After My Rebirth Chapter 28: Revenge tactics 

Chapter 28: Revenge tactics 

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

 

“Did you hear? That young Li from the east side rented a farm and wants to hire folks from the village to help out!”

“I heard Mumu mention it while he was buying veggies today. Said the salary was really high—like 300,000 yuan a year!”

“Three hundred thousand? Even Old Wang and Old Zhang’s families, with all their land, only earn that much in a year. If he’s paying each of us that just to help farm a bit, how’s Li Sinian not losing money?”

“Exactly. When I heard it, I thought it sounded fishy. Sounds like a scam to me.”

“Who knows? I heard two families already signed contracts with him. Whether it’s legit or not, we’ll see soon enough.”

By the end of the afternoon, word of Li Sinian’s farm hiring workers had reached every corner of Mulin Village.

Some villagers were intrigued and wanted to give it a shot. Others scoffed and thought it was a scam. But regardless of their stance, everyone was eager to see how it played out.

Then came the next day.

At the butcher’s shop, Zhao Yongsheng noticed something odd—Guo Wei, usually the stingiest man in the village, was acting like he’d just won the lottery.

Not only did he treat himself to beef, he even bought the best cut—ten whole jin of top-grade shank.

While slicing and wrapping the meat, Zhao Yongsheng raised an eyebrow. “Old Guo, what’s got you so generous today? I’ve never seen you eat beef before.”

Guo Wei grinned, clearly in a good mood. “Got a new job. The boss paid me a year’s salary up front. Finally got a bit of money—figured I’d bring some good meat home and eat a little better.”

As soon as he mentioned being paid in advance, Zhao Yongsheng thought of the gossip from the day before—Li Sinian’s farm recruitment drive. Now that he thought about it, Guo Wei was one of the few who signed the contract on the spot.

“You’re talking about working at Li Sinian’s farm, right?”

Guo Wei blinked. “You heard about that too?”

Then he quickly realized, “Ah, right—Li Sinian went to half the village yesterday collecting veggies. Of course everyone’s heard by now.”

He didn’t hesitate to admit it. “Yeah, the company I was at before was about to go under. I was desperate for work. Then Li Sinian shows up at my door with a contract while buying vegetables.”

“I figured, even if his company’s a bit shaky, it can’t be worse than my old one. So I signed. Didn’t expect him to really be that reliable—but today, the whole year’s salary landed in my account.”

Zhao Yongsheng’s jaw dropped. “A full year’s salary? Really 300,000?”

“Yup. Not a cent less.”

Zhao let out a low whistle. “Now you’ve got me tempted. Honestly, this butcher shop doesn’t earn much. No way I’d make 300,000 in a year.”

“If you’re tempted, give it a shot,” Guo Wei said. “Let your son mind the shop for now—he’s got nothing better to do. Just sign on for a year. If it doesn’t work out, you can always come back and open up shop again.”

“Oh, right. Yesterday, Li Sinian—well, I guess I should call him boss now—said that if folks are really unsure, they can sign a three-month contract first. The only thing is, the three-month contract doesn’t get an advance on salary.”

“If you’re nervous, try the short-term one. You see us getting paid already, so it’s not like there’s a risk of getting scammed. Worst case, you just get your money a little later.”

The more Zhao Yongsheng listened, the more tempted he became. He didn’t even feel like running the shop anymore. He called up his good-for-nothing son, told him to come over and watch the counter, and headed home to talk with his wife about switching jobs.

Word always spread fast in a village, but this time it was like wildfire. And since everyone was keeping tabs on Li Sinian’s recruitment efforts, it only took until mid-morning for the entire village to learn that the people who signed contracts yesterday had already received their full year’s salary.

A clean 300,000 yuan. Not a cent short.

That was all it took to make everyone who’d been on the fence finally make up their minds.

That day, Li Sinian didn’t go door to door collecting vegetables. Instead, the curious and eager villagers came to him.

He had just finished filming a cooking video and hadn’t even started editing when he heard a knock at the door—followed by the buzz of conversation outside.

When he opened it, several familiar faces were crowded on his front step. The moment they saw him, their expressions brightened. No one called him “Little Li” anymore—now it was a cheerful, “Boss Li!”

Li Sinian chuckled. “You’re here to ask about the job?”

“That’s right! Your farm’s hiring, isn’t it? So we came.”

He stepped aside and welcomed them in.

There were quite a few people this time—enough to pack his living room wall to wall, with no space left in any corner. Luckily, the room was spacious enough to hold them all, even if just barely.

From the fridge, Li Sinian pulled out some lemon honey tea to serve. It was a new drink he planned to launch at the restaurant, a honey-based beverage that hadn’t officially hit the menu yet. Since the villagers had come over about the job, he figured it was a good chance to test it out.

The guests only took small sips at first, not really focused on the drink. But once they tasted it, each one ended up draining their glass to the last drop.

Li Sinian quietly observed. When he glanced around the room and saw nothing but empty cups, the corner of his mouth lifted slightly in satisfaction.

After finishing their drinks, the villagers couldn’t hold back any longer.

“Boss Li,” someone said, “your farm’s hiring, right? We’ve all heard about it. That’s why we’re here today—to sign contracts. How many people are you looking to hire? Is this group enough?”

Of course, what they really wanted to ask was, Are there too many of us? But phrasing it like that was awkward—especially if the answer ended up being yes.

Li Sinian let his gaze drift slowly across the group, as if counting heads.

Everyone held their breath, worried he’d say something like, There are too many. A few of you should go home.

But after a moment, Li Sinian nodded. “Not enough. I might need even more people.”

Relieved, the villagers let out a collective sigh.

“Not enough” meant they were all in, as long as nothing went wrong.

From the small cabinet under the coffee table, Li Sinian pulled out a thick stack of contracts. “These are the labor contracts. Take a look. If you don’t have any issues, you can sign.”

“Sounds good.”

They each took a copy and began reading. The room fell silent except for the rustle of turning pages.

The contract wasn’t too long. After about ten minutes, the first person finished. Within five more, everyone had set their papers aside.

“How is it?” Li Sinian asked. “Any questions about the contract?”

They all shook their heads.

Since most of the applicants were middle-aged and not highly educated, Li Sinian had made sure the contract was written clearly, without too much legal jargon or confusing clauses.

“And any objections?” he asked.

Still, they all shook their heads.

One man spoke up. “No objections at all, Boss Li. Your offer’s amazing. I’ve been working for years and never seen benefits this good!”

The others nodded in agreement.

Li Sinian smiled. “If that’s the case, go ahead and sign. If you’re signing for a year, your full salary will be deposited into your accounts within twenty-four hours. If you choose the three-month option, salaries will be paid on the 12th of each month.”

Pens were already laid out on the table. Most of the villagers didn’t hesitate—they signed without a second thought. Only one or two still seemed hesitant, which was a better outcome than Li Sinian had expected.

Even better, nearly all of them chose the full one-year contract.

After they left, Li Sinian gathered the signed contracts and headed out to mail them to the company’s headquarters—Jiang Rongxuan would take it from there.

With so many people hired in one day, the farm could officially open for business tomorrow.

 

News of Li Sinian’s farm recruitment spread like wildfire—everyone in the village had heard about it. Naturally, that included Wang Zedong.

Wang Zedong made his living selling surplus vegetables. The moment he heard Li Sinian had started a farm, alarm bells rang in his mind.

Li Sinian owning a farm meant he’d be growing vegetables and grains. And if he was growing them, he’d be selling them. Wouldn’t that cut directly into Wang Zedong’s business?

That was unacceptable.

He immediately began seeing Li Sinian as a commercial rival and paid even closer attention to the recruitment news. Soon enough, he started hearing things.

The villagers were talking—nonstop—about how generous “Boss Li” was, how he offered an annual salary of 300,000 yuan. They called him a fair and kind businessman, saying his contract terms were incredibly humane, without a hint of exploitation.

On the same afternoon that a crowd of villagers rushed to sign their employment contracts, Guo Wei and Zhang Wenshui—two of the first to sign—visited the farm and came back with even more alarming news: Li Sinian had deep pockets. He had purchased temperature-controlled greenhouses.

Greenhouses like that could simulate ideal growing conditions, essentially creating artificial weather to override the limitations of the natural environment.

In other words, Li Sinian’s farm could produce vegetables all year round—without pause.

If Li Sinian’s farm could offer a steady, high-quality supply of vegetables, who would come to Wang Zedong anymore? Customers would naturally prefer to buy from Li Sinian. And if they all turned to him, what would happen to Wang Zedong’s business?

Farming was already a gamble. Harvests rose and fell with the climate, and your income followed. Stability was never a guarantee. Now, Li Sinian was introducing an even bigger instability into his life.

Worst of all, Li Sinian had gone and done the one thing Wang Zedong had dreamed of but never dared to do—build those temperature-controlled greenhouses.

Well… judging by the timing, Li Sinian probably didn’t build them himself. He must have purchased an existing setup.

Still, it was infuriating. Not only was the man stealing his business, but he had also beaten him to the punch on something he’d been too hesitant to pursue.

Wang Zedong was livid. So livid, in fact, that he barely touched his dinner—leaving half a bowl of rice untouched.

His wife noticed and asked him what was wrong, but he said nothing. He simply sat on the couch, staring into space.

And he sat there for half the night.

At some point around midnight, the blank expression on his face shifted. Slowly, the corners of his mouth curled upward into a twisted, unsettling smile.

Li Sinian was going to pay for this.

 

Early the next morning, Ma Chi showed up with two vehicles to pick up the workers from Mulin Village and take them to the farm.

The cars were parked right outside the village entrance. He and Li Sinian had breakfast with the workers before heading out together.

But as soon as they stepped outside, they were met with a surprise—the vehicles, which had been perfectly fine just moments ago, now had all their tires completely deflated.

Li Sinian took one look and immediately knew it wasn’t an accident. Near one of the flat tires lay a handful of tools: long nails, a hammer, and a wrench.

Whoever did it must’ve been inexperienced—or maybe they’d left in a rush and forgot to take their tools with them.

Scratching his head, Ma Chi turned to Li Sinian and asked, “What the hell happened here? Who did this? They were fine just a minute ago!”

Li Sinian didn’t answer. Instead, he asked, “How long will it take to change the tires?”

“There’s no auto shop anywhere nearby,” Ma Chi said, frowning. “We’ll probably have to call someone to tow the cars out. They’re heavy too—it’ll take all day. Looks like we’re not making it to the farm today.”

Li Sinian pressed his lips together, staring in silence at the tools scattered across the ground.

Then suddenly, he felt two eyes watching him.

He turned sharply—and caught a figure peeking around the corner of a nearby wall. The man froze when their eyes met, then quickly ducked out of sight.

Li Sinian narrowed his eyes slightly, continuing to stare at the now-empty corner. He seemed to be trying to recall who that man was.

Ah. It clicked.

Wang Zedong. He’d overlooked him the other day while buying vegetables.

Wang Zedong was one of only two people in the village who made a living selling surplus crops.

And in an instant, it all made sense.

Wang Zedong must’ve seen him as a threat to his business—and decided to retaliate.

But…

Li Sinian glanced again at the flattened tires.

The villagers of Mulin really were something else—so innocent that even their revenge tactics felt like something a schoolboy would come up with.