In the dim ancestral hall.
The room was full of people, all silent. Su Chen slowly sipped his tea, in no hurry. He knew the nature of these people, all surnamed Su.
They were trying to raise the price!
After all, the prerequisite for working for the Japanese was to sell the place they currently lived in, which was a path to a dead end.
Now, he was offering them another way out.
—They wouldn't have to sell their land, they would have work to do, and money to earn.
He was also surnamed Su.
Su Chen thought, the only bad thing was that he and his family would welcome a batch of competitors, but thinking about it, he smiled again... Unlike what the world thought, his cousin was definitely not someone who only looked at blood ties.
Time passed minute by minute.
Seeing Su Chen still sitting as steady as a mountain, the clan leader at the head seat sighed inwardly, thinking this junior was hard to deal with. Forget it, one cannot become fat with just one bite.
He decided to let him have his way for now.
There would always be a chance to meet Su Ning.
Just as he was about to speak, a noisy sound suddenly came from outside. The clan leader frowned and got angry: "Go see what's happening outside. If someone is causing trouble, tie them up directly!"
He then cast a suspicious glance at the few people with different surnames sitting at the end.
The clan members knew the importance of this matter.
They would never interrupt.
Then it could only be these people not surnamed Su who might have made a move. It seemed the suppression was not enough...
The few representatives of different surnames also felt wronged. They did have their little schemes, but they hadn't had time to act yet!
Thinking of the methods of the Su clan members, they felt a bitter taste in their mouths and were about to speak up in defense.
Suddenly, the door was pushed open.
Everyone looked over, and it was actually that Japanese man, Sato. The people with different surnames sighed in relief, while the others felt a bit awkward and guilty. When they found out Sato had even brought them gifts—pastries bought in the city, no less.
Their conscience ached even more.
"Mr. Sato, why have you come so suddenly?" The clan leader braced himself to greet him, then suddenly had a flash of inspiration. Sato's arrival was just right!
It would tell Su Chen that they were not unwanted.
So he became even more enthusiastic.
He offered him a seat and had the clan members serve tea. Sato was taken aback at first. These unruly people didn't have such a good attitude when he came before. Then he saw the surrounding scene.
Whoever he looked at smiled at him continuously.
And each of them was in rags, looking sallow and emaciated... He felt he understood.
Their previous arrogance was to haggle over the price. He had been busy handling the official procedures during this time, leaving them hanging for a long time. Were they getting anxious?
Sato felt more confident about what he had to do.
"Clan Leader Su, I came this time actually to tell you some unfortunate news." He deliberately paused, but didn't see any uneasiness on these people's faces.
Disappointed, he secretly cursed the stupid and slow Chinese.
"Ah, what bad news?"
It was still the clan leader who gave him face and picked up the conversation, but his tone was as absent-minded as it could be.
How bad could it be?
At worst, it just meant they wouldn't buy their land—
"I'm very sorry." Sato stood up and bowed ninety degrees. "I might not be able to buy your land. Your government, disregarding our agreement, has allocated your land to another person!"
An earth-shattering sentence.
The door of the ancestral hall was not closed.
At this time, the people outside also heard this sentence. The panic, fear, and uneasiness Sato expected finally appeared on everyone's faces, but the words these people said made his veins pop.
"Why is this Japanese man so useless? Our village's land was actually snatched away by someone else?"
"It's over, it's over."
"And here I thought we wouldn't have to sell the land."
"Maybe it's fine. Didn't they say that person is very powerful? We can risk everything to ask for her help..." The second half of the speaker's sentence was cut off by Su Heng poking him in the ribs with his elbow.
Liuzi was no longer angry, his eyes looking strange.
This bloodline was really amazing. He thought of Half-Immortal Su, and also of Brother Chen... It seemed everyone surnamed Su was like this.
The clan leader made a fist and coughed twice, waving his hand at Sato: "Young people are ignorant, Mr. Sato, please don't mind them. Please continue, who was this land allocated to?"
While speaking, he looked at Su Chen.
This Sato too, why did he have to choose this time to come?
Not only did he lose his value in suppressing Su Chen.
He also let Su Chen know they were in trouble. The land was taken by the government and given to someone else, which meant it was given away for free. There was no money, and the promised job opportunities were definitely gone too.
Of course they were unwilling.
Then they could only yield to Su Chen and let him go persuade Su Ning, to see if there was any room for turnaround...
Why not beg Sato?
Nonsense, didn't this useless Japanese man already say he had no way?
"This person is deeply in cahoots with the government, her power is extremely formidable and terrifying. Her reputation in the market is also extremely bad." Sato looked indignant, gritting his teeth as he said:
"I sent her a visiting card before I came, wanting to persuade her to choose another piece of land, but her attitude was extremely arrogant and rude, directly shutting me out..."
He was still venting his emotions.
But he didn't notice the speechless looks of the Su clan members—why are you saying so much useless stuff? The important thing is who is the person buying the land!
Someone even yawned.
Su Chen was sitting close and happened to see this, feeling amused in his heart. But as he listened, a strange feeling suddenly welled up inside him.
Why does this description sound so much like his cousin?
The thought flashed by and was immediately dismissed.
How could there be such a coincidence?
"... Originally, I had no face to come see you, but thinking of your hopes for the future—that person won't even see me, she definitely won't fulfill my agreement with you. I don't want you to wait in vain and end up extremely disappointed."
Sato looked sincerely at everyone:
"That's why I came to bring the news, and to say sorry to you once again."
He bowed again.
Counting silently, the timing was about right. They should be asking him how to deal with Su Ning now, to go make trouble, to protest... Of course, this wouldn't be enough to stop someone like Su Ning.
But what if after making trouble.
These villagers end up dead or injured?
Everyone would think Su Ning is the murderer. He would fan the flames of public opinion, preferably publishing this momentum in international newspapers. Under the pressure of public opinion, Su Ning would definitely give up this piece of land.
She would also be entangled in trouble, maybe even go to jail.
Thinking of this, Sato couldn't help but chuckle softly, and then was pulled back to reality by a rough voice.
"Alright, stop saying sorry for now. Quickly tell us who exactly is trying to get our land for nothing... Dawdling, it's almost dark."
Sato took a deep breath.
Looking left and right, he couldn't find the person who spoke. Everyone present looked innocent.
"This person is called Su Ning. You might not have heard of her before. She only returned to the country about three months ago, but don't underestimate..."
"What, what did you say!"
The clan leader stood up, interrupting Sato with a face full of shock. Sato was already very unhappy at this point, feeling they didn't respect him at all, and was about to flare up and reprimand them.
Suddenly, someone stood up.
Su Chen smiled and said to the clan leader: "Don't be so excited. One should be polite. Just ask me, I heard it very clearly just now."
He looked at Sato and asked inquiringly:
"Su Ning, is that the name?"
Sato nodded.
And then stood dumbfounded—
"Good. That means she is my cousin, and a member of the Su family, Su Ning."
