Night fell, and all was quiet.
Zhang Laosan cautiously led a portly middle-aged man to Xu Kuo's pond. The man, who looked respectable and had a protruding belly, was none other than Zhao Ming, the owner of the town's grain shop.
Upon seeing Zhang Laosan's other two accomplices, Zhao Ming breathed a sigh of relief.
“Master Zhao, look, this is it.” Zhang Laosan pointed to the dark water and said in a very low voice.
Zhao Ming squinted, examining the pond in front of him by the faint moonlight, a sinister smile curling at the corner of his mouth.
He was thinking to himself that once he got the fishpond, he would also get the sweet potato planting method. Wouldn't all the grain trade in the surrounding area fall into his hands? As for Xu Kuo? He was just a peasant. What waves could he make?
"Hmph, this Xu Kuo, does he really think he's got some skills?" Zhao Ming stroked his beard, his words full of disdain. "A mere peasant dares to compete with me, Zhao Ming? He's overestimating himself!"
“What Master Zhao says is true. That Xu Kuo is just a hothead. How can he compare to you?” Zhang Laosan said obsequiously from the side.
Although he said that, he was already feeling uneasy inside.
"Tomorrow, this fishpond and that sweet potato field will all belong to the Zhao family!" Zhao Ming said smugly, as if he could already see the piles of silver flowing into his pockets.
However, no sooner had he finished speaking than a cold snort came from above.
"Really? I'd like to see what you mean by 'they're all surnamed Zhao'!"
In the pitch-black night, the voice was like a ghost, startling Zhao Ming so much that he almost fell to the ground.
"Who?!" He looked up in alarm and saw a figure leap down from the tree and land steadily in front of him.
Xu Kuo!
Zhao Ming's heart skipped a beat, as if it had been gripped tightly. He never expected that Xu Kuo would be hiding here!
“Xu…Xu Kuo? You…how could you…” Zhao Ming stammered, his face ashen.
Xu Kuo sneered and waved an iron box in his hand. "Boss Zhao, I recorded everything that just happened. Tell me, if I hand this thing over to the higher-ups, what do you think they'll do to you?"
Upon hearing the "recording," Zhao Ming panicked. If his despicable deeds were exposed, not only would he lose the grain shop, but he might also end up in jail!
"Brother Xu... Brother Xu, let's talk this out, let's talk this out!" Zhao Ming quickly put on a smiling face, his attitude making a complete 180-degree turn. "This is all a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding!"
"A misunderstanding?" Xu Kuo raised an eyebrow. "It doesn't sound like it to me. Boss Zhao just explained it very clearly and plainly!"
Zhao Ming was sweating profusely, inwardly cursing Zhang Laosan and his gang of good-for-nothings. These bastards, weren't they supposed to be foolproof? How come Xu Kuo suddenly appeared like a ghost!
"Brother Xu, how about this?" Zhao Ming gritted his teeth and pulled out a stack of grain coupons and meat coupons from his pocket. "Consider these as an apology to Brother Xu. Let's just let this matter drop, shall we?"
Xu Kuo took the grain coupons and meat coupons, weighed them in his hand, and smiled slightly. "Boss Zhao, isn't your apology a bit too lenient?"
Zhao Ming's heart skipped a beat, and he cursed Xu Kuo inwardly for his insatiable greed. But for now, he could only swallow his anger and suffer in silence.
"Brother Xu, this is all my possessions! I can't give you any more!" Zhao Ming said with a mournful face, putting on a pitiful appearance.
"Really?" Xu Kuo fiddled with the iron box in his hand. "Then... this recording..."
"No, no, no!" Zhao Ming was terrified. "Brother Xu, let me think of something, let me think of something!"
"Don't even think about it." Xu Kuo suddenly put away the iron box, a mocking smile on his face. "I was just kidding, I didn't record anything."
"What?!" Zhao Ming was struck dumb, completely stunned. He pointed at Xu Kuo, trembling with rage, "You...you tricked me?!"
"So what if I'm playing you?" Xu Kuo sneered and slammed his fist into the tree trunk beside him.
"Bang!"
With a muffled thud, a deep fist-shaped mark appeared on the hard tree trunk!
Zhang Laosan and the others were so frightened that their faces turned pale, their legs went weak, and they almost collapsed to the ground.
Zhao Ming was utterly horrified. He had no doubt that if that punch had landed on him, he would have been crippled if not killed!
"You started this by messing with my fishpond, and now you want me to farm all my land too. I'm not afraid of anything, neither morally nor logically!"
"You...you...you just wait!" Zhao Ming, though outwardly fierce, uttered a harsh threat and turned to run away. His disheveled appearance showed no trace of his previous arrogance.
Xu Kuo watched Zhao Ming's fleeing figure, a cold glint in his eyes. He turned around and glanced at Zhang Laosan and the others who were trembling with fear.
"These next few days, you guys keep a close eye on this fishpond. If anything goes wrong again..." Xu Kuo didn't finish his sentence, only giving a cold laugh.
Zhang Laosan and the others nodded repeatedly in fright, “Don’t worry, Master Xu, we will guard this fishpond even more closely than our own ancestral graves!”
On the other side, Zhao Ming stumbled back to the grain shop and plopped down in a chair, still shaken.
"Damn it, Xu Kuo, you little bastard, just you wait!" Zhao Ming gritted his teeth, his eyes filled with venom. "If I don't kill you, I'm not Zhao!"
He took a few deep breaths and shouted towards the door, "Someone, bring Wang Lai here!"
Before long, a shifty-eyed, fleshy-faced man walked in, bowing and scraping. This Wang Lai was a notorious local thug who had just been released from the detention center a few days earlier.
"Master Zhao, you wanted to see me?" Wang Lai asked obsequiously.
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