Chapter 78

Yu Muyang, arms crossed, let his shoulders slump, a heavy breath escaping his nose as if capitulating to Yunxiu’s words. Of course he still remembered that despair—a feeling he’d never forget for the rest of his life. And he’d never forget the feeling of meeting Li Cunxin carrying that pot of meat and holding his own bowl of hot food. “Yunxiu, I know what you mean. I’m not afraid of you all laughing at me. From that day on, in my heart, the Village Chief is my own mother. You all are my own sisters and brothers. Ah, forget it. I have no objection to this. Whatever you all decide, I’ll go along.”

Li Cunxin’s gaze swept across everyone. Some sighed, some shook their heads, struggling to find further words. Yunxiu and Xia Qing were clear: they agreed to the merger. Wang Ran and Jiang Beibei had some doubts. Xu Yin and Wen Mi, after weighing pros and cons, were willing to help. The rest remained silent, perhaps still undecided.

Li Cunxin’s gaze finally settled on Zhao Penglai. Since his initial “I disagree,” he hadn’t spoken another word.

“Penglai.” Li Cunxin called. She knew Zhao Penglai was a passionate man. His vision, back when there were only six of them, of building this place into a rich and prosperous town, proved it. Logically, he should be happy about an influx of new vitality. And like Xu Yin, he was someone who understood weighing pros and cons. His willingness to accept the group’s decision over his candidacy for Village Chief also showed he understood cooperation and wouldn’t let personal feelings dictate his primary standards. Li Cunxin was curious about his reasoning, and could dimly sense what he might say. “You said earlier you disagreed. Could you explain?”

Zhao Penglai’s expression was serious. Under everyone’s gaze, he began: “First, I have no issue with the act of Yang Tainan’s village joining ours. In fact, I think it is a good deal. Allow me to set aside personal feelings and discuss this purely in terms of profit and loss—it is a deal.”

A few who were about to speak silently shut their mouths. Though Zhao Penglai’s use of the word “deal” was cold, it was the truth. The essence of this matter was indeed that.

“Second.” Zhao Penglai asked Li Cunxin, “The meanings of ‘joining’ and ‘merging’ are vastly different. Some say ‘merge,’ some say ‘join.’ I want to know: is it a merger or joining?”

Ning Yikui didn’t catch on for a moment and asked blankly, “What’s the difference?”

Di Wanling explained, “It’s mainly about who is the main entity and who is the guest. If it’s a merger, they might stand on equal footing with us in power. The current system and decision-makers would be reshuffled for reassignment. If it’s joining, we are the main entity, and they follow our arrangements.”

Zhao Penglai nodded, indicating this was exactly his meaning.

Li Cunxin said, “Village Chief Yang and Miss Sun’s intention is ‘joining.’ They are willing to cede power. They won’t come as a village, but as two hundred individuals joining our village.”

“Good.” Zhao Penglai said, “Looking purely at the profit, if our village tightens its belt for just one winter in exchange for a large amount of manpower and various exploitable resources, that is indeed a good bargain. Never mind tightening the belt for one winter, even if it meant hardship for two or three years, it would be worth it. Because the cost is temporary, the gain long-term. If you explain this clearly, everyone understands.”

“However!” Zhao Penglai bit down hard on these two words. Everyone’s focus sharpened, their eyes gleaming as they watched him. Zhao Penglai continued, “Their group has already formed. Their power structure has already formed. They are inevitably more exclusive than an individual. Like Yunxiu’s dough. Yes, while kneading, adding water or flour is fine. It takes more effort, more kneading, but it can all be worked in. But after you’ve already baked the cakes… can you knead two separate cakes back into one? They are much harder to absorb than individuals. Because of precedence and first impressions, they’ll identify more with their own village. And our people? This is our territory. Our people can’t help having a ‘host’ mentality. This is a psychological barrier. On the surface, we live together. Psychologically, there will still be walls. Your village, our village!”

Yunxiu asked, puzzled, “Are you worried about future issues like exclusion and conflict?”

Zhao Penglai said, “When that time comes, those will be small matters, just causes. As long as someone’s in charge, there’ll always be someone to solve or suppress disputes. The main problem is: if they can’t integrate, if they don’t identify as our villagers, and our villagers don’t identify them, sooner or later, they’ll want their own sovereignty back. One village, two large factions. Even if today they say we’re the main entity and they’ll follow our arrangements, ceding decision-making power… who’s to say we aren’t saving an ingrate? Once they recover, won’t they turn and bite us? Fine, even, even if they have no such intention now, how can you guarantee they won’t someday develop the desire to retake the Village Chief’s position? They have two hundred people—double our number. If it truly came to that, we would inevitably lose.”

Zhao Penglai looked at Li Cunxin, deep emotion in his voice. “This entire village. Every brick and tile was laid by us. Those hundred-plus mu of field, that long water channel—we plowed them inch by inch. The first year, we huddled in that old adobe house out back, living like wild animals. These past two years, we worked like mad, building brick houses, expanding farmland. Up with the sun, working without rest, gulping down meals, so exhausted we nearly coughed blood. For what? To build this village. Our village! You as Village Chief, I accept. But if that group tries to take over the nest, to steal the fruits of our labor without lifting a finger, if that Yang Tainan wants to reap what we sowed and turn around to control our village, become our Village Chief… I’d rather die than accept it!”

Li Cunxin opened her mouth for a long moment before saying softly, “I understand your concerns.” Actually, she herself had only considered the potential conflicts if the two villages couldn’t merge. Zhao Penglai’s worry was the worst possible outcome at the end of those conflicts.

Yunxiu said, “What you’re imagining is the absolute worst-case scenario. Even if it reached that point, not all two hundred of them would support causing trouble. Everyone has a different disposition, varying morals and ethics. Just like us now: some want them to join, some don’t. And since they’re now willing to cede power for survival, they wouldn’t lightly risk their lives for power later. Also, finally, your analogy isn’t quite right. The people of our two villages have indeed formed two groups. But we haven’t been baked into separate cakes, impossible to combine. We didn’t grow up here. We’ve been in this foreign world for, at most, a few years—mostly four or five. We’re here because we were nearby. They were near the forest. We share the same language and culture. In fact, compared to our own villagers, we might find a fellow townsman feels closer, easier to talk to. Like Xia Qing said: ‘Accents similar, customs alike.’ Like how people from our region like spicy food, while Jiangnan folks prefer sweet. What we call ciba (glutinous rice cake), they call niangao (New Year’s cake). We’re not separately baked cakes. At most, one’s a drier dough, one’s wetter. Might need a bit more flour, oil, water—binding agents—to knead them together. It’ll take more effort, but I think they can be worked into one dough.”

Yunxiu spoke gently and slowly, yet her logic was clear, directly challenging Zhao Penglai’s points.

They were engaged in a reasonable debate, so Zhao Penglai wasn’t angered by the rebuttal. He smiled at Yunxiu. “In the past, you’d always stay quiet when things happened. I didn’t expect so many insightful views from you today.”

Yunxiu glanced at Li Cunxin. “Perhaps I’m drawing parallels to myself. It stirs up some thoughts.”

Xia Qing asked, “The husband says one thing, the wife another. So what do we actually do now?”

“Perhaps we should consider the consequence of not letting them join.” Yan Baiyu directed this at Zhao Penglai. “They’ve already stated they’ll settle at their current camp. If we only trade supplies and refuse them joining, they’ll still scrape through the winter. Maybe ten will die. Maybe twenty. But overall, they’ll still outnumber us. Once they stabilize and put down roots here… yes, our two villages can interact and trade. That might even work well for a few years. But what about later? As populations grow, land development expands… they’re not like Badong Village, separated by vast distances. They’re close—just a short half-day’s journey. In the future, resources will inevitably be divided: land, minerals, manpower. Won’t conflicts arise over these then? If we miss this chance, and talk of merging again in the future, we might not hold the initiative. After all, offering fuel in snowy weather always touches the heart more than adding flowers to brocade.”

Zhao Penglai rested his elbows on his thighs, clasped his hands together, and frowned in silence.

Yu Muyang clicked his tongue. “So damned if you stick your head out, damned if you pull it back.”

Li Cunxin said, “You’ve all met Yang Tainan and Sun Er. They don’t seem too difficult to get along with. From the fact their village was willing to migrate with the wounded and go all out to treat them, they’re not utterly ruthless people. I won’t say the whole village, but at least the majority of those in power don’t just see people as labor. It’s hard to say these people would repay kindness with malice, burning bridges. But at the very least, they probably wouldn’t abandon all decency just for power.”

Zhao Penglai said, “If they have no ulterior motives, if they’re willing to cooperate, then naturally, everything’s fine. But who can guarantee that?”

“There’s risk in doing anything. It’s just a matter of size. Back when the village took in and helped those stranded out there, there was risk too. It was just within controllable limits. Now, Yang Tainan’s village… it’s a challenge.” Yan Baiyu looked at the person beside her.

Xu Yin’s gaze turned to Li Cunxin. “It depends if we dare to place the bet.”

Li Cunxin looked at everyone. “Anyone have anything else to say?”

Some were silent, some shook their heads.

After a long moment of deliberation, Li Cunxin spoke. “We’ll put this to a vote.”