I Overhear Animals' Thoughts to Feed My Family

Chapter 154: Chapter 153: Li Guangming’s Time to Die

Seeing the people of Dragon King Pond brazenly point a gun at him, Li Guangming trembled with rage. But he didn’t dare order a direct charge. The villagers were dead set on protecting Lin Zhiyin. If any casualties occurred, even with his connections, he could forget about competing with Jiang Weimin for the top position. His eyes darted around, and he found a loophole in Third Master Zhao’s words.

”Wife? What wife? Are they registered? Educated youths need a letter of introduction from their work unit to get married! You, Farm Director Qian! Did you issue a marriage introduction letter for Lin Zhiyin? I’m asking you a question, Farm Director Qian!”

Farm Director Qian was furious. ’That son of a bitch Li Guangming, always picking on me,’ he thought. But things had already come to this. He could only bite the bullet, pretend to think for a moment, and then shake his head.

”No, I never issued a letter of introduction!”

Li Guangming let out a triumphant sneer.

”Did you hear that? Huh? The two of them aren’t married at all, so what are you talking about, Lin Zhiyin being a wife of your Dragon King Pond? Her current status is still an educated youth—an educated youth from the Youth Farm! The organization has given us the authority to take her away.”

”Don’t give me that crap about the organization. I don’t care who gave you the authority; as long as I’m here, you can forget about taking her!”

”Fine, Zhao the Third! You’re forcing my hand!”

Li Guangming’s gaze swept over Third Master Zhao and the Dragon King Pond villagers behind him as he said viciously,

”Xiaowei, take your men and advance. Uphold the rights of the organization.”

”Sir!”

The Civilian Militia Captain was obedient. He led his men into a line, fixed their gleaming bayonets, and advanced on the Dragon King Pond crowd. The villagers’ formation wavered again, but Zhao Lao Nian and the others at the very front didn’t retreat a single step. Third Master Zhao’s expression hardened, and he raised his gun.

At the doorway, Chen Yanmei nervously clenched her fists. Jin Xiuying’s expression shifted as she worked the bolt on her rifle, chambering a round. Her eyes darted around, trying to figure out where to run with Lin Zhiyin once the fighting started. Meanwhile, Lin Zhiyin bit her lip, standing just inside the door and silently watching the scene unfold.

SCREECH—!

A clash was imminent when the roar of an engine was heard, followed by the screech of tires. A large truck skidded to a halt beside the crowd. Before it had even fully stopped, a whole mob of people jumped out of the truck bed. Their faces were all pale, and a few ran to the side of the road, leaned against trees, and vomited. They had just eaten a full meal, and throwing it all up was heartbreaking.

Niu Yuesheng had driven from the Commune to Dragon King Pond in under ten minutes, which made for a rough ride for the hundred or so men. They already knew what was happening on the way; Li Dawei had been shouting so loudly that everyone in the truck bed had heard him clearly.

So, no one could really blame Zhao Wendong and Niu Yuesheng for driving so fast—they would have done the same. Everyone directed their anger at the group that had come to snatch Brother Dong’s wife. More and more men poured out of the truck bed, quickly surrounding Li Guangming and his people, three layers deep, until they were completely boxed in.

Seeing that the county militia had fixed gleaming bayonets, the crowd brandished their own tools. In an instant, an assortment of kitchen knives, axes, sickles, and various firearms were all pointed at Li Guangming and his men, their cold steel glinting in the sunlight.

At this point, the militia squad leader, Xiaowei, was cursing up a storm in his head. ’Who the hell did this Li Guangming piss off? This ragtag army is bigger than the entire county militia battalion—enough to attack the county seat!’ His own men were frozen in place, not daring to move a muscle, their faces the very picture of innocence.

”Don’t you fuckers move! Move and we’ll kill you.”

”So you’re the ones trying to snatch our Sister-in-law Dong, huh? We’ll kill you bastards!”

”That fat one’s obviously a piece of shit. Let’s start by chopping him up!”

Hearing the angry roars from the opposing crowd, Farm Director Qian’s legs went weak, and he collapsed onto his butt. What terrible karma did he have to get involved in this mess? If he’d known this would happen, he wouldn’t have come near this quagmire even if it killed him. Li Guangming was also dumbfounded. He never expected such a turn of events. Where had Zhao Wendong summoned so many people from in such a short time?

Zhao Wendong jumped down from the truck and strode up to Li Guangming. Li Guangming saw him too and shouted sternly.

”Zhao Wendong, what are you doing? Are you trying to rebe—”

Before he could finish, Zhao Wendong had already swung a palm across his fat face. The slap was thrown with all his might, sending ripples through the flesh on Li Guangming’s cheeks.

SLAP—!

The crisp sound of the slap echoed through the clearing. Zhao Wendong followed up with a powerful kick to Li Guangming’s stomach, sending him sprawling to the ground. Before Li Guangming could get up, Zhao Wendong had already grabbed the butt of his Type 56 rifle and began smashing it viciously into Li Guangming’s head.

”THUD, THUD, THUD!”

”Fuck your mother, Li Dalian! You thought I’ve been too easy on you, right? You think you’re some big shot, huh?!”

”If you want to die, I’ll grant your wish today!”

The sound of the rifle butt striking flesh and bone was sickeningly clear. Li Guangming’s vision swam, and blood blurred his eyes. He felt Zhao Wendong’s boundless killing intent, and his survival instinct made him raise his hands.

”I was wrong! I won’t do it again! Spare me, Zhao Wendong, I was wrong!”

A cold sneer touched the corner of Zhao Wendong’s mouth. He pressed the cold muzzle of his Type 56 directly against Li Guangming’s temple.

”You don’t know you were wrong. You just know you’re about to die!”

He was about to pull the trigger when someone grabbed him from behind. It was Third Master Zhao, who looked at Zhao Wendong with a fierce expression.

”Dongzi, take care of your Granny Liu for me! I’ll do it!”

With that, he tried to snatch the gun from Zhao Wendong’s hands. Zhao Weiguo and the others quickly surrounded them, pulling them apart. With two or three hundred pairs of eyes watching, if Li Guangming died here, Dragon King Pond would be finished. This was completely different from a covert assassination.

Yang Wenxue was terrified too and rushed forward, pleading ceaselessly.

”Comrade Zhao Wendong, you have a bright future ahead of you! You have to calm down!”

”Heh. As long as trash like this exists in the world, no good person can stay calm. Don’t anyone try to stop me. He dies today!”

After speaking, Zhao Wendong’s gaze passed over the crowd and met Lin Zhiyin’s eyes in the doorway. He gave her a small smile. Lin Zhiyin felt a sharp sting in her eyes, and tears immediately began to stream down her face against her will. She quickly wiped them away and gave Zhao Wendong the most brilliant smile she could muster.

’If this is goodbye, then I want him to remember me at my most beautiful. That way, when I go down to join him, he won’t fail to recognize me.’

Zhao Wendong’s gaze moved on, sweeping across the faces of his family—his mother Chen Yanmei, his sister-in-law Song Xiaoyu—and then over Zhao Weiguo and the others. Finally, his eyes paused on one person.

Little Bastard had taken off the hat Zhao Wendong had given him, making his head stand out in the crowd. Seeing Zhao Wendong look his way, Little Bastard rolled his eyes, then raised his right hand and pointed to himself. He followed this by flattening his hand and drawing it across his own neck in a throat-slitting gesture.

Zhao Wendong’s heart jolted. His eyes flickered as he looked back at Little Bastard. Little Bastard’s gaze was perfectly calm, filled with a resolute, forward-charging determination. Seeing Zhao Wendong look again, he curled his lip with a hint of disdain, as if to say, ’You’re really dragging this out, Zhao Wendong. I’m not impressed.’ Only then did he give Zhao Wendong a slight nod of confirmation.

Understanding dawned on Zhao Wendong. He brought his gaze back to Li Guangming. No one spoke; the only sound was Li Guangming’s wails. All eyes were on Zhao Wendong. His recent actions had given everyone an unusual feeling, as if he were making his final farewells. It seemed this time, Zhao Wendong had truly resolved to act.

”Dongzi, I... let me do it!”

Third Master Zhao couldn’t overpower Zhao Wendong, and his voice took on a pleading tone, begging to be the one to finish Li Guangming. His old bones were a worthy sacrifice. Li Guangming also sensed the danger. For a moment, it was as if he could see his ancestors beckoning him from the afterlife. His face covered in blood, he shrieked at the men he’d brought.

”Xiaowei! Xiaowei, save me!”

The militia squad leader who had come with him, the previously loyal Xiaowei, suddenly seemed to have gone deaf and mute. He was intently studying a magpie’s nest in a roadside tree, as if he were deeply interested in its construction. The militiamen he’d brought were all as still as meditating monks; not a single one moved.

”Comrade Zhao Wendong, please listen to me! If you kill him, you’ll be finished too!”

Seeing that things were about to spiral out of control, Yang Wenxue, knowing it was futile, couldn’t help but make one last attempt at dissuasion. He could even picture the scene: Zhao Wendong would smile at him, and then pull the trigger.

Who would have thought that in the next second, Zhao Wendong would actually nod at him.

”Alright, I’ll give you, Secretary Yang, some face. If Li Dalian kowtows three times to our entire village and admits he was wrong, I won’t kill him!”

The turn of events was so abrupt it stunned everyone. Many immediately began to wonder, ’Is Zhao Wendong planning to endure this for now?’ Others guessed he was just waiting for a dark and stormy night to act alone. Only Zhao Wendong and one other person knew the truth: he had found a more suitable candidate to do the deed, one who would cause the least amount of trouble later. Li Guangming’s time was up.

Surprisingly, Li Guangming was the quickest to react. The cold dampness of his urine-soaked pants snapped him back to his senses. Fearing Zhao Wendong might go back on his word, Li Guangming scrambled to his knees and started kowtowing toward him with loud THUDS. He knocked his head on the ground at least six or seven times before scrambling to his feet and stumbling toward the truck they had arrived in, all while shouting.

”I did it! I did it! Don’t kill me!”

Seeing that Zhao Wendong didn’t stop him, the surrounding crowd parted to form a path, letting Li Guangming pass. The moment they saw this, Farm Director Qian, Xiaowei, and the other militiamen immediately scurried after Li Guangming and fled. They hadn’t dared to say a single word since Zhao Wendong’s return; the whole scene had been just too terrifying.

A truck had charged in, men had jumped out one after another, and they’d been instantly surrounded. That was bad enough, but then everyone brandished weapons. And then Zhao Wendong had made his domineering entrance, immediately slapping and kicking Li Guangming to the ground, then just starting to smash his head in with a rifle butt. The scene had been utterly brutal.

This was Li Guangming, one of the top figures in the county, and Zhao Wendong had beaten him like a disobedient grandson and nearly shot him in public. Not even the movies dared to be this dramatic. It wasn’t that they were incompetent; the enemy was just too damn strong.