The moment those words were spoken, the entire room fell silent.
Zhang Youde was the first to react and advised, "Sister-in-law Zhang Fan, don't be impulsive. I, Zhang Youde, believe that Zhang Fan would never hit anyone."
Li Chunyan's face turned pale: "Village chief, I've made up my mind. I'll move away in a few days."
Someone nearby cheered, "It's good that you're gone. I feel at ease now that you're gone."
"Yes, those who offended him before all suffered terrible fates; perhaps it was a curse he cast."
"That doesn't seem accurate either, since Ma Ying is fine."
“You all don’t know about this? A few days ago, Li Ting went to find Ma Ying with a knife to take revenge, which scared Ma Ying so much that she ran back to her parents’ home overnight. Zhang Qingshan is in a bad situation now and needs a child to take care of him.”
"It seems that everyone who offended Zhang Fan is in a terrible situation. If we drive him out of the village, we won't have to be afraid of him anymore."
Zhang Youde looked at the ignorant villagers and shook his head helplessly.
Zhang Fan was probably the biggest benefactor they could ever hope to get close to in their lives, and now he's personally severing that relationship.
However, for Zhang Fan, this will mean fewer troubles in the future, which is a fortunate thing.
Bai Qing's smile was sinister. Once Zhang Fan was alone, he would personally cut off Zhang Fan's manhood!
He originally intended to have two villagers block the road to Zhangjiapo, making it inconvenient for them to travel and prevent them from doing business.
Unexpectedly, the two returned just as dawn broke, saying that Zhang Fan had carried the tree to the road in their village.
He launched into a tirade, spitting as he yelled, "You two good-for-nothings, all you know is how to slack off! Why didn't you choose a bigger tree?"
"The trees we sawed were as thick as a person's waist. Who knew that Zhang Fan was so strong?"
Bai Qing didn't believe it, so he had someone carry him to see the scene.
Indeed, as the two people said, there was a broken tree lying across the middle of the road, and sawdust from the tree was still on the road in Zhangjiapo not far away.
Bai Qing gritted his teeth, vowing to make Zhang Fan pay the price!
He gave the two men a sum of money and told them to beat each other up, framing Zhang Fan for the crime.
The other villagers, unaware of what had happened, all assumed that Zhang Fan had bullied them and were filled with righteous indignation, wanting to demand an explanation.
Bai Gui smiled contentedly, but before his lips could fully curl into a smile, another sharp pain struck.
He was in so much pain that his mind went blank. He clenched his fist and pounded it hard against his chest, wishing he could smash it to pieces.
After finally recovering, he began to plan his second task.
Bai Gui cleared his throat, drawing everyone's attention to him.
"There's another matter. Zhangjiapo is digging a well so that we can drink the water when the water level drops. Therefore, this water must be divided in half with Baijia Village."
Zhang Youde stammered in anger: "Shameless! Our well is at a higher elevation than your village, how could it possibly have any impact? Besides, when we were without water, Baijia Village not only didn't help us, but they also kicked us when we were down."
"It was you people from Zhangjiapo who did this! You beat people and stole water, you need to pay compensation right now!"
"Pay up! The people of Baijia Village are shameless!"
The people from the two villages were arguing, but Li Chunyan slumped her shoulders and didn't participate.
Aunt Pang was still grieving over Li Chunyan's impending departure: "This is your home, can you please not leave?"
Li Chunyan was dejected and said weakly, "You saw it just now too."
The plump aunt didn't press the matter further: "Then where will you live from now on?"
Li Chunyan: "The rented house has rooms available. You can come and visit another day."
"That's good. It's good that you're leaving; it'll make things easier for you to do business."
While they were saying their goodbyes, the other side was arguing so much they were about to come to blows.
A siren blared.
Everyone stopped what they were doing, and then more than a dozen police officers got out of the police car, carrying batons, and came in a menacing manner.
"What are you doing? Put down your weapons!" the lead policeman shouted sternly, his voice authoritative. The villagers, who had never seen the world before, were frightened by his imposing manner.
The policeman had a buzz cut, a beer belly, and a lot of fat around his neck.
Zhang Fan's eyes darkened; he felt there was something very off about the demeanor of this group of people.
The policewoman from before was upright and righteous.
The current group of people all have the same demeanor as Officer Liu—sleazy and selfish.
Zhang Youde felt the police had arrived just in time. Just as he was about to explain the situation, Bai Gui fawned over him, saying, "Director Bai, I want to file a formal complaint. The people from Zhangjiapo have infringed upon our legal rights, and I demand that they provide compensation."
Zhang Youde: "You're making baseless accusations! Director Bai, you can't just side with Bai Gui because he's a distant relative of yours."
Director Bai was a distant relative of Bai Gui. When Bai Qing was detained, he happened to be attending a secret meeting out of town and his phone was switched off, which allowed Bai Qing to be detained for a few days.
Director Bai sternly rebuked, "Shut up! Did I ask you anything?"
He said to Bai Gui in a friendly tone, "Continue."
Bai Gui recounted the entire conflict between the two villages, embellishing the story and twisting the facts, claiming that the people from Zhangjiapo had swindled him out of his land.
Zhang Fan's gaze passed over Director Bai and landed on a policeman, his eyes darkening.
Zhang Fan knew this person very well; he was Officer Liu, who had been dismissed for accepting bribes. It seemed that Director Bai wasn't entirely clean either.
That's true, a mere auxiliary police officer wouldn't have that much power.
Judging from how familiar Bai Gui and Director Bai were, the two clearly had a close relationship.
After pretending to listen to Bai Gui's complaints, Director Bai said sternly, "I understand. This land originally belonged to Baijia Village."
Zhang Youde: "This is the only well in the village, and we will never compromise on it!"
Director Bai smiled disdainfully: "If you want water, you can buy it."
Zhang Youde's chest heaved violently: "No way!"
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