Chapter 4 — Fur Coat Factory In The Countryside

5

Waiting for the crowd to disappear, my father was like a deflated balloon, his whole body slumped in the chair, his shoulders slumped as if he had just dumped the whole world on his back. He muttered:

“How did it end up like this… clearly I tried my best…”

Looking at my father, my heart ached. By this time, my family seemed to have completely turned against the villagers. To show their "loyalty" to Nguu Cuong, the villagers simultaneously called their relatives back from the factory, and also brought all the duck feathers in the house to deliver to the Nguu family. I told my dad:

“Dad, when it comes to this, it's better to close the factory and move back to the city.”

Dad was chopping vegetables, his hand paused for a moment, then sadly replied:

“Just keep opening it… what if Niu Cuong won't be able to collect all their feathers in the future.”

“People still have to live off the money from selling the fur, it would be a sin to give it up.”

I was so angry that I gritted my teeth:

“Dad, until now you still don't see clearly what kind of people those people are?”

"They smile at dad, just because it's beneficial. When they still have it, they flatter, but now that they don't need it anymore, they turn away!"

"In the past, they were just a little greedy and it was okay, now they want to rob the whole factory! This factory is made by me from start to finish, it has nothing to do with them!"

The more I talked, the more agitated I became, I just wanted to shake his weak head awake. Dad sighed, his eyes slightly conflicted and miserable, he bowed his head lower and lower:

“They've been farmers all their lives, and have never seen anything better... not everyone is bad, you can't just grab the whole bunch because of a few people.”

It was so angry that I stopped eating the rice my father cooked for three days in a row and only ordered food from outside. The workshop was temporarily closed for a few days, so I had free time to lie out in the sun on a folding chair, feeling as comfortable as on vacation. Suddenly, I saw Uncle Truong sneaking his head out from behind the factory and looking around. As soon as he saw me, he was startled and laughed:

"Eh, Miss Tham, I'm just going for a walk around, it's nothing, you can continue to rest."

Watching his back leave, I immediately felt uneasy. I quickly ran home to tell my dad:

"Dad! If they can't openly take over the factory, they might be playing a sneaky game. We should move all the goods in the warehouse to another place first."

My father frowned:

"I've thought too much. It's normal for a village and a neighbor to have conflicts, it's not to the point of doing such inhumane things."

I said angrily:

"I don't want to argue anymore, I'll hire someone to clean it myself!"

Even though he said he didn't think bad of people, in the end my father was still a very honest person, diligently helping me move all the goods in the warehouse out. Just as I was worried, that night after moving all the inventory out, the sound of the guard dog's bark tore through the quiet night, echoing throughout the entire village. My dad and I were sleeping when we were woken up by the sound of a dog. We quickly put on some clothes and ran out of the house. Before getting close to the factory, my father smelled the strong and burning smell of gasoline from the fire, and his face immediately changed. When we ran to the factory gate, we saw the fire rising sky high, swallowing the entire warehouse. There was such a big fire, yet no one in the village came out to see it. My father and I could only stand and watch the warehouse burn down in despair. Only the machinery storage area was fortunately not affected by the fire. Things have come to this point, the intention to burn the warehouse and cause damage is clear. My father stood in front of the warehouse Burned black goods, smoked all night without saying a word. It was just dawn when he slowly turned to look at me, his eyes filled with blood, and said hoarsely:

"Let's move out today."

The next day, the villagers, not knowing whether they had made an appointment or not, gathered together to stand in front of the burning warehouse, looking gloating.

"Oh my god, what's wrong, Trung Thanh, the factory caught fire without even telling everyone?"

"What's more, God probably couldn't stand it, so he took action."

“The whole warehouse would have burned down, it would be retribution!”

Nguu Cuong stood at the outer edge of the crowd, the corner of his mouth raised with pride, his eyes looking provocatively at us. My father didn't bother to pay attention to those ridicules, quietly packed up his things, locked the workshop door, and then led me out of the village that he devoted his entire youth to.

6

After we left, Nguu Cuong immediately gathered the villagers and declared:

“Dear people, I have decided to contribute capital to rebuild a new fur coat factory!”

He glanced around the crowd and saw everyone's eyes starting to light up.

"Furthermore, to thank everyone for your support, everyone who participates in the investment will share in the profits. More importantly, our purchasing price for duck feathers is fifteen yuan per kilogram!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the crowd immediately burst into excited cheers. This price is much higher than the previous price my father bought. For the villagers, it is an irresistible benefit.

“We just need to agree, no worse than that guy Tham Trung Thanh!”

People nodded repeatedly, starting to calculate in their heads how much money they could invest. All the things my father had done for the village were suddenly forgotten. They enthusiastically gathered money to support Nguu Cuong's new plan to get rich.