Chapter 2098

Since Big Wild Ox had given instructions, old Wang certainly wouldn't be bluffed so easily. Besides, no one had ever called his son Big Wild Ox. Old Wang looked at Zhao Desan with suspicious eyes and said, "What Big Wild Ox? We don't raise any oxen in our house."

Seeing old Wang's expression, Zhao Desan knew that this honest villager clearly looked a bit nervous when telling a lie, so he knew the old guy was playing dumb. However, this act of playing dumb left Zhao Desan momentarily unsure of how to respond. Just as he was stuck, he suddenly saw a head bobbing behind the low wall of the courtyard latrine. Seeing this, Zhao Desan had a flash of inspiration, laughed, and said, "Maybe I remembered wrong." Saying this, Zhao Desan suddenly clutched his stomach with both hands, bent over, and said with a pained expression, "Ouch, Uncle Wang, my stomach suddenly hurts so much. I'm going to use your latrine." Without waiting for old Wang to react, he feigned a stomachache, clutched his belly, bent over, and rushed toward the latrine where the person was hiding.

Big Wild Ox, hiding in the latrine, heard Zhao Desan say he wanted to use the toilet and immediately realized the situation was bad. He must have been discovered by this cunning guy hiding in the latrine. Before he could fully recover, he heard footsteps approaching the latrine. In his desperation, Big Wild Ox grabbed the shovel used for the pit latrine to defend himself.

Just as Big Wild Ox picked up the shovel, Zhao Desan rushed in. Seeing Big Wild Ox already holding the shovel and glaring at him viciously, Zhao Desan jumped back in fright, immediately took a horse stance, spread his arms, struck a pose to welcome the challenge, and said to Big Wild Ox, "Big Wild Ox, don't think you can hide today!"

"What do you want with me? I didn't offend you!" Although Big Wild Ox had a weapon in his hand, he was clearly frightened by the stance Zhao Desan had struck. After all, he had suffered at his hands before and knew he was no match for Zhao Desan in a one-on-one fight, and he didn't want to provoke him either.

"Big Wild Ox, I'm not here to duel you today! I'm here to ask you about something. Look at you, holding a weapon. As the saying goes, a guest is a guest upon entering the door. Is this how you treat guests?" Zhao Desan provoked him.

"I... I don't know anything, don't ask me!" Big Wild Ox waved the shovel, appearing a bit nervous.

Big Wild Ox's nervous reaction made Zhao Desan feel that he definitely knew the truth behind the wage-chasing incident. Zhao Desan changed his stance, ready to meet Big Wild Ox's charge at any time, and said to him, "Stop pretending, I know you definitely know."

"I don't know anything, get out, get out of my house!" Big Wild Ox waved the shovel to drive Zhao Desan away.

Although Zhao Desan was confident in a one-on-one fight with Big Wild Ox, the current situation was that Big Wild Ox was holding a shovel. If they really fought, he wouldn't be so sure. Now he had to use both soft and hard tactics; it would be best to use the soft approach to make him submit. Just then, Zhao Desan thought of what Han Wu had told him when he called him after seeing Big Wild Ox that afternoon. So, Zhao Desan sneered at the somewhat irritable Big Wild Ox and said, "Big Wild Ox, don't think that just because you ran home, everything is fine—"

Sure enough, before Zhao Desan could finish his sentence, Big Wild Ox, filled with fear, hurriedly interrupted him and said in a panic, "You... what did you say?"

Seeing Big Wild Ox's psychological defenses wavering, Zhao Desan continued to sneer, psychologically dismantling his resistance. He said, "Big Wild Ox, to tell you the truth, I know exactly what you did in the city. Don't forget, Han Wu and I are sworn brothers. Since Han Wu is your brother, I definitely know everything you've done..."

"Damn it! That bastard Han Wu betrayed me!" Hearing Zhao Desan's words, Big Wild Ox interpreted it that way. He looked extremely angry, stabbed the shovel into the ground, spat fiercely, and said.

Realizing he had spoken wrongly and fearing it would bring unnecessary trouble to Han Wu, Zhao Desan hurriedly defended Han Wu. He said, "Damn it! If that bastard Han Wu had betrayed you, would I have had to run all the way to the mountains to find you! It's precisely because that bastard Han Wu refused to tell me your whereabouts that I had such a hard time finding you!"

"Then... what are you looking for me for?" Big Wild Ox finally got to the point and asked.

"Big Wild Ox, the consequences of what you did in the city this time are very serious, do you know that?" Zhao Desan said, answering with a non-sequitur, just wanting to psychologically dismantle his defenses so that this guy would spill everything he knew in a moment.

Hearing Zhao Desan's words, old Wang, who had been standing by looking nervous and confused, hurriedly asked Big Wild Ox, "What did you do in the city again?"

"I didn't... I didn't do anything, why are you stirring up trouble!" Big Wild Ox roared impatiently at the worried old Wang, but it was clear he still cared about old Wang's feelings.

Old Wang looked at Big Wild Ox with concern and said earnestly, "Why don't you listen to me? Look, when your mother died, she told me to raise you well. Why can't you be successful, why can't you strive for something? Sigh!..."

Zhao Desan observed Big Wild Ox's reaction and found that after old Wang said these words, Big Wild Ox fell silent. It seemed this guy still had vulnerable moments. Seizing this weakness, Zhao Desan deliberately raised his voice and said to old Wang, "Uncle Wang, it's like this, Big Wild Ox, he in the city..."

"Section Chief Liu!" Sure enough, Big Wild Ox fell for it. As soon as Zhao Desan said the two words "in the city," Big Wild Ox hurriedly interrupted him, glared at him with a helpless look, softened his tone, and said, "Deputy Section Chief Liu, let's go outside and talk."