Chapter 43: Cover-up

  Xiao Ping was confused by Old Zhou's words and asked in puzzlement, "What's wrong with catching thieves? Look at how these guys have messed up the vegetables! The farm has suffered a great loss!"

  "It's actually... I know who stole it." Old Zhou said hesitantly: "It was Zhong Yuanxiong and Wu Ming's gang."

  Xiao Pingxi said: "It's best if we know who stole it, let's go find them now!"

  Old Zhou hastily said: "Boss, you absolutely can't go! Normally in the village, no one dares to provoke these people. Even if they're caught stealing vegetables, I advise you to pretend you didn't see them. Whatever you do, don't try to stop them, or else... you'll be beaten by these people!"

  Xiao Ping exclaimed: "Stealing things and daring to hit people? How arrogant is that?"

  "They are all relatives of the village head, with the village head backing them up. What's so great about beating someone?". Old Zhou was a timid and fearful person, and he advised Xiao Ping again: "Boss, we can't afford to offend these people, let's just tolerate it if we can."

  Seeing Lao Zhou's tense appearance, Xiao Ping didn't want to worry him either, so he casually nodded and said: "I know about this matter, you go ahead and busy yourself."

  "Boss, I'm going to work now." Old Zhou really didn't want to deal with Zhong Yuanxiong and his gang, so he hastily carried the hoe and walked away.

  Xiao Ping was not the kind of person who would swallow his teeth after being beaten, and since he knew who had stolen the vegetables, he would not give up easily. He went directly to the village committee of Xiao Zhou Village and found Zhong Shengli drinking tea in the office.

  Seeing Xiao Ping walk into the office, Zhong Shengli calmly put down his teacup and said indifferently: "So it's Mr. Xiao, what a rare guest! The farm has been open for business until now, but you've never come before, why did you think of looking for me this time?"

  Zhong Shengli said this because he had some resentment towards Xiao Ping in his heart. This kid built a farm on the border of Xiaozhou Village and did business, but didn't even come to show his gratitude, it's really not knowing how to be human.

  Xiao Ping is not actually someone who doesn't understand human emotions, it's just that when they interacted before, the greedy Zhong Shengli left a very bad impression on him, so Xiao Ping deliberately avoided contact with him. But this time the loss at the farm was not small, so Xiao Ping had no choice but to come and reason with Zhong Shengli.

  "Village Chief Zhong, I'm someone who doesn't bother to visit the Three Treasures Hall for no reason." Xiao Ping said calmly: "Recently, there have been people sneaking into our farm to steal things, causing me huge losses. The security in your village is also too poor, isn't it? As the village chief, shouldn't you take care of this?"

  Knowing that Xiao Ping was not there to give gifts but to cause trouble, Zhong Shengli immediately turned serious and said: "Mr. Xiao, you must be joking! The villagers of our Xiaozhou Village have always been honest and down-to-earth, and even quarrels and fights are rare, how could anyone steal your vegetables?"

  Zhong Shengli put on the airs of a village chief, and indeed had some official prestige. This appearance was enough to intimidate the villagers of Xiaozhou Village. However, Xiao Ping was someone who had dined with the provincial governor, so how could he be intimidated by Zhong's antics?

  Xiao Ping didn't show any intention of backing down, and instead smiled faintly at Zhong Shengli: "I personally saw the villagers from Xiao Zhou Village, Zhong Yuanhong and Wu Ming, stealing vegetables. How could I be talking nonsense? If Village Chief Zhong doesn't believe me, we can go to their homes together and take a look. My jade-green vegetables are very recognizable, and catching the thieves will definitely not be a problem!"

  Xiao Ping's words furrowed Zhong Shengli's brow, knowing that this young man was indeed not easy to deal with. Zhong Yuanyoung was Zhong Shengli's nephew, and Wu Ming was his cousin, both of whom were close relatives. In fact, the two had been sneaking into Xiao Ping's farm to steal vegetables over the past few days, which Zhong Shengli was also aware of, as he now had a batch of jade-green vegetables in his home that the two young men had respectfully presented to him.

  No matter if it's for the sake of his own face or those two relatives, Zhong Shengli must cover this up. He looked at Xiao Ping with great dissatisfaction and said: "Go to their home to take a look? You make it sound so easy! Don't you know that breaking into someone's home is against the law?! If you want to go to their home, first go to the police station to report the case, wait for them to issue a search warrant before doing anything! Although I'm the village chief, I don't have the power to casually enter villagers' homes. Anyway, this matter is not something I can handle!"

  Xiao Ping was infuriated by Zhong Shengli's unreasonable attitude and coldly laughed. To be honest, Xiao Ping did not want to make things awkward with the villagers of Xiaozhou Village; otherwise, he would have directly gone to Wang Chun at the Municipal Public Security Bureau instead of coming to find Zhong Shengli. The theft case worth nearly 10,000 yuan was enough to put Zhong Yuanhong and Wu Ming behind bars for several years.

  Xiao Ping came to find Zhong Shengli, just wanting him to restrain his relatives and not make trouble at the farm again. Unexpectedly, Zhong Shengli was so arrogant, pushing all the responsibility away. Xiao Ping didn't want to talk to the unreasonable Zhong Shengli anymore, slowly standing up and saying: "Since Village Chief Zhong thinks this matter can't be controlled, then I'll take care of it myself. From now on, whoever dares to enter the farm and steal things again, don't blame me for being impolite!"

  After saying that, Xiao Ping left without looking back, leaving Zhong Shengli alone in the office with a pale face. As soon as Xiao Ping left, Zhong Shengli made a call with a gloomy face: "Yuan Xiong? You and Ah Ming quickly move those vegetables away! Why? They've already come to our doorstep, what else can we do? Don't go there again recently, it's always trouble when something happens, got it?"

  Zhong Shengli immediately called his own son: "Yuan Long, have you found out what the farm owner is all about? This matter must be grasped tightly, don't drag it on anymore!"

  After slamming down the phone, Zhong Shengli came to the window and looked at the new farmhouse under construction, muttering to himself: "In Xiaozhou Village, I'm the one who calls the shots. An outsider dares to come and stir up trouble? Just wait for the right moment, and you'll be sorry!"

  After leaving the village committee, Xiao Ping did not immediately return to the farm, but instead went directly to the flower and bird market in the city center. Those who steal vegetables are all night owls, Xiao Ping can't stay up all night guarding, so he decided to adopt the biological anti-theft method that has been passed down for thousands of years - simply put, it's buying two dogs to watch the farm.

  Although today is not the weekend, the flower and bird market is still very lively. Xiao Ping has no interest in other things, and he is determined to find a stall selling dogs. There are many dog dealers in the market, some of whom sell small ornamental dogs, while others sell large dogs similar to Samoyeds or Tibetan Mastiffs. One dog dealer even opened a truck, with iron cages on the car filled with big-headed, long-haired, and very fierce-looking dogs. According to the owner's words, all the dogs in the car are Tibetan Mastiffs, and the cheapest one costs more than 40,000 yuan.

  Xiao Ping thought these dogs were not suitable, especially the Tibetan Mastiffs that could be sold for tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. He was even less interested in them. In Xiao Ping's opinion, the reason why Tibetan Mastiffs are so expensive now is mostly due to speculation, and he wouldn't spend that kind of money. Xiao Ping continued walking a short distance forward and saw another dog vendor stall ahead. This time his eyes lit up, and he finally found the dog he wanted to buy.

  ====The Divide of Doomsday Survivors====

  No. 21 is here, how's everyone doing? Since nothing's wrong... let's celebrate by voting for Hai Ma!