Every household in the village was buzzing with talk about Liu Ergou.

"I can't believe it! To think something so major would happen in our village today, and I had no clue!"

"Yeah, seriously! Who would have thought Liu Ergou was such a scumbag! Trying to harm everyone in the village! That guy really deserves to die!"

"This can't go on. We can't let Liu Ergou do whatever he wants. We have to stop him!"

The man who said this immediately got up and went outside. At the same time, many others with the same idea left their homes, all intending to stop Liu Ergou.

「Meanwhile.」

Wu Dahu, having finished his broadcast, let out a cold smirk.

Liu Ergou, oh Liu Ergou, I'd like to see how you handle this! I refuse to believe you can fight an entire village on your own. If you can actually turn this around, then from now on, I, Wu Dahu, will take your surname, Liu! And call myself Liu Dahu!

Finished with his thoughts, Wu Dahu turned and walked toward the door. He only took a few steps before he seemed to remember something. He abruptly turned back to the village committee office and kicked the front door several times with all his might. A few kicks were enough to shatter the old wooden door, leaving it in splinters.

Only then did Wu Dahu nod in satisfaction. He turned and left the village committee, taking a small path out of the village.

Back at his house, Liu Ergou's expression turned grim as he listened to Wu Dahu's words over the broadcast.

If I had known it would come to this, I shouldn't have let him go. I can't believe he'd dare come back and cause trouble for me!

With that thought, Liu Ergou immediately stood up and ran towards the wasteland. It wasn't that he was going to settle scores with Wu Dahu. Rather, Feng Chunling and Hu Jing were still working there. If the villagers hurt them, it would be a disaster.

Soon, Liu Ergou arrived at the wasteland.

The moment he got there, Hu Jing walked up and pressed him for answers.

"Er Gou, what's going on? Wasn't our wasteland certified? How come Wu Dahu is now saying it's not?"

Feng Chunling also spoke through gritted teeth, "That goddamn Wu Dahu! It was bad enough when he threatened me last time, but now he dares to pull a stunt this outrageous! He'd better hope I don't get my hands on him! If I do, I'll tear his mouth right off his face!"

Listening to them, Liu Ergou hurriedly cut them off.

"Alright, that's enough! Save the chatter! You two need to leave, now. Otherwise, you might get hurt when the villagers arrive!"

Liu Ergou waved his hand, signaling for them to leave quickly.

Hu Jing saw the sense in his words, nodded, and left without hesitation. When it was Feng Chunling's turn, however, she showed no intention of leaving.

"I'm not going, Er Gou!" she declared. "I want to see just who dares to cause trouble!"

As soon as the words left her mouth, a large crowd of people surged toward them, surrounding the wasteland in the blink of an eye. The one leading them was a village woman.

Upon reaching the edge of the wasteland, she shouted, "Everyone, let's stop Liu Ergou together! We absolutely cannot allow this kid to keep farming! If we let him continue, everyone in our village will be doomed! Follow me! Let's occupy the wasteland first!"

With that, everyone present roared in agreement and rushed into the wasteland. They formed a tight circle around Liu Ergou, ready to call him to account.

Yet, seeing this, Liu Ergou didn't panic. There wasn't a trace of anxiety on his face; he was calm, as if nothing were amiss.

Looking at the woman in the lead, Liu Ergou spoke. "Could you let me say something first? It won't be too late for you to act after I'm done."

Before he could continue, the woman shouted back, "Liu Ergou, it doesn't matter how eloquently you speak today, we absolutely cannot let you continue farming! If you do, everyone in the village will be in imminent danger!"

Liu Ergou ignored her and addressed the crowd. "Everyone, I know you're here because of what Wu Dahu said. But I can tell you, not a word he says is true. He was lying to you! The soil on my land passed the inspection; there's absolutely nothing wrong with it. If you don't believe me, look at my inspection report!"

With that, Liu Ergou moved to take out the report the police had given him earlier.

However, the instant he produced it, the leading woman snatched it from his hand and tore it to shreds.

"Do you take us for fools, Liu Ergou?" the woman sneered. "Anything can be faked these days! We can't trust you! So you'd better stop right now! Don't make us get physical, because if we do, things won't be this simple!"

Hearing her words, Liu Ergou frowned deeply. This woman was clearly being unreasonable. What could he do against someone so irrational?

I can't just fight them, can I? They're all my fellow villagers. I grew up here. If I raised a hand against them, things would get ugly. We'd never be able to face each other again.

Just as Liu Ergou was caught in this dilemma, Feng Chunling, who had been standing behind him, suddenly stepped forward and let loose a torrent of abuse at the crowd.

"You dare lay a hand on him? Go on, try it! Let's see you try anything! You think you're so tough, threatening to get physical!

"Do you people have any conscience? When Liu Ergou first rented this land, every single one of you was over the moon! Now that there's trouble, you've all completely changed your tune! Let me tell you, if this wasteland really is contaminated, you'll be implicated too! Do you get that?"

At her words, the entire crowd fell silent. They looked at one another, but no one dared to speak.

Seeing them quieted, Feng Chunling pressed on.

"And you," she said, pointing at the leader, "what were you saying about Liu Ergou faking the report? Use your brain! That report was issued by the police! If you say he faked it, you're saying the police faked it! Do you have the guts to go to the Public Security Bureau and say that to their faces?

"If you dare, we'll admit defeat! We'll pay whatever compensation you ask for without batting an eye!

"Do you dare?"

Feng Chunling's words left the once-aggressive crowd utterly deflated.

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