Chapter 426: Chapter 426 There Are More Secrets
Actually, Liu Zheng had already sensed something amiss inside, it seemed the situation wasn’t right, but those people hadn’t yet discovered where the problem lay.
"Village chief, what’s wrong?"
"Did you really not feel anything after you went in?"
"What feeling? I don’t understand what you mean."
"Do you really not understand? You didn’t feel anything at all?"
Liu Zheng was just curious, could it be that his team, dumb as pigs, really hadn’t sensed anything at all?
"If you insist on saying there was a feeling, I did find Liu Erdong very strange. Plus, it seemed like he really didn’t want us to visit the factory area, including the electric cart—he definitely didn’t want us using it."
"True, that was indeed a giveaway, and I saw that as well. Besides that, didn’t you notice anything else?"
"Nothing else stood out to me. Are you talking about him secretly growing those vegetables? But, if the factory is in such difficulty, even if they do something else for profit here, I think that’s not entirely unjustifiable, right?"
"Do you really think that what he’s growing is just leafy green vegetables? I’m telling you, he definitely wouldn’t be growing vegetables."
"What are you saying? Not vegetables? If not vegetables, what then? Could it be that he’s growing some other illicit drugs?"
After he finished speaking, it felt like a joke, but when he saw the subtle change in Liu Zheng’s expression, he immediately widened his eyes, then stared intently at Liu Zheng.
"Dr. Liu, what you’re saying, it can’t be true, right? Is he really cultivating something else here?"
"Drugs, commonly known as poppy, can indeed be grown in this environment, but the crux of the matter is that poppy cultivation requires plenty of sunlight, and covering them with a greenhouse is not the best method. So, what he is growing is probably not drugs."
Upon hearing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. As long as it wasn’t drugs, the situation seemed somewhat more manageable. If it really were drugs, wouldn’t the village be dragged into the abyss by Liu Erdong?
"You scared me to death, I really thought it was drugs. Otherwise, everyone would be implicated, especially since I used to work at that factory. I’d probably have to cooperate with the investigation too."
"I want to ask, when you left the factory, what exactly was the situation inside? And those new greenhouses he built, were they really there before?"
"He probably built them some time ago, but I can guarantee that when I left, there were absolutely no greenhouses like that. They must have been built afterward. When I was listening to you guys talk just now, I counted roughly, there were as many as ten greenhouses."
"Right, I also looked over there, but I didn’t go in one by one. I felt that seeing too much might make him suspicious. So, I think he must be growing something clandestine; otherwise, why would he lock up the greenhouses?"
"You’re right, locking up the greenhouses is indeed suspicious. And if it’s just some vegetables, even if some mature ones got picked, how would that matter? That’s why I feel he is indeed very cautious."
"It’s a pity that they were all still sprouting or in the seedling phase, so they hadn’t released any special scent. I couldn’t immediately identify what they were growing just by the smell. However, I did manage to take something."
As Liu Zheng spoke, he mysteriously pulled out a small leaf from his pocket. Those people just watched Liu Zheng silently, not even understanding when he had managed to take it.
"Wow, Dr. Liu, you’re pretty professional. We didn’t notice at all; when did you pick a leaf?"
"It was when I first went into the greenhouse to inspect. I sensed something was off, and even if it were vegetables, the seedlings wouldn’t look like this. I may not be a farmer, but I do have basic common sense."
"So, you mean to say Liu Erdong, who has been abiding by the rules these past few years, has actually been engaging in an underground trade? And his factory is nestled within the breeding grounds? Is that how we should understand it?"
"I even suspect that what we’re seeing is just the tip of the iceberg. Inside the breeding grounds, there might be many more secrets."
"More secrets? What else could there be? Aren’t there just ten greenhouses in total? We saw everything with our own eyes; there shouldn’t be anything more to it."
"Don’t forget, we didn’t get to go through every nook and cranny of the breeding grounds. Even if we did, it’s not certain we would uncover everything. So, we can only decipher what he is growing and what the key elements are. Then, we would be able to deduce whether there’s a processing plant in that place."
"Geez, this guy’s really bold, blatantly doing all this right in the village. No wonder the gates are always closed tight, and none of the nearby villagers have noticed anything amiss here, this covert operation."
"This matter should only be known to us for now. Remember, after returning to the village, you absolutely must not spread word of this, and don’t let anyone else find out. We need to keep this contained within the smallest circle. I’ll handle the rest."
"Dr. Liu, I’m a bit puzzled. Now that we’ve found out, if he’s been up to something illegal, can’t we just report it to the police? That way, we won’t need to do anything else, and someone else will deal with him."
"Report it? Do you really think reporting will solve anything? Right now, we don’t even know what he’s attempting or what he’s growing. Moving blindly could scare him away, and then we’d find nothing in the end."
Upon careful consideration, it seemed Liu Zheng’s words were indeed reasonable. The people didn’t go on talking but nodded in agreement, seemingly understanding his point.
