Chapter 57: Daha and Erha Are About to Lose Favor

“Mengmeng, hurry up and get out of the car.” Cheng Xiaolin stepped out and walked to the back door, pulling it open and calling for her daughter to come down.

But Mengmeng stayed put, sprawled there and completely absorbed in studying the new puppy toy they’d just bought. She didn’t even wiggle her bottom, just kept smacking the toy and giggling at all the sounds it made.

Seeing her daughter acting like a little rascal, Cheng Xiaolin didn’t bother arguing. She simply grabbed Mengmeng by the hem of her shirt and dragged her out of the car, carrying her toward the house.

Mengmeng still clutched the plastic bone attached to a string. As her mother picked her up, the toy dangled from the string, spinning in midair.

In her mother’s arms, Mengmeng flailed her fists and kicked her legs, refusing to behave. “Mommy, let me go!”

“Daddy, save me!” Realizing she couldn’t win against her mom, Mengmeng started calling for help.

She was quick-witted, but she was asking the wrong person.

Cao Shujie pretended not to hear. He knew full well his wife would never really hit Mengmeng.

A moment later, he got out of the car too, carrying their things, locked up, and headed inside.

In the yard, Cheng Xiaolin bent down and set Mengmeng on the ground. Right away, Mengmeng started parading her puppy toy in front of the brothers Daha and Erha, dragging it along by the string.

“Puppy, look! Isn’t this fun?” Mengmeng called out, pointing at her new toy.

The message was clear: if Daha and Erha didn’t behave, they’d lose her favor. She had a new toy now, and from now on, she might just ignore them.

Daha shook his head, eyeing the fake puppy toy in Mengmeng’s hand with disdain. What was so great about a fake dog, anyway?

Erha was even more dramatic. He shot the toy a sideways glance, then stuck out his tongue and played dead, refusing to give Mengmeng any face at all.

Mengmeng’s big, adorable eyes darted as she looked at the two dogs in their cage. Suddenly, she spun around and slapped the button on the puppy toy’s back. Instantly, music blared out, catching the attention of both Daha and Erha, as well as Little Wild Cat Huahua, who was sunbathing on the roof.

But Mengmeng wasn’t done yet. She started pressing other buttons, cycling through different songs, counting games, and story-telling voices.

Inside the cage, Daha and Erha exchanged glances, both feeling an inexplicable sense of crisis.

Watching Mengmeng dote on the singing, barking fake dog, the two real dogs couldn’t quite wrap their heads around it.

“Woof, woof… woof!” Erha, with his deep brown eyes, finally got serious and started barking at the singing toy as if declaring war.

But it was pointless—he was barking up the wrong tree. The puppy toy just switched to another song, and Mengmeng flailed her arms and bobbed her head along to the music, making both Cao Shujie and Grandmother Wang Yuelan, who had just come out, burst out laughing.

“Mengmeng, who bought you the new toy?” Wang Yuelan asked.

Mengmeng pointed at Cao Shujie, who was just coming in. “Daddy bought it.”

“It’s so much fun! Dance for Grandmother again,” Wang Yuelan said.

Mengmeng started dancing again, looking for all the world like a little square-dancing auntie.

Wang Yuelan turned to her son. “Shujie, the loudspeaker was calling for a meeting at the Village Committee Courtyard tomorrow morning.”

Cao Shujie asked, “Mom, what kind of meeting?”

“I was busy cooking and didn’t catch it all, but it sounded like something about money,” Wang Yuelan replied, frowning.

Cao Shujie nodded. “Alright, I’ll go over there tomorrow.”

That evening, Cao Shujie got a call from Xia Changhong. Over the phone, Xia Changhong said he’d be bringing the first batch of pipes over for installation the next day.

Cao Shujie was thrilled—sooner was definitely better.

After telling his wife and parents about it, they were all delighted too.

After all, they’d invested over two hundred thousand yuan. The sooner they saw results, the more at ease they’d feel.

…

The next morning, after breakfast, Cao Shujie headed out with a folding stool in hand, planning to wait on the mountain for Xia Changhong’s team to arrive and install the automated sprinkler equipment.

Heading north, he passed by the Village Committee Courtyard and noticed a crowd inside. That reminded him of his mother’s words about the meeting this morning.

Since he had plenty of time, he decided to go in and listen.

But as soon as he approached, the people in the courtyard spotted him and immediately surrounded him.

“Hey, isn’t this Shujie? What are you busy with today?”

“Shujie, got any work for us? We’re bored stiff at home, even our bones are aching from idleness.”

“Yeah, Shujie, if you need help with anything, just let us know. I’m free anytime.”

The place instantly turned lively.

When Village Party Secretary Cao Jiangang and the perpetually squinting Village Head Gao Weimin walked in and saw the commotion, they were a bit puzzled. What was going on here?

Spotting Cao Shujie in the crowd, Cao Jiangang seemed to get it.

He didn’t intervene. Instead, he strode over to the prepared podium, picked up the microphone, and shouted, “Quiet, everyone! This is the Village Committee, not the marketplace. What kind of chaos is this?”

With years of experience as Party Secretary, Cao Jiangang still had some authority. After a few stern words, the crowd quickly quieted down.

All the villagers of Cao Family Village turned to look at him, waiting for him to get to the point.

Gao Weimin kept squinting, always looking at people sideways—a habit he’d had since he was a kid, according to the villagers.

Good thing he never went out to mix with outsiders—looking at people like that would get you punched.

But in the village, he was doing quite well. He knew a bit of basic medicine and ran the only clinic in town. He’d also leased twenty acres of flat land to grow apples down south, earning a tidy sum.

However, he wasn’t the most likable person—stingy to the core. Every time his orchard had a bumper crop and he hired help, he paid only thirty yuan for ten hours of work and wouldn’t let anyone eat even a blemished apple from his orchard.

Seeing how popular Cao Shujie was with the villagers made him feel a bit sour.

But since they were from the same village and Cao Shujie always did things aboveboard, there wasn’t much he could do.

“Secretary Cao, Village Head Gao, just tell us what this meeting’s about. I still have to go home and feed my dogs.”

“Yeah, my chickens haven’t been fed either. Why’d you have to call a meeting at eight-thirty in the morning, anyway?”

“Secretary Cao, it’s time already. Let’s get started.”

Seeing the crowd getting restless again, Cao Jiangang cursed them as troublemakers in his heart.

But that was just how it was—everyone had chores waiting at home, and no one wanted to waste time hanging around here.

This was only the second time Cao Shujie had attended a Village Committee meeting in earnest, and he found it all pretty amusing.

Was this what you’d call a democratic meeting?

Cao Jiangang didn’t keep them waiting long. Once it looked like no more people were coming, he said, “Let’s not wait anymore.”

“Everyone, quiet down,” Cao Jiangang called out loudly. “Today, we’re here mainly to discuss how to use the contracting fees from Cao Shujie.”

As soon as he brought this up, the courtyard fell silent. Every villager stared at him, eager to hear what he had to say.

(End of Chapter)