When fate plays its hand

Chapter 0871

Wanda was indeed in poor health, but it wasn’t to the point where eating or drinking was difficult. Her condition had worsened because of events that happened around Christmas.

Back then, the village was mainly dependent on farming. Five years ago, Ollie suffered an injury at a construction site, making him a cripple.

Now that he had no option to work outside the village, he decided to stay home and started farming on their small plot of land. He cleared the wooded area behind their home to plant fruit trees.

In the first two years, he was cautious and only planted a small area to gain experience.

Later, he gradually expanded the planting area after gaining more experience and skill. Two years ago, they had an exceptional harvest. The Cliffords managed to earn a substantial amount of money in addition to favorable market conditions.

Their success attracted jealousy from the villagers. The Cliffords had always kept to themselves and didn’t interact much with the others, so the jealousy festered into resentment and hostility.

Unfortunately, their good luck didn’t last long. The weather was bad last year. Not only was the harvest reduced by half, but the quality of the fruit was also poor.

In addition, the roots of many trees were rotten due to prolonged rains, causing significant

losses.

Luckily, Joli had received some money from Sophie after helping Yasmine. This money saved the family from a financial crisis. Later, Joli secretly took on a part–time job at a laboratory off–campus that paid quite well. He managed to earn enough money and paid Sophie back with interest.

Not only that, he even gave his family some extra money which Ollie then used to buy better fruit saplings.

As a matter of fact, the cherry trees they planted last year began bearing fruit this year. The cherries were large and sweet because of Ollie’s diligent care. Moreover, a pest infestation of the cherry orchards in Gaderstone caused cherry prices across the country to soar.

Seizing the opportunity, Ollie signed a contract with a distributor from another city who agreed to purchase all their cherries for this year. He even preordered the next year’s crop. Ollie was overjoyed! On Christmas Eve, the family was full of cheer. They believed that they had a bright future ahead and their luck was finally turning around.

However, disaster struck the next day…

Julie interrupted, “Joli, drink some water. Let me continue!”

There was a Sneider family from the village who ran a booming business, a driving school in the town nearby. Once they became wealthy, the Sneiders returned to Swampert Village and claimed the best plot of land to build their villa.

Their business continued to prosper, and they did very well financially.

The Sneider family had two sons, Kenny Sneider and Shawn Sneider.”

They were both unruly and intimidating. They ruled the village like tyrants, using their fists to keep others in check and to get what they wanted.

The Sneider family turned a blind eye to their actions and allowed them to run wild, bullying the villagers.

Weston Sneider was their father and the head of the family. Whenever he received complaints from the villagers, he dismissed them with a casual remark, “They’re grown men now. I can’t control them.”

If that didn’t work, he would pay off the aggrieved party. After all, the Sneiders weren’t short on cash.

Over time, the villagers learned that they had no way to deal with the Sneider family. Most of them chose to avoid them and tolerate their bullying. Even if they were oppressed, they could only swallow their anger in silence to keep the peace.

“Kenny and Shawn said they wanted to buy the hill behind our house in order to set up their family cemetery here. They even hired a funeral director who spent two days wandering around the village before declaring that the layout of our land matches the astrological signs of their family.

“They insisted on buying the land from my father at a rate of five dollars per square foot… Of course, Dad was unwilling. Then, they cooked up all sorts of ways…‘

11

In the end, Julie’s voice started trembling as tears welled up in her eyes.

Initially, the Sneider brothers approached them with some gifts and asked to talk to Ollie. However, Ollie refused. Their hill was now planted with fruit trees, and the next year’s harvest depended on it. Naturally, he wouldn’t sell it at any cost! NôvelDrama.Org owns this.

Moreover, it was practically an insult to sell their land at the low rate the Sneiders were offering.

At that moment, Kenny and Shawn flipped the table in anger, smashing everything in the house to smithereens. Joli wanted to call the police, but Ollie stopped him.

“Just endure it, and it shall pass,” he said.