Carlson Smith''s mother had always been in poor health, but it was never so bad that she had trouble eating or drinking. Things took a turn for the worse after a series of events around the Thanksgiving. The vige had traditionally been full of farmers, but Mr. Smith had injured his leg in a construction ident years ago, leaving him with a limp and unable to find work outside the vige. He decided to stay, cultivate the family''s few acres ofnd, and even cleared the wooded hill behind their house to nt an orchard.


    The first couple of years were experimental, so he didn''t nt too much. But as he gained experience, he gradually expanded the orchard. The year beforest, they had a massive harvest, and with market prices high, they made a good profit.


    That''s when the other vigers started to get jealous. The Smiths already kept to themselves, so this only made their neighbors more hostile toward them.


    But their good fortune didn''tst. The weather was terriblest year, cutting their harvest in half and ruining the quality of the fruit. To make matters worse, continuous heavy rains rotted the roots of many trees, causing them to lose a lot of money.


    Luckily, Carlson Smith had earned some money from Edna for ghostwriting for Sybil Moore, which helped his family through the crisis. Heter took a part-time job at an off-campusb and earned enough to pay Edna back in full, with interest. He even had some money left over to give his father for better fruit saplings.


    And so, the cherry trees ntedst year bore fruit this season. Thanks to Mr.


    Smith''s meticulous care, the cherries wererge and sweet. On top of that, a massive pest outbreak had hit the major cherry-growing regions in another province, causing a nationwide price hike.


    Mr. Smith capitalized on the market trend and signed a contract with a distributor from out of town. The dealer bought his entire cherry crop and even pre-ordered all of next year''s harvest. Mr. Smith was ecstatic!


    On Thanksgiving''s Eve, the whole family was filled with joy, feeling that life was finally looking up and the future was bright. They never imagined that disaster would strike the very next day.


    "Brother, have some water," Gail interjected. "I''ll tell them."


    "There''s a family at the edge of the vige, the Oakes family. They own a sessful driving school in town, and after they got rich, they came back to our vige, took the best plot ofnd, and built a mansion. Their wealth just kept growing. The family has two sons, Fabian Oakes and Jay Oakes. They''re both arrogant bullies who act like they own the vige, using their fists to get whatever they want. They beat up anyone who doesn''t listen to them.


    "The Oakes family doesn''t do anything about it. When peoplein to their father, Nash Oakes, he just dismisses them. saying, ''My sons are grown, I can''t control them.'' If someone really pushes, he''ll just throw some money at them to make them go away. It''s not like they''re short on cash. Over. time, the vigers fearned that the father and his sons were all in it together, and it was useless to fight back. So everyone just tries to avoid them. Even when they''re bullied, as long as they aren''t on their deathbed, they just grit their teeth and endure it for the sake of peace.


    "Fabian and Jay said they wanted our hill. They imed they wanted to move their family''s ancestral graves there. They even hired some mystic who wandered around the vige for two days and dered that only ournd was suitable for their family''s fortune. They demanded my dad sell it to them for fifty dors a square meter... Of course, my dad refused. So... so they started trying to force him..."


    Gail''s voice began to tremble. "At first, Fabian and Jay brought gifts and tried to negotiate with my dad, but he refused. Our hill is our orchard now; our entire next harvest depends on it. He wouldn''t sell it for any price, especially not the insultingly low one they offered. It was like they were tossing scraps to a beggar.


    "They immediately flew into a rage, flipped over our table, and smashed everything in the house. Carlson wanted to call the police, but my dad stopped him. He said, ''Just endure it, and it will pass."