Lijiacun

Zhou Dongqiang's hard-won recovery and the courage he had mustered were ruthlessly crushed on his very first mission.

Although Zhou Bobo and the others didn't understand why Zhou Lexing didn't give the order directly, but instead touched his nose and subtly hinted that they should take action, they still beat Zhou Dongqiang mercilessly like they were on steroids. They originally intended to leave him in the toilet at the end of the village and walk away, but unexpectedly, it triggered a terrible memory deeply ingrained in Zhou Dongqiang's heart. He immediately used his last breath to howl like a ghost, scaring Zhou Meixia's family, who lived at the end of the village, half to death.

Zhou Bobo and the others were so angry that they took turns kicking him and then ran away.

Zhou Meixia and her family were half asleep when they heard this howling sound, which sounded like a ghost's wail. They were too scared to go out, so they just looked out the window in the dim moonlight. Before long, they saw a four-legged monster walking out of the public toilet. All sorts of strange tales flashed through their minds.

The news spread throughout Zhoujia Village the next day, and within a day, even neighboring villages knew about it. They repeatedly warned their children not to go out at night, and even the monthly mountain trip was temporarily suspended for a month.

Of course, Zhou Dongqiang had no idea that this was his doing from beginning to end. Now, with his bruised and swollen face, he was staggering towards the neighboring Lijia Village.

The person he was looking for was Li Hubing, who had previously asked him to act as an intermediary to handle the lease of two acres of land belonging to Zhou Lanhua's family.

Li Hubing was in his forties, with tanned skin, a round face, and a憨厚 (honest and simple) smile. It was hard to imagine that he would associate with a street thug like Zhou Dongqiang and scheme against someone's land belonging to an orphan and widow.

This wasn't their first time working together. Because of their previous successful experience, Li Hubing didn't pay any attention to Zhou Dongqiang's progress, and he never expected that this idiot would come to the field to find him in broad daylight.

During the busy farming season, people come and go, and there are many people at this drying ground. When they see a man with a bruised and swollen face coming to find Li Hubing, they all turn their heads.

Who is that person?

"I don't know him. How did he get beaten up like this? I hope he's alright."

"A new face, are you from the next village?"

"Come on, how can you tell if someone's a stranger after being beaten like that? Tsk tsk tsk, I think his nose is crooked."

"Maybe their nose was just crooked to begin with?"

These days there aren't many entertainment programs, and when something new happens, everyone flocks to watch the spectacle.

Li Hubing was so angry that his nose almost twisted. He grabbed the person and hurriedly walked out, only daring to stop when they reached a secluded corner.

"What the hell are you doing here in broad daylight?! What did I tell you before? If you keep acting like this, you can forget about getting paid next time!"

Strictly speaking, their two families are actually relatives.

Zhou Dongqiang's older sister was sold to Lijia Village at a young age and later married Li Hubing.

There are many such sordid things happening both inside and outside the village. It's just that the villagers are all related by marriage, and some old ideas haven't been completely eradicated. Preferring sons to daughters is considered basic practice, so no one thinks of reporting it.

Li Hubing only learned of this relationship after Zhou Dongqiang came to Lijia Village to cause trouble after his parents passed away, trying to squeeze more money out of his sister, whom he had sold off long ago, to pay off his gambling debts. That's how Li Hubing learned of his existence.

Li Hubing could tell at a glance that Zhou Dongqiang was a brainless person who didn't know how to cause trouble and was easily silenced by others. However, he was shameless and ruthless. He almost pulled out a knife at the time, which made Li Hubing think more highly of him.

At the time, Li Hubing was trying to persuade the widow Li in the village to rent her land to him, but they couldn't agree on a price. Seeing that Zhou Dongqiang was willing to risk his life for money, he took the initiative to propose a cooperation with him. In this way, the two of them became accomplices.

However, Li Hubing would never allow Zhou Dongqiang to have any dealings with him openly.

Zhou Dongqiang has a terrible reputation.

His family was originally an ordinary farming household with fields, a house, and a wife. But after the harvest season in the countryside, there were always idle men wandering around with dice. Zhou Dongqiang was initially just curious, but later he got hooked and ruined his entire family. Even his parents were driven to their deaths by him. He even had to mortgage his wife to the creditors, which caused quite a mess at the time.

Even the smallest things in the village can spread far and wide, let alone such sordid matters.

Despite Li Hubing's ruthless nature, he was also concerned about his reputation and would never allow Zhou Dongqiang to ruin it.

When Zhou Dongqiang heard him threaten not to pay, his expression changed. He cursed inwardly, but smiled ingratiatingly, "I know, but I have something urgent to discuss with you."

"The Gu family is a tough nut to crack. Look at the state I've become. That Gu kid has somehow hooked up with a bunch of scoundrels. I'm no match for them all. I can't handle this."

Li Hubing glanced at him sideways, disdainful and too lazy to listen to his convoluted words. He asked him directly, "How many days will it take you to get this done? Let me tell you, we've already given you a deposit. If you can't get the Gu family to sign the contract, you can forget about getting the rest of the money."

He knew Zhou Dongqiang's character well; he lost nine out of ten times he gambled. The previous deposit was definitely gone. This guy was just trying to play the victim and squeeze more money out of him.

He wasn't stupid. No matter what Zhou Dongqiang said, he didn't get a single penny besides the deposit.

Zhou Dongqiang, with a bitter face, seeing that his attempt to gain sympathy was hopeless, simply said, "I can't do this! There are several grown men among them, what can I do?!"

Li Hubing sneered, but this matter also concerned his interests.

He looked at Zhou Dongqiang for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Were the injuries on your face inflicted by those bastards? Or were you beaten up because you owed money and didn't pay it back?"

Although Zhou Dongqiang had often been beaten by creditors before, this time was different. Because of the incident where he fell into the cesspool, those people wouldn't let him join any games, saying he smelled bad. He suffered a lot in the cesspool, and his body couldn't take it anymore. He was unusually well-behaved for a while. However, even though he was well-behaved, the gambling debts from before were still on his head. Otherwise, he wouldn't have come to Li Hubing to see if he could dig out some benefits. But this guy was a real skinflint, in a word, stingy!

Li Hubing didn't know how he viewed him, but judging from the venomous look in his eyes, he knew that this man was up to no good.

He sneered inwardly, but still offered Zhou Dongqiang a suggestion: "I reckon the loan sharks will most likely come knocking on your door to collect the debt in the next couple of days. Since that's the case, why don't you borrow some people to help you lure those guys to the Gu family's place? Just say that the Gu family's son borrowed money from you and isn't paying it back, and let them help you collect the debt. I think the Gu family is dirt poor; those guys won't suspect you..."

As Hu Bing spoke, Zhou Dongqiang's eyes widened, and after a long while, he stammered, "Will this work? They have to be willing to listen to me."

Li Hubing thought to himself that this guy was getting more and more useless as he got older, and he'd lost all the ruthlessness he used to have. After this incident, he'd have to reconsider whether he wanted to continue cooperating with this good-for-nothing: "I've already told you the method. Whether this works out or not is up to you. Besides, I know Gu's kid well. He's just a young, inexperienced guy, timid and cowardly. Since someone's protecting him now, why don't you just get rid of that person?"

There must be someone protecting them, because there's something to gain. Otherwise, who would be so bored as to get involved in these things?

Li Hubing believed he had a clear understanding of the situation, and he continued, "As long as you make the person protecting him think this deal isn't worthwhile, then that Gu family kid will be at your mercy."

Zhou Dongqiang: "I can't beat them all!" In fact, he couldn't even beat Zhou Lexing, the leader, but Zhou Dongqiang thought he still had some shame and didn't want to say it too clearly.

Li Hubing: "Did I tell you to fight them? You can't fight these thugs head-on. Isn't it busy farming season? The most precious thing for every household is their rice. Just pick one of them, pour water and something into their rice, do it and run. Who would suspect you? Even if they suspect you, what evidence do they have? Just deny it. Keep doing this for ten days or half a month, won't they weigh the pros and cons?"

“I remember that the Gu family boy is a notorious jinx in Zhoujia Village. If you solidify his reputation as a jinx, who would want to associate with him? Wouldn’t things go much more smoothly after that?”

Li Hubing had broken things down into pieces and stuffed them into Zhou Dongqiang's mind, but it was unclear whether Zhou Dongqiang could digest them all.

After finally getting rid of Zhou Dongqiang, Li Hubing spat on the ground, turned around and strode back to work, completely unaware of Liu Wu, who was lounging in the corner, enjoying the cool air and slacking off.

Liu Wu frowned as he listened to the two men's conversation. It wasn't that he was a particularly righteous person; he had previously used Zhou Bobo to lure Zhou Lexing into the warehouse, which showed that he was also unscrupulous. However, listening to their conversation, he suspected that the "bastards" they were referring to were Zhou Lexing's gang.

Don't be fooled by the fact that most of these thugs are street urchins who don't do any proper work; their network of information is actually no smaller than that of the village aunties and uncles.

He was well aware of what was happening in Zhoujia Village. Moreover, after the last battle, Liu Wu harbored indescribable emotions and repeatedly inquired about Zhou Lexing's affairs, so he naturally knew that Zhou Lexing was now getting close to the Gu family boy.

snort.

This week, Le Xing seems to have big eyes, so why doesn't he know how to choose people more carefully?

I've heard of Gu's son, Liu Wu. He's a coward. What future is there in hanging out with someone like that? It's better to hang out with him. His family's pork business is booming. If you follow him, you'll have food, drink, and money. It's much more enjoyable than getting into trouble with Gu's son.

Liu Wu pursed his lips, recalling his confrontation with Zhou Lexing that night, and inexplicably became restless again.

He rolled over twice and tried several different positions, but still couldn't lie flat, so he simply got up, patted his butt, and left.

He hadn't had any contact with the people of Zhoujia Village for a long time.

If he doesn't step in, people from all around will think he's backed down, that someone actually dared to cause trouble right under his nose—they're really getting bold.

He wasn't trying to stand up for Zhou Lexing; he just didn't want the villagers to use the name of Li Family Village to tarnish their reputation. That's it.

Liu Wu was quite satisfied with his logic, and his body, which had been lazy for several days, suddenly became motivated again. He immediately wanted to go and gather his men, but he died before he could get started, and was caught red-handed by his parents who were busy with farming.

Liu Wu and his equally sweat-drenched subordinates exchanged a glance. Helpless, they were trapped in the field and would have to wait until nightfall to take action.