Li Zhong's house had only three rooms, one occupied by his wife and another rented by the drunken Lin Hongsheng.
Xia Liu politely declined Li Zhong's offer to sleep in Li Qinqin's room and followed Fang Fei downstairs to leave.
Li Zhong did not insist further, he asked Xia Liu to call him in the morning, and they would go to Pinglan Town to resolve the matter then.
In the car, Fang Fei was somewhat mischievous.
"Pfft! Sister Fang, please spare me. I still have important things to do tomorrow." Xia Liu felt like crying but had no tears, wondering how he always ended up attracting such monstrously beautiful women wherever he went.
Fang Fei laughed for a while, then sat properly in the passenger seat, "Alright, I'll stop teasing you. Let's go to Longyun Hotel, that's where my office is. Just get through one night there."
Following Fang Fei's instructions, Xia Liu eventually drove to the most luxurious hotel in the county, Longyun Hotel, a thirty-story building that looked extravagantly opulent.
Lying in the clean room, Xia Liu tossed and turned, unable to sleep, as his mind was filled with thoughts of Fang Fei.
"Ah, Xia Liu, Xia Liu, you let down the people of the world..."
Murmuring to himself, Xia Liu sat cross-legged on the bed, then his hands formed a seal, and the Five Elements Mantra silently began to flow.
The next morning, Xia Liu called Fang Fei early, who had also risen early and had gone to the county office.
In fact, after Fang Fei had taken Xia Liu to his room the previous night, she had gone out to a traditional medicine shop to properly prepare the prescription Xia Liu had written, and then she went to the county office, spent the night with her godmother, and brewed her medicine to drink in the morning.
Having no choice, after getting up, Xia Liu had to take a motorcycle taxi to the county office, where many public servants had already gathered.
The reason was none other than Li Zhong personally waiting at the door. When Xia Liu arrived, the security personnel were stunned, especially seeing Li Zhong warmly greeting Xia Liu.
Li Zhong and Xia Liu got into one car, and a few subordinates who were going with them to Pinglan Town joined them, a convoy powerful enough to frighten several oxen.
In the car, Li Zhong asked Xia Liu why he hadn't sought Lan Weiming when he was unreasonably obstructed by the people of Shanyan Village.
This question made Xia Liu somewhat embarrassed, but he explained the situation honestly in the end.
"I can't believe Lan Weiming would actually indulge his son in causing trouble in the town!" Li Zhong did not doubt Xia Liu's answer. Upon hearing that Lan Jian was relying on his father to misbehave in town, Li Zhong was thoroughly infuriated.
This was not only because he owed Xia Liu a favor, but it was also a matter of subordinate management and public dissent, which made him unqualified.
Upon reaching the town office, the sight that greeted Li Zhong fueled his anger further, as the security staff were incredibly lax, and in the office, there were only three of Young Master Liao's men.
These three were so frightened by Li Zhong's arrival that they nearly wet their pants, and only then did Li Zhong find out that Lan Weiming and his colleagues had gone to the villages, which somewhat soothed Li Zhong's ire.
He personally called Lan Weiming, instructing him to tell his colleagues to work, while he himself returned to the office alone.
Within twenty minutes, a JETTA sedan anxiously stopped below the office building.
Lan Weiming ran up the stairs with a look of urgency. Upon seeing Li Zhong, his face drastically changed, and he quickly greeted in a low voice.
"From now on, without my permission, you are not allowed to speak, understand?" Li Zhong looked at Lan Weiming and said.
"Understood!" Realizing his faux pas, Lan Weiming covered his mouth with his hand and nodded desperately.
He was somewhat nervous, as Li Zhong's attitude today was very unusual, and there was also a young stranger he had never seen before, who seemed to have a very good relationship with Li Zhong.
As for Li Zhong's arrangements, Xia Liu kept silent. This was their own business; as long as they could start working smoothly today, that was good enough.
Before heading to Shanyan Village, Xia Liu called the construction crew, instructing them to bring the excavators and dump trucks and follow him to start work!
Two Volkswagen cars led the way, with the excavator and dump truck following behind, as the convoy majestically approached the entrance of Shanyan Village.
Just like the day before, the villagers of Shanyan Village came out to block them at first notice. This time, to Xia Liu's surprise, Li Hao was present, and even Lan Jian was there.
"The poor lad from Osmanthus Village, better to drink voluntarily than be forced to drink as punishment. If you don't move the vehicles away, they will be smashed!" Li Hao furiously shouted at Xia Liu.
"Move or we'll smash it!"
The villagers of Shanyan Village must have been brainwashed by Li Hao the night before; he immediately ignited those who were originally honest villagers.
Seeing this, Xia Liu felt secretly saddened. Truly, one bad apple spoils the whole barrel.
"Li Hao, stop it. This is for everyone's benefit. I'm going to clear this road, and soon it might even be paved with cement. This will make everyone's travel much easier," Xia Liu didn't want to exacerbate the situation. The people of Shanyan Village were innocent, and even if there were grievances, those belonged to previous generations. In today's society, benefiting the people is what's most important.
"Screw that, if I let you out of the village, I'd be thanking Buddha and burning incense. Stop the bullshit about a cement road!" Li Hao spat in Xia Liu's direction disdainfully.
"You poor wretch from Osmanthus Village. I didn't teach you a good lesson last time. Don't make me angry, or you'll regret it," at this moment, Lan Jian also stepped forward. He was planning to meet with Li Hao today to discuss retaliating against Xia Liu, and now all he needed was a reason to get the villagers to join in.
Xia Liu, feeling helpless, turned around to signal briefly with his eyes, then leaned on the car hood waiting for what was to come next.
Li Zhong, sitting in the car, understood Xia Liu's gesture and swiftly instructed everyone to get out of the car.
Seeing his own father and some unfamiliar people get out, Lan Jian's facial expression grew even more vivid.
However, some of the villagers of Shanyan Village were puzzled to see Li Zhong getting out of the car, feeling they had seen him somewhere but unable to place him at the moment.
"Hahaha, Xia Liu, you're done for today!" Lan Jian laughed wildly, then waved to Lan Weiming saying, "Dad, last time it was him who hit me. Even after I told him your name, he still hit me. He clearly doesn't take you seriously!"