How can I justify myself as a Magnate if I don't indulge myself?

I had no choice but to answer truthfully.

"The town leaders have also ordered me to deal with this matter as soon as possible. It's really inappropriate to keep the ancestral tablets in the village office!"

"The town leaders put pressure on me, so now I have to put pressure on you all!"

Today I have just one question: do we want to restore the ancestral shrine or not? If we're going to restore it, every household needs to contribute money. We'll organize the efforts from the village office and hire people to rebuild the big shrine. If we're not restoring it, then take advantage of everyone being here today and take your respective family's ancestral tablets back home to worship!"

As the village chief's words ended, the originally relatively quiet village committee courtyard became noisy again.

Everyone was whispering and discussing.

It seemed the village chief was also angered by this situation. He slapped the table and said, "Let's vote now. Those who agree to restore, raise your hands. Those who disagree, stand aside. I want to see everyone's opinion!"

Before even a few seconds had passed after the village chief finished speaking, Gu Jianguo, who was sitting beside Gu Heng, immediately raised his hand.

Then almost everyone else raised their hands. Gu Heng glanced around and, with no other option, followed the crowd and raised his hand...

In the countryside, no one would vote against something like restoring a shrine...

If someone actually stood to the other side just now, they would probably be cursed out immediately, and later on they would be targeted with criticism whenever they walked down the road...

The village chief had anticipated the results of the vote and without any delay, spoke again: "Since everyone unanimously agrees to the restoration, I'll briefly explain the village office's plan."

"We in the village office have been preparing for this matter for three years, and all the processes are already in place. Now the only thing we lack is money."

"To rebuild a big shrine, the total cost will be about four million yuan. We have a total of 133 households in our village; each household should contribute 30,000 yuan, with the option to refund excess or make additional contributions! Also, once the work on the shrine begins, the bills will be completely transparent. Everyone can check the accounts at the village office at any time.

If anyone discovers any problems, I will step down as village chief immediately!" (PS: Actual price.)

Normally speaking...

The wages of village officials can't even compare to what one could earn by farming at home...

The reason they can live so comfortably in the countryside is that they can skim some extra from collective projects...

Now the village chief even dared to talk about transparent billing...

There was only one possibility...

He must have been pushed to the edge by this issue, preferring to forgo skimming off the top just to get the job done quickly...

When the village chief asked if to restore the shrine, almost everyone was willing to restore, but when it came to each household shelling out 30,000 yuan, most of them were deflated...

Thirty thousand yuan per household was no small sum...

Immediately someone shouted, "Chief, isn't 30,000 yuan per household too much? Why does restoring a shrine cost so much money?!"

"My family didn't even spend over two hundred thousand yuan building our house; 30,000 yuan could almost build us an extra room!"

"Exactly!"

Upon hearing this, the village chief almost popped his eyes out in anger and slammed the table, saying, "Can you compare restoring the big shrine with building your own house? If we don't restore it properly and it collapses again, then what? Restore it again?"

"All that's well and good, but 30,000 yuan per household is still too much. Our family of three doesn't even save that much in a year..."

Though slightly exaggerated, the sentiment reflected the feelings of most villagers.

These people earn a meager salary through manual labor, and after all the living expenses, a family might save around a hundred thousand yuan at most by the end of the year. To fork out 30,000 yuan all at once, nobody was willing...

The village chief's voice rose again.

"It's not just your family paying 30,000, every household is paying 30,000! Other families can pay, but yours can't?"

A response came almost simultaneously, "Some families are rich, some are poor, can you really calculate it like that?

Gu Jianguo's family spends four hundred thousand yuan just on a car and now they are building a house worth several million yuan. They can easily take out 30,000 yuan, but how can ordinary families like ours afford it?"

Hearing his family mentioned, Gu Heng gave up on enjoying the drama and turned around to look.

"Exactly! What's totally fair is actually unfair! I say, those who have money should pay more, and those who don't have as much should pay less!

Am I right, everyone?!"

Gu Heng, hearing even the adage "What's totally fair is actually unfair," couldn't help but laugh inwardly...

These people really would say anything to pay less...

Just then, a discordant voice sounded.

"Exactly, the Gu Laosan family is so wealthy now, why can't they pay more? If he contributed 300,000 yuan, the rest of us 132 families could pay 2,000 yuan less each. Think of all the things we could do with that!"

Gu Heng had been so conspicuous in the village these days.

With those who were envious, there naturally were those who were jealous.

Although Gu Heng had guessed that someone would eventually target and pressure his family, he was still mentally prepared.

But when he heard such shameless remarks, he couldn't help but revise his perception of shamelessness...

Just as Gu Heng was about to retort, his mother Xu Hong began cursing loudly among the crowd: "Bullshit! Just because my son is wealthy, he should pay more? Why don't I see you bowing extra times at my ancestors' graves during Tomb-Sweeping Day?"

Gu Heng's aunt, who was standing beside him, also stood up and pointed at the man, shouting, "Zhang Laoba, have you gone mad from poverty? You can actually spit out such shameless words. If your family doesn't have the money, why don't you just place your parents' ancestral tablets in the toilet? That way, you wouldn't have to spend a penny!

Plus, they could bless you every time you're having trouble taking a dump, making it smooth for you!"