Five tall bamboo tubes and a wooden bucket, the village chief and the clan leader personally counted.

Before they even started counting, the sticks poured out from the wooden bucket formed a small mountain with a "rustle".

Is there really a need to count?

Absolutely not!

The result was obvious, almost overwhelming.

Even the sticks originally meant for Liu Bai were tossed into the wooden bucket by everyone in the old house without hesitation.

Combined with the sticks cast by the women in the village, it already took up half.

Liu Bai withdrew halfway, Liu Qi followed suit, both voluntarily giving up the election.

Originally five candidates, two of them withdrew, leaving three, with Liu Ji not present at the scene, only Liu Dafu with pins and needles and a silent Liu Yang remained.

What Liu Dafu could not believe was that the stick his wife originally put into the bamboo tube unknowingly shifted into Qin Yao’s wooden bucket after she joined.

Liu Gong, who witnessed his mother’s little movement, rubbed his eyes, hardly daring to believe what he saw.

"Mom, why are you favoring outsiders!" Liu Gong complained puzzled.

Unexpectedly, his mother, arms crossed, said excitedly: "I’m not favoring outsiders, I just want to see how a woman becomes a village chief!"

Liu Gong: "..."

The reason was so reasonable, what reason did he have to argue with her!

Liu Dafu and Liu Yang, who already saw the results, looked at their fellow clan members with complicated feelings.

Since Qing Yao stepped into the ancestral hall, the eyes of the clansmen have been fixed on her, unable to move away.

Their eyes were filled with expectation and trust, making one envious and hate why they did not have such prestige.

Liu Dafu, being older and experienced, although regrettable in his heart, was able to accept the current result.

After all, from the moment Qin Yao set foot there, he knew his sticks could never outnumber hers.

However, the young Liu Yang was emotionally on edge, especially recalling his response to Yin Le’s questioning earlier, his face felt a fiery embarrassment right now.

But he was someone who could not express emotions, seeing Qin Yao’s votes as an overwhelming victory, he ran out of the ancestral hall with a bitter face.

Unluckily, he came face to face with Yin Le at the door.

"What’s wrong with a woman, as long as she’s capable, she can still become the village chief."

The veil couldn’t hide her radiant smile, her eyes curved like the crescent moon above tonight, as if she had won a battle.

Liu Yang’s face flushed with heat, charging past her like an angry bull.

In his heart, he kept warning himself never to speak carelessly again!

Yin Le only felt a gust of hot wind pass by, and when she looked up, that speechless bull had already huffed and puffed away.

She couldn’t help but smile, happy for her benefactor becoming the new village chief, and delighted that a woman could also be a village chief.

Inside the ancestral hall, the village chief wore a relieved smile.

The old man was no longer regretful, seeing Qin Yao stride in with a spirited posture, and the villagers’ unconscious respectful gazes towards her, he no longer tangled whether she was a daughter or a son.

Sticking to the old ways isn’t always right.

Boldly seeking new isn’t necessarily wrong.

The village chief beckoned Qin Yao to step forward, solemnly announcing that she was the next village chief.

The four Da Lang siblings looked up at the smiling woman in the ancestral hall, clapping wildly, wishing they could clap their hands to pieces.

"Uncle Ah Wang, clap! My mom is the village chief now!"

Not hearing applause from behind, Si Niang hastily reminded.

Ah Wang nodded, raised his palms, and joined the rhythm of the four siblings in cheering for Qin Yao.

But his eyes were full of amazement, and within him, those rules solidified for thousands of years shattered with a crisp "snap" as Qin Yao, as a woman, was elected village chief.

The handover ceremony of the new and old village chief was completed on-site, and Qing Yao received a small copper seal representing the village chief’s authority, along with a money box, and a bunch of keys.

As she received these items, Qin Yao also took on the responsibility of guarding the entire Liu Family Village.

And the voice of doubt rang out the next second after she accepted the responsibility.

"The new village chief is, after all, an outsider, not a clansman of our Liu Family, we’re not comfortable with her keeping the public money box!"

Qin Yao frowned slightly, subconsciously gripping the copper seal that had not yet warmed in her palm, and looked up at the villager who raised the objection — Liu Youcai.

Qin Yao withdrew her gaze and addressed everyone: "Today, you all elected me as the new village chief, which means that you all still believe in me and trust that I can lead everyone to a better life than now."

"Today’s my first day taking over, I won’t make pretty speeches, I’ll just say one thing..."

"Tomorrow, I will build a school in Liu Family Village, so that our children will have a school to attend and books to read!"

Once these words were spoken, the ancestral hall exploded with disbelief and excitement.

The villagers, greatly pleasantly surprised, repeatedly asked for confirmation if this was true.

Seeing Qin Yao firmly say: "Yes."

The crowd was so delighted they didn’t know what to do, only able to repeatedly shout: "New village chief! New village chief! New village chief..."

Using this to express their inner gratitude and joy.

Grandma Wang, both joyful and tearful, emotionally said: "We older folks are just like this for the rest of our lives, but those young ones still have bigger worlds, children are our hope, new village chief, you are capable, we are assured entrusting our children to you!"

Qin Yao nodded heavily, "I won’t disappoint."

As for the money box, it has always been kept by the village chief, now that Qin Yao is the village chief, it should naturally be left for her to manage.

And about the outsider issue, isn’t her husband surnamed Liu?

Since he is, then "marry a chicken, follow the chicken; marry a dog, follow the dog", she is naturally also a member of the Liu Family!

Liu Dafu sighed, "Hey~" Young people are indeed formidable.

All he could do was clasp his fists and say, "Congratulations!"

Qin Yao gracefully returned his greeting, and courteously addressed the elders present: "In the future, I hope all you elders will guide this junior, if there’s anything this junior does wrong, you all can just point it out."

Whether to change, depends on the situation.

Anyway, all the due respect Qin Yao gave in full, seeing those adoring eyes of the village’s young people, even if the clan elders still felt a bit concerned about her being a woman, they gradually came to terms with reality.

The highest take precedence, the mediocre are displaced, these are the fundamental rules of world operation.

Whether in talent, strength, or virtue, Qin Yao simply surpassed everyone else in Liu Family Village.

Hence, the position of village chief is well deserved for her!

The bright lights of the ancestral hall dimmed only at midnight.

Holding the copper seal and money box representing the village chief’s identity, Qin Yao headed home under the moonlight with Ah Wang and the children.

The siblings, who should have been yawning and clamoring to sleep, were now too excited to feel any sleepiness.

The four siblings gathered around Qin Yao, watching her as they washed and stared up and down as if she had become a different person, no longer the stepmother they knew from before.