Meanwhile, Zhang Guifang ran to Xu Kuo's door and pounded on it with all her might.
"Knock knock knock! Knock knock knock!" The deafening knocking was particularly jarring in the quiet village.
The surrounding villagers were all attracted by the commotion, and they all peeked over and started talking amongst themselves.
"What's going on? Is Zhang Guifang going to demolish the house?"
"I don't know. Judging from this, it seems they're going to clash with Xu Kuo."
"This is going to be interesting!"
"I heard that Xu Kuo tricked Niu Erbao into helping him watch over the land and fish, right? That's probably what happened."
Xu Kuo opened the door and saw Zhang Guifang. His brows immediately furrowed, and a hint of wariness and disgust flashed in his eyes.
"What are you doing here again?" Xu Kuo asked coldly, his tone tinged with impatience.
"Xu Kuo! You heartless bastard! Give me back my money!" Zhang Guifang pointed at Xu Kuo's nose and cursed, "You swindled my son out of all his money, do you have any conscience at all?"
"Where's the remaining 30%? Spit it out now!" She bared her teeth and claws, looking like she was about to devour someone.
Xu Kuo snorted coldly, his eyes full of disdain: "Thirty percent? That was the condition you agreed to back then, and now you want to go back on your word?"
"I don't care! I was blind to believe your nonsense!" Zhang Guifang started acting like a rogue. "Give me back my money right now, or I'll never forgive you!"
"I'll give you back all the grain coupons and meat coupons, but you have to give me back that 30% of the profits!" Zhang Guifang persisted, her voice sharp and piercing.
Xu Kuo completely lost his patience. He stared coldly at Zhang Guifang and said, word by word, "Get out!"
Zhang Guifang was startled by Xu Kuo's cold gaze, but she still refused to give up. She sat down on the ground and began to throw a tantrum, wailing and screaming.
"Oh my god! This is outrageous! Xu Kuo is a heartless scoundrel who bullies us honest people! Everyone, come and judge this!"
The commotion alerted the village chief. He rushed over and saw Zhang Guifang sitting on the ground throwing a tantrum, his brow furrowed.
"Zhang Guifang, what are you doing? Let's talk this out!" the village chief shouted sternly.
Upon seeing the village chief, Zhang Guifang rushed over as if she had seen a savior, sobbing and crying, "Village chief, you must do me justice! Xu Kuo has embezzled the money my son and I earned together! He's bullying us so much!"
The surrounding villagers whispered among themselves, and the buzzing of their discussions surged like a tide, with all sorts of guesses and speculations spreading among the crowd.
The village chief was disturbed by the crying and looked at Xu Kuo suspiciously, wanting to find out what was going on.
Xu Kuo took out a wad of banknotes he had earned from selling fish from his pocket and slapped them twice in his hand, making a crisp sound.
"This is the money I made selling fish today. Zhang Guifang personally promised to split it 20/80." His eyes were open and his tone was calm, as if he were stating something perfectly ordinary.
The village chief stared wide-eyed at the thick wad of cash in Xu Kuo's hand, feeling a pang of unease. He never imagined that Xu Kuo could earn so much money in just one morning!
This is more than he earns in a month as the village chief!
A surge of intense jealousy and frustration welled up inside him, and he felt an urge to slap himself twice.
If I had known Xu Kuo was capable, I shouldn't have listened to that lousy advice of Tan Wang and refused to cooperate with Xu Kuo! Now look what's happened, we've missed a golden opportunity to make money!
The village chief grew angrier and more aggrieved as he thought about it, and his face became increasingly grim. Similarly, he couldn't stand to see Xu Kuo doing well.
"Xu Kuo, you're a grown man, bullying an orphan and a widow, don't you feel ashamed?" The village chief said with a stern face, putting on a righteous and awe-inspiring look, and spoke up for Zhang Guifang, "I think you should return the money to them!" His words were clearly biased towards Zhang Guifang, and he wanted to take the opportunity to put Xu Kuo down.
Upon hearing this, Xu Kuo flew into a rage.
This village chief clearly can't stand to see him doing well and wants to use Zhang Guifang's excuse to suppress him!
He sneered and retorted without any politeness: "Village chief, this money was earned by Erbao and me through hard work. Why should we give it to her? She herself said it would be 20/80 back then. Now she wants to go back on her word? No way!"
The village chief was shocked that Xu Kuo dared to defy him in public, and his face turned ashen. He pointed at Xu Kuo's nose and threatened sharply, "Xu Kuo, don't forget, you still live in this village! Aren't you afraid I'll make sure you can't stay here anymore?"
Xu Kuo snorted coldly, his eyes filled with disdain and contempt: "This is money that Niu Erbao and I earned. What does it have to do with Zhang Guifang? Village chief, if you want to protect her, go ahead and try!"
Just as the two were about to start arguing, a frantic cry suddenly rang out from the crowd: "Mother! Stop it!"
Niu Erbao finally arrived. He limped through the crowd and shouted breathlessly.
When Zhang Guifang saw Niu Erbao, it was as if she had seen a savior. She immediately pointed at Xu Kuo and shouted to Niu Erbao, "Erbao, you've come at the right time! Quickly help your mother get the money back! This Xu Kuo, he's a scoundrel!"
Niu Erbao felt a headache coming on as he watched Zhang Guifang throw a tantrum. He glared at her and snapped, "Mother! Can you please stop making a scene? This money is rightfully mine; why should you ask him to pay it back?"
"It's already very good that Master can give us 20%."
"You silly boy, you're siding with outsiders!" Zhang Guifang stomped her feet in anger when she saw that Niu Erbao wasn't helping her.
Xu Kuo was thoroughly enraged by Zhang Guifang's unreasonable behavior. He slammed the banknotes in his hand onto the ground with a loud crash, scattering them like falling leaves.
"Here's the money! All of it! From this day forward, I, Xu Kuo, sever all ties with your family and have no further connection with you!" Xu Kuo roared, his voice filled with determination and anger.
He had seen through Zhang Guifang; she was greedy, unreasonable, and cooperating with her would only lead to his demise sooner or later!
Zhang Guifang was stunned by this sudden turn of events, but then a greedy glint appeared in her eyes.
She ignored what Xu Kuo and Niu Erbao were saying, plopped down on the ground, and started picking up the money with both hands and feet. She looked as eager as a starving wolf that hadn't eaten for three days and three nights and had just seen food.
The villagers around looked at the banknotes scattered on the ground, their eyes reddening with envy, jealousy, regret... a mix of emotions spreading through the crowd.
Niu Erbao panicked and grabbed Zhang Guifang's arm, trying to stop her. "Mom! What are you doing? Are you crazy?"
"You ignorant brat, get out of my way!" Zhang Guifang flung Niu Erbao's hand away and glared at him fiercely.
"Mother! You're incredibly stupid!" Niu Erbao stomped his feet in anger, pointing at the money on the ground and shouting, "Do you think this is a lot of money? This is only half! I agreed with Brother Xu Kuo that it would be split 50/50!"
"I showed it to you when I got back this morning. Although it's only 20%, I actually got 50%."
"What?!"
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