Siheyuan: A Very Happy Era

Chapter 550 Ma Hongying's Sudden Disruption
"Hey, why do you guys think Qiangzi would set up that beekeeping research institute? And why bring his wife and kids along? Doesn't he worry about something going wrong?"

"Who knows! Maybe he felt that it wasn't appropriate for the couple to live apart, so he chose to do this."

"Oh, right, I also heard that Qiangzi is going to transfer all those female educated youths back!"

"What's the big deal? Everyone in Jinshanbao knows they're all Qiangzi's women!"

"Are you crazy! You dare to spout nonsense without any evidence? If Qiangzi finds out, he'll revoke your beekeeping license. Let's see what you'll do then!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the workers' room fell silent. They all distanced themselves from the person who had spoken so recklessly, fearing they might be implicated.

Seeing everyone's reaction, that person felt incredibly regretful and wished he could slap himself a few times.

After all, the relationship between Li Guoqiang and Shang Xiuzhen and others was just speculation among the villagers, and there was no substantial evidence at all.

Moreover, Li Guoqiang's wife, Luo Huijuan, ate and lived with Shang Xiuzhen and others without saying anything, so how could outsiders like them be allowed to spread rumors?

If Li Guoqiang finds out and cancels their beekeeping contract, where can they go to seek justice?

Just as she was getting worried, Ma Hongying suddenly stood up and said with a dissatisfied look, "If you ask me, you guys are just bored and have nothing better to do than talk about Qiangzi's affairs."

Don't you ever think about who brought us the good life we ​​have now?
Besides, so what if Qiangzi has a few more women around him? Does it bother you?

I hope that in the future, you will stop gossiping behind people's backs. If it affects the development of our brigade's beekeeping farm and makes it impossible for everyone to live a good life, you know what the consequences will be.

After saying that, she didn't care about the reactions of those present and turned to walk out.

When the others heard these words, they were terrified by the thought of the terrible consequences of cutting off someone's livelihood. They broke out in a cold sweat and hated the woman who had spoken so recklessly.

In fact, they were not unaware of this principle, but they couldn't resist their curiosity and thus gossiped a little.

But who would have thought that someone could be so stupid!
Soon, they all got up and walked outside, leaving only the outspoken woman, who sat there slumped, her face deathly pale.

As soon as they stepped outside, they saw Li Guoqiang and Xu Yuping walking towards them with umbrellas. They were instantly startled, like thieves who had just stolen something and then ran into the police.

Immediately afterward, before they could come up with a plan, Li Guoqiang and Xu Yuping turned a corner and headed towards the beekeeping area.

This made them breathe a sigh of relief, and after some whispering among themselves, they all decided to keep what had just happened a secret.

Otherwise, if Li Guoqiang found out, even if they didn't say anything they shouldn't have, it would inevitably make Li Guoqiang suspect whether they were all involved.

Just to be on the safe side, they also pulled Ma Hongying, who had gone to the adjacent warehouse, over, and then went into the room together to give the outspoken woman a good warning.

Once they had all agreed on their story, they finally felt a little relieved. Then they stood together under the eaves, quietly waiting for Li Guoqiang and Xu Yuping to come over after they had finished inspecting the beekeeping area.

At this moment, Li Guoqiang was unaware that Ma Hongying and the others were gossiping about him behind his back and were terrified. Accompanied by Xu Yuping, he carefully inspected the beekeeping area to see if the workers at the apiary had implemented the beekeeping techniques he had taught them.

If there are no problems, then he won't need to worry too much about the bee farm having issues when he goes to Hong Kong.

If there are problems, then he needs to consider whether he should spend more time providing training for the workers at the bee farm.

Fortunately, the final inspection revealed no problems.

This improved his mood somewhat, and he turned around and walked briskly toward the workers' quarters.

"Qiangzi, you're back from the city?"

Seeing this, Ma Hongying quickly stepped forward, greeted him softly with a smile, so that the others wouldn't be too nervous in front of Li Guoqiang and give themselves away.

"Yes! I just got back this morning!"

Upon hearing this, Li Guoqiang nodded slightly in agreement, then quickly walked a few steps to the eaves of the workers' house and focused his gaze on Ma Hongying and the others.

Because of his strong mental power, even with Ma Hongying's help to cover it up, he could easily sense that other people's behavior was a bit off, as if they were acting like they had done something wrong.

However, he used his limited view to inspect the workers' quarters inside and out, but found nothing wrong.

Just as he was wondering about this, Ma Hongying suddenly stepped forward, took his arm, and said with a soft laugh, "Let's go! It's all wet outside, let's go inside and sit on the kang (heated brick bed) to talk about it!"

As she spoke, she used a little force to pull Li Guoqiang into the house.

"Sister-in-law Hongying, what are you playing at?"

Seeing this, Li Guoqiang simply stopped thinking about it and leaned close to Ma Hongying's ear, lowering his voice to ask.

"Well... here's what happened!"

Seeing that Li Guoqiang had become suspicious, Ma Hongying stopped hiding it and told him what had just happened.

After saying that, seeing that Li Guoqiang didn't say anything, she quickly continued, "Qiangzi, you know they just like to gossip, they don't mean any harm. You're a magnanimous person, so don't take it so seriously."

"Um, could you let go of me first before we talk?"

When Li Guoqiang heard Ma Hongying's words, he didn't answer directly whether it was okay or not. Instead, he slightly moved his arm, indicating that Ma Hongying was hugging him a little too tightly.

"Forehead"

Ma Hongying looked down, paused for a moment, then instead of letting go, she gently shook her hand and said in a sweet voice, "Qiangzi, please, I'm begging you."

"Alright, you've already gone this far, how could I possibly refuse?"

Seeing this, Li Guoqiang couldn't help but roll his eyes, and then said with some helplessness.

In fact, he didn't care at all about the women gossiping behind his back, as long as they didn't say it to his face.

After all, as the old saying goes, it is easier to stop a river than to stop the people from talking. He wouldn't be so foolish as to think that he could shut people up just because of his status and position!

"Whee!"

When Ma Hongying saw that Li Guoqiang had agreed, she was overjoyed. She quickly pulled Li Guoqiang to sit down on the kang (a heated brick bed), and then ran out to tell the others the good news.

"What's wrong? What did Hongying say to you?"

Upon seeing this, Xu Yuping immediately went over and sat down next to Li Guoqiang, then asked with some confusion.

"It's nothing, it's just that one of them was gossiping behind our backs, saying some things about our family. They were worried I'd be angry if I found out, so they're pleading with me here!"

Upon hearing this, Li Guoqiang waved his hand and then casually replied, "Heh, that's something she would do."

Upon hearing this, Xu Yuping felt a surge of joy.

After a moment's hesitation, she said earnestly, "What do you think about me giving her the team leader position?"

"Sure! I'll talk to Brother Yuliang about it later."

Upon hearing Xu Yuping's suggestion, Li Guoqiang didn't hesitate for long before nodding and agreeing.

To him, these were all trivial matters.

Moreover, based on his understanding of Ma Hongying, she might not want to be the team leader at all, but instead want to go to Beijing to take over the positions of Shang Xiuzhen and Pan Qiaoyan!
Soon, Ma Hongying led the other workers on duty in, and they all greeted Li Guoqiang with gratitude.

Seeing this, Li Guoqiang didn't put on airs and responded to each of them.

It's like an eagle in the sky that never pays attention to ants on the ground.

Afterwards, they chatted casually for a while, and Xu Yuliang, Sun Maocai, and others who had received the news rushed to the First Bee Farm.

As soon as they met, Xu Yuliang couldn't help but complain, "Qiangzi, you're really something. In this heavy rain, you're not even staying at home. You had to ask us to come over. Aren't you just making things difficult for us?"

Before Li Guoqiang could even say anything, Ma Hongying spoke up, somewhat indignantly:
"Captain, what are you saying? Qiangzi came here to inspect the beehives, and you're still talking about him like that? That's really unfair!"

Upon hearing this, Xu Yuliang was immediately rendered speechless, and his gaze towards Li Guoqiang was filled with resentment.

In reality, he was just complaining casually and didn't think much of it at all.

If he had known beforehand that Li Guoqiang was coming to the apiary to inspect the beehives, he would never have dared to say those things!
"Alright, Sister-in-law Hongying, the brigade leader doesn't know the situation either, so don't keep snapping at him."

Seeing Xu Yuliang's embarrassed expression, Li Guoqiang felt a surge of amusement and quickly waved his hand to help Xu Yuliang out of the predicament.

"Yes, yes, I didn't know the situation!"

Upon hearing this, Xu Yuliang immediately took the opportunity to defend himself.

Then, he saw that everyone present was still looking at him with some dissatisfaction, and he couldn't help but feel a little bitter.

At the same time, this also made him realize once again Li Guoqiang's special status in Jinshanbao.

"By the way, Captain, the reason I called you here today is to talk to you about the Xiangmizhai job reassignment."

Seeing the awkward atmosphere, Li Guoqiang quickly spoke up to divert everyone's attention.

Sure enough, upon hearing his words, everyone present turned to look at him, their eyes revealing a hint of surprise.

Because of the examples of Ma Hongjun, Xu Yuchang, and Sun Jinda, the people of Jinshanbao are basically hoping that Xiangmizhai can recruit people again.

Now, their long-awaited dream has finally come true.

"So, how many people are needed this time?"

After a while, Xu Yuliang came to his senses and hurriedly asked.

Upon hearing this question, everyone immediately perked up and stared intently at Li Guoqiang.

Li Guoqiang glanced at everyone, then quietly uttered a number.

"4!"

Upon hearing this, everyone's eyes lit up with surprise, and they quickly turned to look at Xu Yuliang, wanting to know how these four people would be chosen.

Seeing this, Xu Yuliang hurriedly said, "Well, since everyone wants this spot, let's register with the production team leader first, and then hold a secret ballot. The four people with the most votes will win."

As soon as the words were spoken, someone in the crowd raised their hand high and shouted, "Me, I'm signing up! And my man, Xu Yu'an, is signing up too!"

Upon hearing this, everyone looked at Ma Hongying, who had spoken, with some annoyance.

Some people even couldn't help but curse, "Ma Hongying, you're dreaming! There are only four spots available, and you two want two of them. Why don't you just scramble for them?"

Hearing this, Ma Hongying was not intimidated and immediately retorted loudly, "What do you mean by 'grabbing'? I'm just registering first as the brigade leader said, and there will be a vote later. You can register if you want! I'm not stopping you."

"you"

When everyone heard her say that, they were all speechless.

After that, they could only turn their attention to Xu Yuliang, hoping he would say something.

Xu Yuliang was also having a headache because of Ma Hongying's actions.

Originally, he just felt that even if the villagers wanted the job, they should consider their own families.

As a result, the only people who could sign up were adults who were not yet married, totaling only a dozen or so people.

Then, from these dozen or so people, we can vote to select four more, and that will get the job done.

However, no matter how he thought about it, he never expected that Ma Hongying, a married woman, would rush out to sign up at the first opportunity, directly ruining his plans.

If everyone in the village follows suit, how will we be able to vote and elect people?
The more he thought about it, the more his head ached. Then, he unconsciously turned his gaze to Li Guoqiang, hoping that Li Guoqiang could help him come up with a solution.

Unfortunately, Li Guoqiang didn't seem to have any intention of helping him, and spent the whole time whispering to Xu Yuping.

Seeing this, he didn't dare to force the issue and could only wave his hand and speak, adopting a delaying tactic.

"Well, in my opinion, why don't we have the brigade hold a meeting to discuss this first?"

After saying that, he gave Sun Maocai a wink.

Seeing this, Sun Maocai hurriedly chimed in, "Yes, yes, this is a major event concerning everyone in Jinshanbao. We must be careful. Why don't we all disperse first and let a few of us brigade cadres discuss it properly?"

Hearing this, although the crowd was somewhat unwilling, they had no reason to object and could only turn around and leave.

Soon, only Li Guoqiang, Xu Yuping, Xu Yuliang, Sun Maocai, and other brigade cadres remained in the room.

(End of this chapter)