Lin Fan felt a pang of sympathy, thinking that city dwellers certainly knew how to behave, even when pursuing romance with such tenacity.
He, however, would never act that way. If he liked someone, he liked them. If not, he didn't. Persistently pursuing someone was utterly futile and a complete waste of time.
Lin Lingfeng, however, was undeterred.
"I have something to show you."
Lin Lingfeng pulled out a small box from his embrace and handed it to Song Mengling.
"Mengling, these are earrings I bought for you. They're from a French designer and are incredibly beautiful!"
"They're from that famous brand, Lanshier's jewelry, and they're their latest design. Try them on, you'll absolutely love them!"
Lin Fang's eyes lit up with surprise. "Are they from that 'Lover's Poetry' collection? I heard they cost over 800,000! Young Master Lin, you are truly generous!"
Looking at the small box, Lin Fang's eyes gleamed. How wonderful it would be if this were gifted to her!
Lin Lingfeng had been hesitant to reveal the price, as it would sound too ostentatious.
Now that Lin Fang had stated it for him, she was truly a kindred spirit!
Lin Lingfeng straightened his back, exuding a powerful confidence.
Song Mengling took a step back. "I'm sorry, we aren't even friends. I can't accept such an expensive gift from you. Please leave."
Lin Lingfeng's face instantly turned pale.
Lin Fan couldn't help but chuckle. The tables had turned so quickly.
So, even rich men couldn't always win the women they desired.
"What are you laughing at? Are you trying to provoke me?"
Lin Lingfeng glared fiercely at Lin Fan.
Lin Fan waved his hand. "I'm not laughing at you. I'm just seeing this kind of scene for the first time and couldn't help myself."
Although his words were an apology, Lin Lingfeng did not accept them.
He immediately became enraged. "Do you look down on me? Let me tell you, not many people in Yunqing City dare to speak to me like this!"
"What are you? A good-for-nothing who can't even earn a few hundred dollars a year in the countryside, and you have the audacity to mock me?"
"See these earrings? You'll never earn this much money in your entire life!"
Lin Fan remained unfazed by Lin Lingfeng's fiery temper.
After all, they were completely different kinds of people.
When Lin Fan had money, his first thought was to do good deeds.
Money, to him, was just paper.
"A good-for-nothing is a good-for-nothing, hmph!"
Lin Lingfeng snorted coldly and turned to leave.
Song Mengling looked at Lin Fan with a hint of confusion. "He said all that to you, why didn't you retort?"
"Your medical skills are exceptional. You must have some savings by now, right?"
She had been in Luofeng Village for some time and had learned a bit about Lin Fan.
The clinic occasionally received patients from the city, and just from treating them, he had earned over a hundred thousand.
At this rate, earning a million a year shouldn't be a problem.
Lin Fan smiled but said nothing.
As it was nearing noon, Xia Xue was returning home from the village committee. She called out as she passed the clinic.
"Xiao Fan, come home for lunch!"
"Alright, Sister-in-law. Wait for me."
A few minutes later, Lin Fan followed Xia Xue home.
Lin Fang watched their retreating figures and asked gossipy, "Mengling, do you know about the relationship between those two?"
Song Mengling blinked. "The two of them, what about them?"
"Yesterday, I heard Aunt Li telling a very interesting story about them..."
Lin Fang recounted the story she had heard.
Song Mengling was surprised. "There's such a thing?"
Although they were uncle and sister-in-law, they had no one else in the household.
It was hard not to make outsiders speculate, and it was no wonder Lin Fang was so curious.
—
After Lin Fan finished his meal and was about to rest, Grandpa Zhang suddenly pushed open the door.
"Xiao Fan, something's happened!"
"What is it, Grandpa Zhang?"
Lin Fan looked at Grandpa Zhang, bewildered.
*Thump!*
Grandpa Zhang had difficulty walking and stumbled, falling to the ground.
Lin Fan quickly helped him up.
"Xiao Fan, the herbs you planted have been pulled up!"
"Go and take a look quickly!" Grandpa Zhang urged.
Lin Fan was a little confused. "Don't rush, you rest here. I'll go take a look."
"I'm going too!" Xia Xue ran over.
The two of them quickly arrived at the herbal planting base.
At a glance, the neatly planted herbs in the field had all been uprooted and tossed onto the ground.
These herbs had not yet matured and had now become worthless withered grass.
"This… How could this happen?"
Xia Xue looked on in despair. This was their only means of earning money right now.
How could someone do something so malicious?
Looking at the mess before her, tears streamed down her face.
Lin Fan comforted her, "Sister-in-law, don't cry. This is a small matter."
After about ten minutes, Xia Xue calmed down.
"Who did this? I'm going to report it to the police and have them investigate!"
Xia Xue's first thought was to call the police, but Lin Fan stopped her.
"There's no point in calling the police. This is a rural area, and there are no surveillance cameras. It'll be impossible to find out who did it. I do have some ideas."
"What ideas?"
Lin Fan pointed to the land. "Including Grandpa Zhang's and ours, we planted a total of thirty mu. But only our twenty mu of herbs were pulled up. This clearly shows they were targeting us. I must have offended someone."
Xia Xue's brow furrowed. "Who could you possibly have offended? Old Cao is dead, and his family moved away. Wang the Cripple has been dealt with by you multiple times, he shouldn't dare to cause trouble."
"A few days ago, I went to Hetang Village to deal with the factory owner. Just now, at the clinic, there was a Lin Lingfeng who also made me offend someone," Lin Fan said.
"Just now? Then could this Lin Lingfeng have done it?" Xia Xue guessed.
Lin Fan shook his head. "This Lin Lingfeng is probably here in Luofeng Village for the first time. He wouldn't know our situation. He definitely isn't the one."
"I think it's likely people from outside the village. The villagers generally wouldn't do something like this."
Lin Fan was known as a great philanthropist in the surrounding villages. The villagers would never harm him secretly.
Of course, there was also a possibility that someone was jealous of his comfortable life.
"If it's people from outside the village, then there's a problem. How did they know where our herb field is?"
Xia Xue speculated, "Could it be that someone from the village colluded with outsiders to do this?"
"Yes, that's what I'm thinking too."
Lin Fan absolutely did not believe that the perpetrators had no connection to the villagers.
His first suspect was Li Erhu and Boss Sun.
"Sister-in-law, let's go to the school."
Lin Fan was worried about Jiang Hudong and pulled Xia Xue towards the school.
As soon as they reached the school gate, they saw a group of thugs gathered around the dormitory.
There were about seven or eight of them, with Li Erhu leading the group.
"Smash it! Smash it all!"
These men were all wielding steel pipes and were furiously smashing into Jiang Hudong's dormitory.
"Stop it, all of you!"
Lin Fan roared, but the thugs didn't stop.
By the time he ran over, the water pump and glass windows outside the dormitory had all been smashed by the group.
Shards lay scattered everywhere.
The door was also broken, and two people had rushed into the room, smashing and destroying everything in sight.