Liu Xiuyun furrowed her brow even tighter. Her tone carried a hint of pleading as she said, “Cousin, I am truly grateful that you came to Xiao’an Village to provide assistance. However, can we discuss the matter of raiding Du Jianguo’s home again? You know my relationship with him.”

Zhang Desheng heard this and took a deep breath. He replied, “Exactly because I know you are husband and wife, that is why I must teach him a lesson! How much suffering have you endured with him over the years? Rest assured, I will have that boy sign a divorce agreement with you soon. Once that happens, Xiuyun, you will have nothing to worry about. You will rely entirely on your cousin.”

“Xiuyun, you do not know how much I have missed you over the years. Back then, why did you marry such a hooligan? You wouldn’t even wait for me?”

Zhang Desheng licked his lips and took a step closer. His eyes burned with desire. “Cousin knows that you have feelings for me inside, right? We were childhood sweethearts back then. We can still pick up where we left off now.”

Liu Xiuyun’s brow knitted together in shock. She said, “Cousin, what kind of words are those? I have always seen you only as a biological brother!”

She never expected that a playmate who grew up with her would harbor such thoughts.

“No, Xiuyun,” Zhang Desheng said, his voice tightening. “What I want is not just that. Do you not know?” He added, “It does not matter. We can cultivate our relationship slowly.” As he spoke, he reached out and grabbed for Liu Xiuyun’s hand.

His desire seemed ready to overflow. It was completely unmasked.

Liu Xiuyun felt her heart tighten under his gaze. She instinctively took a half-step back, creating distance between them.

“What the hell are you looking at?”

At that moment, a sudden, rough voice rang out.

Zhang Desheng’s face instantly darkened. He glared coldly toward the source of the sound. It was Du Jianguo, who had remained silent until now.

Du Jianguo watched Zhang Desheng’s performance with interest. He knew his wife’s character well. Liu Xiuyun was a woman who would swallow poison dumplings to commit suicide. She had a fiery temper and would absolutely not accept a scumbag like Zhang Desheng forcing his advances on her. She would not feel moved; instead, she would feel disgusted.

“Du Jianguo! You are at the end of your rope and you dare to curse me?” Zhang Desheng gritted his teeth. “It seems that raiding your home today is truly not unjust!”

Li Ergou also stoked the fires, adding, “Leader, why waste words with this guy? I will just…”

Before he could finish, Du Jianguo suddenly lunged forward. He kicked Li Ergou hard in the stomach.

Everyone was shocked that Du Jianguo would dare to use physical violence. In everyone’s mind, this boy was still the one who spent his days gambling, living aimlessly, and being bullied like a fool by Li Ergou. Now that Li Ergou was about to become a phoenix and climb up to become a village cadre from the city, Du Jianguo did not back away. Instead, he attacked him.

Li Ergou curled up on the ground, groaning in pain.

After a moment, Li Ergou gathered his strength and immediately cried out, telling Zhang Desheng what had happened. “Leader, did you see that? This guy not only disobeyed orders but also started a fight! He clearly has no respect for you at all. I am the person you just promoted. You must do something for me!”

“Du Jianguo, are you trying to rebel?”

Zhang Desheng’s anger vanished. Instead, a look of satisfaction appeared on his face. “In broad daylight, acting like a hooligan. Do you want to form a gang and become a bandit, bullying the people of Xiao’an Village?” He raised his voice and shouted, “Everyone, grab him! Tie him up! Let us raid his home!”

Zhang Desheng shouted, but no one moved. Seeing this, he smiled coldly and added, “Everyone, stop standing there! The things we raid from his house will be divided among you. The Village Committee will take nothing. Whatever you can find is yours to keep.”

Hearing this, everyone’s breathing became rapid. Greed filled their eyes.

Immediately, there was movement in the crowd. Many people who had a bad relationship with Du Jianguo and were eyeing the small benefits began to sharpen their claws and stir up trouble.

“I want to see who dares to step into my yard.”

Du Jianguo curled his lips into a cold smile. His gaze swept across the crowd like a knife. His tone was fierce. “If you are not afraid of dying, come on! I promise that anyone who dares to enter my yard will get a brick to the head!”

“Everyone, do not be afraid! I am here to support you!” Zhang Desheng shouted to rally them. “Everything we find today will be divided among everyone!”

Someone did not believe him and sneered, “Du Jianguo, who are you trying to scare? In the past, when I stood in front of you, you would tremble. Now you dare to hit us with a brick?”

As soon as those words were spoken, Du Jianguo immediately picked up a stone nearby. He threw it at the man’s face with incredible speed. The stone flew toward the man instantly. The man was startled and quickly dodged to the side, but the stone still hit his body. His right arm was immediately bleeding badly.

The villagers in the mountains were all stunned. They did not expect Du Jianguo to be so serious. “He is killing someone! He is killing someone!”

The man who had shouted just now turned pale with fear and screamed.

Du Jianguo stared at Zhang Desheng and spat on the ground. “Zhang Desheng, I ask you. I catch some wild animals from the mountains and exchange them for money. Is that speculation?”

“Of course! This is typical speculation!” Zhang Desheng nodded without thinking.

“Good. Then you should catch everyone in Xiao’an Village,” Du Jianguo said calmly. His gaze swept over the crowd. “Which family in this village has not privately exchanged things?”

He suddenly looked at a thin man in the crowd. “Er Maozi, am I remembering correctly? A few days ago, you caught two nests of sparrows. You plucked the feathers and sold them to the neighboring village to exchange for two winnowing baskets. Have you forgotten?”

The man named Er Maozi panicked instantly. Sweat beaded on his forehead. His face turned pale as he stammered, “I… I only did it once! Just once!”

Du Jianguo ignored him and turned to a middle-aged woman. “And you, Auntie Wang! Do you still have the face to join in and tear down my house? Your husband goes to the river to catch fish every day. Among all the families in our village, yours has eaten the most meat over the years. If my home deserves to be raided, then your home deserves to be criticized even more. You should be dragged to the street for a parade of shame!”

As Du Jianguo listed them one by one, he pointed out more than thirty people. They were all villagers who had privately exchanged things.

Zhang Desheng stood there, and his face grew increasingly ugly as he listened. Although he was the stationed cadre and held some power, if he really arrested so many villagers and sent them to the commune, he did not know if it was possible.

If this matter spread, it would cause a huge scandal.

“Cadre Zhang, why do not you arrest them?” Du Jianguo curled his lips into a cold smile. His gaze pressed directly on Zhang Desheng.

“Are these not typical examples of speculation that you spoke of? What? Do not tell me… you are afraid.”