Transmigrated into a Grandpa, Embracing the Laid-Back Life

Chapter 53: Killing the Chicken to Warn the Monkey

The snow fell without a sound.

Overnight, Su Family Village was wrapped in a thick layer of white. Roof eaves, withered branches, and field ridges—all their sharp edges were smoothed away. The world between heaven and earth was utterly silent, as if even sound had been swallowed up by this heavy snow.

Su Lai was like a cough in this snowy weather, arriving abruptly and then disappearing without a trace.

No one mentioned him. No one asked about him.

When villagers passed by the tightly closed wooden gate of his house with their heads lowered, they would unconsciously quicken their pace, as if some monster that devoured gazes lurked behind that door. His wife, who usually loved to curse and shout at the village entrance, had also fallen silent, staying behind closed doors all day long.

Su Lai, along with his malicious, triangular eyes, had been cleanly and decisively carved out of Su Family Village's memory.

This collective amnesia was more chilling to the heart than any hoarse, screaming invective.

Inside the workshop, the smell of caustic soda and paper pulp mingled with the warmth of the furnace fire, creating a world apart from the one outside.

Su Ming walked past rows of men toiling with their heads down, carrying a batch of newly produced straw paper samples.

The atmosphere had changed.Those faces that just a few days ago were gathered together, eyes flickering, whispering and calculating something, now all looked like eggplants beaten by frost. They worked harder than ever before, their hands moving swiftly, yet each had become a silent gourd. Apart from the clatter of tools colliding, not a single word of idle chat could be heard.

A newly arrived man accidentally knocked over a bucket of clean water. The loud "clatter" of the wooden bucket rolling echoed with particular harshness in the workshop shed.

Instantly, everyone stopped their work. Dozens of pairs of eyes, like startled birds, shot towards him. The man's face turned deathly pale from fright, and he stood frozen on the spot, at a complete loss. Only when the foreman came over, cursing and shouting for him to clean it up quickly, did everyone seem to snap out of it. They silently lowered their heads again, but the force in their hands grew even heavier.

"See that?" Lin Yu's voice sounded in Su Ming's mind, carrying a hint of a lazy drawl. "Fear is the best bridle. More effective than money, less troublesome than reason."

thoughts: "Classic workplace PUA... no, it's classic gangster management. That old fellow

delivered the

oil-shined pipe tobacco holder in his hand. He seemed more leisurely than usual, just gazing at the snowy scenery outside the window, his eyes distant, lost in

Zhao, the paper samples are ready,"

the paper, merely rubbed it with

Those eyes, which always seemed

has been very quiet lately," he

is busy," Su Ming replied in a

at the corner of Zhao Dequan's mouth. He tapped out the pipe ashes unhurriedly and said, "Quiet is good. When people are quiet, their minds become clear,

it was like a cold stone thrown into Su Ming's

did he realize that a thin layer of sweat had seeped onto

atmosphere finally seemed to have broken through that

The bright colors stood out starkly against the backdrop of white snow. From the eastern

no different

that the red this year was a bit too glaring. The liveliness this year

like masks hung up, polite yet distant. When neighbors met, their conversations were limited to the weather and the harvest. Mid-sentence, there would always be an unconscious pause, as if weighing which words shouldn't

in the center of the village, Su Ming saw

the withered branches. He did nothing. He said nothing. Yet everyone passing by him would unconsciously slow their

came from the marrow of their

has changed," Su Ming whispered in his heart. "Su Lai is like a stone thrown into a pond,

mockery. "The 'quietness' you tread upon, see with your eyes, and

a trace of cold severity. "This is called 'killing the chicken to scare the monkey.' That chicken was named Su Lai. Now, all the monkeys in the village have quieted down. Zhao Dequan didn't use a knife, yet he carved an invisible knife

Su Ming fell silent.

master had said—"find yourself a plank that can keep you

now did he truly understand that this ship named Su Family Village was far more complex than he had imagined. The captain, Zhao Dequan, was also far colder than he appeared. On this ship, any disobedient sailor could be thrown into the sea on some windless, waveless