Chapter 590: The Tyrant's Zenith

You shameless old bastard, still trying to climb up!

Lü Shuyong's shoe soles were covered in mud, but that didn't stop him from wildly stomping everything. As soon as Wang Yaosheng crawled to the pond's edge, Lü Shuyong fiercely stomped on his head.

That savage kick made the onlookers gasp in shock.

Half of Wang Yaosheng's body was submerged in the murky pond, coughing and struggling; each time he was stomped into the water came a desperate flop.

The murky water splashed, wetting Lü Shuyong's pant legs.

Obviously, Lü Shuyong didn't care whether his pants were clean; instead, a gleeful, sinister smile of controlling others' lives appeared on his face.

The surrounding villagers, many of them, dared to be angry but not speak out.

Stop!

Just as Lü Shuyong was enjoying his stomping, an angry shout came from not far away.

The people present turned toward the sound; four or five people ran toward the fish pond, the leader being Lingtan Town's Mayor Liu Zhuangwen.

When the leader arrived, Lü Shuyong still gave him face on the surface.

He withdrew his violent right foot, leisurely twirled the string of heavenly beads in his hand, and greeted Mayor Liu with a chuckle: "Mayor Liu, what wind blew you here?"

What other wind could it be? Naturally, it's your corrupt influence!

Mayor Liu suppressed his anger and didn't answer Lü Shuyong's question, stepping forward to pull Wang Yaosheng up. As soon as Wang Yaosheng scrambled onto the bank, he lay on the ground, coughing repeatedly, his face deathly pale.

It seems he drank a lot of pond water just now.

Mayor Liu squatted to help pat Wang Yaosheng's back; after Wang Yaosheng caught his breath, he asked concernedly: "Do you want to go to the clinic for a check-up?"

I won't go.

With Mayor Liu's support, Wang Yaosheng laboriously climbed to his feet.

That beating from Lü Shuyong just now had worn Wang Yaosheng out enough to choke, nearly costing him his life. But Wang Yaosheng had no concept of 'injury verification' or the like, nor did he think of going to the clinic.

In Wang Yaosheng's view, going to the clinic meant having to pay money.

The clinic is a bottomless pit; even if you're not sick, it can give you a bunch of ailments, squeezing you dry! That place is like Lü Shuyong—both devour people without spitting bones.

Last year, he already learned a lesson at the clinic.

Back then, his wife had an abscess on her neck, and they went to the town clinic for treatment.

The clinic cut off his wife's neck abscess, she stayed over ten days, draining the family's savings of more than ten thousand, yet the illness wasn't cured.

Later, that abscess worsened, his wife couldn't breathe, the clinic staff told them to immediately transfer to a big hospital, but she died halfway there.

There wasn't even a place to reason.

The clinic staff said his wife didn't die in the clinic, it had nothing to do with them; it was his own fault for not caring for the patient during transfer, causing her death.

Wang Yaosheng had long realized this is a society where the kind are bullied!

He neither curses nor mutters.

He turned, picked up the iron shovel used to repair the irrigation ditch, wielded it as a weapon, his whole body exuding ferocity, then swung it at Lü Shuyong's head.

Damn!!!

Lü Shuyong startled, dodged quickly; though his head avoided disaster, his shoulder was struck by the shovel, feeling as if his scapula were about to shatter.

Seeing Wang Yaosheng charge like a madman to strike.

Lü Shuyong dodged while shouting, "Hold him down!" The several burly 'gardeners' nearby immediately swarmed over.

In no time they seized the iron shovel from Wang Yaosheng's hands.

They pressed Wang Yaosheng to the ground and gave him a brutal beating.

Mayor Liu Zhuangwen hurried forward to stop them: "You want to beat him to death? All of you, stop!" Under his pulling, the gardeners had to relent.

By now, Wang Yaosheng's face was bruised and swollen.

After Wang Yaosheng crawled up from the mud, his eyes bulged like bronze bells, heedless of life or death, he wanted to rush forward to strike Lü Shuyong again, but Mayor Liu tightly held him back.

Mayor Liu shouted loudly: "Wang Yaosheng! Be sensible! What are you doing, don't act rashly!"

Let go of me!!!

Wang Yaosheng was bear-hugged by Mayor Liu at the waist; he struggled hard several times but couldn't break free. At this moment, Wang Yaosheng was like an angry red bull, his eyes filled with bloodshot veins.

His gaze almost seemed to spit fire, locked firmly on Lü Shuyong.

"Stay calm!" Mayor Liu urged: "If you beat him to death, you'll also go to jail! Think of your grandson, he's still in school! Who will look after him if you die? Stay calm!"

Upon mentioning his grandson, Wang Yaosheng deflated like a punctured balloon and gave up struggling.

His only son, seven years ago was tricked into joining a multi-level scheme, lost all contact, and now it's unknown whether he's alive or dead.

His daughter-in-law also ran off with someone else, abandoning the child without care.

Now only he and his grandson remain, dependent on each other; he suddenly felt the world was terribly unfair—he couldn't even afford to die.

"That's right, first calm down, we can discuss things." Seeing Wang Yaosheng stop struggling, Mayor Liu also breathed a sigh of relief.

At this moment…

Lü Shuyong rubbed his sore shoulder from the shovel blow, glared angrily: "Mayor Liu, since you want to uphold justice, today I'll give you this face! He owes me 2.8 million in compensation, and now he hit me with a shovel! How do you reckon these two accounts?!"

What 2.8 million?

That horrifying astronomical figure truly startled Mayor Liu.

Before, he had only heard that the feng shui fish at the Lü Mansion had died, and Lü Shuyong wanted to cause trouble for Wang Yaosheng. Worried something might happen, he hurried over to check the situation.

Mayor Liu asked Wang Yaosheng: "He says you owe him 2.8 million; what's the situation?"

Naturally taciturn Wang Yaosheng couldn't even fart if hit with a blunt stick. He squatted on the pond's embankment, took off his collar and poured out the muddy water inside. Like a deaf man, he didn't respond to Mayor Liu's question.

At this moment, an elder surnamed Wang stepped out from the crowd.

The Wang family was being bullied.

This old man obviously also harbored a bellyful of anger.

He stepped forward and explained to Mayor Liu: "Mayor Liu, here's the situation. The Lü Mansion lost 28 fish; Lü Shuyong blamed Wang Yaosheng, demanding compensation. Ten thousand per fish, totaling 2.8 million."

Liu Zhuangwen could not hide their anger.

He turned his head to look at Lü Shuyong, wanting to scold but unable to. The people of Place: Lü Family hold extremely high positions as ministers; this Lü Shuyong, relying on his influence to bully people in town, has already become commonplace.

After careful consideration.

Liu Zhuangwen could only suppress their anger and mediate: "Wang Yaosheng is just a fish farmer, destitute with bare walls, currently applying for low-income assistance. You're asking him to pay 2.8 million—where would he get that money? As for this matter, can you…"

"Cannot!"

Before Liu Zhuangwen could finish speaking, Lü Shuyong already put on an attitude of not giving face.

Lü Shuyong coldly and arrogantly emphasized: "Town Mayor Liu, just now he struck me with an iron shovel—you also saw that. Not striking him now is already letting you save face! That 2.8 million compensation—not a cent less will do."