Zhou Changke also stood up, looked at Xu Kuo, and couldn't help but give him one last piece of advice: "Brother Xu, if you're going, make sure you have plenty of money! Even though the items are being sold urgently at this time, there are definitely a lot of people who want them, so it'll be hard to find a bargain! Don't end up staring at something you like but not having enough money."
Xu Kuo smiled confidently, his eyes gleaming. The money he had earned from selling vegetables in the past few days was several times more than the initial cost of buying them, and with his previous savings, he was quite confident!
"Don't worry, Brother Zhou." He cupped his hands in a respectful gesture. "Money is no problem. I'll take my leave now and come back to bother you another day!"
After saying this, Xu Kuo turned around and strode away from Zhou Changke's house, already planning the auction three days later.
Meanwhile, in a dark corner of the village, the Xu brothers, Jianguo and Jianjun, huddled there like stray dogs, their faces covered in dust and grime.
Xu Jianjun cried, "Brother, what do we do now? We've lost our money, our grain, and we've lost all face! It's all that little bastard Xu Kuo's fault! He cheated us out of our vegetables and made us lose face in front of the whole village!"
Xu Jianguo's eyes were sinister, and he spat out a mouthful of saliva: "Hmph! He thinks he's won? I won't swallow this!"
"But what can we do with him?" Xu Jianjun slammed his fist on the ground in frustration, his face filled with resentment.
Xu Jianguo grinned coldly. "Isn't he smug about selling vegetables? I'll make sure all his vegetables rot in the warehouse, not a single one of them sells!"
"Can't sell them?" Xu Jianjun's eyes lit up, then he frowned. "How can we let him not sell them? The villagers are all scrambling to buy his vegetables now!"
Xu Jianguo reached into his pocket and carefully took out a small brown medicine bottle, its mouth tightly sealed with a cork. He shook it triumphantly; the bottle seemed to contain some kind of powder.
"Do you see what this is?" Xu Jianguo's smile grew even more sinister.
Xu Jianjun leaned closer for a look, his expression changed drastically, and he gasped sharply: "Brother! This... isn't this 'rotten rice noodle roll'?! Where did you get this?"
This stuff won't kill you, but if you eat it, you'll vomit and have diarrhea, and your stomach will hurt so badly you'll be rolling on the floor. You won't be fully recovered for at least three to five days!
He felt a chill run down his spine; he never expected his brother to be hiding such a wicked thing.
"Hmph, I have my own brilliant plan." Xu Jianguo curled his lip in disdain, clearly not wanting to elaborate on the source.
"Although we fell into his trap last time, we figured out how his warehouse works. Tonight, we'll add some 'spice' to it! As long as his vegetables make people sick, let's see who dares to buy his stuff! Then, all his vegetables will just have to wait to mold!"
A flicker of hesitation crossed Xu Jianjun's eyes, but thinking of his current predicament and Xu Kuo's glory, that sliver of conscience was quickly consumed by resentment. He gritted his teeth: "Fine! Brother! Let's do it! Let him taste the bitterness of disgrace!"
The night was as dark as ink. Two sneaky figures, guided by the faint starlight, approached Xu Kuo's vegetable storage warehouse silently, like geckos.
Having learned from their previous experience, they avoided the trap area they had fallen into before, and skillfully pried open an inconspicuous ventilation shaft and crawled inside.
The warehouse was filled with the fresh, unique aroma of vegetables. Xu Jianguo opened the medicine bottle and carefully sprinkled the powder inside onto several neatly stacked piles of the freshest leafy greens.
After doing all this, the two quickly slipped away through the ventilation shaft and disappeared into the night, as if nothing had happened.
The next morning, just as dawn was breaking.
As usual, Xu Kuo, along with Niu Erbao and several villagers who were helping out, came to the warehouse to get vegetables.
"Hurry up, everyone! Let's open for business as early as possible today!" Niu Erbao shouted, taking the lead in carrying the baskets of vegetables that had just been picked and stacked yesterday.
"etc!"
A low shout stopped everyone in their tracks.
Everyone looked at Xu Kuo with suspicion. He stood at the warehouse entrance, his brows slightly furrowed and his nose twitching gently, as if he were trying to discern something.
Something's not right!
After being enhanced twice by the system, Xu Kuo's five senses far surpassed those of ordinary people.
As soon as he stepped into the warehouse, he smelled a faint, unusual odor mixed with the fresh scent of vegetables, carrying a subtle hint of sourness and medicine. The smell was very faint, but it did not escape his keen sense of smell.
He walked slowly toward the baskets of vegetables that Niu Erbao had just been about to move. The closer he got, the clearer the strange smell became.
Xu Kuo stopped in front of a basket of lush green vegetables, squatted down, and scanned the leaves with sharp eyes. He picked up a leaf, brought it to his nose to smell it, and then rubbed it between his fingers.
"Master, what's wrong?" Niu Erbao asked, coming closer in confusion.
Xu Kuo did not answer immediately. He held the vegetable leaf up to his eyes and examined it carefully in the dim light coming in from the doorway.
The edges of the vegetable leaves appeared to be covered with extremely fine, grayish powdery substances, and the leaves themselves looked unnaturally wilted.
"Damn it! Someone poisoned me!" Xu Kuo suddenly stood up, his face terribly grim, his voice filled with a chill.
"What?!"
"Poisoning?!"
"Who's so wicked!"
The villagers who had followed immediately erupted in uproar, their faces filled with shock and anger. Food was life itself in this day and age! To poison food was utterly heinous and an unforgivable crime!
"Who the hell did this?!"
"If we find him, we'll beat him to death!"
"If this gets someone sick from eating it, we'll all be in trouble!"
The crowd was filled with righteous indignation and looked at Xu Kuo, waiting for him to make a decision.
Niu Erbao panicked and quickly asked, "Master, what do we do now? What about these vegetables...?"
Xu Kuo's gaze swept over the baskets of tampered vegetables, then he looked at the agitated villagers, and a cold smile curled at the corner of his mouth.
"What's the panic?" Xu Kuo's voice wasn't loud, but it carried a reassuring quality. "Since some people want to play dirty tricks, let's play along. Let's turn the tables on them!"
"A counter-strategy?" Niu Erbao and the other villagers were stunned.
Xu Kuo looked at Niu Erbao: "Erbao, go and call over Aunt Zhang, Li Laosi, and Wang Mazi, those few clever ones. I have something to tell them. Tell them they'll get double pay for performing a play for me today!"
Although Niu Erbao didn't fully understand, he trusted Xu Kuo completely and immediately replied, "Alright! I'll go right away!"
Soon, Aunt Zhang and several other villagers who had been named were called over. Xu Kuo lowered his voice and gave them instructions. After listening, the villagers all showed expressions of understanding mixed with excitement, and they nodded in agreement.
"Don't worry, Kuozi, we've got this covered!" Aunt Zhang assured him, patting her chest.
Afterwards, Xu Kuo directed everyone to quietly move the baskets of poisoned vegetables to the backyard, where they dug a deep pit and carefully buried them.
Then, they selected fresh and safe vegetables from the warehouse, loaded them onto carts, and marched in a grand procession toward the village entrance.
At the village entrance, Xu Kuo's vegetable stall was set up as usual.
Not far away, behind a large tree, Xu Jianguo and Xu Jianjun were peeking out and looking in their direction.
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