The crowd gathered at the gate for only a while. After waiting ages without anyone from the family coming out, they all cursed and grumbled, made a string of sour remarks, and gradually went their separate ways.
Because of this, people everywhere in the village were talking about the family finding ambergris, spreading word of how big it was, how heavy it was, and how much it could sell for.
They also said the family had turned their backs on everyone after striking it rich, that they looked down on people, and all sorts of other nasty things.
That was how the countryside worked. Whenever something happened, word could spread through the whole village within minutes. Sometimes even ambiguous, unconfirmed stories were passed along as certain fact, complete with convincing details.
By the time he strolled home with his hands in his pockets, listening to all sorts of sour gossip along the way, the villagers had already planned everything for the Xu family: buying the Three Rotations and One Ring and a television, and being named a Ten-Thousand-Yuan Household.
Something useless, casually tossed aside, had actually stirred up such a farce. He was grinning so hard his mouth almost went crooked.
He had barely stepped inside when his mother grabbed him and began peppering him with questions.
"Dongzi, did someone in our village really find ambergris?"
His mother had stayed home the whole time, yet even she knew?
"They sure did. Who knows what dumb luck they stumbled into, finding something that rare? A windfall straight from heaven. They've struck it rich." Chuckling, he recounted to his mother the commotion he had just witnessed outside the Xu family's gate.
"Oh my, they really did find a treasure, then. I heard it was that scoundrel Xu's family?"
"That's right. They found