Li Weidong knew Hu Zi's family well, and knew that they were all selfish and self-serving, and didn't have any close friends at all.
Now that I need to hide, there's nowhere else to go. After thinking it over, the only place I can go is my maternal grandfather's house.
Speaking of which, Tiger's father is the eldest son, so in principle, his maternal grandfather should live with his family. However, since his third uncle is not married yet, the old man was afraid that he would be lonely living alone, so he said he would live with his third uncle.
Now that this family needs to escape, they can only hide at their third uncle's place.
Sure enough, when Li Baotian went there, he actually found Hu Zi's family.
Upon seeing him arrive, the whole family's expressions changed.
Li Baotian's face darkened further: "Tiger, we're about to harvest the mushrooms, why aren't you at home waiting? Why did you run off here?"
"The villagers are all waiting to sell their mushrooms at your house!"
He sized up Hu Zi, and asked suspiciously, "You wouldn't be thinking of backing out now because the price of mushrooms has dropped, would you?"
Tiger's face turned pale, and he stammered, "Well... Village Chief, I'm not going back on my word, it's just... my grandfather isn't feeling well, so I came with my dad and the others to visit him."
Before he could finish speaking, a layer of cold sweat had already broken out on his forehead.
Li Baotian frowned: "Can't we leave someone at home to keep an eye on things?"
As he spoke, he pulled Tiger along, saying, "Now that we've seen the people, let's go back and harvest the mushrooms!"
Despite the freezing weather, Tiger's clothes were soaked with cold sweat. He wanted to refuse, but he didn't dare.
I gritted my teeth and said, "Fine, I'll go back with you then!"
After all, you can hide for a while, but you can't hide forever.
It would be better to go back and resolve the matter.
Li Baotian breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that he had agreed: "That's right, come on, everyone's waiting for you, hurry back!"
...
The day Tiger returned to the village, the whole village was in an uproar!
"Tiger's back, let him collect our mushrooms!"
"Yes, he was the one who made us work for him in the first place, so now we have to give him an explanation!"
"Let's go to Tiger's house and see what he has to say!"
The group marched in a large procession straight to Tiger's house.
The farmers who followed Li Weidong had almost finished picking their mushrooms, so they also went to join in the fun.
Zhao Xiulian was somewhat tempted: "Weidong, this matter is not easy to resolve. Shall we go and take a look?"
Li Weidong wasn't really interested.
It's obvious to anyone with a brain that Tiger wouldn't let this go unpunished, and the farmers certainly wouldn't give up easily.
In the end, the only outcome of this matter was that Tiger's family had incurred public wrath.
Seeing his mother's expectant face, he nodded and said, "Let's go take a look!"
The mother and son arrived at Hu Zi's house, which was already surrounded by villagers.
Although Hu Zi's family was forcibly taken back to the village by Li Baotian, they dared not open the door and hid inside the house.
"Open the door!"
"Tiger, you told us to feel free to grow mushrooms and that you would buy them, but now you're going back on your word, aren't you?"
"Zhao Huzi, are you playing us for fools? We're all neighbors, how can you live with yourself like this!"
Among them, the ones who made the biggest fuss were Li Weidong's eldest and second aunts.
The Zhao sisters, Zhao Xiujuan and Zhao Xiufen, were both known for their fiery tempers. Having been tricked, they were even more enraged and rushed to the front, banging on the door loudly.
Li Baotian looked helpless: "Tiger, I called you back to solve this problem. What's the use of hiding at home? Come out and explain yourself!"
Inside the house, Tiger looked utterly desperate.
Wang Dahua and Zhao Shunqiang were extremely anxious.
"It's all your fault. When I asked you if it was okay, you guaranteed it was no problem. Now look what's happened, mushrooms are so cheap outside, what are we going to do?"
"The whole village is waiting outside. If we don't go out, our houses might burn down!"
The couple kept complaining, one after the other.
The more Hu Zi listened, the uglier his face became. Finally, he slammed his hand on the table and was about to speak when a loud bang came from outside the door.
The front door had been kicked open!
Everyone rushed in.
Tiger panicked completely and turned to run, but where could he run to when he was inside the house?
Zhao Xiujuan strode forward and grabbed him: "Tiger, my mushrooms will get too old if we don't pick them soon. We agreed on six cents a pound. Now you're coming with me to pick mushrooms!"
Not to be outdone, Zhao Xiufen quickly added, "And mine too, they need to be taken away and paid for in the next couple of days!"
The others were also noisily urging Tiger to harvest the mushrooms.
Seeing that he couldn't avoid it any longer, Tiger gritted his teeth and said, "Fine, I'll buy your mushrooms for three cents a pound. I'll get someone to come and collect them right now!"
He had already thought it through. There was no way to avoid this matter. The mushrooms were almost ready to sprout. If they weren't harvested, they would incur the wrath of the villagers, and his whole family might be driven out of the village.
It would be better to lower the price and buy it back.
It costs 30 cents a pound, and you can make 30 cents more by reselling it, so it's not a loss.
But everyone was in an uproar.
"Are you kidding me? You said it was six cents a pound before, and now you're saying three cents? Why?"
"You're dreaming! I only followed you because you offered me six cents. If it were three cents, I would have preferred to follow Li Weidong in the first place!"
"That's right, you're not going to fool us!"
"The agreed price is six cents, and it must be done according to the agreement!"
There was a huge commotion, and the ceiling was almost blown off.
Everyone was eyeing Tiger with predatory intent.
Tiger, however, was completely reckless, adopting a rogue-like attitude: "What agreement? What agreement did I sign? Who can produce one?"
Everyone then realized what was happening.
When Tiger asked them to grow mushrooms together, he only verbally said it was 60 cents a pound, but in reality, no contract was ever signed.
There is absolutely no guarantee.
The farmers who were watching the commotion from the doorway immediately started to laugh: "Wei Dong signed a contract with us right after we told him we wanted to grow mushrooms with him."
"It's written in black and white, clearly stating that no matter what the price of mushrooms is outside, he buys them here for 40 cents a pound, and that won't change. Unlike you guys, do you realize your mistake now?"
Some people even added insult to injury: "I remember Wei Dong reminded you back then that you could work for Hu Zi, but remember to sign a contract, right?"
"You didn't take his words to heart at all, and even called him a black-hearted person. Now you're getting your comeuppance!"
The farmers who followed Li Weidong all laughed.
Li Weidong shook his head.
Everyone has to pay the price for their decisions, and these people really don't deserve any sympathy.
The farmers on Tiger's side were already furious, and being mocked only made them angrier, so they all walked towards Tiger.
"What...what do you want to do?!"
Tiger panicked: "Don't do anything reckless! Let me tell you, your mushrooms weren't growing well to begin with, and the prices outside have dropped so drastically. I'm already being very generous by offering three cents a pound to buy them."
"If you don't sell to me, just wait to rot in the greenhouse!"
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