If those few people set the cannery on fire, everyone in the village would rush to put it out, including the joint defense team.

In the chaos of fighting the fire, no one would likely have bothered to check the wheat and wheatgrass seed oil in the warehouse!

Li Xiangdong was so frightened in the middle of summer that he broke out in a cold sweat!

Although he didn't want to think of people as so bad, he had spent decades in the business world in his previous life and had seen plenty of inhuman people!

The human heart is unpredictable and dark, so he had to prepare for the worst.

Thinking of this, Li Xiangdong didn't delay. He asked Li Ping to watch the fire and rushed to the cannery to find Li Jin.

These days, Li Jin has been busy taking care of the cannery, inspecting the shrimp and fish ponds, and preparing planning maps for the Chinese herbal medicine planting base. He's been working non-stop, but his spirits are much better than before, and he's standing up straight.

When Li Xiangdong arrived at the cannery, he saw that Li Jin, Li Kang, Li Tang, Wang Zhenbo, and Liu Changhai were all there, which saved him the trouble of repeating himself.

Upon hearing Li Xiangdong's observations and speculations, Li Kang immediately became anxious!

If those brats were to steal our grain and burn down our factories in our own village, how could I, the militia captain and security chief, possibly live with myself?!

Li Kang slammed his fist on the table and roared, "Damn it! If I catch those bastards, I'll skin them alive!"

Li Xiangdong: Yet another Zhou Bapi (a notorious exploiter)...

"There are only thieves who live for a thousand years, not thieves who live for a thousand years. We don't have that much free time to guard against others stealing from us!" Wang Zhenbo scratched his head.

Liu Changhai also sighed, "Yes, our brigade is like a fat pig now, and I'm afraid many people want to take a bite."

Li Xiangdong slowly began, "We need to give these people a shock."

"So what do you plan to do?" Li Jin tapped the table lightly with his index finger.

"Give them a loophole, then shut the door and beat them. Make an example of them, and no one should have any more bad intentions."

...

The next day, the same group of people brought over another cart full of fish pulled by rubber wheels.

Today, there was a long line of people delivering fish, and weighing and calculating the bill was very slow. A man in his twenties, with triangular eyes, short but very sturdy, stopped an old man who had just sold his fish and asked him for advice.

"Grandpa, what's wrong with you today? Why are you so slow? You're not moving at all!"

The old man looked around and said in a low voice, "I heard that the leadership of Lijiapo Brigade has all gone on a long trip. Now the fish collectors are two teenagers who are not skilled at all!"

I just overcharged him by a penny, hehehe!

When it was the short man's turn to sell the fish, sure enough, it was two teenagers, barely out of their teens, who were collecting the fish.

Watching the two men awkwardly collect the fish, he asked casually, "Young man, where are Accountant Wang and the others?"

The young men collecting fish were Li Guoqing and Li Xiangjie. They were sweating profusely as they weighed the fish, complaining, "They've all gone to the city, leaving only a bunch of us kids to do the work!"

"Alright, that's enough. Didn't the captain say not to spread this around?"

"What can't I say, Gou Shengzi? You're such a troublemaker!" Li Xiangjie retorted.

After the two finished collecting the fish amidst their bickering, it was time to pay the bill. Li Xiangjie checked his pockets and found he had no money. "Gou Shengzi, go to the office drawer and get some money!"

"Little Bean! Don't talk nonsense!" Li Guoqing quickly stopped Li Xiangjie, glancing at the short man as he spoke.

The short man kept his nose down and his mouth closed, seemingly oblivious to what was happening.

A short while later, Li Guoqing came over with a wad of cash, paid the bill for the short man, and then smiled and gestured for his companion to push the cart away.

When they reached an open area, the group pretended to stop and rest, then whispered among themselves.

Actually, when you want to have a private conversation, the safest place is an open space where no one will eavesdrop.

A bald man asked, "Brother, do you think the leaders of Lijiapo Brigade really all went to Dongfang City?"

The short man was very meticulous. "I've looked all over the place today and haven't seen it, so it must be true. But let's see tomorrow."

"Big brother, we've scouted the area pretty well. None of the bigwigs are here. It's like heaven is on our side!" a skinny guy with a perpetually smiling face said excitedly.

A glint of shrewdness flashed in the short man's triangular eyes; the cannery only accepted cash for fish!

It's been a long time since I've done this, and the thought of getting back to my old ways makes my hands itch and my heart race with excitement!

The group chatted idly, their eyes darting around furtively. After waiting for a while without seeing any patrol members from the joint defense team, they were more or less convinced of the truth.

It seems the village head is absent, and the patrol personnel are slacking off.

When night fell, the group secretly observed the usual patrol route of the joint defense team, but surprisingly no one was patrolling for half a day!

After waiting for more than an hour, two people finally strolled over lazily, and they quickly hid.

The two patrolmen were complaining, "The wheat harvest is all over, why hasn't the captain said to disband the patrol team yet!"

"Yeah, what's there to patrol now? Da Ming, I had some baijiu tonight and I'm sleepy now." He then let out a long yawn.

"Fifth Brother, go home and get some sleep! Anyway, the brigade leader and the others have all gone to the city, so no one cares about us!" another person advised.

The man, who said he was sleepy, pondered for a moment and then decided to go home to sleep. But before leaving, he didn't forget to add, "Please take a few more turns, okay?"

The other party readily agreed, but the man, who said he was tired, had just gone home to sleep. So the man found a haystack, dug a hole, and comfortably lay down inside.

Before long, snores of varying lengths could be heard.

The short man and his accomplices waited for over an hour, but no one else appeared.

One of his accomplices whispered excitedly, "Brother, this is a godsend! Their captain isn't in the village, and the patrols are lax. This is perfect for us!"

"Yeah, we'll just fill the patrolmen's bottles with alcohol. I don't believe they won't be drunk out of it..."

The short man felt something was off. What could possibly require all the members of the brigade leadership to go to Dongfang City together?

However, patting his flat, hungry belly, the short man slowly made up his mind that he would never earn as much as selling canned fish by selling fish.

Let's do it!

Why can Lijiapo have chicken, duck, fish and meat, while they have cornbread and pickled vegetables?

The group waited for half a day before quietly leaving the Lijiapo brigade.

Guo Daming, who had been lying in the haystack pretending to be asleep for more than an hour, turned his head and listened carefully to make sure there were no more footsteps before standing up and walking towards the brigade headquarters.