"What? One million?"
The old men grinned, their black and yellow teeth gleaming, as if they had heard a joke. Their laughter was utterly disgusting.
"You're asking for a million for just a few scratches? Do you think we're idiots?"
"That's right, it's just a beat-up old car. I'll scratch it if I want. If you think fifty yuan isn't enough, I'll just give you a hundred."
"Haha, no wonder she's thirty and still single. She's definitely not very bright."
The farthest place they've ever been in their lives is the county town, and when it comes to luxury cars, they only know Mercedes and BMW.
They didn't recognize the logo on the car they had painted on it, so they assumed it was a cheap, no-name brand.
The young policeman, unable to bear it any longer, shouted, "Shut up, all of you!"
"You guys stay up all night just to scratch other people's cars?"
The old man with the pointed snout and monkey-like face scoffed, and said with a sneer:
"Hmph, who told them to drive around in that beat-up car every day, showing off? I... I just can't stand it."
"What does Liu Zhaodi mean? She's just making fun of us for not having anything. I can't stand it, so I want to teach her a little lesson."
The young policeman's forehead veins bulged, and he looked incredulous.
"Just for this? It's their own car, what's it to you? Climbing over the wall in the middle of the night to scratch someone else's car, do you know that's illegal?"
The old policeman tugged at his arm, remaining remarkably calm.
The young police officer, who had only recently graduated, found their reasons utterly ridiculous.
The old police officers are different.
He's worked at a local police station for half his life; he's seen all sorts of monsters and demons.
Many people think that rural people are simple, kind, and honest, but that only applies to a small minority.
Most people, especially the elderly, are hardly kind.
They spend their entire lives in a tiny, cramped place, generally lack education, and the evil of human nature is fully displayed in them.
Drowning of a female infant, male chauvinism, domestic violence, mother-in-law bullying daughter-in-law, father-in-law harassing daughter-in-law, temporary marriage, etc.
The most common phenomenon is resenting those who have things and laughing at those who don't.
The old policeman once saw two neighboring families start construction together, agreeing to build houses of the same height.
During this period, one of them stopped and delayed work several times, only resuming construction after the neighboring buildings had all been topped out.
After it was built, it was actually 50 centimeters taller than the neighbor's.
The extra 50 centimeters is completely useless; it's just there to make you look bad over your neighbor.
The neighbor was furious, and the two families fought until they were bloodied and one of them accidentally killed the other with a brick.
Someone came to contract the fishpond, but the villagers poisoned the fish, and all the fish died.
Some people contracted hillsides to plant flowers and trees, but some were uprooted, some were stolen, and they lost everything.
Gradually, no more outsiders came to develop the area.
Everyone is poor together, fantasizing about getting rich overnight, and believing that no one else can be richer than themselves.
Whose son earns the most money, whose grandson is the strongest, whose daughter is the most expensive to sell, and whose wedding costs the least?
Everything has to be compared.
Qi An and Fu Gui, two girls, drive luxury cars, and countless people spread rumors, feel jealous and envious behind their backs.
The old policeman coldly snapped, "Do you even know how much that car is worth?"
The old folks scoffed: "It's just a no-name brand car, worth at most a hundred thousand or so."
The young policeman revealed the answer with a cold smile: "This is a Maybach, a limited edition worldwide, worth twenty million."
"How many?"
The group sat up abruptly, wondering if they had misheard.
"Twenty million? Who are you kidding? How much do Mercedes and BMWs cost? This piece of junk is worth twenty million?"
That's what they said, but sweat was already streaming down their foreheads.
The Liu family of three were stunned in the kitchen. How could Liu Zhaodi's boyfriend be so rich?
The crowd erupted in uproar, their murmurs and gasps audible from a great distance.
The young men located the car based on the name given by the young policeman, and then counted the zeros at the end of the license plate.
"One, two, three... six, seven, seven zeros, my goodness, that's twenty million."
Some people were still shaken; they had originally wanted to row too, but thankfully they hadn't had a chance to.
Seeing their disbelief, the young policeman took out his phone, tapped a few times, and handed it to the group of hardened criminals: "Take a look for yourselves, how much does this car cost?"
The long string of zeros made the group of people nervous, their hands trembled, and they broke out in a cold sweat.
They then realized the enormity of their mistake.
"Even if... even if this car is expensive, we only have a few scratches, it shouldn't matter, right?"
"It's definitely not a problem. At worst... at worst, we can each pay her two hundred, a thousand yuan should be enough to fix it, right?"
They swallowed hard, their faces covered in sweat.
Fu Gui smiled and said, "I've checked with after-sales service, and the minimum is one million. You can each contribute two hundred thousand. Cash or bank transfer, please?"
The group of people instantly collapsed.
Two hundred thousand?
Just for making a scratch, I have to pay 200,000?
That's enough to get my son married or make a down payment on a house in the county town.
They exchanged glances, and the group, with their necks stiffened, reverted to their stubborn nature, determined to renege on their debt.
"We have no money, we can't afford to pay. You figure it out."
"Yes, I have no money, but I'll take your life. Go ahead and kill me if you dare."
Qi An sneered: "If you can't afford to pay, then go back and pack your bags, and get ready to go to jail."
The group panicked a little, but still stubbornly insisted, "We'll squat then, we don't have any money anyway."
They thought it would only be fifteen days of detention, but the young policeman said in a very formal tone:
"Intentionally damaging other people's property, if the amount is huge, should result in at least seven years in prison."
Seven years?
The vicious faces were gone; the five men were deathly pale and trembling all over.
The old policeman added with a smile, "Once you're in jail, your sons and grandsons won't be able to find wives, won't be able to take civil service exams, and won't be able to get jobs in state-owned enterprises."
Seven inches in the center.
Of the five, two have sons in high school, and the other three have grandchildren.
In the eyes of the vast majority of rural people, carrying on the family line is the most important thing.
Having a secure job and working for the government is the most glorious thing for one's ancestors.
They cannot accept it because their mistakes have ruined the future of their children and grandchildren.
Even if their children and grandchildren are unlikely to go to university or make it to a better life.
thump……
Forget about saving face or maintaining appearances, the five of them knelt directly before Qi An and Fu Gui in front of everyone.
He cried and apologized while slapping himself hard in the face.
Then they tried to build connections, play the victim, and gain sympathy.
To sum it up: We are all your elders, we were confused for a moment, please forgive us for our age.
Another person said, "You're all so rich, you don't need this little bit."
Soon, their wives arrived as well, and together they knelt before Qi An and wept.
Some people even called out to Liu's father and mother, hoping they could plead for leniency.
"Save your breath. Whatever you say or do is useless. One million, not a penny less. If I don't see the money by this time tomorrow..."
Qi An grinned: "You can prepare to wear silver bracelets and work for the government."
Seeing the group of people crying and wailing, the two policemen shook their heads helplessly.
Even after their heads were banged until they bled, Qi An and Fu Gui remained unmoved.
The families had no choice but to go home and rummage through their belongings to find their savings books, taking out all the money they had saved for their son's future wife.
They scraped together every penny they could, even selling their possessions, and finally managed to raise one million by the next day, handing it over to Qi An with tears in their eyes.
Watching Fugui happily counting his money, the greed and evil thoughts in the hearts of the Liu family of three began to stir again.
A large house in the provincial capital, several million yuan in cash, and a luxury car worth 20 million yuan.
Once those two annoying lunatics "disappear," everything will be theirs.
Qi An saw clearly the greed and ruthlessness in the eyes of the three men and smiled with satisfaction.
It's time to end this.
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