Once the sorghum is harvested, it still needs to be processed and sold.
“You can’t handle all that by yourself. It’d be too much trouble.
“I was thinking of handing everything over to Second Brother.
“You won’t have to worry about any of it.”
Hu Yan nodded and looked toward the rolling hills behind the village.
She remembered that in her previous life, several coal bosses had emerged from their area.
There were even two in their own village.
The exact locations were somewhere in those mountains behind the village.
Chen Guangze was making good money trading goods now.
But as transportation became more developed, more and more people would start doing business.
They would spring up like mushrooms after rain.
If they used the money from his trading business and the future demolition compensation to invest in coal mining and extraction…
If Chen Guangze took the path of becoming a coal boss, could they become rich too and reach the peak of their lives?
It was completely possible.
There were enormous coal reserves in their area.
Even thirty years later, the media would still frequently report new coal deposits being discovered and announce the estimated reserves.
So, for this year, she would let him focus on making as much money as possible.
Once the village was demolished and relocated, she would have him hire professionals to survey the area for coal.
That was the plan.
After mapping out their future path, Hu Yan finally let out a long breath of relief.
Chen Guangze’s bankruptcy in her previous life had already become a nightmare that haunted her.
Now that such a great opportunity to get rich was right here in their hometown, why would they need to run off to another city?
With her future goal clearly defined, Hu Yan even began walking with a little bounce in her step.
As the two wandered through the fields, Chen Chun shouted from a distance,
“Fifth Uncle! Fifth Aunt!
“Little Aunt is home! Grandma said you two need to hurry back!”
Chen Guangze and Hu Yan simultaneously turned toward Chen Chun.
Chen Chun urged them to hurry home, saying she was going to find Fourth Uncle Chen Guangyao.
Hu Yan tried hard to remember.
Chen Xiangyun?
She remembered that in her previous life, Chen Xiangyun had done very well for herself.
She eventually went abroad and had been especially close to Zhang Qiulian.
Had something happened involving her around this time?
In her previous life, Hu Yan had already gone to Shenzhen to work, so she had no idea what had happened afterward.
She had left Liushu Bay too early and knew very little about Chen Xiangyun’s later life.
She had only seen the photos Chen Xiangyun sent back.
She was always wearing fashionable coats, standing on streets in foreign countries.
Seeing that his wife had stopped in a daze, Chen Guangze tugged at her sleeve.
“What are you thinking about? Come on, Mom is waiting for us.”
Hu Yan snapped back to reality and hurried after Chen Guangze toward the Chen family courtyard.
From a distance, they could already hear someone crying and making a scene.
Hu Yan raised an eyebrow.
The family hadn’t had a moment of peace these past few days.
What was happening now?
Chen Guangze frowned as well.
That was definitely his younger sister’s voice.
How had this perfectly respectable college student suddenly started behaving like Zhang Qiulian?
The family had originally all been in the backyard building their kitchens.
But as soon as Chen Xiangyun arrived and started crying and making a scene, everyone rushed over without even bothering about the mud covering their clothes, hands, and shoes.
They stood there in stunned silence, staring at her.