Li Chengfu stopped speaking halfway through, but everyone understood what he meant.
That Li Zhihua was an unexpected "bonus." Although he had caused everyone a great deal of trouble, after much thought, it was far better to discover such a problem earlier than later.
No one knew how Li Chengfu had resolved this issue, but seeing that he didn't want to talk about it anymore, Yun Que'er didn't press him.
After discussing the follow - up matters, Li Chengfu set off back to the town.
It was already the end of summer, and these days it had gradually become less hot.
Even though it was afternoon, there was still a cool breeze.
The gentle breeze caressing one's face was quite pleasant.
Li Chengfu walked along the edge of the cornfield and let out a soft sigh.
Yun Que'er and the others didn't know that Li Chengfu had privately met with Li Zhihua and had a conversation with him.
That man was still the same as before. Some people were just unreasonable, so everything depended on his own fate.
But soon, Yun Que'er and the others found out how Li Chengfu had solved this problem.
At eight o'clock that evening, Liu Kui's house was surrounded by the police three - deep.
It was said that he was suspected of colluding with Li Zhihua in fraud and was caught red - handed.
When he was arrested, Liu Kui was still shouting that he had never done such a thing. But when the police showed the contracts with various forest farms and Zhao Sihai's testimony, Liu Kui was immediately stunned.
Yun Que'er watched from afar as Liu Kui was escorted away, feeling quite satisfied.
She wondered if Zhao Sihai had mentioned to Liu Kui that he had already signed the contract. But it seemed that this Zhao Sihai was not very honest.
However, the matter didn't end there. In the middle of the night, there was also a commotion at the former village head's house.
Only then did everyone realize that the former village head had also been involved in this plot against them.
Yun Fujin watched from afar and suddenly understood what the former village head had meant when he made that remark after Zhao Ruoshui was arrested last time.
It turned out that he was still reluctant to admit defeat.
The whole village was in an uproar all night. Through word - of - mouth, everyone finally understood the cause and process of the incident.
It turned out that Zhao Sihai was a relative of the former village head.
He was originally the former village head's nephew, but because there were too many children in the family and they couldn't afford to raise them all, he was adopted by a distant relative with the same surname in the countryside.
But Zhao Sihai still kept in touch with his relatives here. In this incident, the former village head had almost taken out all his savings to support Zhao Sihai and Liu Kui in setting up obstacles for the Yun family.
Unexpectedly, Zhao Sihai had secretly colluded with Li Zhihua, turning what was originally just a petty jealous act among villagers into an illegal incident.
As for Li Zhihua, it was even more of a joke.
Originally, Li Chengfu had privately warned Li Zhihua to be honest and stop doing such shady business. But instead, Li Zhihua showed off and said that if he could do this, it meant he had the ability and told Li Chengfu to get out of his way.
One didn't know whether to say he was arrogant or simply underestimated Li Chengfu. He actually carried out his original plan.
He had underestimated Li Chengfu's determination. He never thought that Li Chengfu, who had once treated him like a son, would report him. He was caught red - handed at the trading site, and there was absolutely no way to deny it.
After hearing all this, Yun Que'er let out a long sigh.
Those who do many unrighteous deeds will surely bring about their own doom. Throughout history, few people have been able to escape retribution.
Yun Que'er knew that Li Chengfu must be in a bad mood, so she and Yun Fujin went to the hamlet to buy up all the timber.
When the forest farm supervisor saw them, he was like seeing his own father. He insisted on inviting them into his small house to sit down and have a glass of water. Then he grabbed Yun Fujin's hand, almost in tears.
"I'm so stupid. I was blinded by money. I thought that man was a big customer and even drove you guys away. It was only after this incident that I realized he was scheming against me. I really deserve to be punished."
Yun Fujin smiled. "Fortunately, there were no losses in the end. I won't beat around the bush. I'm here this time to take away all the usable timber. If you think it's okay, we'll sign the agreement today."
The supervisor naturally had no reason to refuse. He quickly asked someone to draw up a purchase and sales agreement. After both sides checked and found no problems, the deal was finalized on the spot.
After all this trouble, everything finally returned to normal.
The next day, guessing that Li Chengfu's mood should have calmed down, Yun Que'er and Yun Fujin went to the town to find him.
Perhaps because he had long anticipated how things would develop, Li Chengfu wasn't surprised, but rather a bit melancholy.
"The other day when I went to have my fortune told, the old man said that sometimes being too ruthless isn't a good solution. If you force someone into a dead end, they won't be kind to you."
Li Chengfu had just gotten a string of high - quality small - leaf rosewood and was playing with it in his hand.
After saying this, there was a dead silence in the room, only the crackling sound of the small - leaf rosewood in his hand.
He pondered for a long time and then let out a bitter laugh.
"So I gave Li Zhihua a chance first. I told him that as long as he was willing to stop, I could talk to a distillery boss I knew and let him go there as an apprentice. As long as he was willing to work hard and stay away from the wrong path, he would surely have a chance to succeed in the future."
Li Chengfu sighed. "It's a pity that I overestimated him."
Yes, it's easy to go from frugality to luxury, but hard to go from luxury to frugality.
Once one has been a boss, no matter how much money one has earned, at least one has been in the limelight.
Now asking him to live under someone else's roof and watch others' faces, how could Li Zhihua agree?
Actually, it's not difficult to humble oneself. It's just a matter of personal choice.
But Li Zhihua didn't choose the right way. It wasn't really a surprise that he took risks and ended up like this.
"What about him..." Yun Que'er asked hesitantly.
"I didn't go to see him, but the police station sent me a letter saying that Li Zhihua's previous fraud cases had also been uncovered. With all the things he had done, he was sentenced to life imprisonment."
Yun Que'er slowly let out a breath. It was good. As long as Li Zhihua was in prison, he wouldn't be able to cause any trouble.
She had, in a way, changed Li Chengfu's fate.
Li Chengfu had his own set of procedures. After arranging the trucks and workers to go to the hamlet, he made an appointment for a dinner. He invited some of his colleagues in the antique business and sat down with the Yun family for a meal.
Li Chengfu's intention was that they should get to know more businessmen so that it would be more convenient for future cooperation.
He also publicly showed the small woodcarvings that Yun Que'er had made before. Everyone thought they were really good and rushed to cooperate with the Yun family.
The first step had been taken, and the next steps also needed to be planned.
Yun Que'er started going to Zhang Yingying's house every day to research new designs.
At the same time, Yun Fujin also began to look for a house in the town.