Jiang Tao caught the hint immediately. He nodded and said, “Station Manager Mo, you need to sell them according to the allotted price! After all, this seed station belongs to the government.” This was a reminder for Mo Deli to be fair and do not use public goods in exchange for favors.
Mo Deli was annoyed by this. He cursed Xiao Lingyu. ‘What a fool. I was trying to be nice, and you don’t know how to appreciate it.’
He was dissatisfied with Xiao Lingyu because Xiao Lingyu stood in his way. This was a good opportunity for Mo Deli to endear himself to Jiang Tao, but Xiao Lingyu had put a stop to that. However, since Mo Deli was not clear about the nature of the relationship between Xiao Lingyu and Jiang Tao, he did not voice his unhappiness.
His expression froze after he heard Jiang Tao. He quickly smiled and said, “Director Jiang, you’re scaring me. I was only doing my job.” Then, Mo Deli turned to Xiao Lingyu, “Miss Xiao, the strawberry seeds are expensive, but they have gone unsold for a long time already. By the end of this month, the station will return the seeds. In the future, we’ll not be stocking any strawberry seeds. So if you can cultivate a way to farm strawberries, it will help expand the agriculture projects in Xing Yin County!”
Xiao Lingyu said nothing, and it made Mo Deli feel awkward. He coughed twice and continued, “How about this, Miss Xiao? I’ll sell the strawberry seeds to you at their original stock price. They cost 300 RMB!”
1200 and 300, the difference was huge. However, based on Xiao Lingyu’s prediction, the woman earlier had purposely charged her extra so that she could fill her own pockets with the extra money.
Kang Xiaoxue must have done that many times before. Xiao Lingyu felt indignant for her other victims. She was embezzling public funds.
Xiao Lingyu smiled. “Station Manager Mo, you are still being too kind to me. Miss Kang told me the strawberry seeds sold for 1000 RMB earlier.”
“1000 RMB?” Mo Deli was stunned. He scolded Kang Xiaoxue in his mind. The girl was too dumb. When she wanted to steal from the naive farmers, she shouldn’t make the price difference that huge!
Mo Deli smiled apologetically. “Miss Xiao probably misheard. Maybe she said the whole array of seeds cost 1000 RMB instead of the strawberry seeds.”
Xiao Lingyu’s half-smiling face caused Mo Deli to freeze. He quickly turned away. He knew the more he explained, the more he’d expose himself. Therefore, he decided to quickly wrap this transaction up. “Miss Xiao, the total will be 300 RMB. Thank you.”
This time, Xiao Lingyu didn’t say anything but took out the money to give Mo Deli. The transaction was open and fair. No one owed anyone any favors.
Mo Deli packed the seeds. After Xiao Lingyu took them, she told Jiang Tao, “Director Jiang, I’ll not take any more of your time. I’ll leave first.”
For some reason, Jiang Tao found himself asking, “Lingyu, where are you going after this? How about I drive you?” Jiang Tao pointed at a black car parked opposite.
Mo Deli was dumbfounded. He looked at Xiao Lingyu with confusion. The girl was clean and fair, but she was not pretty. She was not even half as pretty as Kang Xiaoxue. The girl’s big glasses covered more than half of her face. Her clothes were very ordinary too.
However, this seemingly normal girl had charmed the famous young police chief of Xing Yin County.
The thing that surprised Mo Deli further was the girl rejected Director Jiang. How… was that possible?
Mo Deli couldn’t believe it.
Xiao Lingyu shook her head and said, “Thank you, Director Jiang, but I’m fine. I’ll just take the bus home.”
If Jiang Tao sent Xiao Lingyu home, who knew what kind of trouble it’d cause back at Taoyuan Village.
Jiang Tao was surprised by Xiao Lingyu’s direct rejection. However, he was a gentleman. He didn’t push it. He only nodded. “Okay then. Be careful on the road!”
“Thank you, Director Jiang!” Xiao Lingyu turned and walked away.
Jiang Tao didn’t say anything as Xiao Lingyu walked away, but he did narrow his eyes.
Mo Deli walked forward and asked cautiously, “Director Jiang, shall we go in for tea?”
Jiang Tao’s expression darkened. He said, “There’s no need. I’m needed back at the bureau.” After he took two steps, Jiang Tao turned around to say, “Oh, by the way, I might have to look into your sister-in-law’s complaints and work history.” In other words, Jiang Tao would also do a check on Mo Deli.
Mo Deli blanched. He staggered back. He screamed internally, and his mind was blank. When he tried to explain, Jiang Tao had already left.
Mo Deli was livid. He gritted his teeth and growled, “Kang Xiaoxue!” He left to find his sister-in-law.
The next day, Mo Deli would be reported for public fund embezzlement and taking bribes. Kang Xiaoxue was arrested for being his accomplice.
However, Xiao Lingyu wouldn’t know about all that. Even if she knew, she wouldn’t care.
…
Xiao Lingyu took the bus back to Xing An Town. She didn’t stay for long. She carried her bag and headed to the bus station.
When she passed by an intersection, he saw a group of people gathered together as if they were trying to catch something.
Xiao Lingyu continued to walk forward because she didn’t want to meddle.
Suddenly, a cow’s mooing could be heard. Then, someone screamed, “Catch it, don’t let it run away.”
Without warning, the group of people ran towards Xiao Lingyu. When they reached Xiao Lingyu, they were stunned.
The calf that had escaped stopped in front of a girl. Besides mooing, it rubbed its head against her calf. The people were afraid that the calf might accidentally injure the girl.
A strong middle-aged man ran over to pull on the calf’s rein. “You’re coming back with us!”
The calf fought tooth and nail with the man. It raised its head to look at Xiao Lingyu with moist eyes. There were tears in its eyes,
‘The… The calf is crying?’ Xiao Lingyu was shocked. ‘Why is it crying? Is it asking me for help? What on Earth is going on?’
Xiao Lingyu didn’t have the time to think because the calf was being slowly pulled away by the crowd.
“Wait!”