Chapter 119: Cannot Let Him Go No Matter What

Ten thousand yuan! To the rich, it might not be much. But to these villagers who scratched out a living from the earth, it was an absolute fortune. For nine acres of land, even if they farmed it themselves instead of leasing it out, a single season’s harvest would barely yield that much profit after deducting the cost of seeds and fertilizer. Let alone those who had leased their land to Li Dabiao—they hadn’t seen this much money in two years!

Instantly, many could no longer hold back and poured into the courtyard.

"Xiaomeng, I want to lease my six acres to you too!"

"And my eight acres!"

"Mine as well!"

Lin Meng turned no one away. He had them sign the lease contracts and handed over the cash on the spot.

Half an hour later, every villager with spare land had leased it to Lin Meng. Some even did the math and realized that farming it themselves was less profitable than leasing it to Lin Meng, so they simply handed over everything. Upon receiving their money, these people beamed with joy, counting their cash right there in the courtyard.

What about Li Dabiao’s revenge?

In the face of hard cash, he was nothing but a joke!

Seeing this made many others green with envy. These were the people who had leased their land to Li Dabiao. Now, they could only watch helplessly as others counted their money. They were absolutely eaten up with jealousy.

"Xiaomeng, Li Dabiao leased my land but hasn’t paid me in over a year. Can I transfer the lease to you now?" someone soon asked, unable to restrain themselves.

With the first person speaking up, the others who had leased their land to Li Dabiao also chimed in with the same question. They finally understood that even if they managed to get paid by Li Dabiao, he would definitely deduct a hefty chunk. Since that was the case, they might as well cut their losses in time and lease to Lin Meng instead.

Faced with their inquiries, Lin Meng sighed deeply. "I want to lease your land too, but you have an agreement with Li Dabiao, and his crops are still planted in your fields. This puts me in a very difficult position!"

Pan Qiaolian loudly agreed, "Exactly. If you want to lease to Xiaomeng, you have to get your land back from Li Dabiao first."

Lin Meng glanced at Pan Qiaolian, fighting the urge to give her a fierce kiss. This woman was simply too smart. She instantly knew what he was trying to do and actively played along. Their chemistry was almost like being in bed together; with just one look from him, she knew exactly what position to take.

"Asking Li Dabiao for it back... he definitely won’t agree, right?" Many showed timid expressions. Clearly, they still held an instinctive fear of Li Dabiao.

"If you aren’t going to ask for it, then my hands are tied." Lin Meng had no intention of playing the saint. He feigned helplessness, "Even though Li Dabiao has made a lot of money forcibly occupying your land, and uses that money to eat, drink, whore, and gamble instead of paying you, this is ultimately between you and him. It wouldn’t be appropriate, reasonably or emotionally, for me to step in."

Hearing this, the already disgruntled crowd instantly grew even more furious.

"That’s right! We signed contracts. If Li Dabiao farms our land without paying, he’s just illegally occupying it!"

"That son of a bitch! I see him going out to drink and find women every day. Last time he lost tens of thousands gambling in one go. That’s our money!"

"He has money but won’t pay us. Does he really think we’re that easy to bully?!"

The crowd was riled up. Everyone’s dissatisfaction with Li Dabiao exploded at this very moment. After all, comparison was the thief of joy. In the past, people either farmed their own land or were forced to lease it to Li Dabiao, but either way, they suffered his bullying. Now, seeing others lease their land to Lin Meng and make so much money, they felt a sudden and sharp sense of injustice. It was especially unbearable when the ones making the money were their own neighbors!

Seeing that the time was ripe, Lin Meng coughed lightly. "Everyone, calm down. If you really want to lease to me, it’s not impossible to do so next season. However, I must remind you that there is a limit to how many acres I can lease.

"Once I reach my quota, I will either stop taking on more land or offer a much lower price.

"Most importantly, if you really want to get your land back or ask Li Dabiao for your money, I suggest you all go together. With so many of you, he definitely won’t dare lay a hand on you."

Hearing these seemingly comforting words, the crowd didn’t calm down. Instead, they grew even more agitated.

"Damn it! Xiaomeng is right. Let’s all go demand our money from that bastard Li Dabiao! If he doesn’t pay, we’ll make him give our land back!"

"Yeah! There are so many of us. If that dog dares to get violent, we’ll fight him to the bitter end!"

"What are we waiting for? Let’s go right now! If we’re late, we won’t even have the chance to lease our land to Xiaomeng!"

A large crowd marched toward Li Dabiao’s house, cursing all the way. Those who had already received their money naturally didn’t want to miss such a good show, so they quickly followed behind. Soon, the courtyard became completely quiet.

Pan Qiaolian couldn’t help but laugh out loud. "Xiaomeng, I really didn’t expect you to be so devious. With you stirring the pot like this, Li Dabiao is in for a miserable time today."

"Qiaolian, I have no idea what you mean." Lin Meng blinked innocently.

"Heh, you’re pretty good at playing dumb." Pan Qiaolian gave Lin Meng a playful glare.

Watching the womanly charm she exuded, Lin Meng felt a fire kindle in his chest. He pulled out another five thousand yuan and pressed it into her hand. "Qiaolian, thanks for playing along with me earlier. Consider this money a token of my gratitude."

"It’s too much, I can’t accept this!" Pan Qiaolian hastily waved her hands to decline.

"If you don’t take it, you’re disrespecting me," Lin Meng said with a serious face, forcefully stuffing the money into her pocket.

Pan Qiaolian couldn’t refuse any further and accepted it, her heart bubbling with sweet delight. Fearing that Wang Wei and the others might notice something amiss, she made an excuse and left.

Lin Meng then chatted with Wang Wei for a bit, handing over full responsibility for the newly leased land to him. Of course, Wang Wei couldn’t farm it all by himself, but he could hire other villagers to help with the work.

After arranging everything, Lin Meng finally went home to continue making his Beauty Liquid.

As for whether Li Dabiao lived or died, Lin Meng couldn’t care less! Since they had already torn up all pretenses of civility, he was determined to ruin the man completely!

Night soon fell.

Taohua Village was enveloped in a peaceful and serene atmosphere, but Li Dabiao’s house was an absolute wreck.

"Motherfucker! That little brat Lin Meng dared to screw me over like this! I’m going to fucking kill him!" Li Dabiao’s face was twisted in rage as he smashed nearly everything in sight.

Beside him, Li Dahai looked equally gloomy.

At this moment, they both wanted nothing more than to murder Lin Meng. Because of his instigation, a massive crowd had stormed into their house today demanding money. They weren’t the least bit afraid of Li Dabiao’s threats, and some had even brought hoes and shovels, ready to risk their lives fighting him.

Left with no other choice, Li Dabiao had called over Li Dahai. He assumed that the title of Village Chief would be enough to intimidate them. But who could have guessed that those unruly peasants wouldn’t even fear Li Dahai? They had almost split his head open.

With no way out, the two men had no choice but to scrape their money together and pay them off. This was their dirty money! They had gone through so much trouble to scam it out of people, and now it was all gone.

All of this was that little bastard Lin Meng’s fault.

Damn it, no matter what, they would never let him off the hook!