Arknights: Studying medicine can't save Terra

But they dared not question it casually.

Just as the villagers were on the verge of a mental breakdown from their agonizing struggle, someone outside the crowd shouted:

"The village chief is here! Everyone, please make way!"

The crowd quickly parted to the sides, revealing a passage for an elderly man with a wrinkled face and white hair to step forward.

Not to be outdone, Qi Yan also turned to the side, completely exposing Wei Yanwu's figure to the villagers' view.

The village chief spotted Wei Yanwu at a glance, and his body trembled involuntarily.

He...did not know Wei Yanwu.

But he could tell that Wei Yanwu was an absolutely important figure who could not be offended!

"Sir, are you the village chief of Moushan Village?" Wei Yanwu greeted him with a smile.

"Yes, I have met this... sir." The village chief bowed respectfully.

"My last name is Wei."

"Yes, Lord Wei."

The village chief ran through a list of important figures he could think of, but couldn't find a single one with the surname Wei.

However, he dared not show the slightest contempt because of this. On the contrary, he realized that this important figure from the royal family had a background that was beyond the limit that a nobody like him could ever come into contact with in his lifetime.

Wei Yanwu didn't care about what the village chief was thinking. He stubbed out his cigarette and remained seated on the wooden chair.

"I came to your village this time just to take Fang Xiaoshi home, and I happened to see that the infrastructure in this area is somewhat backward."

If I remember correctly, this area in the Northwest has already been designated as a poverty alleviation and development zone, and a quota for the construction of a highway will be allocated to several villages in your area.

"Yes, I am aware of this matter," the village chief replied repeatedly. "I have already summarized the situation in the village and submitted the bidding documents. We are just waiting for a reply from above."

"Moushan Village shouldn't compete with other villages for this matter."

Wei Yanwu's single sentence plunged the village chief into hell.

He opened his mouth, wanting to plead with Wei Yanwu, but looking at Wei Yanwu's indifferent face, he dared not say anything rash.

Wei Yanwu could see the village chief's resentment, and unusually kindly explained:

"I already learned about the village before you came, and it's not that difficult, is it?"

"What do you mean by that, Lord Wei?" the village chief asked anxiously.

"The villagers have already introduced the situation of this hunter Fang's family. They are quite wealthy, and they have paid for the repair of the ancestral temple and helped their son accumulate a lot of wealth."

Wei Yanwu said with a forced smile, "But I see that Fang the Hunter's courtyard is much more dilapidated than the others in the village. I imagine the others have more or less savings. In this case, you shouldn't compete with those poor villages."

After all, building the highway would provide both jobs and subsidies, enough to lift a poor village out of poverty and onto the right track.

"Here……"

The village chief was completely bewildered; having just arrived, he had no idea what had happened.

A villager quickly stepped forward and whispered in his ear to explain what had happened.

Upon hearing this, the village chief's face immediately turned as ugly as if he had found half a worm in a piece of fruit.

But he dared not argue any further and could only swallow the loss.

He even had to put on a smiling face and invite them:

"I will do as Lord Wei says. It is rare for you to come to the village. I hope you can do me the honor of staying at my home for a while and give me the opportunity to entertain you."

"Alright, then we'll trouble the village chief for one day and continue our journey tomorrow."

Wei Yanwu readily agreed.

The village chief quickly instructed everyone to make arrangements for the matter.

Fang Xiaoshi watched helplessly as the noise outside his yard suddenly grew lively and then quickly faded away, leaving him momentarily bewildered.

Seeing that Qi Yan and the others were about to leave, he hurriedly stepped forward and asked, puzzled:

"You're leaving already? Didn't you promise to take me on a great mission?"

"Don't rush, stay with your dad for a couple of days first." Qi Yan patted Fang Xiaoshi's head and left the courtyard without looking back.

Fang Xiaoshi watched the departing crowd, suppressing his anxiety, and chose to believe Qi Yan.

However, looking at the villagers, even the village chief, who surrounded Wei Yanwu with humble smiles, he couldn't help but feel a secret sense of satisfaction.

These people keep saying that Fang Xiaoshi has caused trouble again, but now you're the ones who have caused trouble!

They lost a huge sum of government money, and some of these people are now regretting it.

"Little Stone, you..."

To Fang Xiaoshi's surprise, as soon as the villagers and Qi Yan left, the hunter couldn't help but scold him, expressing his disappointment.

"What did I do now?" Fang Xiaoshi said, dissatisfied.

"You have no idea how much trouble you've caused this time!" The hunter pointed at Fang Xiaoshi's nose and scolded him, "Because of you, the village has lost its quota for building the highway, and these losses will all be attributed to our family in the future!"

You think you have those big shots backing you up and can stand tall in front of everyone, but have you considered how the village will view us after those big shots leave?

"They dare!" Fang Xiaoshi shouted. "I'm going to do great things in the future, and my achievements will be no less than those of Wei Yanwu, that unofficial staff member!"

"You're such a thoughtless child!"

The hunter was so angry that his breathing became rapid, and he turned and went back into the house.

Fang Xiaoshi sat down on the wooden chair that Wei Yanwu had sat on earlier, fantasizing that when he achieved success in the future, he would be like Wei Yanwu, able to make the villagers and the village chief fawn over him with just a few words.

Time flew by, and Fang Xiaoshi stubbornly sat there from morning till evening, ignoring even when the hunter called him for lunch.

The hunter was getting impatient, as dinnertime approached and his son remained stubbornly unyielding, like a rock in a latrine. He felt a terrible headache coming on.

Just as he turned around to gather firewood to start a fire and cook, a villager ran out of the yard.

"Uncle Fang, why are you still at home? Hurry up and go to the village chief's house for the banquet." The villager said enthusiastically, "The village chief has gone to great lengths to entertain Lord Wei. You and Fang Xiaoshi know Lord Wei, so you can't miss it!"

The hunter paused for a moment, then quickly put down the firewood and hurried forward to ask:

"What happened during the day was Xiao Shi's ignorance. What should the village chief tell me when I see Lord Wei later?"

Seeing that the hunter was so cooperative, the villagers' smiles grew even wider:

"Hey, don't be so formal. It's all a misunderstanding. Just explain to Lord Wei at the banquet, offer him a toast, and everyone will understand what's going on."

"Okay, I'm coming right now."

The hunter quickly turned around, fetched a basin of water, and began to wash himself, while urging Xiao Shi, "Stop being stubborn and come with me."

"I'm not going!" Fang Xiaoshi was furious.

The hunter was even angrier than Xiao Shi. He braced his hands on the edge of the wooden basin, and the father and son glared at each other, neither willing to back down.

But gradually, Fang Xiaoshi's gaze lowered.

When he looked into his father's eyes, he realized that in the year or so that he had been gone, his father's back had become hunched, his face had developed several unfamiliar wrinkles, and his face had become so thin that his cheekbones were faintly visible.

Fang Xiaoshi felt a pang of bitterness, but ultimately succumbed to defeat:

"I'll go, okay?"

Chapter 947 Pity their misfortune, be angry at their lack of resistance

Winter's tail has quietly slipped away, but the land still savors the lingering chill it left behind.

Wei Yanwu sat in a fairly spacious courtyard, with a table in front of him filled with dishes that were large in quantity and meant to satisfy everyone.

He absentmindedly picked up a few bites with his chopsticks, then began to sip the tea that he considered to be of extremely poor quality.

But the sound of someone slurping tea endlessly not far away never stopped, lingering in Wei Yanwu's ears.

Qi Yan finished his umpteenth cup of tea, put it down with satisfaction, and said meaningfully:

"People in our village are so practical. They know to serve the best tea to guests. They understand hospitality much better than those city folks."

The village chief stood by, smiling apologetically.

"No, no, but the people of our Moushan Village are indeed very warm and hospitable. Everyone in the surrounding area gives a thumbs up for that."

"Not bad, not bad, Lao Wei..."

Qi Yan suddenly handed a suggestion to Wei Yanwu, who was standing next to him.

The village chief immediately fell silent, looking expectantly at Qi Yan, wondering if he would be willing to put in a good word for him for the sake of this meal and drink.

"What's wrong?" Wei Yanwu guessed that Qi Yan was up to no good.

“This Moushan Village certainly doesn’t seem to be short of money,” Qi Yan said earnestly.

village head:"……"

He almost spat out a mouthful of blood.

How can you do things like this?

I treated you to good food and drink, but instead of helping you, you continued to cause trouble?

Even though Qi Yan had already gone too far in causing trouble, the village chief dared not speak out and forced a smile as he stood by.

To everyone's surprise, Qi Yan still waved his hand dismissively at the village chief, urging him to leave:

"Get out of my way. I don't care about the mess that the Yan government is making. This annoying guy next to me is the one in charge."

Wei Yanwu was not annoyed, and waved his hand in response:

"Come here and tell me about your village in detail."

The village chief quickly put on a smile again and jogged over to Wei Yanwu's side.

Qi Yan had just gotten some peace and quiet when Chen couldn't resist coming over:

"What kind of play are you two putting on?"

"How would I know? I've never gone over the script with Wei Yanwu." Qi Yan poured himself another cup of tea and said slowly, "Let him do whatever he wants. I'm just a troublemaker anyway."

Chen clicked his tongue and reminded him:

"Although these villagers were also frightened and were taught a lesson, it is hard to guarantee that Fang Xiaoshi and his son will be bullied again in the future if they are forgiven so easily."

"Old Chen, do you think Wei Yanwu and I were just trying to help Fang Xiaoshi because we saw him being wronged?" Qi Yan asked.

"Isn't that right?" Chen asked, looking bewildered.

Qi Yan couldn't help but chuckle: "I guess I'd say that, but if you think of Wei Yanwu like that, then you're underestimating him to be on the same level as you."

She was talking to Qi Yan nicely, so why did Qi Yan suddenly start swearing?

Not far away, Wei Yanwu sneezed for no apparent reason.

The village chief hurriedly ordered someone to fetch warm clothes, but Wei Yanwu waved his hand to stop him, signaling the village chief to continue his report.

Qiu Bai and Qi Lin also gathered around Qi Yan, and Qiu Bai couldn't help but share his opinion as well:

“The situation in this village is indeed not good. I have observed it carefully along the way. Although it is not lacking in food and clothing, it can be considered poor. There is obvious salinization of the farmland outside the village. Further away, I saw that a landslide had buried some farmland.

The oppression suffered by Fang Xiaoshi and his son in the village is indeed outrageous, and I wouldn't be able to stand idly by either. However, I still hope to find a different way to prevent this village from being driven to the brink of despair.

At this moment, Chen and Qiu Bai's views diverged significantly.

Qi Yan smiled and looked at his younger sister: "What do you think?"

"He brought it on himself," Qi Lin succinctly commented.

“Yes, I think so too.” Qi Yan shrugged at Chen and Qiu Bai. “These villagers brought this on themselves. They were xenophobic towards people with other surnames, but they never thought of fighting back against natural disasters. After the farmland was damaged, they just left it there and never thought of reclaiming it.”

The story of the ancestor of Moushan Village may not have ultimately led to the feat of human beings conquering nature, but the story that has been passed down is only the first half, isn't it?

The ancestral temple in Moushan Village still has incense burning for worship, but what's the use of simply worshipping ancestors? The descendants haven't preserved a single trace of their ancestors' will.

Qiu Bai sighed helplessly, feeling a mix of pity and anger at the people of Moushan Village for their misfortune and lack of ambition.

She confirmed, "So you're more supportive of Ms. Chen's viewpoint?"

“No, I support your point of view more,” Qi Yan said earnestly.

Chen and Qiu Bai were both stunned for a moment.

Qi Yan didn't rush to explain, but turned to look at Chen and asked: