Country Love: Xie Dajiao, 37, is pregnant!

Lin Chen hadn't expected her to be so straightforward. He paused for a moment, then sighed.

"Qiuge, I already have enough women. You know who they are. You've lived here for so long, you can probably guess. Besides, let me be honest with you, I have a few requirements when it comes to finding women. Putting everything else aside, they have to be at least 1.7 meters tall and have a good figure."

"What's wrong with being short?"

Li Qiuge raised her chin, looking unconvinced. Her accent had even become assimilated, and she deliberately puffed out her chest as she said:

"I may be a little short, but I have great proportions—a slim waist and long legs. What's wrong with me? I'm not any less attractive than them, am I?"

"You're beautiful, and you have such a great presence, you're truly one of the best..."

Lin Chen changed the subject, looking troubled, and said:

"But feelings are all about first impressions, and it's so weird. I look at you like I'm looking at my sister. I really don't have those kinds of feelings. Just focus on helping Xiaomeng get the factory up and running. That's more important than anything else. Don't do anything useless, okay? Listen to me."

Li Qiuge wasn't angry after hearing this. She chuckled, her eyes curving into two crescent moons, her lips thin.

She looked down at her high boots, then looked up at Lin Chen:

"Fine, you don't feel anything, huh? We'll see. See these boots of mine? Sooner or later, I'll make you take them off yourself."

Without waiting for Lin Chen's reply, she turned and left, her high boots clicking on the stone pavement, the hem of her coat billowing in the wind, her back view looking very dashing.

Lin Chen stood there watching her retreating figure, shaking his head and muttering:

"What do you mean, take off my boots? Do you think you're Li Bai, making me take off your boots? How dare you?"

He had barely finished muttering it when he realized what he was saying. He quickly took two steps forward, lowered his voice, and glanced left and right, as if afraid a passing waiter would hear him.

"Hey, wait a minute! Qiu Ge!"

Li Qiuge turned to look at him, raising her eyebrows to signal him to speak quickly.

Lin Chen waved his hand and lowered his voice, saying:

"Don't go out and tell Xiaomeng and the others nonsense! The incident about pulling down your pants was all a misunderstanding!"

Li Qiuge didn't reply, waved to him with her back turned, and left, leaving behind a series of light footsteps.

Lin Chen stood there, scratching the back of his head with a helpless expression:

"What kind of mess is this girl making of? How could she even have such thoughts?"

……

Under the big tree at the entrance of the village, the sun was shining brightly today. It wasn't the coldest time of year in Northeast China yet, and the autumn harvest was over. With nothing to do, the villagers liked to gather together and chat.

A bunch of people were squatting, standing, or sitting on small stools, all haphazardly gathered together.

Some were smoking, some were playing cards, and the women were chatting animatedly about this and that.

Suddenly, a truck drove up to the village entrance. It was going quite fast. With a screech, it braked suddenly, and Liu Yishui jumped off the half-truck. Li Daguo followed closely behind.

He had just returned from the city and shouted anxiously:

"Stop talking nonsense! Something terrible has happened! I saw that the police shut down Black Ant Technology in the city! There's a white seal on the door, and three or four police cars are parked there. They said it's illegal fundraising, and the boss ran off with the money!"

The village entrance erupted in chaos; people who had been squatting on the ground jumped up and swarmed around the vehicle.

Liu Neng was squatting by the tree root, bragging about how much status Liu Ying had in the Zhao family. Upon hearing Liu Yishui's words, he jumped up in fright.

"What? It's...it's sealed off? Yi...Yi Shui, are you sure you're not kidding? We went to sign the contract together, and their office was so impressive!"

"What nonsense are you spouting, Uncle Liu? I saw it with my own eyes!"

Liu Yishui patted the front of the car:

"I went to the freight station this morning and found that the company gate was surrounded by people crying and shouting. They were all people from the surrounding area who had invested money. I thought a lot of people from our village had invested, but they hadn't even loaded their goods yet, so they came to shout. You didn't see the scene. Someone was sitting on the ground at the gate this morning crying and even had a seizure. It took a long time to calm him down."

Xie Guangkun squeezed out of the crowd, his face paler, but he still stubbornly insisted on speaking:

"What's the panic? It's not a big deal. Can such a big company just disappear like that? Maybe it's just a surprise inspection. I invested 10,000, and I was even planning to invest another 10,000 after selling the corn these next couple of days. I'm not panicking, so why are you all?"

He spoke with great conviction, but it was just self-comfort. His hands, clasped behind his back, clenched tightly. He couldn't believe it, and he couldn't accept it.

Accountant Xu was also there, his face ashen. He was the village accountant. He had initially thought that this company had a storefront and an official seal, making it seem more legitimate than a credit union. He invested 10,000 yuan himself and assured several relatives that it was a safe investment, better than depositing money in a bank.

Now that things have come to light, he's cowering there without uttering a sound, and I don't know what he's thinking about anymore.

Someone was squatting on the ground, their face green, pulling at their hair:

"I invested a lot of money; this is my wedding money! It's all gone!"

Some women sat down on the ground, slapping their thighs and wailing:

"That five thousand yuan was my son's registration fee! His father worked for half a year to save that much. What are we going to do?!"

"How can a product endorsed by a celebrity be a scam?"

More and more people gathered around. There must have been twenty or thirty households in the village who had invested money. Everyone looked terrible. Some were cursing, some were crying, and some were repeatedly muttering "It's all over." The small square at the village entrance was in complete chaos.

"Seventh Brother, see what I told you? Ugh, a 10,000 bet and you get 13,000 back? There's no such thing as a free lunch. It's obviously bullshit. I'm glad I didn't get involved."

"Alright, that's enough, shut up."

Wang Laoqi nudged his arm and gestured towards the crowd with his chin:

"Everyone's already upset, so don't make sarcastic remarks. I tried to advise Guangkun before, but he wouldn't listen. He said I was timid and couldn't keep up with my daughter."

Seeing that things weren't going to work this way, Wang Laoqi shouted at the top of his lungs:

"Stop arguing! Will arguing get your money back? Come on, let's find Changgui and have him call the town government to ask what's going on!"

"Yes! Go find Chang-Gui!"

"Let him give us a feedback!"

A group of people turned around and headed towards the village committee. The line grew longer and longer. Some people who heard the news ran out of their courtyards, while others who were just there to watch the excitement followed along.

In the village office courtyard, Wang Changgui had just finished a phone call from the town and was squatting on the steps, looking worried, with several cigarette butts crushed under his feet.

Seeing everyone rush in, he quickly stood up and waved, his voice hoarse from the heat:

"Quiet down! Stop arguing! I've heard the news too. I just finished a call with the town's judicial office. It's true. Black Ant Technology is an illegal fundraising scam. They're just robbing Peter to pay Paul. The hole has been huge for a long time. The Shenyang headquarters has already filed a case. The boss ran away with the money, and the city branch was shut down yesterday."

There was a two-second silence in the courtyard, then the noise became even louder than at the village entrance.

"Then what about our money? It's just gone for nothing?" Liu Neng shouted on tiptoe, the veins on his forehead bulging.

"Chang Gui, just tell me the truth, can you give me a refund?" Xie Guangkun also pushed forward, his face turning purple.

Wang Changgui sighed and spoke the truth:

"The town said that the whole province is investigating. There's a huge amount of money involved. The company's accounts have been empty for a long time. Either the money was run away or used to cover previous losses."

"Now we're just waiting for bankruptcy liquidation. It's hard to say what will be left or how much will be returned. Let me tell you something: the town said that for small investors like us who invested little, the chances are... slim to none. We'll be lucky to get a fraction back, and some might not get a single penny."

"What?!"

Xie Guangkun's legs went weak, and he almost sat down on the ground. He quickly helped the person next to him.

"Not a single penny back? My ten thousand yuan is just gone like that? No, I have to go to the city to find them!"

"Come on, Guangkun."

Liu Neng simply sat down on the ground, his voice trembling with tears:

"Didn't you say just a few days ago that it was a sure thing, and that you were going to sell corn and invest another 10,000? How did it turn out like this?"

"When did I say I was going to vote?! I was just saying it casually!"

Xie Guangkun stared with his eyes wide open:

"Thank goodness I didn't invest! If I had, I'd be dead here today!"

Accountant Xu leaned against the wall, her voice trembling:

"So...we're just going to wait and see? Can't we just call the police?"

"The police have filed a case, but the person has run away and the money is gone. What should we do?" Wang Changgui shook his head and said.