EuropeNovelHis hair was gray, his face lined with wrinkles, and his clothes were tattered and shabby.
Stephen was stunned. "He's the culprit?"
The assistant nodded. "Yes."
Stephen took a deep breath. "Why did you set the fire?"
The old man trembled and stuttered, "I didn't do it on purpose."
Stephen's face was cold. "Even if it wasn't on purpose, you have to explain what's going on."
Hill City's mountains were ancient and were hto many precious plants and animals. The economic and
environmental damage caused by this fire was immeasurable.
The old man lowered his head. "Our orchard was destroyed. The subsidies were too little, and our children all
went to find work in other cities. Now, someone wants to lease our village land, so | wanted to expand it a bit."
Stephen understood. The orchard was destroyed, leaving them without a harvest. The youngsters went to work
elsewhere as they thought the subsidy was too little. At this juncture, scompanies wanted to lease the
empty and idle land, so the old man tried to expand it to earn more money, accidentally leading to the forest
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtfire.
He was so mad that he almost ground his teeth to dust. "Aren't you being greedy? | gave you so many subsidies,
and you still think it's not enough? You must've
received hundreds of thousands of compensation, didn't you?"
The old man's head still hung low. "I only received two grand."
"What?" Stephen was stunned. Two grand? He had allocated billions, but the
people who needed the help only received two grand?
"How big is your land?"
"Twenty acres."
"You only received two grand for twenty acres of land? Are you lying to me?"
The old man finally looked at him. “I'm not.”
Stephen's anger immediately dissipated. It was no wonder the young people went to work in other cities and
gave up on their orchards if they only received two grand for twenty acres of land.
He took a deep breath and asked, "How much is the company paying to lease an acre?"
"Two hundred." The old man said, "For three years."
"Two hundred for three years?" Stephen was shocked. That was outright exploitation!
Stephen's anger evaporated, and he felt a growing headache instead. In the end, it all traced back to his own
failings. If he had not trusted Nico and doubted Julius back then, Hill City's agriculture and livestock business
would not have been affected, and the companies would not have had the chance to lease abandoned land.
Stephen originally had a lot more that he wanted to say. Before entering the interrogation room, he had been
prepared to unleash a scolding.
Now though, he was unable to say a word. He stood up and left. Although they caught the arsonist, he felt no
relief, only a heavier burden.
Why did the old man only receive two thousand for twenty acres of land?
Why did the company dare to lease an acre of land for just two hundred over three years?
There were too many problems. Stephen could not help but wonder how Ethan managed to achieve a shocking
15 trillion GDP for Riveria.
Before he could order someone to investigate the village and the company, Nolan called.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmStephen picked up the call.
"Shit, something has happened!" Nolan's anxious voice rang out.
Upon hearing this, Stephen shut his eyes tightly in frustration and took a deep breath, asking, "What is it?"
"The vehicle transporting the
criminals was hijacked yesterday They are now across the border! The criminals were freed, and our guards have
been taken hostage. They want us to pay for their release!
Stephen fell silent for a while, confused. "How dare they do this? Do they really think they can pusharound?"
He was already seething with frustration, and now, the news of the criminals’ escape made him so mad that he
wanted to beat someone up.
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