Chapter 335 - 230: Tacit Understanding

Chapter 335: Chapter 230: Tacit Understanding

"Cheng Fuhai, what in the world is going on here?"

Zhao Wenming could no longer maintain his amiable, folksy smile. Every word was forced through clenched teeth.

THUD—!

Cheng Fuhai went limp and collapsed right under the table. Zhao Zhitian’s mother lost all semblance of her usual ladylike demeanor. She lunged furiously at Huang Xiaohong. "How dare you try to trick my son with secondhand goods! I’ll rip your mouth off!"

Huang Xiaohong shrieked as she was scratched, hastily trying to explain, "We didn’t sleep together! We didn’t! We just kissed, that’s all! She’s not secondhand goods!"

Hearing this, Zhao Zhitian, who was standing nearby, saw red. "Fuck you, Huang Xiaomei! Didn’t you say we had to wait until marriage to kiss? But you’ve already kissed someone else? You fucking liar!"

He then lunged at the bewildered Huang Xiaomei, punching her square in the nose. With a sickening CRACK, her nasal bone shattered. Huang Xiaomei’s vision swam as blood gushed from her nose.

Seeing a fight break out, the onlookers silently took a couple of steps back to give them space, their eyes filled with the ecstatic glee of witnessing prime gossip.

"Stop fighting! All of you, stop it!"

Zhao Wendong was the first to rush in and break up the fight. As he did, his foot "accidentally" landed on Cheng Fuhai’s right hand. Cheng Fuhai let out a bloodcurdling scream and began writhing on the floor in agony.

"Oh dear, my apologies! I was in such a hurry to stop the fight, I wasn’t watching where I was going. Quick, Director Zhao, get over here and help! Your wife is about to rip that poor comrade’s clothes off!"

The farce continued for some time before the security department intervened and finally pulled Zhao Wenming’s wife and Zhao Zhitian away. Huang Xiaohong’s face was scratched to a bloody mess, and Huang Xiaomei was beaten so badly her face was covered in blood, on the verge of fainting. Watching the group get "politely" escorted out of the guesthouse by security, Zhao Wenming finally turned to Zhao Wendong and Wei Dongliang and cupped his hands. "I’m going to go handle this. Please excuse me."

With that, he turned and left. He had to go clean up this mess. Cheng Fuhai’s family was injured and needed to be placated; otherwise, it would be troublesome if they refused to let the matter drop. But he had barely taken two steps when he heard the "apologies" of Wei Dongliang and Zhao Wendong from behind him.

"My apologies, Comrade Wendong. You were falsely accused, and it seems the person arranged to write your speech won’t be able to do it anymore. In the chaos just now, it appears someone ’unintentionally’ stepped on his hand and broke it!"

Hearing this, a muscle in Zhao Wenming’s cheek twitched. The speechwriting job had originally been assigned to Wei Dongliang’s secretary, but he had arranged for Cheng Fuhai to squeeze the secretary out. His plan was to let Cheng Fuhai earn some credit for a future promotion. He never expected Wei Dongliang to seize the opportunity to get even so quickly. Zhao Wenming had completely lost face today.

"It’s fine, it’s fine. Even if he had written a speech, I wouldn’t necessarily have read from it anyway."

"Hahaha!"

Zhao Wendong’s witty response immediately drew laughter from the surrounding crowd. After this whole ordeal, everyone’s impression of him became much more vivid and three-dimensional. Before, they thought he was just a lucky peasant who had stumbled into a great honor. Now they realized Zhao Wendong was an unconventional, straightforward, and vengeful man with a roguish sense of humor. That’s right—a rogue!

With the excitement over, the crowd gradually dispersed. Before leaving, the guesthouse director approached Wei Dongliang with a solemn expression.

"I’m sorry, Special Commissioner. It was my failure that allowed freeloaders like Director Zhao’s family to exploit the system. From now on, I will follow your arrangements to the letter. I will fight wherever you point, resolutely resist this kind of misconduct, and root out the parasites in the canteen."

"Alright, I understand. Go on with your work. Report to me anytime if anything comes up."

"Yes, sir!"

The director left with mixed feelings of joy and trepidation. Soon, a fresh, hot meal was served. Wei Dongliang decided to sit down and have dinner with Zhao Wendong, Liangzi, and the others. Like Jiang Weimin, Wei Dongliang was quite concerned with the future development plans for Dragon King Pond.

Wendong had already received praise from the old dignitary, which was a great start. But if they couldn’t maintain this momentum, it would be a huge loss for them. If Zhao Wendong, with the care and encouragement of the region and county, were to achieve even greater results, and if the old dignitary were to learn of it, then their own contributions would be far from trivial.

"The people in my village have had it too hard. I want to shake things up with them, see if we can find a way to make life a little better for everyone."

"Do you have any specific plans?"

Wei Dongliang was very interested in what Zhao Wendong was saying. He wanted Zhao Wendong to continue to shine. Fading into mediocrity was not an option; extraordinary people were needed to do extraordinary things.

Zhao Wendong thought for a moment, then said slowly, "Nothing else, really. But I was wondering if it would be possible to allow our production team to start some of our own enterprises?"

"What?"

Wei Dongliang stopped his chopsticks mid-air, looking at Zhao Wendong in astonishment. He had expected Zhao Wendong to ask for money, for supplies, for all kinds of support—but he never thought he would ask for a change in policy.

"Village-collective enterprises... that doesn’t exist yet. Give me some time on this. I’ll discuss it with the regional leaders after our meeting and get back to you with an answer."

"Alright."

’This wasn’t some spur-of-the-moment question. I’ve been thinking about this for a long time. I and my four brothers go up the mountain, working from dawn till dusk, and our harvest is the best in the entire Commune. But in a whole year, we’ve only managed to save enough for one house. If I wanted my whole family to live in brick-and-tile houses, it would take four or five years. And what about getting the whole village into them? Not to mention the better living conditions I saw at the guesthouse today, like electricity and heating.

I tried hard to recall the development history of the "Number One Village Under Heaven" from my previous life. I seem to remember that they had embarked on the path of collective enterprise right after a disastrous year. Besides my ability to understand animals, which gives me an edge in the mountains and hunting, there isn’t much else I can do. My single greatest advantage, the one that can help others the most, is my grasp of future trends. I know what will work and what won’t.

That’s why I’ve been thinking: hunting in the mountains and fishing in the sea can, at best, solve my family’s basic needs for food and clothing. But if I want them to live a good life soon, if I want my grandparents, Third Master Zhao, and Granny Liu to enjoy a modern lifestyle within their lifetimes, then there’s only one path. I have to rely on my knowledge of future trends and replicate the village-enterprise path of the original "Number One Village Under Heaven."

"Do you have a specific type of enterprise in mind?"

"Not really. We’ll do whatever we can. But ultimately, it all comes down to one goal: to let all the members of our production team live a better life."

"Good."

Wei Dongliang nodded. He said no more, but silently took Zhao Wendong’s request to heart, resolving to make it one of his most important tasks for the year.