Xu Kuo gently patted Niu Erbao on the back: "It's good that you're alright."
He turned his head and looked at Zhang Guifang, who was stunned, and said coldly, "Zhang Guifang, you'd better watch yourself from now on. Your son is a good son, but it's a pity he has a mother like you."
Zhang Guifang's face flushed red and then turned pale, her lips trembling, but she couldn't utter a single word. Just moments ago, she had been hurling insults at Xu Kuo, but now she had been thoroughly humiliated, making her wish she could disappear into the ground.
"Pah! What an ingrate!"
"Xu Kuo saved your son, and you treat him like this!"
"What a heartless bastard!"
...
The villagers condemned Zhang Guifang, their spittle nearly drowning her.
Zhang Guifang lowered her head, her face pale, feeling utterly ashamed.
The next morning, just as dawn was breaking, Xu Kuo, along with Niu Erbao, pushed a cart full of fresh fish and headed to the market.
"Master, can our fish really sell so well?" Niu Erbao rubbed his hands excitedly. Yesterday, Xu Kuo had miraculously cured him and given him a new lease on life. At this moment, he trusted Xu Kuo even more than his own father.
"Don't worry, it'll be even more popular than yesterday!" Xu Kuo said confidently.
After all, there is no fish on the market that can compare to his.
When they arrived at the market, a crowd had already gathered in front of Xu Kuo's stall, drawn by the aroma.
"Hey boss, you've finally arrived! I've been waiting for you for ages!"
"Quickly, give me two big ones, I want to make soup today!"
"I want one too! I want one too!"
...
The crowd was bustling and jostling, afraid that they would miss out if they were too late.
The surrounding vendors' eyes turned red with envy, and they felt incredibly envious.
Normally, their stalls would be just as bustling at this time, but ever since Xu Kuo arrived, he has taken over all the business, leaving their stalls deserted and empty. It's practically impossible for them to survive!
Xu Kuo deftly weighed fish and collected money from customers, while Niu Erbao assisted him. The two worked together seamlessly and were very busy.
As the sun rose higher, the fish on the cart were all gone.
Just then, the burly man from yesterday reappeared, followed by several shady-looking young men who were clearly not to be trifled with.
The man walked up to Xu Kuo, his bull-like eyes wide and glaring at him fiercely: "Kid, you ignored what I said yesterday, didn't you? Today, I'm giving you one last chance. Hand over the secret to raising fish, or else..."
He slammed his hand on Xu Kuo's cart with a "smack," making the wooden planks creak.
Niu Erbao frowned, about to step forward to argue, but was stopped by Xu Kuo.
"Erbao, you're not fully recovered yet, don't hit him."
Helpless, Niu Erbao had no choice but to back down.
Xu Kuo snorted coldly, not even lifting his eyelids: "Otherwise what? Are you going to eat me?"
"Hey, you've got some nerve, kid!" the man grinned maliciously, clenching his fist. "Today I'll show you what it means to be arrogant!"
"What, you want to make a move?" Xu Kuo slowly put down the scale in his hand, his eyes showing no fear.
The man snorted and looked around; all he saw were customers and vendors watching the show.
If he makes a move here today, something bad is bound to happen.
The man then looked coldly at Xu Kuo.
"Hmph, kid, just you wait. You're lucky today, but I'll make you regret it."
After saying that, the man turned and left with his henchmen.
Seeing this, Xu Kuo also relaxed his vigilance. If he caused trouble here, his stall might really be taken back.
Xu Kuo looked at Niu Erbao and said, "Erbao, let's go back first."
Niu Erbao nodded and followed behind Xu Kuo.
Tan Wang sneered from the side; he knew how ruthless that man was.
He learned from these vendors that the man had chased people to their homes and threatened them in order to get a stall.
The next day, Xu Kuo and Niu Erbao went to the vegetable market again.
However, what they saw before them stunned them—all five of their stalls had been overturned! Wooden planks were broken, buckets were overturned, and the place was a complete mess.
"What...what's going on?" Niu Erbao's eyes widened, unable to believe what he was seeing.
With the opening time of the vegetable market drawing ever closer, but no stalls available to sell fish, Niu Erbao was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.
Xu Kuo's face was terribly gloomy. He looked around, his gaze sweeping over each vendor like a blade.
"Who did it?" he asked coldly.
The vendors all lowered their heads, avoiding Xu Kuo's gaze, and not one of them admitted anything.
"Hmph, pretending to be deaf and dumb?" Xu Kuo sneered inwardly. He knew that these people were well aware of the situation, but for certain reasons, they dared not say it.
At this moment, Tan Wang, the village chief's nephew, stepped out from the crowd and sneered sarcastically, "Oh, isn't this Xu Kuo? What, not selling fish today?"
He looked at Xu Kuo with schadenfreude: "I said you were too arrogant, taking up five stalls wasn't enough, now look what happened, you're getting your comeuppance!"
"Exactly, someone definitely can't stand it anymore!"
"Serves you right!"
...
The surrounding vendors also joined in the commotion.
Xu Kuo knew without a doubt that the man from yesterday was responsible. In this market, no one else had the strength to overturn five stalls in one go.
"Did you do this?" Xu Kuo looked at the man, his voice filled with anger.
The man walked out triumphantly and admitted, "That's right, I did it! What, you disagree?"
"Restore the stall to its original state, or don't blame me for being impolite!" Xu Kuo gritted his teeth; this man was going too far!
"You're welcome? What can you do to me?" The man was full of disdain, even somewhat expectant of Xu Kuo going to complain to Yi Guanlin. "Go ahead and go to Yi Guanlin, you idiot! He's about to retire, he's already made enough money off this market stall and left! Now, this place is under Secretary Shi's jurisdiction!"
"You think you'll be all set just because you've managed to curry favor with Yi Guanlin? How naive!" the man laughed heartily.
Xu Kuo's heart sank. How could he have forgotten this! Back then, Yi Guanlin retired after making all the money he could from the vegetable market; that was the reason the man was so fearless.
"Useless! What can you do besides raising a few worthless fish? Since you won't give me a way to raise fish, you won't have an easy time either." Seeing that Xu Kuo didn't speak, the man became even more arrogant and pointed at his nose to curse.
Xu Kuo suddenly raised his head, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.
The next moment, he suddenly made a move and overturned the man's stall!
With a "crash," the man's fish stall was overturned instantly, fresh fish scattered all over the ground, and water splashed everywhere.
"You fucking want to die!" The man roared in anger, swinging his fist at Xu Kuo.
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