TGA Chapter 45

The three of them walked through the path and arrived at a small building in the village. They saw a parked car at the entrance but no sign of its owner.

“Director! Director!” Wang Ping called from downstairs. Not hearing any response, she exclaimed in surprise, “Where is everyone?”

Chu Qianli commented, “Probably off drinking tea and slacking again?”

Tan Muxing asked curiously, “Is this where village matters are handled?”

“Pretty much. Just come here if you have something to deal with,” Wang Ping replied casually.

Unable to locate the village head, the group had no choice but to enter the building to borrow a car. As they stepped into the corridor, they suddenly heard the sound of an argument. Shadows moved around near the office door, creating an atmosphere of tension and disorder.

“Old Li, can you just spit it out already? Stop beating around the bush. No one else has as much to say as you!”

“No way, absolutely not! This is bad feng shui, I’m telling you honestly. Our village used to be called Hidden Dragon Village, and that mountain was Hidden Dragon Mountain. There were issues back then, and things only settled down after we changed the names…”

“Oh, come on! You’re a grown man, and you still believe in that nonsense? Superstition is unacceptable! You claim this is a model civilized village, yet you’re clinging to this? Does that sound advanced to you?”

The burly, middle-aged man, full of vigor, grabbed the village head’s arm and pressed, “Stop wasting time. Hurry up and sign the papers. You’ll still get your share of the profits!”

“Yongjin, no, this won’t do. Have you consulted a feng shui master about this?” The village head, Old Li, a frail and wiry old man, couldn’t resist the strong man’s forcefulness. When he noticed Wang Ping and the others approaching, his eyes lit up instantly. “Pingping! Oh my, the master is back too!”

Hu Yongjin reluctantly released the village head when he saw the three people walking toward them.

Wang Ping got straight to the point, “Village head, we want to borrow a car.”

The village head corrected her, “I’m not the village head; I’m the director. I was elected according to the Village Name Committee Organization Law. Stop calling me village head!”

“Fine, fine. Director, we want to borrow a car,” Wang Ping replied perfunctorily.

“Sure, sure! Master Chu, when did you come back? Why didn’t you stop by my house for a meal?” The village head enthusiastically approached Chu Qianli. “The tree in front of my house has fruit now. Didn’t you love picking fruit? You must come by later to take a look!”

Chu Qianli awkwardly turned her head and politely declined, “Ah, but I’m heading up the mountain with Pingping later…”

Tan Muxing noticed how unusually warm the village head was toward Chu Qianli compared to his attitude toward Wang Ping. This stark difference piqued his curiosity.

Wang Ping clicked her tongue unhappily, “It’s because you officials keep putting her on a pedestal that she’s now unable to take care of herself…”

“Don’t talk like that! What does being an official have to do with it?” The village chief quickly pulled Chu Qianli aside and introduced her to the middle-aged man. “This is the master who renamed our village back then. I asked her to come and explain to you properly. Yinlong Mountain really cannot be disturbed. She and her grandfather looked into it back in the day…”

Chu Qianli and her companions listened to the village chief explain the whole situation. Yinlong Village and Yinlong Mountain are located at the border between two provinces. In recent years, the neighboring province has been boosting its economy by mining the mountains. As the mining area expanded, their eyes fell on the marginal area of Yinlong Mountain.

Hu Yongjin was from the neighboring village. Over the past few years, he had gotten rich from mining and now wanted to drag Yinlong Village and Yinlong Mountain into the effort, pressuring Chief Li to sign off on it.

However, because Yinlong Village had a good standard of living and was considered a model civilized village in the country, the village chief wasn’t willing to take the risk of mining, unlike other chiefs who were swayed by profit-sharing.

Hu Yongjin suspiciously scanned Chu Qianli up and down and frowned, “Old Li, I think you’ve been blinded by superstition. You’re calling this little girl a master!?”

The village chief quickly said, “She’s been doing this since she was born, longer than I’ve been the chief. Master, please explain to him why Yinlong Mountain can’t be mined.”

Chu Qianli froze, looking a bit puzzled. “Huh? Just say it like that?”

The village chief urged her expectantly, “Yes, yes, didn’t you and that other Master Chu look into the feng shui back then? Just use those phrases like, ‘In the heavens, it forms patterns; on the earth, it forms shapes; mountains, energy, and humanity all in harmony…’”

Understanding dawned on Chu Qianli, and she nodded solemnly. “Oh, Yinlong Mountain can’t be mined because green mountains and clear waters are as valuable as gold and silver. Protecting the ecological environment is protecting productivity, and improving it means developing productivity. We must abandon development models that damage or destroy the environment and avoid short-sighted approaches that sacrifice the environment for temporary gains…”

Hu Yongjin: “???”

The village chief panicked. “Oh no, that’s the wrong speech! Wrong speech! I meant the feng shui stuff! He doesn’t understand this!”

Chu Qianli firmly replied, “Chief, how can you accuse me of superstitious nonsense? I don’t practice that!”

“How do you not? Your grandfather was a feng shui master, and you used to earn money reading fortunes in the village!”

“Absolute nonsense! We just chatted with people and got eggs in return. A model civilized village would never do fortune-telling!”

Wang Ping chimed in, “I can vouch for her; they didn’t take money, only eggs.”

Tan Muxing: “…”

In his mind, Tan Muxing filled in the logical gaps: astrologers aren’t fortune-tellers, so she isn’t engaging in superstition. She is a staunch Marxist.

Hu Yongjin, seeing the chief’s anxious expression, began playing the emotional card loudly, “Old Li, you’re worrying over nothing! We already consulted a feng shui master for our side of the mountain, and nothing will be affected. Look, we’ve been mining for years without any issues.”

“The other side of Yinlong Mountain connects to our village. I had someone check it out before coming here. Even though I don’t believe in this stuff, we followed the process!”

The chief hesitated, “You had someone check it out? Really no problem?”

“Of course! Why would I lie to you?”

Chu Qianli blinked and asked curiously, “Did you really consult a feng shui master?”

“Of course, and they even chose the mining site for us.”

“When did they go up the mountain?”

Hu Yongjin, flustered, replied, “Just last Sunday, and then they told us everything was fine. That’s why I came to find Old Li…”

“They came back in one day? How did they do the assessment?”

“They brought a compass up the mountain and did what needed to be done. The mountain isn’t that big; one day was plenty…”

Chu Qianli thought for a moment before calmly stating, “There are no such feng shui masters. You didn’t consult anyone at all.”

Hu Yongjin was enraged. “Of course we did! I said we did, and we did! Feng shui masters aren’t hard to find. Why would I lie to you?!”

Tan Muxing, hearing Hu Yongjin yelling, furrowed his brows slightly and moved closer to his tablemate.

The village chief quickly intervened, “No shouting! Let’s be civil…”

Chu Qianli calmly explained, “Feng shui masters aren’t hard to find, but there are rules to this. Last Sunday was a ‘Rahula Day.’ You can’t open a compass on such a day, and no one would dare conduct assessments without neutralizing harmful energies first.”

“What kind of day?”

“Rahula Day. It’s a specific day in different months when opening a compass is forbidden. Feng shui sites are prone to causing harm to the master themselves on such days. If it happens to fall on a Rahula Day, it becomes even riskier, potentially harming the feng shui master.”

Feng shui assessments are about accumulating virtue and good deeds, but they also come with various taboos. Certain days and times are considered inauspicious, turning them into ‘master-killing days’ or ‘master-killing hours.’

The village chief nodded in satisfaction. “Exactly, exactly! Well said. Yongjin, you should listen to the master and avoid messing with these things…”

Hu Yongjin, recalling Chu Qianli’s earlier argument about the value of green mountains and clear waters, was stunned. “Aren’t you against superstition?!”

Chu Qianli widened her eyes innocently and explained, “That’s because, uncle, you started by insisting on superstition. Of course, I stuck to normal topics. But since you said you consulted a feng shui master, and you don’t seem opposed to these ideas, I just switched to discussing the supernatural.”

“Why do you people keep switching sides in your arguments?!”

“I’m respecting you. I say whatever you want to hear and communicate in ways you understand.”

Hu Yongjin, furious, waved his hand and changed his stance again. “It’s all superstition! Stop spouting this nonsense!”

Chu Qianli: “Oh, come on, changing your argument again? Then let’s go back to discussing how a healthy ecological environment supports sustainable global economic and social development.”

“Don’t give me this official nonsense!” Hu Yongjin snapped impatiently. “Old Li, do you want to lead the whole village to prosperity or not? Do you want to make money? Lots of villages have built high-rises and bought cars. As the chief, you should take action, right?”

The village chief looked conflicted. “Taking action is one thing, but not this kind of action. Let’s wait for the village vote, shall we?”

Chu Qianli comforted, “Chief, he means well trying to help us get rich. We should be grateful for his good intentions.”

The village chief was stunned. “Wait, Master, you said back then that this mountain couldn’t be mined…”

Hu Yongjin was overjoyed when he heard this. “Old Li, listen to her! Even the young girl understands better than you!”

Chu Qianli continued, “But getting rich also has to follow the rules. Since you’ve decided to mine, let’s talk about the project. Is this a government initiative, or is a company contracting the work? Do you have the qualifications for mining? What are the standards for the extraction volume?”

“How are the profits being distributed among the villages? Are there clear regulations for the profit-sharing? Does the government even allow this type of profit-sharing arrangement? What category of tax will the villagers’ earnings fall under? And if there are accidents later, who’s responsible?”

“…”

Hu Yongjin, who didn’t have much education, only knew that mining could make money. How was he supposed to know all the procedures involved? Hearing this barrage of questions, his head buzzed, leaving him utterly at a loss.

Annoyed, Hu Yongjin grabbed the village chief’s wrist and shouted angrily, “I don’t care about all that! Today, you’re signing whether you want to or not! I don’t believe I can’t make this happen!”

Wang Ping was furious. “Hey! What’s with you getting physical!?”

The village chief, being yanked around, wailed in pain, “We’re a model civilized village—no fighting allowed!”

“Stop spouting nonsense! I’ve never seen a chief talk as much as you!”

Hu Yongjin forced the struggling village chief to sign, while Wang Ping, enraged, stepped in to help. With the ferocity of a hen defending its chicks, the scene quickly descended into chaos.

The burly man relied on his strength, showing no hesitation to take on multiple people.

Chu Qianli, the weakest one in the crowd, stood at the edge of the commotion. When Hu Yongjin bumped into her, she nearly fell backward.

Tan Muxing, who had been silent all along, frowned and steadied his stumbling classmate. Then, in one swift motion, he gripped Hu Yongjin’s wrist firmly and said softly, “Don’t use violence.”

Although Tan Muxing’s tone was hesitant and lacked harshness, his grip was anything but weak.

Hu Yongjin felt as if his wrist was caught in a vice. The pain made him immediately release the village chief. He tried to break free from the hold and roared in anger, “You son of a—!”

Tan Muxing said nothing.

Hu Yongjin swung his fist to punch the person in front of him, but he couldn’t free himself on the first try. His face turned red as he tried again with all his strength, shouting furiously, “You son of a—!”

Despite his full effort, Hu Yongjin’s arm felt like it was trapped under a boulder. It didn’t budge an inch.

Tan Muxing didn’t let go, instead repeating gently, “Don’t use violence.”

At first, Hu Yongjin, relying on his brute strength, didn’t take the village chief and the others seriously. But now that he had run into someone he couldn’t overpower, he instantly realized something was off. He couldn’t attack with his left hand or free his right arm!

The scene froze in a stalemate.

Tan Muxing didn’t hit anyone, but whatever technique he used left Hu Yongjin completely unable to exert force.

After a moment, Hu Yongjin, unwilling to admit defeat, flushed red with frustration. His voice grew weak as he shouted, “Your model civilized village doesn’t allow fighting!”

Seeing the “big white bear” make such a clean move, Chu Qianli was on the verge of cheering. She even stood triumphantly with her hands on her hips. “Hooray! But he’s not from our village, so he doesn’t have to be model or civilized!”

Wang Ping chimed in, “Don’t you get it? She brought an outsider to our village to be the new village tyrant.”

Tan Muxing: “…”