He spat dismissively, "Pah! What a piece of trash!"
After saying that, he pushed his bicycle away without looking back.
Xu Kuo watched Shi Jixing's departing figure and sneered disdainfully, "Heh, I really don't even look at this bicycle."
He turned around and strode away.
Among the crowd, Tan Wang's face was extremely grim.
Everyone started mocking Tan Wang.
"Hahaha, that's hilarious! This Tan Wang really thinks he can rise to the top and become a phoenix!"
"Exactly! Look at yourself!"
"A toad trying to eat swan meat!"
...
The villagers' laughter made Tan Wang feel utterly ashamed.
He clenched his teeth, a glint of resentment flashing in his eyes.
All of this was caused by Xu Kuo!
"Xu Kuo, you just wait!" Tan Wang gritted his teeth and growled a few times before turning to leave. Every step felt like walking on hot coals, burning him with anxiety.
He was thinking about how to settle accounts with Xu Kuo.
But after walking only a few steps, he remembered that the village chief had asked him to work at Xu Kuo's fishpond.
Tan Wang's eyes lit up, and a plan came to him.
If Xu Kuo is prevented from building the pond, he will eventually come begging to him for help.
He wanted to teach Xu Kuo a lesson, to let him know that offending him would never end well!
Meanwhile, Xu Kuo had returned to the edge of the fishpond and was preparing to build a fence.
Tan Wang hurriedly returned home. As soon as he entered, he saw the village chief sitting in the yard, holding a stack of money in his hand, as if he was counting something.
Tan Wang's heart skipped a beat, and he leaned closer: "What are you doing?"
The village chief looked up and saw it was Tan Wang. He smiled and said, "I was just saving up money to expand the fishpond! You've finally decided? You're planning to take this job? Let me tell you, this job isn't easy to get."
"Expand the fishpond?" Tan Wang was immediately furious upon hearing this. "You actually believe that kid Xu Kuo's nonsense?"
The village chief was taken aback, somewhat puzzled: "What's wrong? Xu Kuo's fish, weren't they quite good? They could make a lot of money!"
Tan Wang sneered and said seductively, "Don't be fooled by him! Those fish he bought from somewhere and deliberately put in there just to trick you into expanding your fishpond!"
Upon hearing Tan Wang's words, the village chief hesitated. He thought about it carefully and realized that Xu Kuo's fish had indeed grown too fast and too well, almost abnormally so.
"This..." The village chief hesitated, unable to make up his mind for a moment.
Seeing this, Tan Wang quickly added fuel to the fire: "You'd better think this through! If something really happens, all the money you spent on the expansion will be wasted, won't it? That kid Xu Kuo is just trying to drag you down with him!"
The village chief frowned, thought it over and over, and finally nodded: "What you said makes sense... Let's go, let's find Xu Kuo and ask him for clarification!"
"If it's really as you say, then I won't bother with this pond."
The two men arrived at the fishpond in a menacing manner, only to find Xu Kuo busy building a fence.
"Xu Kuo!" Tan Wang cursed as soon as he saw Xu Kuo, "You heartless bastard, you'll stop at nothing to swindle money!"
Xu Kuo stopped what he was doing, looked up, and coldly stared at Tan Wang: "Watch your mouth! Don't talk nonsense."
Seeing Xu Kuo's defiant demeanor, the village chief felt even more uncertain. He wanted to say something, but couldn't bring himself to speak.
Seeing the village chief wavering, Tan Wang immediately pressed his advantage: "Look at him, how guilty he looks! He's afraid we'll expose his true colors! Don't fall for it! If something happens to this pond, all the money you spent on expanding it will be lost!"
Xu Kuo snorted and said to the village chief, "Village chief, you know how profitable sweet potatoes are, so I won't say more. Believe it or not, it's up to you. I won't try to persuade you further. As for your nephew, if he really had the ability to see through things at a glance, he wouldn't have been kicked out."
Upon hearing this, Tan Wang immediately became anxious.
"Bullshit!" Tan Wang roared. "Stop playing tricks on me! Your lousy fishpond, and you think the fish are so fat they're jumping out? That's impossible. You probably bought them from somewhere and think you can make a fortune? I think you're just desperate for money!"
He stood with his hands on his hips, looking like he knew everything, spitting as he spoke: "Don't be fooled by him! His fishpond is a bottomless pit; no matter how much money you put in, it'll all go down the drain!"
The village chief felt uneasy after hearing Tan Wang's words, and he clutched the money in his hand even tighter, unwilling to hand it over to Xu Kuo. He was already hesitant, and now he was even more at a loss, but when he thought of how generous Xu Kuo had been in distributing sweet potatoes before, he couldn't bear to do it again.
"Sigh, Xu Kuo," the village chief's tone softened, tinged with helplessness, "Considering you were honest before, I won't hold it against you this time. As for this fishpond, you can expand it yourself if you want, but I don't have any money to invest in it for you."
After all, the village chief had accepted bribes, so he essentially gave Xu Kuo preferential treatment.
Of course, if there were any problems with Xu Kuo's fishponds, he would definitely be the first to confiscate them and take them for himself.
Upon hearing the village chief's words, Tan Wang immediately became anxious. He was about to try to persuade him again, but the village chief glared at him, silencing him. He felt aggrieved but dared not say anything more. He could only glare fiercely at Xu Kuo before slinking away with the village chief.
Xu Kuo watched the two figures disappear into the distance, and breathed a sigh of relief. He knew that the village chief had completely lost faith in him. However, this was within his expectations.
"It seems we'll have to find another way to expand the fishpond," Xu Kuo muttered to himself.
Besides Secretary Wen, who else could he turn to? Xu Kuo scratched his head. He didn't know many people in this village, and after thinking it over, the only one he could think of was Liu Yuan.
After all, she comes from a big city; she might have some connections.
On the other side, Shi Jixing, still seething with anger, pushed his bicycle back to the county committee.
"Jixing, what's wrong? Who made you angry?" Secretary Wen was sitting in his office reading documents when he saw Shi Jixing return and couldn't help but ask curiously.
Upon seeing that the bicycle had also been pushed back, Secretary Wen looked somewhat puzzled.
"Who else could it be! It's that Xu Kuo you asked me to find!" Shi Jixing threw his bicycle against the wall, stormed up to Secretary Wen, and raised his voice eight octaves, "You have no idea, those villagers are a bunch of troublemakers! They..."
He embellished the story of what had just happened at the village entrance, not forgetting to kick Xu Kuo a few times: "...Tell me, what kind of talent could come from such a lousy place? I think you've been fooled! Xu Kuo isn't even in the village!"
Upon hearing this, Secretary Wen frowned even more deeply. She had clearly visited Xu Kuo's house in person, so how could he not be there? Could it be that Shi Jixing had mistaken her for someone else?
"Wait a minute, say it again, what did the person you saw look like?" Secretary Wen felt something was amiss and decided to confirm it again.
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