Once there were too many oncoming vehicles, various ways to let cars pass were needed, so the road into the village was the slowest to navigate.
"Has rural Huaxia developed this well now?"
Jiang Qingkui had not only not been back to the country for many years, but also hadn’t been to a rural area for a long time. She stared blankly at the scenery outside the window.
"Yeah, our side is still considered poor. If you look at those provinces in the Yangtze River Basin, now that’s what you would call exaggerated rural development..."
Zhou Wang recalled a classmate from college, whose home was in the "rural" area of Zhe Province. But the result? His family not only owned their own factory, but his father, a "farmer," drove a Maybach...
Anyway, Zhou Wang couldn’t understand how he had the nerve to say he came from a rural area.
Had he ever even seen what a carriage looked like?
At that moment, the Mercedes GLC in front of them stopped at a fork in a narrow path, which connected to a hundred-meter slope leading down to Zhou Wang’s grandmother’s old house.
Although the slope was still a bumpy dirt road, it was wide enough and didn’t prevent vehicles from driving directly down. Seeing the GLC stop, Zhou Wang signaled Miao Ying to pull over as well.
Zhou Wang got out of the car, and as it happened, his parents were also getting out. He asked in confusion, "Dad, why not drive straight in?"
Although his grandmother’s house was old, the family living with his grandmother had made some money over the years and repaired it several times. At least the yard was big enough to park five or six cars without any problem, so driving in would surely be the most convenient.
"It’s blocked, whose car is this..."
Hearing his dad’s complaint with a frown, Zhou Wang walked over to take a look. Due to the angle, he only then realized there was a black Tank 300 parked just a bit down the slope.
The slope could originally only accommodate one car at a time; with this SUV blocking there, other vehicles were cut off from entering or leaving.
The key was that this narrow path on the slope was originally dug out by Zhou Wang’s grandfather with a hoe in earlier years. The other households on either side had their own entrances and exits, so this path was like a dedicated passage for Zhou Wang’s grandmother’s house. Such an act was no different from blocking the door.
"Let me make a call to Guilin."
Zhou Wang’s mom took out her phone and dialed Zhou Wang’s uncle, Zhao Guilin.
After a few rings, his uncle’s voice came from the other end, "Hello, sis, are you guys in town yet? I can come to pick you up..."
"No need, we’re already at the door, but the car can’t get in..."
"You guys drove back?"
Still unaware that Zhou Wang’s family had already bought a car, his uncle was taken aback for a moment, then said, "Let me come out and take a look!"
With that, Zhao Guilin hung up the phone.
The family of three waited for a while, and soon, several people came walking up from the foot of the slope.
Besides Zhou Wang’s uncle, there was also his second aunt’s husband, third uncle, and others, followed by some kids who came along for the fun, mostly Zhou Wang’s cousins.
As they reached the intersection, his uncle saw the Tank 300 and his face immediately showed an angry expression.
"It’s that Zhao old third’s car again, damn it, does it ever end?"
The second and third uncle clearly knew what was going on and the third uncle, without saying a word, walked straight to the entrance of another household next to the fork in the road and started knocking on the door.
No one answered.
With a tense face, his uncle picked up a brick from nearby, planning to throw it into the courtyard, but Zhou Dajun quickly stopped him.
"No, Guilin, you must not do this...what on earth is going on, is this car often blocking here?"
"It’s happened more than once or twice; even my delivery truck often can’t get in. That Zhao old third does it on purpose, damn it, it’s not like he doesn’t have space to park at his own gate..."
His uncle was still angry, and Zhou Wang’s mom, Zhao Guihua, also looked displeased and puzzled.
"Guilin, didn’t they say someone from the village already came to mediate? Why are there still conflicts with Zhao old third’s family?"
"The mediation was bullshit!"
Zhao Guilin angrily said, "They came all right, and the fingerprints were stamped on the mediation document, but as long as Zhao old third refuses to demolish that toilet, what can you do? Now he often parks his car here just to disgust us; pretending not to hear, damn it..."
As his uncle was getting agitated again, picking up the brick to throw it into that household’s courtyard, he was stopped once again by Zhou Dajun and the second uncle.
"Mom, what exactly is going on?"
When Zhou Wang was a kid, he would come to his grandmother’s house every winter and summer vacation and had vague impressions of what they talked about, as if it involved some past disputes, but since he was young at the time, he didn’t remember much.
After Zhao Guihua gave a brief explanation, Zhou Wang finally understood the background.
Zhao old third and Zhou Wang’s grandfather, Zhao Baozi, were of the same generation, and they had never gotten along. By chance, they became neighboring households when the homestead was allocated.
Ordinary bickering and little squabbles didn’t affect their daily life, but when Zhao old third’s family was building a dry toilet, whether intentionally or not, it happened to take up a piece of Zhou Wang’s grandfather’s vegetable plot.
Since then, a decade-long dispute revolved around this toilet.
Until a couple of years ago, when Zhou Wang’s grandfather passed away, his hot-tempered uncle, stung by the event, had a big fight with Zhao old third’s son. The village then finally sent someone to mediate, but though both sides signed the mediation document, the issue has never really been resolved.
Zhao old third remained the same, and some of his actions became even more excessive now; for instance, blatantly parking his car at Zhou Wang’s grandmother’s door like this...
"It’s not a big deal, why does it feel like the village committee is deliberately dragging its feet?"
Zhou Wang couldn’t help but frown after hearing all this.
"Isn’t it because they don’t want to offend Zhao old third either?"
Zhao Guihua sighed, "Zhao old third himself is not very capable, but he has five sons, all doing well, they were among the first to follow Zhao Shusheng’s lead; I heard they’ve all bought houses in the city, they know a lot of people!"
Five sons?
Zhou Wang clicked his tongue, that indeed had some basis for becoming a "village bully."
However...
"Mom, you said all five of his sons followed Zhao Shusheng, the Zhao Shusheng you’re talking about, is he the richest man in Sanhe Town?"
"Yes, there’s just one Zhao Shusheng in Sanhe Town, ever since we got such a person in Zhao Village, other families would avoid naming their kids the same; there’s no other Zhao Shusheng!"
Listening to his mom’s sigh with a shake of her head, Zhou Wang was also a bit surprised.
This old guy’s fame in the township is even more impressive than he had imagined!
At that moment, hearing the mother and son’s conversation, his uncle couldn’t help but say angrily, "So what if they followed Zhao Shusheng, does that mean they can do whatever they want? Who doesn’t know Zhao Shusheng, he even personally delivered the money for the fruit I sold online the other day..."
Ignoring Zhao Guilin’s "bragging," the adults silently chose not to expose him.
If they truly were not apprehensive, they wouldn’t have been able to stop Zhao Guilin so easily.
The adults were still debating what to do, with the second uncle suggesting temporarily parking the car elsewhere, while Zhou Wang thought for a while and waved to the two people who had gotten out of the car, Jiang Qingkui and Miao Ying.
The two girls didn’t know what had happened, but since it was Zhou Wang’s family matter, they just stood by watching and didn’t interfere rashly. Now seeing Zhou Wang waving, they walked over together.
By this time, with his uncle, third uncle, and the others calming down, they finally noticed the two parked cars by the roadside.
"Mercedes?"
His uncle slightly opened his mouth, "Sis, this car..."
"Just got it today, your nephew Zhou Wang paid for it... Let’s talk about it inside later!"
Due to the matter with Zhao old third, Zhao Guihua wasn’t in the mood to boast, just waved her hand.
Hearing this, his uncle, second uncle, and others took a dumbfounded look at Zhou Wang, then their gazes were drawn to Jiang Qingkui and Miao Ying.
In their eyes, Miao Ying was already very pretty, and as for Jiang Qingkui, with her outstanding temperament and appearance, she was just like a star on TV...
Even because of the two women’s approach, the elders unconsciously became a bit more reserved.
"Mr. Zhou?"
When Jiang Qingkui came closer, she gave Zhou Wang a questioning look.
Zhou Wang didn’t hurry to speak, instead, he first walked to his uncle, took the brick from his hand, and then approached the Tank 300, gesturing to Jiang Qingkui at the car window.
Jiang Qingkui was initially puzzled, then she understood Zhou Wang’s meaning and asked, "How much is this car?"
"On the road for two or three hundred thousand."
"Oh, that’s a civil matter."
Hearing the price, Jiang Qingkui confidently nodded.
Zhou Wang felt relieved, and before his family members could react, he swung his arm forcefully, smashing the brick into the front window of the Tank 300.
Crack!
With the car window shattered like a spider web, the Tank 300 immediately emitted an ear-piercing alarm sound.