309: In our eyes, you are a ungrateful scoundrel.

Listening to everyone's discussions, Atapong was so furious his lungs felt like they were about to burst. He glared at the crowd and spat through gritted teeth, "Fine, fine, fine! So you're all clearly siding against me now?"

He suddenly thought of something, and his tone took on a hint of a threat.

"Do you all still want to follow me to Bangkok to earn money? Have you forgotten how I took several people from this village to Bangkok to work before, and gave you wages several times higher than what you could make here?"

Atapong thought he could use this to intimidate the crowd and make them stop supporting Su Cha.

After all, in his view, these people only followed him for the money.

But to his surprise, Su Mei let out a disdainful laugh. "It doesn't matter! Anyway, you said it yourself—you've never respected anyone here. We don't care about going to Bangkok to earn money with you!"

"Besides, when we followed you to Bangkok to work, you exploited the villagers quite a bit. Although the wages were higher than in the village, they were much lower than the local wages in Bangkok. You were just treating us as cheap labor!"

Su Mei's words struck a chord with many people.

A young man who had previously followed Atapong to Bangkok to work stood up and nodded. "Su Mei is right! Atapong exploited us constantly in Bangkok. We did the hardest and most exhausting work for the lowest pay, and if we did even the slightest thing wrong, he would curse us out. Thinking back on it now, I've really had enough!"

"Even without you taking us to Bangkok to earn money, we can find work ourselves. We don't need to put up with your attitude!"

The young man's words caused many people to nod in agreement.

Nala was furious. She pointed at the crowd and shouted, "Do you all hate Atapong that much? How exactly has he offended you?"

Su Cha gave a cold laugh and said to Nala, "Are you only realizing this now? Every Lunar New Year, no one wants to see you two! As soon as you return, you show off how rich you are everywhere, looking down on this person and that person. Who would want to see you?"

"When Atapong first started as a boss, everyone was genuinely happy for him. They thought he had become successful and might even help the villagers out later on."

"But what did he do? Once he made money, he forgot his roots. He thought he was a big boss and a city person, and he loved to put on airs and act superior in front of his relatives!"

"Pah!"

Su Cha spat forcefully.

"You think having a bit of money makes you special? In our eyes, you are just an ungrateful scoundrel!"

Atapong's face looked terrible after Su Cha's words, turning shades of red and white. He wanted to retort, but he couldn't get a single word out.

Su Mei didn't give Atapong a chance to catch his breath, following up on Su Cha's words. "It's one thing to put on airs normally; we couldn't be bothered to argue with you. But when friends and relatives actually have difficulties, you don't care at all! You run away faster than anyone!"

"Tell me, who wouldn't hate someone like you?"

Su Mei's words reminded everyone of Atapong's past actions, and looks of anger appeared on their faces.

The primary school teacher from earlier couldn't help but speak up as well. "Exactly! Atapong spends all day acting like a successful man to lecture everyone, saying we're incompetent and don't know how to make money. Who the hell do you think you are? You just got lucky and made some money. What's there to show off!"

Su Cha followed up, "We may be poor, and sometimes we might even be snobbish, but we would never be like you—looking down on people once we've made it, and driving poor relatives into a corner!"

"Do you think money can buy everything? You're wrong! Money can't buy family ties, it can't buy respect, and it certainly can't buy people's hearts!"

Su Cha's words were powerful and resonant, and many people began to clap.

Others also voiced their agreement with Su Cha.

"Su Cha is right! We may be poor, but we have backbone!"

"Atapong, you are an ungrateful scoundrel who doesn't deserve anyone's respect!"

"Today we are going to help Su Cha beat you, to let you know that people's hearts are more important than money!"

Atapong was shaking with rage from their words. He pointed at the crowd, unable to form a complete sentence for a long time: "You... you all..."

Watching the scene unfold, Songphong completely panicked.

He knew that now everyone was siding with Su Cha, and his son had completely lost the people's favor. Even if they won the bet in the end, they would be isolated by the villagers and would have no way to stay in the village in the future.

But at this point, he had no other options and could only watch helplessly as things progressed.

Su Mei didn't bother with Atapong and looked toward Su Cha.

"Brother Su Cha, how much more is needed?"

Hearing this, Su Cha quickly handed the cash and bank cards in his hand to Pinya, asking her to help count them. Meanwhile, he took out his phone to keep track, saying to Su Mei, "Let me check with Pinya, wait a moment."

After a quick tally, they found they weren't short by much anymore.

Su Cha cupped his hands to the crowd. "Thank you, everyone. As soon as I've gathered three million, I'll reveal the cards immediately!"

Those onlookers who had hesitated to give money earlier, or had only given a small amount, were moved once again.

They once again started bringing out money to support Su Cha.

Standing to the side, Nala's face turned pale as she saw more and more people supporting Su Cha. She was as anxious as an ant on a hot griddle.

She knew that if Su Cha gathered three million, she would be finished once the cards were revealed. Not only would she lose the previous stakes, but she would also lose Atapong's factory and have to pay back the online loans. The family would be completely ruined.

No, she absolutely could not let them gather enough money!

Thinking this, Nala rushed out and spread her arms to block the crowd, shouting at those who wanted to give money to Su Cha, "No! You're not allowed to bet! None of you are allowed to bet!"

A middle-aged man who was about to hand his bank card to Su Cha was suddenly stopped by Nala. He froze for a moment, then frowned and said, "What are you doing? We are willing to lend money to Su Cha, what does it have to do with you?"

"Exactly, what right do you have to stop us?" another person who wanted to contribute said dissatisfiedly.

Ignoring them, Nala continued to block the crowd, shouting loudly, "This is a game between us and Su Cha! It's a matter between the two of us, and it has nothing to do with you! You're not allowed to bet! No one is allowed to lend money to Su Cha!"

She had only one thought in her mind: to stop the crowd from helping Su Cha raise the money. As long as Su Cha couldn't reach three million, he couldn't reveal the cards, the game wouldn't end, and she would still have a chance to find a way to turn things around.

Su Mei was instantly infuriated when she saw Nala acting like a hooligan to block everyone.

She strode over, shoved Nala aside, and snapped, "Get out of the way!"

Nala stumbled from Su Mei's push and almost fell. Once she regained her balance, she also became enraged and shouted at Su Mei, "Why did you push me?"