Chapter 133: Green with Envy

Sha Qiang returned home in glory. For five or six years, no one in the village had been as glorious as him. It was not just Lower Sha Village and Upper Tao Village, but across all the surrounding villages, how many people could match his splendor? Driving a car worth over one hundred thousand, bringing two wives along, and with cash rattling loudly in his pockets, there was not a single person in the village who did not fawn over him.

Every year during the New Year, he was bound to return. And upon returning, he was bound to show off, setting off numerous strings of firecrackers with loud bangs to make others green with envy.

Yet upon returning this year, someone else had stolen his thunder. Just a few months ago, Sha Lier—who was still working under him and doing hard labor—had unexpectedly become a famous boss in the village. Moreover, Lier had pulled many people away from his crew, causing him considerable losses.

The happiest person upon Sha Qiang's return was his father, Old Man Shengyuan. The old man scurried around excitedly, his chronic lower back pain magically cured, and his eyes squinted into the shape of crescent moons. Especially when he saw his two grandsons and one granddaughter, his joy knew no bounds. One of the grandsons was born to Sha Qiang's former wife—short and dark-skinned—while the other was born to his current wife, fair and clean. The granddaughter was the eldest, naturally also from the first wife. The old man favored the youngest grandson the most, finding him both smart and handsome.

"Dad, I heard that young Lier has made quite a huge scene back home. Is that true?"

Sha Qiang had already heard many people talking about Lier.

"The scene is indeed not small," Old Man Shengyuan's face darkened slightly. "The son of a bitch, who knows what kind of luck he struck. Not only did he become the village assistant, but he also raked in so much money. Now, Secretary Huang from the town and Party Branch Secretary Tao from the village treat him like a precious treasure."

"Damn it, what's so great about that!" Sha Qiang puffed on a cigarette. "If I were in the village, I would have become a village cadre long ago. Would it ever have been his turn? He has Secretary Huang, but don't I have Mayor Wang backing me up? What the hell do I have to fear from him? Besides, how much money does he actually have of his own? Isn't the money from other bosses anyway?"

"Sigh... that's true," Old Man Shengyuan said cheerfully. "When they were setting up their company earlier, a Boss Hong came by. I heard he invested a lot of money. And there's also that Guangzhou girl, she's a boss too. I figured he doesn't have much money of his own. Still, for that son of a bitch to be able to pull in outsiders to invest is quite something."

"If he can pull in bosses, can't I?" Sha Qiang felt a strange sensation in his heart, deeply unsettled. "The bosses I deal with, which one of them isn't a multimillionaire or billionaire? A few million is nothing!"

Old Man Shengyuan deeply admired his son. This son of his brought honor to the family. For five or six years, he had consistently been the number one person in the village. Who dared to compare their wealth with theirs? Country folks had narrow horizons; they only compared themselves with fellow villagers, and at most, with people from the nearby villages.

Whose family got rich and whose family stayed poor was crystal clear. When you were rich, people would butter you up; when you were poor, people would step on you. Being rich allowed you to walk with your head held high and act tyrannically; being poor forced you to bow and scrape, struggling to maintain a shred of self-respect.

Sha Qiang was not a magnanimous person; his temperament was just like this, and his vision was not broad either, though he possessed a decent knack for petty schemes. Lier was also a country boy with a narrow horizon, but compared to Sha Qiang, he had fewer petty tricks and a much more generous heart.

"Has Qiang returned?"

Just as father and son were talking, an old man walked in.

"Second Uncle, I'm back."

"You've made a fortune, haven't you?" The old man, named Sha Shengqing, asked. "Look at the grand spectacle you've made, driving a car and making a fortune."

Sha Qiang handed a cigarette to the old man for him to smoke. Just as they were talking, a young man's voice shouted from outside.

"Brother Qiang! Brother Qiang!"

A short, sturdy young man walked in. It was Sha Shengqing's son, Sha Qiang's cousin, Sha Meng.

"Little Meng, sit down."

Sha Meng also worked for Sha Qiang. Relatively speaking, Sha Qiang treated him a bit better than the others in the village, showing him more care. He had returned a few days earlier than Sha Qiang.

"Brother Qiang, that bastard Lier is doing so booming business. You must set off more firecrackers this New Year to utterly crush him!" Sha Meng sat down casually. "What the hell is that son of a bitch acting so arrogant for? Heh heh."

"I bought a string of five hundred thousand firecrackers," Sha Qiang laughed proudly. "Does he really think he can compare with me?"

"Exactly. How could he possibly compare with Brother Qiang?"

The family burst into laughter. They felt a sense of pride; with a wealthy man supporting them, the family members subconsciously felt superior to others. Working on Sha Qiang's crew, Sha Meng earned fifteen yuan more per day than anyone else.

Sha Qiang's return stirred up many people in Lower Village, and Black-Hearted Second Uncle Sha Shengwu was one of them. He was Sha Long's father. Watching Sha Long working on repairing the courtyard wall, he grumbled.

"Big Dragon, Qiang is back. Aren't you going to go see him?"

"See what?" Sha Long didn't raise his head, continuing with the work in his hands. "What the hell does it matter to me whether he comes back or not?"

"Ugh..." Sha Shengwu didn't quite like his son; the boy was nothing like him, possessing very little sense in his eyes. "He's your cousin, and he's rich. You used to work for him, after all."

"Don't mention that I worked for him, as if you think I took huge advantage of him." Sha Long turned his head and glared at his old man. He didn't much like his father, nor could he stomach his father's behavior. "You still think I took advantage of him, the son of a bitch. When I worked for Lier, my wife and I made nearly seven thousand yuan in less than two months. How much did I make working for him? He paid me forty-five yuan a day, and whenever it rained, work stopped and we had to eat into our savings... Forget it, I'm going to find him later anyway. He still owes me quite a bit in wages."

Seeing his son flare up, the black-hearted second uncle didn't dare to say much more. He had plenty of tricks, but he was somewhat afraid of his son. What his son said made sense, and he indeed knew how much more they earned at Lier's place.

He walked toward Sha Qiang's house, muttering all the way.

"He's still your cousin. Having a rich person in the family is always better than having none. No one will dare to bully you."

Sha Long ignored him completely. However, he put down his tools, washed his hands, and then headed to the homes of Sha Dahai and Sha Youfu, both of whom Sha Qiang still owed wages to.

When Sha Long, Sha Dahai, and Sha Youfu entered Sha Qiang's house, it was bustling with activity. There were several old men present, among them Sha Jinhai's father, Old Man Shengshu, who looked gloomy and depressed. The rest were locals from the Lower Village, along with two or three young men. Seeing Sha Long and the others enter, Sha Qiang's expression turned ugly.

"Dragon, Brother Dahai, Brother Youfu, sit down."

Sha Qiang forced a smile and offered them cigarettes. They took the cigarettes but did not sit down.

"We're busy. The New Year is coming up, and there's a lot to do. We won't sit," Sha Long said calmly. "We came here for our wages. With the New Year right around the corner, it's time you settled our pay."

Upon hearing Sha Long's words, Sha Qiang's face darkened instantly.

"You bastards, you quit halfway through and didn't finish the work for me, yet you still have the nerve to come asking for wages."

Hearing this, Sha Long flew into a rage.

"What did you say?" Sha Long's voice rose sharply. "You son of a bitch, and you call yourself a boss? A fucking boss? Are we your beasts of burden? You couldn't even afford to pay forty-five yuan a day. Compare yourself to Lier—others casually pulled out three hundred and fifty thousand in wages without blinking an eye. My wife and I made seven thousand yuan in less than two months. How much did we get from you? And you're still withholding even that little bit of wages. Are you out of your fucking mind?"

"What are you yelling about in my house?"

Sha Qiang flared up as well, raising his voice. He was already deeply envious of Sha Long, and Sha Long had hit right on his sore spot.

"Do you think we wanted to come to your house?" Sha Long's voice was even louder than Sha Qiang's. "If you son of a bitch hadn't owed me my wages, I wouldn't have come even if you carried me in a sedan chair with eight bearers."

At that moment, Sister Taohua and Sister Guihua arrived.

"Ugh... Sha Qiang, we aren't afraid of you being a boss. If you don't pay our wages, don't even think about having a good New Year."

As soon as Sister Taohua finished speaking, Sister Guihua stepped up. These two women were known as formidable characters not to be messed with. Old Man Shengyuan saw that things were going south and hurriedly tried to mediate. However, Sha Qiang refused to give his father any face.

"Damn it, I'm just not going to pay the wages! Go ahead and bite me!"

Sha Qiang was used to being arrogant and tyrannical in the village; how could he possibly care about a few cousins?

"Your balls are huge, aren't they? Want me to come bite them?" Sister Taohua was furious beyond control. "Pull your balls out and let's see if I bite them off or not. You son of a bitch, if you don't pay up, let's see how tough you are. I'll tear your house down for you, and I don't care if you are some big dog-shit boss."

What was originally a scene of great joy instantly turned upside down. Sha Qiang, that bastard—if not for Sha Lier, how could things have come to this? He had owed them wages in the past just the same, yet who had ever dared to make a scene?

Instead of reflecting on his own faults, he blamed everything on Lier.

"Let's go," Sha Dahai grabbed his endlessly shouting wife. "Let's talk about it tomorrow, you bastard. If you don't pay up, nobody gets a good New Year. That's our hard-earned sweat and blood money!"

The few of them stormed out in anger. The old men present, seeing that the situation was bad, also made their excuses and left. Sha Meng found it hard to speak up since Sha Qiang owed him wages too.

"Son of a bitch..."

With no outlet for his rage, Sha Qiang almost smashed the teacup on the table. Fortunately, the sound of a car echoed from outside, and Old Man Shengyuan went out to take a look—it was Mayor Wang's car.

"Qiang, Mayor Wang is here."

Upon hearing that Mayor Wang had arrived, all of Sha Qiang's anger vanished instantly, replaced by sheer joy as he hurried out. With Mayor Wang backing him up, he had nothing to fear. He had always maintained a very good relationship with Mayor Wang, bringing him heaps of gifts every time he returned, not to mention wining and dining him. However, Mayor Wang had never personally visited his home before.

"Mayor Wang, hello," Sha Qiang's face bloomed with smiles like flowers in spring. "I just got back and was planning to go pay my respects to you tomorrow. I truly didn't expect you to come see me first."

"Heh heh... I had business in Tao Sha Village, and hearing you were back, I figured I'd drop by to see you."

The two of them exchanged pleasantries and chatted happily. Old Man Shengyuan hurriedly ordered meals to be cooked and dishes stir-fried. For Mayor Wang to step into their home was an extraordinarily grand event.

"Sha Qiang, you're a big boss outside, why don't you come back and start something here?" Mayor Wang finally brought up the main topic. "Look at how booming Sha Lier's business is right now. You're smarter and more capable than him, and you have deeper capital. If you come back and do business, you'll definitely overshadow him."

Sha Qiang couldn't quite figure out Mayor Wang's underlying intention.

"If you come back to do business, we can arrange a poverty-alleviation project for you too," Mayor Wang smiled. "I can even introduce you to County Magistrate Yang. With him as your backer, are you afraid of not making a fortune?"

It felt like happiness had suddenly fallen from the skies.

After the meal, Sha Qiang followed Mayor Wang to the county seat.