"Leaders, what he said is incorrect. Chen is just an employee. She contracted the mountain land without my consent and used underhanded tactics to trick my daughter-in-law into signing. She even hired workers, paying thirty yuan a month. Chen Baozhu from Chen Mancang's family was hired by her. She exploits us working people! You must arrest her."
"Bah, you little slut! My eldest granddaughter hasn't hired anyone."
Before anyone could react, Old Mrs. Chen followed closely, chasing after Widow Liu and unleashing a torrent of abuse, jumping with rage. "Who saw the money being paid? Where is the thirty yuan? You shameless little bitch, you're just jealous that my eldest granddaughter is capable. You yourself gave birth to two useless brats, and you still have the nerve to talk about others. If it were me, I would have found a crooked tree and hanged myself long ago."
Old Mrs. Chen puffed out her chest, as if ready to scratch at any moment. If anyone dared to sabotage her eldest grandson's "good deed," she would fight them to the death.
In her eyes, although the mountain was contracted by Chen Lishu, it would eventually belong to Chen Baozhu. For Widow Liu to dare to stop Chen Lishu from contracting the mountain was tantamount to stopping her eldest grandson.
"You old hag! Who are you calling useless sons? Everyone knows you're so biased your heart is practically falling out. The Chen Mantun family has never been favored by you. Now you're jumping out to defend them. If there wasn't something fishy going on, who would believe it!"
"Spit out your mother's dog shit! I..."
"Enough!"
Seeing the two arguing more and more absurdly, Zhang Changhe's face darkened, and he directly rebuked them.
"The two of you, get out now." A staff member said with an unfriendly expression, "Can't you see we're working? Don't wait until we have to call someone to escort you out."
Widow Liu and Old Mrs. Chen could usually act tough in the village, but when facing people from the commune, they didn't dare to breathe too loudly. They glared at each other, then obediently left.
Wang Shengli once again turned his gaze to Chen Lishu and Zhang Changhe, and asked with a frown, "The woman who just spoke claimed there's a suspicion of fraud in your contract. Qingshan belongs to your team collectively. Didn't you know you needed to seek everyone's consent for the contract to be valid?"
"Our village has a total of one hundred and forty-five households. Here are the signatures and thumbprints from each household representative. In principle, as long as the household representatives and village committee members sign and affix their seals, it should suffice. However, we sought the consent of every villager before finally signing the contract." Zhang Changhe presented a contract covered in dense signatures and thumbprints.
Wang Shengli took it and examined it closely. The more he read, the tighter his brow furrowed.
He had initially intended to find some fault with the contract and use it as an excuse to nullify the land contracting. He never expected this contract to be flawless, and even somewhat "disadvantageous" to the contractor.
Contracting for five years with seventy thousand yuan, and giving thirty percent of the profits to the village. No wonder all the villagers agreed to sign.
After a moment, Wang Shengli looked up. "Go and call in the woman who just entered and her daughter-in-law."
After leaving, Widow Liu and Old Mrs. Chen were still bickering, guarding the doorway and glaring like angry geese. Hearing that Secretary Wang wanted to call them in, Widow Liu immediately looked at Old Mrs. Chen with a smug expression and eagerly entered with a face full of smiles.
Yue Hongmei had come with Widow Liu and was surprised to be called in as well. Upon hearing her name, she nervously smoothed her hair and adjusted her collar before pushing the door open.
"Secretary, they didn't even ask me about this matter. This mountain has always been everyone's. At least we could still go up the mountain to dig for wild vegetables. My daughter-in-law was somehow mesmerized by them and signed the paper in a daze. I didn't receive a single penny."
Widow Liu's voice was already somewhat shrill, and now, agitated, her voice rose even higher, making everyone's head buzz.
Seeing that she wouldn't stop talking, Wang Shengli looked at Yue Hongmei. "Is what your mother-in-law says true? Did you take the initiative to sign without her consent?"
Yue Hongmei wasn't stupid. The money had already been received; how could she go back on it now? Moreover, if she sided with Widow Liu now, she wouldn't get anything out of it, and that three hundred yuan would likely have to be returned.
The money had been hard-earned, and the children were about to start school. No matter what, she couldn't return it.
"My mother-in-law knew about this matter. It was she who asked me to sign." The only way now was to insist that Widow Liu had asked her to sign, to ensure that the land contracting would not be affected.
"Spit out your mother's circle-butt nonsense! When did I ever tell you to sign?" Widow Liu was stunned. Eager to prove her innocence, she turned to Wang Shengli and explained, "Secretary, our commune exposed this matter. Think about it, if I had agreed to sign, would I possibly have exposed them?"
Everyone present, including the villagers listening outside, heard that Widow Liu was the one who exposed the matter and immediately hated her to the bone.
This was an act of harming others without benefiting oneself.
Zhang Changhe wished he could directly order someone to chase her out with a stick. He had been a village secretary for so many years and believed he had done his best for the village. He never imagined that this Widow Liu would be so foolish as to stir up such a big issue.
Chen Lishu was not too surprised. If Widow Liu had the brains to understand the implications, she wouldn't be Widow Liu. She was probably already the public enemy of the entire village without realizing it.
Yue Hongmei suddenly said timidly, "Secretary, it was my mother-in-law who asked me to sign. My husband is useless and gambled all the money away. She said that to extort money."
Widow Liu's actions were no less than offending the village secretary and everyone involved in the land contract. She and her children still had to live in the village, so no matter what, she couldn't let Widow Liu continue this farce.
Hearing Yue Hongmei's words, Widow Liu was so enraged she almost fainted. She shouldn't have been so impatient and married such a jinx for a cheap price. This wasn't like marrying a daughter-in-law; she had practically married a nemesis for herself!
"What delusion are you having? You took all the money, and I didn't see a cent!"
The more Widow Liu spoke, the angrier she became. She raised her hand to hit Yue Hongmei.
However, they had only been in there for a short time before Wang Shengli kicked them out again.
Seeing that no useful information could be obtained from others, Wang Shengli shifted the topic back to the issue of hired labor.
Chen Lishu could see his intention: he simply didn't want her to contract the mountain land. She couldn't understand why Wang Shengli was so insistent on stopping her when she had all the necessary procedures and was doing something beneficial for the village's development.
"Marx, in 'Das Kapital,' in 'The Rate of Surplus Value and the Amount of Surplus Value,' clearly defined the boundary between a 'small proprietor' and a 'capitalist.' According to his calculations, employing eight or fewer workers placed one between a capitalist and a worker, a small proprietor. Exceeding eight workers meant one began to possess the surplus value of workers and was considered a capitalist." Chen Lishu's voice sounded unhurried.