Transmigrated into a Grandpa, Embracing the Laid-Back Life

Chapter 54: Village Chief Zhao's Red Envelope, Burning Hot!

New Year's Eve.

Outside, the north wind whipped up snowflakes, battering against the window paper with a dry rustling sound.

Inside, an oil lamp was turned up to its brightest, its dim yellow halo making the small earthen main room feel warm and cozy.

In the stove, firewood crackled and popped, and the rich aroma of stewed meat from the pot aggressively seeped into every corner of the house. This was the most sumptuous New Year's Eve dinner the Su family had enjoyed in over a decade.

"Slow down, there's more in the pot!"

Mrs. Su Chen chided with her words, but her chopsticks never stopped moving, precisely picking up a piece of perfectly marbled meat and placing it into Su Ming's bowl. Looking at her three sons, her face blossomed into a wide smile.

Eldest Brother Su Feng buried his head in his food, the corners of his mouth glistening with grease. Sister-in-law Wang Chuntao, however, was more talkative. Chewing on meat, she chattered animatedly, "Mother, this New Year celebration of ours is even more comfortable than a landlord's family! It's all thanks to Little Uncle and Uncle Dequan's care."

"Yes, we owe it to the workshop's blessings." Su Shan, a man who had been silent most of his life, also, for the first time ever, raised his wine bowl. His cloudy eyes reflected the firelight as he actively clinked bowls with his eldest son.

"Father, don't drink too much." Second Brother Su Yang added more vegetables to his father's plate, then turned to Su Ming, lowering his voice, "You kid, why are you as quiet as a gourd today?"

Su Ming stirred the rice in his bowl. The rich meaty aroma seemed unable to dispel a thread of chill in his heart.He smiled, "It's nothing. I just feel... it's really good."

It truly was good.

His mother's nagging, his father's rare smile, his eldest brother's simple honesty, his sister-in-law's straightforward cheerfulness, his second brother's concern. All of this was like the warm lamplight in the room—real, yet fragile.

However, his "Listening to Sounds" technique could not be turned off.

Amidst the backdrop of this joyous laughter, he could "hear" the deathly silence behind the perpetually closed wooden door of Su Lai's house deep in the village. No crying, no cursing, not even the faintest echo of wind passing through.

That silence was more unsettling than any sound.

"Disciple, thinking about that stray dog?" Lin Yu's voice lazily sounded in his mind.

Su Ming's heart tightened.

"The world of mortals is like this. Where there is light, the shadows are only deeper." Lin Yu's tone carried a hint of amusement. "What you see now is the light. That stray dog and the deathly silence in his home are the shadows."

(Inner thoughts: "Sigh, it's New Year's Eve, can't we just enjoy the meal properly? Must you be so profound? This braised pork smells amazing, too bad I can only smell it. In the old days... forget it, in the old days I was also working overtime eating instant noodles. Compared to that, being a ghost doesn't seem so bad after all?")

Looking at the white hairs at his parents' temples, at the wrinkles on their faces that had smoothed out slightly due to their improved circumstances, something deep in Su Ming's heart was profoundly touched.

He clenched his fist under the table.

What he wanted to protect was precisely this small, fragile light before him.

whispered in his heart, "I understand. Power isn't just for keeping oneself

Yu seemed somewhat interested. "Then what

those who want to live, can

ambition. However, the road must be walked step

those distracting thoughts and unease. He raised his head and gave his mother a brilliant smile, "Mother, it's really delicious! I want

snow outside seemed to lessen a

Lunar New Year,

household had even risen, the village gong was struck, its

everyone! Come out! Village Chief Uncle is handing out red

half-grown children shouted at the top of their lungs, going from house

family also

cleared workshop square, a dense, dark mass of people had already gathered. Almost everyone from the village, men and

were set up, boiling with

stood on a makeshift wooden platform, wearing a brand new deep blue silk-faced cotton robe. Behind him stood the two burly men Su Ming had secretly "seen" before. The two stood like

each other, their faces a mixture of

in the crowd, the men newly recruited into the workshop stood furthest back, each with their heads bowed like quails. The shrewdness and ambition written on their faces just days ago had completely vanished, replaced only by

villagers!" Zhao Dequan cleared his throat, his voice loud

came from

everyone worked hard last year." Zhao Dequan wore a genial smile on his face. "Our Su Family Village, generation after generation with our faces to the earth and backs to the sky, has

Therefore, on behalf of

he waved

heavy wooden trays piled high with strings of coins wrapped in red

the old hands in the workshop, three hundred copper coins each! Newcomers, one hundred copper coins each! Those not working in the

instantly erupted

copper coins! That was nearly half a month's wages for

Village Chief

Chief Uncle is truly

gratitude rose and fell, instantly dispersing the previously oppressive

by one to

the red envelopes were mostly distributed,

is a small matter." His voice grew serious, his smile fading. "What I want to talk

square instantly fell

our Su Family Village to reach today. What I hate most are those ingrates who eat the meat from the

stage like a

stretched their hands too far and their hearts are too wild. They always feel they got less than their share of the workshop's meat. But

from the ground. Everyone

east end not far away. "Su Lai is the example set before you! Where is he now? I tell you, he colluded with outsiders,

*Boom!*

of suppressed gasps rose from

was

was icy cold. He knew Zhao Dequan was lying. After that night, Su Lai's presence had completely