Hearing these rumors, Zhao Ming became even more smug, his nostrils practically pointing to the sky: "Xu Kuo, you poor wretch, you think you can fight me? You should take a good look at yourself in the mirror. Do you even have the ability? Without power or influence, you're nothing but a fart! Understand?"
Jiang Xiuying couldn't hold back any longer. She rushed out to protect Xu Kuo and pleaded, "Zhao Ming, please, don't make things difficult for our master. We'll admit defeat, okay?"
When Zhao Ming saw Jiang Xiuya, his eyes widened. This young lady was really pretty, even more beautiful than the women in the county town!
His lust was aroused, and he approached her with a lewd grin: "Oh, this must be your wife? She's really beautiful! How about this, you get Xu Kuo to give me the fishpond, and then you spend another night with me, and we'll call it even, okay?"
Upon hearing this, everyone around gasped. This Zhao Ming was utterly shameless!
Xu Kuo could no longer suppress his anger and slapped Zhao Ming across the face. With a crisp "smack," Zhao Ming's fat face swelled up instantly, and five bright red finger marks were clearly visible.
Everyone was stunned. No one expected that Xu Kuo would dare to hit Zhao Ming!
Zhao Ming covered his face, and it took him a while to come to his senses. His eyes were filled with shock and anger: "You...you dare to hit me? You're fucking tired of living!" He had never been slapped in his life, let alone in front of so many people!
"Beat them! Beat them to death!" Zhao Ming roared hysterically.
Upon receiving the order, the thugs immediately brandished their clubs and charged towards Xu Kuo.
"Master!" Jiang Xiuying screamed in fright, trying to rush over to protect Xu Kuo, but Xu Kuo pulled her behind him.
Just as the stick was about to strike Xu Kuo, an angry shout rang out: "Stop!"
The sound was like thunder, shaking the entire audience.
Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw Secretary Wen leading several people, striding towards them with a livid face.
“Secretary Wen…” Zhao Ming was dumbfounded, his legs began to tremble, and he couldn’t understand why Secretary Wen would suddenly appear here.
He quickly put on a fawning smile and bowed and scraped as he greeted him: "Secretary Wen, what brings you here? Oh dear, you didn't even give me a heads-up so I could have come to pick you up!"
Secretary Wen gave him a cold glance, completely ignoring him, and walked straight up to Xu Kuo: "Xu Kuo, are you alright?"
Zhao Ming's heart skipped a beat, and he felt a chill run down his spine.
"I'm fine, Secretary Wen. You've come just in time," Xu Kuo asked.
Secretary Wen said in a deep voice, "This morning I sent people to investigate Zhao Ming's grain shop and they found a lot of problems. Tax evasion, hoarding, selling inferior goods as superior ones... any one of these is enough to get him into serious trouble!"
As soon as he finished speaking, several people walked out from behind Secretary Wen and handcuffed Zhao Ming.
"This...this...Secretary Wen, I'm innocent! I'm innocent!" Zhao Ming was terrified and struggled desperately, but to no avail.
The surrounding villagers were stunned. No one expected that Xu Kuo could actually invite Secretary Wen to come! Before, when Secretary Wen came, they thought it was because he was a new official making his first move, but now it seemed that he came specifically for Xu Kuo.
Who exactly was Xu Kuo?
Just as Zhao Ming was about to be taken away, Xu Kuo suddenly spoke up: "Wait!"
Secretary Wen looked at Xu Kuo with a hint of doubt in his eyes: "Little Xu, is there anything else?"
Xu Kuo pointed at Zhao Ming: "Secretary Wen, I made a bet with him, and he lost. He has to give me all the grain coupons and meat coupons in the grain shop!"
Upon hearing this, Zhao Ming nearly fainted. Those grain coupons and meat coupons were his lifeline! He wailed, "Xu Kuo, you can't do this! I was wrong, I'll kowtow to you!"
"Now you know you're wrong? Too late!" Xu Kuo sneered. "Secretary Wen, please be our witness."
Under Secretary Wen's pressure, Zhao Ming dared not renege anymore and handed over all his grain and meat coupons, looking even worse than if his own father had died.
After Zhao Ming was taken away, Secretary Wen once again expressed his gratitude to Xu Kuo: "Xu Kuo, we really owe you a lot for helping us translate those manuscripts this time, otherwise our county's work would have been in trouble."
These words caused another uproar. What? Xu Kuo could translate? He could speak English? This... was this still the Xu Kuo they knew?
Jiang Xiuying was also pleasantly surprised. She hadn't expected her man to be so capable!
"Secretary Wen, you're too kind. This is what I should do," Xu Kuo said modestly.
"Xu Kuo, you're too modest. Come on, I'll treat you to lunch. I haven't properly thanked you yet," Secretary Wen suggested with a smile.
"This..." Xu Kuo hesitated, after all, the food at home was much better than outside, so he might as well invite Secretary Wen to have a meal.
With this in mind, Xu Kuo spoke.
"Secretary Wen, we are overjoyed that you could come. How could we let you spend money?"
Seeing Xu Kuo's warm hospitality, Secretary Wen could not refuse any longer, so he nodded and agreed: "Alright, then I will trouble you."
Once inside, Jiang Xiuying busied herself preparing a table full of dishes: braised fish, stewed chicken, scrambled eggs, and several seasonal side dishes. Although they weren't delicacies, they were considered quite plentiful in those days.
When Secretary Wen looked at the table full of food, she was immediately angry. She had thought that Xu Kuo's family had prepared these dishes for her, but she hadn't expected that they would actually do it.
Suppressing her anger, she said in an annoyed tone, "Xiao Xu, what are you doing? Is it really necessary for you to go to such lengths for me?"
“Secretary Wen, you’ve misunderstood. These are all things we eat regularly,” Xu Kuo explained.
Secretary Wen was even more shocked. Did they always eat this well? Just what were the conditions of Xu Kuo's family? Her opinion of Xu Kuo rose even higher.
After seeing Secretary Wen off, Jiang Xiuying beamed from ear to ear: "Honey, you're amazing! Even Secretary Wen was so polite to you!"
Meanwhile, Xu Kuo's sister-in-law, Liu Xueli, was hiding in the house, carefully counting the grain coupons and meat coupons. The more she counted, the more heartbroken she felt, wondering how much money they were worth!
"Dad, look at him! Xu Kuo is such an ingrate! He still wants us to pay back all that grain and meat coupons! We're his own brother and sister-in-law!" Liu Xueli stomped her feet in anger and complained to Xu Jianguo, the eldest son of the Xu family.
Xu Jianguo looked at those grain coupons and meat coupons, and his heart clenched. How long would it take them to earn so much money?
However, he didn't dare to break ties with Xu Kuo. After all, Xu Kuo was now someone even Secretary Wen respected, and Xu Kuo seemed to have changed.
"Forget it, stop crying. We can just not pay it back." Xu Jianguo suppressed his anger and comforted Liu Xueli. "He can't really disregard family ties, can he?"
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