Several villagers, unaware of the truth (or perhaps acting as accomplices), began pressuring the village chief to reveal who it was.
Chen Jinhai looked grief-stricken, but the joy in his eyes was impossible to hide. He glanced at Ye Cheng and thought, "Kid, you're going to die this time."
When everyone's emotions were at their peak, Chen Jinhai turned to the old man and said, "Grandpa, tell me, who exactly did the Dragon King tell you to be?"
The old man stood up with the microphone in his hand and pointed towards Ye Cheng. "The Dragon King said it was Ye Cheng's son who offended the Dragon King."
After saying that, the old man coughed and sat down.
Chen Jinhai smugly took the microphone and said to Ye Cheng, "Ye Cheng, even the Dragon King says you used evil magic, what else do you have to say?"
"You've called me by name, haven't you?" Ye Cheng stood up abruptly, straightened his clothes, and said loudly.
"I don't know any evil magic. Unlike some people, I don't resort to such underhanded tricks. Even the old man is over 90 years old, and you still want to pull him down from his horse. Aren't you afraid of being cursed by the ancestors of the Chen family after you're taken down?"
Ye Cheng's words were very clear; he was directly saying that Chen Jinhai was behind it all.
As soon as he said that, several of the Chen family's nephews and nieces stood up and started pointing at Ye Cheng and cursing.
"Hey Ye, you won't admit you used evil magic, will you? You're determined to make sure the whole village can't catch any fish, aren't you?"
"Let me tell you, if you make it so that everyone goes hungry, you won't have a good time either."
These nephews and nieces, shouting and jostling, crowded towards Ye Cheng, hoping to take advantage of the chaos to strike.
Chen Jinshui was also there today. Seeing that his nephews and nieces were about to make a move, he quickly stood up to stop them. However, he was a nobody in the family and no one paid him any attention.
Ye Guowei stood up, pointed at them, and shouted sternly, "What are you doing? Bullying the few with the many of you, is that it?"
"Who dares to bully my brother!" A loud shout came from behind Ye Cheng, and Xiao Hu appeared behind Ye Cheng carrying two iron pipes.
The moment Ye Guowei and Xiao Hu stepped forward, the situation immediately became evenly matched.
When Xiao Hu's father saw his son stand up, he quickly stood up as well, approached his son, and glared at the person opposite him.
Ye Cheng glanced coldly at the Chen family's nephews and nieces.
"What? What benefits did the village chief give you that made you so anxious? Are you trying to take advantage of the chaos to attack me?"
Hearing Ye Cheng say this, Chen Jinhai's face twitched. He took the microphone and said, "Ye Cheng, don't talk nonsense. I didn't ask them to beat you. What you did was outrageous and everyone couldn't help themselves."
Ye Cheng snorted coldly, "So you really can't help yourself, but it's all your Chen family's way of being unable to control yourselves. Do you even have any resonance with it?"
"Furthermore, what era are we living in? It's the 21st century! How can you still talk about offending the Dragon King and bringing down punishments on our village? You can actually utter such a centuries-old scam! It's the internet age, everyone's online, who are you planning to fool now?"
Ye Cheng's statement has received considerable support. The 21st century is an era of clashes between old and new ideas, with some supporting the older generation's ideas and others supporting the new ones.
Chen Jinhai's face turned red and then pale. He had originally planned to take down Ye Cheng in one fell swoop by relying on the number of his family members and accuse him of offending the Sea Dragon King. However, he did not expect that others would support him, which made things difficult. He could not just start a fight.
"Ye Cheng, don't think you can get away with just talking. Let me tell you, the Dragon King of the Sea has already said that you use evil magic, and your conduct is also improper. If you are allowed to go into the sea again, it will definitely bring disaster to the village."
Ye Cheng chuckled speechlessly. "Oh, you've added another charge against me, huh? Improper conduct. Where did this come from?"
Chen Jinhai glanced at Ye Cheng disdainfully and said calmly, "Ye Cheng, don't think we don't know about your affair with Widow Zhang. It's all over the village. You two are having an affair!"
Widow Zhang was also qualified to attend the meeting. Upon hearing Chen Jinhai speak of her in such a manner, she let out a shriek and charged directly at Chen Jinhai, slashing his face with all ten fingers.
"I'll scratch you to death for talking nonsense. I was wondering who was gossiping here. Oh, it's you."
This woman really goes crazy when she gets angry. Poor Chen Jinhai wasn't paying attention for a moment and got four bloody scratches on his face. Even the old man sitting next to him was so frightened that he got up to get away.
"Widow Zhang, are you crazy? You dare scratch me?"
"What's wrong with me scratching you? You're talking nonsense. Ye Cheng lent me money, 30,000, 30,000. Look at that, look at that. He's trying to mess with this slut of mine. Does he need 30,000?"
Widow Zhang's words were extremely rude, but the villagers believed them nonetheless.
She's a widow, and Ye Cheng is a young man. If they really wanted to, a few hundred or a few thousand would have been enough. Why would they need 30,000?
Impossible, absolutely impossible, there's no such market price in the village.
Widow Zhang held up the IOU in her hand. Several older people took it down, looked at it, and nodded.
"It was indeed a loan, 30,000 yuan."
"See? I told you so!" Widow Zhang broke free from the crowd, jumped onto a stool, and began her shrewish tirade against Chen Jinhai.
"Chen Jinhai, you old pervert! I asked you for money, and you said you wanted my body, so I agreed. You said you'd only lend me 100 each time, ptooey!"
"I'm short of money, not despicable!"
Hearing what Widow Zhang said, everyone looked at Chen Jinhai. Damn, so it was you who wanted to have an affair, and you even borrowed 100 yuan every time. How could you have the nerve to say that?
Chen Jinhai quickly explained, "Don't listen to her nonsense. She's a slut herself, just trying to slander me."
“I’m not slandering you! This 30,000 yuan is for Xiao Liang’s heart surgery. I may demean myself, but I won’t joke about Xiao Liang,” Widow Zhang retorted loudly.
"It's for Xiao Liang's surgery, huh? That explains it. She wouldn't joke about Xiao Liang."
"Yes, yes, she did ask me for money, but I didn't have that much money, that's true."
The village is only so big, and everyone knows roughly what each family is like. Many people know about Xiao Liang's situation, and public opinion immediately turned in Zhang the widow's favor.
Seeing that everyone supported her, Widow Zhang continued, holding up the IOU, "I asked Ye Cheng for a loan, and he lent it to me without hesitation, without even writing down the interest."
Ye Cheng touched his nose somewhat awkwardly. He wasn't that noble; it wasn't that he had no choice but to lend money if Widow Zhang hadn't sneaked in in the middle of the night.
"30,000 yuan with no interest? This Ye Lao Er is really something."
"What do you mean 'it's okay'? They all earned it by using evil methods to catch seafood. In the end, the retribution will fall on the villagers."
When the topic returned to Ye Cheng, it immediately split into two factions. To be honest, everyone still held a sense of awe towards the Sea Dragon King.
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