Catch the sea: start with a sand shovel and take over the entire beach

Old Wang knew that with Qian Bijun around, there was no way they could get in.

There's no point in talking to these soldiers. If they dare to force their way in today, then the other side really does dare to detain them.

If they really get detained, I'll lose face big time.

He still couldn't understand why Zhao Qin, an ordinary businessman, would have a formally appointed security force protecting him.

Compared to Guo Xinshu, he was more worldly-wise and shrewd, and he finally realized that Zhao Qin's identity was definitely not as simple as it seemed.

"Let's go back to town first."

Guo Xinshu suddenly erupted, "I don't think Tianqin's gang are good people either. Let's pack our things and head straight to the city."

"Yes, since we've come all this way, let the city do its best to show us hospitality."

Sun Keping chuckled and said that, so far, his actions had been impeccable and hadn't displeased Wang Guo and the others.

However, while he said this, he was thinking to himself, "These people don't even bother to investigate Ah Qin's actual situation in the city, county, town, and village before coming to his base to nitpick. It's no wonder they're going to run into trouble."

Qian Bijun watched them get into the car and leave, then called out ingratiatingly into the courtyard, "Auntie, I've sent them away."

Aunt Wu didn't appreciate his kindness and retorted angrily, "You're not as reliable as Ah Xun. If you dare to stand by and watch the fun again, I'll treat you to a wok spatula."

"Auntie, I won't do it again." Sun Bijun chuckled, first chasing the two dogs into their enclosure, and then closing the gate from the outside.

As soon as the door closed, Chen Xue and Lu An appeared on the second floor one after the other. The latter asked, "Auntie, is she gone?"

"I'm leaving. It's a small matter; you don't need to get involved."

Actually, the family got wind of the group's arrival in the village. When Aunt Wu went to open the door, Lu An hesitated about whether to go himself, but was stopped by the old Taoist priest in the living room.

"Why did you come out for such a small matter?"

“Master, it will be easier if I step in.”

The old Taoist shook his head. "Your involvement will only complicate things, turning a small matter into a big one. Moreover, if you intervene this time, you probably won't be able to stay here long-term anymore. Listen to me."

Lu An had no choice but to go upstairs, while the old Taoist priest remained seated in the hall. He was the one who taught Aunt Wu to open the door and release the dogs.

Both the old Taoist priest and Zhao Qin considered it a trivial matter, so the old Taoist priest didn't want to use his junior disciple's influence, and Zhao Qin dared to go out at this time.

Back to Lao Wang and his group, they were about to leave in their car, but when they passed the small square, they saw a lot of elderly people there. On a whim, he stopped the car.

Sun Keping drove quite a distance before realizing the other car hadn't followed. He quickly turned back, only to see Old Wang and the others already heading towards the group of elderly people.

He hurried forward to greet him, "Old Wang, what's this?"

"It's okay, I'll ask these older brothers and sisters."

Guo Xinshu didn't want to get out of the car at first, for a simple reason: he had just rolled around on the ground several times and his clothes were dirty. But he couldn't resist and followed behind Lao Wang.

"Excuse me, do you all know Zhao Qin?"

The group of elderly men who were chatting turned to look at the group. One of the older men, a small old man, asked in broken Hokkien, "What are you doing here?"

"We're from the capital, and we have a small matter to discuss with Zhao Qin."

Upon hearing that it was from the capital, the old man who had spoken smiled and said, "Oh, you're from the capital looking for Ah Qin? That must be important. You wait here..."

The old man glanced around, then went to a card table and whispered something in another old man's ear. The two walked back, and the old man introduced, "This is Aqin's fourth grandfather, our village chief's fourth uncle. You can ask him, he knows everything."

Hmm, Zhao Qin's elder?

Old Wang thought for a moment before asking, "Brother, is Comrade Zhao Qin home?"

Although Fourth Grandfather hadn't seen much of the world, he wasn't easily fooled. His gaze swept over the group, lingering longest on Guo Xinshu.

There's no way around it, this guy is really dirty right now. It makes you wonder, how come this guy from Beijing isn't as hygienic as us fishermen?

Guo Xinshu understood the old man's look and gave a heavy snort.

"What do you want with Ah Qin?" The old man's Fujian-accented Mandarin was a bit off-putting, and Old Wang couldn't understand him at all. He looked at Sun Keping.

The latter smiled before speaking, clasped his hands in a salute to his fourth grandfather, and said, "Grandpa, they are from the capital. They heard that Aqin has acquired a fine treasure, and they would like to borrow it to put in a museum."

Upon hearing this, Fourth Grandfather's eyes widened. "Borrow? Will you write an IOU? When are you going to pay it back?"

"Um, we'll issue a donation certificate."

"Donate? Didn't you just say you were borrowing? How can you talk so dishonestly, young man? Did Ah Qin donate too little? You even came all this way to ask for donations. Have some decency."

Even Sun Keping felt a slight blush rise to his face upon hearing the phrase "be a decent person."

As the two continued their conversation, the elderly men and women put down their cards and gathered around, all starting to criticize them.

“It’s not easy for Aqin to earn money.”

"Is that so? You only see that Ah Qin is rich now, but you don't see how hard he works day and night fishing."

"None of you look short of money, why don't you donate?"

"Aqin has donated quite a lot already, you can't just make this for one person. You're from the capital, right? You'd better hurry back."

They talked back and forth, and while some of what they said was understandable to Lao Wang and the others, some of what they said was too rustic for them to understand at all.

Among dialects, those with almost no relation to Mandarin habits and pronunciation are Min dialect and Wenzhou dialect. Non-locals simply cannot understand them.

Moreover, in southern Fujian, the pronunciation can vary even within a ten-mile radius, and there are even more local slang terms.

"Grandpa, we don't want Aqin to donate money," Sun Keping hurriedly explained.

"Didn't you say you were going to donate your treasures?"

"Yes, it's the same thing."

"Is that thing valuable?" Fourth Grandfather pressed for details.

Sun Keping thought for a moment and nodded, "It's very valuable."

Fourth Grandfather glared again, "That still costs money."

Sun Keping: ...

Seeing that he didn't say anything, the old man pulled him aside and said, "Young man, you're from around here, aren't you?"

"Uncle, I'm from a neighboring county, but I'm in the city now..."

Before he could finish speaking, the old man clapped his hands and said, "That's right, you're from this city, so why are you helping outsiders? Ah Qin is very sensible and has donated quite a bit to our city. What you're doing is a bit heartless."

Sun Keping, who was scolded, was not angry. He smiled bitterly and said, "Uncle, I'm from the capital. I have no choice in the matter."

The old man nodded and patted him on the shoulder. "Then you stand aside, we'll deal with them."

"Uncle, how are you going to deal with this...?"

The old man stopped listening to what he was saying and looked at Old Wang with a grim expression. "Qin isn't home. He's gone abroad and probably won't be back for a year or two. You should go back first, and we'll tell him when he gets home."

This time, the old man's Minnan-accented Mandarin was a little more standard, and Old Wang and the others understood it by listening and guessing.

Old Wang looked annoyed and was about to ask again when Guo Xinshu flew into a rage once more, pointing at his fourth grandfather, "You need to know that we're from the capital. Don't think you can get away with it just because Zhao Qin is hiding."

If you don't cooperate now, when the authorities come, they'll arrest you and Zhao Qin together and send you to jail, understand?

His thinking was simple: what did the rural men and women know? They were just a bunch of old folks; a little scare and they'd behave.

But now the villagers in their own village are highly confident and the least afraid of troublemakers. Take the matter of Dongqiao Village blocking their construction of guardrails, for example; if it weren't for Zhao Anguo's restraint, a group of them would have already attacked.

So when they heard Guo Xinshu's threats, they weren't afraid at all; on the contrary, several of them laughed.

"Are they really going to arrest us?"