Shi Jixing's lips moved a few times, and he made a hoarse sound in his throat, but he couldn't utter a single word.
Confess? Confess what? Those acts of embezzlement, bribery, and abuse of power—each and every one of them was enough to condemn him to eternal damnation! He only wanted a quick death now; what else could he possibly confess? He shook his head in despair, his eyes blankly staring at the ground.
"Since there's nothing more to say," Sheng Xu said, wasting no more time, and waved to the two uniformed, serious-looking security personnel he had brought with him, "Take him away!"
"Yes!" The two men stepped forward, supporting the limp Shi Jixing on either side, and began to drag him out.
Just then, Xu Kuo's voice suddenly rang out, clear and powerful: "Wait!"
All eyes instantly focused on him. Sheng Xu stopped, turned around, and looked at Xu Kuo with a hint of inquiry: "Comrade Xu Kuo, is there anything else?"
Xu Kuo didn't look at Shi Jixing, but suddenly turned to Xu Jianguo, who was already trembling with fear and pale-faced in the crowd. He pointed his finger directly at him and said in a cold voice, "Comrade Sheng Xu, take him away too!"
"What?!" Xu Jianguo screamed like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. He instinctively took a step back, trying to hide in the crowd, but found that the villagers around him avoided him as if he were a plague.
He forced himself to overcome his fear and, though outwardly fierce, inwardly questioned Xu Kuo: "Xu Kuo! On what grounds are you arresting me?! What law have I broken?!"
Sheng Xu was also somewhat surprised. He looked at Xu Kuo with obvious doubt in his eyes. Although he was disgusted by Xu Jianguo's arrogant behavior earlier, there had to be a reason for arresting someone.
Xu Kuo's lips curled into a cold smile, as if he were looking at a clown: "Why should I?" His voice suddenly rose, filled with suppressed anger.
"For his own sake! He has repeatedly stolen collective property—that is, my vegetables! For his own sake! He is vicious and used 'rotten intestine powder' to poison the vegetables I carefully cultivated, attempting to harm the vast majority of people who buy the vegetables! For his own sake! Just now, he colluded with Shi Jixing to openly slander me for stealing vegetables, spreading rumors and damaging my reputation!"
With each sentence Xu Kuo spoke, Xu Jianguo's face paled a little more. By the time he finished speaking, Xu Jianguo was trembling like a leaf in the autumn wind, almost unable to stand.
"What?! Poisoning?!" Sheng Xu's expression changed drastically upon hearing this! In this era of food scarcity, poisoning food is an absolutely unforgivable crime!
"How dare he! He actually did such a heinous thing! He's a disgrace to the people!" Without further hesitation, he ordered the other two guards, "What are you all standing there for? Arrest this scoundrel too!"
"Yes, sir!" Two security guards immediately stepped forward.
"No! Don't arrest me! No!" Completely terrified, Xu Jianguo could no longer hold on. He collapsed to his knees with a thud, crawling towards Xu Kuo on all fours, wailing with tears streaming down his face, "I was wrong! I was really wrong! I was bewitched! I'm not human! Please, for the sake of us being brothers, forgive me this time! I'll never do it again! I really won't do it again!"
Xu Kuo frowned in disgust, his eyes showing no emotion whatsoever, only cold mockery: "Now you know you're wrong? Too late! When you stole vegetables, when you poisoned me, when you framed me, did you never think that we were brothers?"
Xu Kuo ignored Xu Jianguo's wailing and turned to Sheng Xu, saying, "Comrade Sheng Xu, please leave two guards for me. This guy still has accomplices we haven't caught. I need to personally take a few trustworthy brothers on a trip there and wipe them all out!"
Sheng Xu gave Xu Kuo a deep look and nodded: "No problem. It's everyone's responsibility to get rid of these social parasites! You go ahead, leave this to me." He waved his hand, "Take him away!"
The security guards immediately helped up the wailing Xu Jianguo and, together with the distraught Shi Jixing, quickly left the scene amidst the villagers' complicated gazes.
"Xu Kuo! You ungrateful wretch! You'll die a horrible death! I'll haunt you even as a ghost! You betrayed even your own family! You'll get your retribution!" Xu Jianguo cursed hoarsely as he was dragged away, his voice filled with resentment and despair.
Xu Kuo listened coldly, a disdainful snort playing on his lips.
Relatives? From the moment Xu Jianguo and his good brother Xu Jianjun started eyeing his food and even stealing their mother's hard-earned money to fool around, in Xu Kuo's eyes, these two so-called "brothers" were no better than strangers!
Meanwhile, at the other end of the village, Xu Jianjun was lazily lying on his earthen kang (heated brick bed), puffing on his pipe.
His wife kept nagging from the side: "Husband, why don't you go out and think of something? We're almost starving! We can't just starve every day, can we?"
Xu Jianjun waved his hand impatiently, exhaled a smoke ring, and said with a hint of smugness and calculation on his face, "What's the rush? I've already made arrangements for your man! Just wait!"
"Arrangements? What arrangements?" his wife asked, puzzled.
Xu Jianjun lowered his voice and leaned closer mysteriously: "Let me tell you, Jianguo has already teamed up with Secretary Shi from the county and led a group to deal with that little bastard Xu Kuo! Once Xu Kuo is arrested and locked up in jail, all the good stuff in his big warehouse will be ours to take as we please!"
"Really?!" Xu Jianjun's wife's eyes lit up instantly, her face showing surprise and greed. "Oh my! Husband, you're really capable! Then...when can we go get it?"
"Almost there," Xu Jianjun patted his chest triumphantly. "I reckon Xu Kuo has already been captured! Maybe..."
Before he could finish speaking, a series of urgent knocks sounded on the door.
Xu Jianjun's smile widened, and he suddenly sat up on the kang (a heated brick bed), excitedly slapping his thigh: "Hey! Speak of the devil! It must be that kid Jianguo who succeeded and came back to report! I'll go open the door!"
His wife also stood up excitedly, her face full of anticipation.
Xu Jianjun walked to the door triumphantly and pulled open the bolt.
However, the person standing outside the door was not the jubilant Xu Jianguo he had expected.
At the entrance, Xu Kuo's tall figure stood like a mountain, blocking out all the light.
His face was expressionless, his eyes as cold as ice in the dead of winter. Behind him stood two uniformed security guards, their expressions serious, their gazes fixed sharply on him!
Xu Jianjun's smug smile froze instantly. At the door, Xu Kuo's cold face, and the two expressionless security guards behind him, were like three icebergs, making him feel uneasy.
What happened? Where's Xu Jianguo? We agreed to come back together.
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