Chapter 366 – The Vote

The villagers who had stayed behind came out as soon as they saw the scene—though most of them were actually there to welcome the fish being carried on shoulders, not the people.

Many children swarmed over, eager to join the excitement and see if they could touch a fish.

As soon as they returned to the village, the old village chief immediately convened a village meeting to discuss how to deal with the fish.

The weather was cold now, so spoilage wasn’t a concern, but it was still best to handle them as soon as possible.

When they heard it was to discuss how the fish would be handled, everyone showed up.

“These fish—are we selling them or keeping them in the village for people to eat?” the old chief asked directly once everyone had gathered.

Immediately, the villagers began to argue, each expressing their own opinion.

Some wanted to sell the fish—end of the year was approaching, and this would mean a bit more money in everyone’s share.

They were simply too used to poverty. As long as there was money to be made, it didn’t matter if there was no meat to eat.

Others wanted to keep the fish in the village. This way, every household could get a portion, and the rest could be sent to the communal canteen—maybe they’d get an extra dish out of it.

Since they’d gotten quite a bit of money last year, they weren’t as obsessed with cash this time. Besides, they trusted that with the way the village was developing, the end-of-year dividends wouldn’t be any less than last year’s.

Seeing the heated debate, the old chief got a headache. He dreaded moments like this, where opinions differed.

Sometimes, being too democratic had its downsides—it slowed everything down.

There were advantages to a one-man rule.

With no other choice, he decided to put it to a vote.

“Those in favor of selling the fish, raise your hand!”

As soon as the words left his mouth, quite a few people raised their hands. Some even cheekily tried to raise both hands to double their vote.

The old chief had Zhou Zhiming count the votes and determine whether more people wanted to sell or to keep the fish.

Zhou Zhiming began the count and exposed the ones trying to cheat, scolding them loudly and refusing to count their double votes.

“You can put your hands down. Now, those in favor of keeping the fish for the village to eat, raise your hands.”

Even more hands shot up than before.

Zhou Zhiming immediately started a second round of counting, carefully going through the raised hands.

After two rounds of counting, the results were in.

The old chief announced, “Based on the majority vote, the fish will be kept in the village.”

As soon as he said this, the people who voted to keep the fish were thrilled.

Some were happy, while others were disappointed. Those who wanted to sell the fish could only silently accept the outcome.

The old chief continued, “There’s a total of 2,153 catties of fish. We have a hundred households in the village. That’s 11.53 catties per household—1,153 catties total. That leaves 1,000 catties, which will be kept in the communal canteen to supplement our meals.”

Originally, the village had fewer than 100 households, but a few new ones had split off recently.

That’s how the next generation grows.

“What does everyone think of this plan?”

The villagers thought it was fair and had no objections.

At that moment, Zhou Yimin stepped forward. “Can I say something?”

He hadn’t expected that the underground river would have fish in it—let alone such big ones. He had seen fish in the river in his past life too, but they were all small.

Everyone was a bit stunned that Zhou Yimin had stood up.

His position in the village was very unique.

The old chief quickly asked, “Yimin, do you have a better idea for distribution?”

He knew that Zhou Yimin often had different ways of thinking. If it had been anyone else, he would’ve already told them to go home and calm down.

“I was actually thinking of buying some, if that’s okay,” Zhou Yimin said.

Everyone let out a breath of relief—so that was all.

“Yimin, how much do you want? Just take it. Why buy?” someone offered.

“Yeah! You did so much for the village last year.”

“It’s just a bit of fish. If it weren’t for Yimin, we wouldn’t have a reservoir, or an underground river, let alone these fish.”

…

Everyone was clear-headed—they knew their current good life was all thanks to Zhou Yimin.

Zhou Yimin shook his head. “I’m giving them as gifts, so I’ll pay. If it were just for my own household, I wouldn’t be so formal.”

The old chief thought for a moment, then asked, “Yimin, how much do you want to buy?”

This was one of the rare times Zhou Yimin had made a request to the village—they definitely couldn’t refuse. They would’ve been willing to give it to him for free, let alone sell it.

“Not much—230 catties, at fifty cents a catty,” Zhou Yimin replied. He wasn’t a stingy man.

At present, fish prices ranged from twenty cents to fifty cents per catty. He chose the highest price to avoid giving the impression he was trying to take advantage of the village over a few bucks.

The old chief immediately replied, “That’s too much.”

“Yimin, the village can’t take advantage of you like that,” he added.

The villagers all chimed in. Fifty cents per catty really was too generous—and it would look bad for the village to profit from him.

Back when the village was struggling, maybe it wouldn’t have mattered. But now that things were better, they couldn’t continue that way. Otherwise, people would gossip that they were shamelessly taking advantage of him.

While Zhou Yimin had been away on business, the village even held a meeting to discuss this: once the village’s situation improved, they had to start repaying Zhou Yimin’s kindness.

In short, Zhou Yimin’s words now carried more weight than even the old chief’s. Zhoujia Village practically ran according to his will.

Even if he married multiple wives in the village, no one would bat an eye. If he ever killed someone, someone else might step up and take the blame.

All the effort he’d poured into Zhoujia Village over the past half year hadn’t been in vain.

“The current market price is twenty cents a catty. Two hundred thirty catties comes out to forty-six yuan.”

Zhou Yimin wanted to argue, but there was no point. The old chief’s stance was firm—if he insisted on paying more, they wouldn’t sell.

With no other choice, Zhou Yimin agreed.

He gave the village forty-six yuan in exchange for 230 catties of fish.

Seeing that it was getting late, he told his grandparents, left thirty catties of fish at home, then dragged the remaining 200 catties to town.

As soon as he left Zhoujia Village, he stored the fish in his store space.

Zhou Yimin wasn’t a masochist—why struggle when there was an easier way?

Then, as he neared the city, he found a secluded corner, took out the fish, and placed them on the back seat of his bicycle.

After looking around to make sure no one noticed, he rode toward the siheyuan.

Before long, he arrived. Just as Dapeng and Li Youde were about to head out, they saw Zhou Yimin riding in with a load of goods and quickly rushed over to help.

“Yimin, what is this stuff? It’s so heavy.”

Zhou Yimin casually replied, “Two hundred jin of fish. Of course it’s heavy.”

If they hadn’t spent the past half year helping Zhou Yimin sell goods, they probably would’ve been shocked by that amount of fish. But coming out of Zhou Yimin’s mouth, two hundred jin of fish sounded no different than two jin of cabbage.

Still, now they were unfazed.

People who’ve seen the big picture are built different.

With the two of them helping, the work went faster. In no time, all the fish were carried into the courtyard.

Zhou Yimin first went to look for Eldest Uncle, but found he hadn’t returned from work yet. So he said to Eldest Aunt, “When Eldest Uncle gets off work, please tell him I’m looking for him.”

“Got it, Yimin,” she replied readily.

Then he and the other two brought the fish into the house in batches.

“How much do you guys want?”

Dapeng and Li Youde thought for a moment. “Ten jin each should be good.”

They figured Zhou Yimin probably planned to sell the fish to people in the siheyuan, so it wouldn’t be right for them to take too much. Plus, ever since they started helping him move goods, their household meals had gotten way better—far better than before—so the lure of fish wasn’t as strong anymore.

Zhou Yimin nodded and picked out a few of the larger ones from the two hundred jin of fish. Each fish was at least four or five jin heavy. He gave each of them three fish, easily surpassing ten jin.

Originally, Li Youde and Dapeng wanted to pay him, but Zhou Yimin drove them off before they could insist. He still needed to deliver some to Uncle Zhang’s house, and Aunt Li’s family couldn’t be left out either.

There’d definitely be times in the future when he’d need help, so it was necessary to maintain these relationships.

Zhou Yimin’s own family picked out three large fish as well—not smaller than what Dapeng and the others received, maybe even a little more.

(End of Chapter)