“Who the hell is talking nonsense over there? Huh, Xiao Lin?” Zhang Fan turned around and saw that it was Lin Hai speaking, and he was instantly dumbfounded.
“Xiao Lin, you…” Lin Hai waved his hand, stopping Zhang Fan from continuing.
Upon hearing this, Li Er’s eyes suddenly lit up.
“Director Zhang, Second Uncle, and you, military leader, you all heard it. He admitted it himself. My compensation is reasonable. I didn’t bully Old Man Lin.”
Li Er quickly stepped forward, rushing to say.
“Xiao Hai?” Lin Wen was also stunned, not knowing what his son was up to.
Lin Hai bent down and picked up the crumpled twenty-yuan bill from the ground.
“I’ll accept this twenty-yuan compensation.”
“Accepting it is good, accepting it is good.” Li Er quickly smiled obsequiously and nodded repeatedly.
Had this kid from the Lin family been spoiled by going to school? Li Chusheng stood there dumbfounded, taking a good while to react.
“Oh, it’s settled then. We’re all fellow villagers, why make things so awkward? Er Leng, you go to his house personally later and apologize to your Uncle Lin!” Li Chusheng finally breathed a sigh of relief and quickly tried to mediate.
“Apologize? That’s not necessary.” Lin Hai shook his head.
“How can that be! An apology is a must…”
“Is that your land next door?” Lin Hai completely ignored Li Chusheng’s rambling and turned to ask Li Er.
“Yes, it’s mine.” Li Er, not knowing why he was being asked, nodded in reply.
“How many mu in total?”
“Fi, fifty mu.” Li Er shrank his neck.
“Qiangzi!” Lin Hai turned around.
“Master.” Bald Qiang quickly ran over.
“Don’t hit me again, I know I was wrong.” Li Er was terrified of being hit by Bald Qiang, and seeing him approach again, he was so scared he almost cried.
“Go to the car and get ten thousand yuan.” Lin Hai instructed.
In a moment, Bald Qiang came back with a stack of cash and handed it to Lin Hai.
“Twenty yuan per fen of land, so for fifty mu that’s ten thousand. I didn’t miscalculate, did I?”
After saying this, without waiting for Li Er to respond, Lin Hai slammed the money into Li Er’s face with a smack.
“Political Instructor Guo, level these fifty mu of land for me!” Lin Hai suddenly roared angrily.
“Yes!” Guo Fei snapped to attention, personally sat in the driver’s seat of the big truck, and started the engine.
“No! My crops!!!” It was only when the truck drove into the field that Li Er reacted.
With a miserable howl, Li Er charged towards the truck.
Bang!
A soldier stepped forward and slammed the butt of his rifle into the corner of Li Er’s eye.
Li Er howled in pain, crouched down covering his face, and blood gushed from the corner of his eye.
Li Chusheng, who had initially wanted to rush over, abruptly stopped his steps. He looked at the expressionless soldiers and ultimately lacked the courage to take that step.
Guo Fei drove the big truck like a bulldozer. With one pass, the crops were all flattened to the ground; even if they weren’t dead, there was no hope of a good harvest.
The onlookers continuously swallowed their saliva, every single one of them terrified by the scene before them. Not a single person dared to speak up.
Lin Hai didn’t leave either. He lit a cigarette and just quietly watched Guo Fei crush the thriving crops, pass after pass.
“It’s over, it’s all over.” Li Er slumped to the ground, tears of regret streaming down his face.
It took over an hour to completely flatten all fifty mu of land.
During this time, no one left; all watched this once-in-a-millennium spectacle with mixed feelings.
“Reporting to the chief, all fifty mu of land have been leveled!” Guo Fei jumped down from the truck and reported to Lin Hai.
Lin Hai nodded.
“Dad, Mom, let’s go home.” Lin Hai said to his parents as if nothing had happened.
“Let’s go home.” Lin Wen waved his hand grandly, an indescribable pride on his face. Seeing the dumbfounded expressions of the whole village, he felt he had never been so prestigious in his life.
“Move aside!” Bald Qiang quickly pushed aside a young man from the Li family, trotted over, pulled open the Cayenne’s door, and waited respectfully beside it.
“Grandmaster, Mistress, please, you two.”
Lin Wen sat directly in the passenger seat. It was his son’s car; he felt sitting in the passenger seat was the most prestigious, so when they entered the village, the villagers could clearly see who was in the car.
Liu Xinyue, with a gentle smile, helped Song Qin into the back seat.
“Mount up!” Guo Fei gave the order, and the soldiers quickly and orderly boarded the truck.
Only after the three vehicles drove off in a mighty procession and the oppressive atmosphere dissipated did the villagers heave a long sigh of relief and start whispering among themselves.
“Hmph!” Li Chusheng stomped his foot in anger, “What the hell are you still doing here? Not embarrassed enough? All of you, get the hell home!”
The young people of the Li family then listlessly started heading back, their heads drooping.
“Village Chief Li.” Zhang Fan stopped Li Chusheng. “We’ve been friends for many years. Let me give you a piece of advice: keep these younger folks of your family in line. The Lin family is not someone you can afford to offend.”
Li Chusheng was stunned. He knew Zhang Fan well; he was shrewder than a monkey.
If even Zhang Fan said this, it meant the Lin family’s background was definitely bigger than he had imagined.
Involuntarily, Li Chusheng abandoned the idea of seeking revenge later that had just crossed his mind.
Gritting his teeth, Li Chusheng shouted to the young people of the Li family.
“Damn it, all of you remember this: from now on, if you encounter someone surnamed Lin, you walk the other way!”
In the car, Lin Wen looked immensely pleased. Recalling the incident, he felt incredibly satisfied, and that sense of pride probably wouldn’t subside for a while.
Song Qin, meanwhile, was holding Liu Xinyue’s hand, the two of them whispering softly about something unknown.
When they got home, Lin Wen brought out a carton of Zhonghua cigarettes that Lin Hai had brought back last time.
“Come on, boys, come inside for a drink of water and a smoke.” Lin Wen warmly greeted the soldiers getting off the truck.
“No need, thank you, Uncle.” The soldiers smiled shyly and waved their hands, showing none of the ferocious demeanor from just moments ago.
Lin Wen glared, “What’s with all the politeness! Since you’re Xiao Hai’s friends, this is your own home. None of you be polite with me, take it!”
“But…” The soldiers looked troubledly at Guo Fei.
“Uncle, thank you, but we have regulations, we can’t…”
“Regulations, my eye!” Lin Wen’s face fell. “I know what you’re talking about, the Three Main Rules of Discipline and the Eight Points for Attention, right? My father was a soldier too! But those rules are about the relationship between the military and civilians. This isn’t that. Right now, you’re in your own home, and it’s your own uncle giving them to you. All of you, take them!”
“Well…” Guo Fei smiled and shook his head.
“Alright, everyone take them.”
Only after Guo Fei spoke did the soldiers happily accept the cigarettes one by one, thanking him repeatedly.
“That’s more like it!” Lin Wen finally smiled. “What honest kids.”
After settling Guo Fei and his men in a room to rest, Lin Wen looked at Liu Xinyue and Bald Qiang, then asked Lin Hai, “Haizi, who are these two?”
“You old fool, asking only now.” Song Qin, holding Liu Xinyue’s hand, shot Lin Wen a sharp glare.
“Hmph, mind your own business when I ask.” Lin Wen stiffened his neck.
“Grandmaster, Mistress, your son is my master, so I’m your disciple’s disciple. You can just call me Bald Qiang.” Bald Qiang said with a grin.
Lin Yun, standing nearby, burst out laughing.
“Bald Qiang, why do you call my brother ‘Master’? Did he teach you how to cut down trees?”
“I don’t need to learn tree cutting. Learning to handle people, that’s more like it.” Bald Qiang rubbed his big bald head and said with a silly smile.
“What are you saying!” Lin Hai smacked him on his bald head.
Just then, Liu Xinyue stood up and shyly walked over to Lin Wen.
“Hello, Uncle. My name is Liu Xinyue. I am, I am Lin Hai’s girlfriend.”
“What?” Lin Wen’s mind buzzed; he was completely stunned.
