Chapter Twenty-Two: A Subsidy of Twenty Thousand

“There are ‘stone stalactites’ in the cave on the back mountain, also called ‘stalactites’. They’re beautiful. In the future, the village can rely on the lava cave on the mountainside to develop tourism.” At this point, Tang Long paused, sweeping his gaze over the villagers below, waiting until everyone quieted down before he continued, “I’ve called you all here today for two things. The first is about the cave on the mountainside.

For now, the lava cave is designated as a restricted area by the village. No one is allowed to enter without the permission of myself or Secretary Xiu’e. The stalactites in the cave are treasures—they are the future of our village. Anyone who dares to destroy even one will be fined one hundred thousand, and I swear I’ll break his legs. No matter who it is, is that clear?”

Tang Long shouted loudly. Since his return, he had never spoken to the villagers this way. He’d once kicked Zhang Kang so hard he nearly killed him, dealt with Liu Jianming in the ravine, nearly drowned him, and led the villagers to forcibly demolish the stronghold of Qiangyuan Company. All these scenes were fresh in the villagers’ minds. They knew well enough that Tang Long was not someone to be trifled with.

Yet toward the villagers, as their chief, he had little to reproach. Take last night, for instance: in the raging wind and rain, nearly two hundred households in Fishhead Village—he went door to door, making sure everyone got out safely, never uttering a word of complaint. Nothing in this world appears out of thin air—including the respect others show you.

“Did you hear me?” Tang Long repeated with a roar.

“We heard!” Perhaps it was Tang Long’s expression that made the villagers realize the gravity of the matter, and voices finally responded.

“Watch each other. If anyone dares to disobey, I’ll take care of it myself.” Tang Long, in front of everyone, crushed a fist-sized cobblestone into powder with his bare hands.

Among the crowd, Zhang Xiu’e’s mouth hung open in astonishment. She hadn’t expected Tang Long to show such a fierce side today. Threats, intimidation, no elaborate reasoning—just simple, direct orders.

She understood that Tang Long’s bluntness was meant to make his intentions crystal clear to the villagers. He wasn’t joking. If someone disobeyed, he really would break their legs.

Sometimes, the chief needs to show some toughness.

“Lian Sheng, pick twenty people and rotate them to guard the mountainside. I trust our own villagers, but we must watch out for outsiders. With all this commotion, it won’t stay hidden for long!” Tang Long said, looking at Lian Sheng.

Lian Sheng nodded quickly. “Don’t worry, Chief. With me here, no one will get in!”

“Good!”

Tang Long turned back to face the villagers of Fishhead Village, continuing, “Last night, the storm toppled and destroyed many houses in the village. Even those that survived are now dangerous to live in. I discussed it with Secretary Xiu’e, and her suggestion is that the village should spend its own money to help everyone rebuild. Each household will get a subsidy of twenty thousand. You can add your own funds if you wish, but as a collective, Fishhead Village will rebuild every house. No matter what, when it rains again, we won’t let anyone’s house collapse.”

The villagers were stunned by Tang Long’s words. A twenty-thousand subsidy per household? That had never happened in Fishhead Village!

“Chief, is it really true?” a villager cried out in excitement.

Twenty thousand was not a small sum for the impoverished villagers of Fishhead Village. Some went out to work all year, exhausting themselves, and still might not earn that much. In the big cities, twenty thousand might not even buy a square meter of housing. But in Fishhead Village, twenty thousand was enough to build three spacious tiled rooms, with money left over.

Tang Long smiled. “Soon, Secretary Xiu’e will take people to the county to withdraw the money. It’ll be distributed household by household.”

“Long live the chief!”

“Long live Secretary Xiu’e!”

The villagers erupted with joy, shouting and cheering. What could be more practical than being given money directly to rebuild their homes?

Zhang Xiu’e was smiling too. This fellow wielded a big stick in one hand, a sweet date in the other—quite adept at balancing both. But it was a good tactic. The lava cave on the back mountain wouldn’t be coveted by the villagers for a while now. They only needed to guard against outsiders damaging the stalactites!

She had visited some cave attractions before, and many stalactites had been destroyed by locals, causing irreparable harm—heartbreaking. The truth was that those stalactites, when broken off, sold for next to nothing and served no purpose at home.

If only one or two families were rebuilding, villagers would help out, and the work would be finished in a few days. But now, the whole village needed to rebuild. Whose house should be done first, whose later? For this, villagers turned to Zhang Xiu’e, asking her to decide.

Everyone wanted their own house rebuilt first—so they could move in and stop living in makeshift shelters. Zhang Xiu’e sought out Tang Long: “What do you think—could we design and build all the houses collectively, then allocate them to each household based on their original land plots? The benefit is uniformity and beauty. If Fishhead Village really develops tourism, we could even start a guesthouse business. But collective construction will take longer—maybe several months to finish everything.”

Collective construction? Zhang Xiu’e’s suggestion immediately intrigued Tang Long.

“Discuss it with the villagers’ representatives—I think it’s workable!” Tang Long said with a smile.

Zhang Xiu’e pulled Tang Long toward the village committee office. There was no point in her saying it alone; it needed the chief’s approval to be effective.

Tang Long followed obediently.

In the village committee office, many villagers were arguing. Rebuilding their homes affected their own interests, and no one wanted to give way.

“Quiet! Secretary Xiu’e and Chief Tang Long are here!” someone called out, and dozens of villagers fell silent, turning their eyes to Zhang Xiu’e and Tang Long.

“What’s all this noise?” Tang Long laughed and scolded, “The village is spending money to rebuild your homes, and you’re still arguing? Maybe we should just take the money back and let everyone figure it out themselves!”

Everyone could tell he was joking, not trying to stir up trouble.

The villagers chuckled awkwardly.

“No need to argue. Secretary Xiu’e and I have a plan: the village will rebuild all the houses together, with unified design and construction. Everyone in the village will help. When everything is finished, you can all move in—no more disputes about who moves in first.”

The idea of rebuilding the whole village together? It wasn’t impossible, but it felt a bit strange.

“We’ll prepare the building materials—cement, bricks, sand, and so on. For the design, I’ll ask a friend to draw up plans. We’ll follow the blueprints exactly!” Zhang Xiu’e said, smiling.

“What if we don’t like the design?” someone called out from the crowd.

Tang Long didn’t need to look—he knew exactly who it was. He laughed and scolded, “If you don’t like it, tough luck. If you don’t want to live in it, the village will give you a plot, and you can build whatever you want. Everyone else doesn’t make trouble, but you do? Why so picky?”

“Hehe, I was just asking. Who says I don’t want to live in it?”