He then spoke irritably, "What's this 'police uncle' business? Call me comrade!"

Upon hearing this, Wu Dahu quickly corrected himself. "Police comrade, this is the wasteland that Liu Ergou from our village has cleared!"

However, the officer didn't pay attention to Wu Dahu. Instead, he turned to a man in plain clothes beside him and whispered, "Are the harmful substances here over the limit? That seems unlikely. There are no chemical plants or anything like that nearby. How could they be over the limit?"

The man in plain clothes didn't respond, merely observing his surroundings.

At the same time, Liu Ergou approached the officers. "Hello, police comrades. I'm the one who contracted this wasteland. My name is Liu Ergou!"

The lead officer nodded. "Hello, Liu Ergou. We received a report claiming the heavy metals in your wasteland exceed the legal limits and that you're growing herbal medicine on this land. You should know that this isn't allowed!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Ergou finally understood what Wu Dahu and that Sixth Master were plotting. So that was their plan. Luckily, I staked them out last night and dug up the contaminated soil ahead of time, leaving only two or three spots.

With this in mind, Liu Ergou feigned surprise. "What? That can't be right! We conducted soil tests long before putting the land to use. If the heavy metals were over the limit, we would have detected it back then. It's impossible that we're only discovering it now!"

The moment Liu Ergou finished speaking, Wu Dahu eagerly pointed at him and blurted out, "Liu Ergou, why do you talk so much! The police uncle—I mean, the police comrade said your heavy metals are over the limit, so they're over the limit! Stop being so stubborn! Why else would the police have come looking for you?"

Liu Ergou didn't react much to Wu Dahu's outburst, instead looking at the officer with a puzzled expression. "Comrade, this...?"

The officer didn't answer Liu Ergou, instead glaring fiercely at Wu Dahu. "We're conducting an investigation. All unauthorized personnel, stand back! If you interject again, you'll be obstructing justice!"

Warned by the officer, Wu Dahu shrank back and retreated to the side, not daring to utter another word.

Seeing Wu Dahu quiet down, the officer turned back to Liu Ergou. "Look, private testing can have its oversights, so it's normal for something to be missed. But don't worry. We're just here to assess the situation for now. If the report is confirmed, we'll discuss how to proceed."

Just as Liu Ergou was about to say more, Liu Yunxi, having heard the news, came rushing over from the village committee office. Arriving at the scene, her first words were, "I was the one who tested the soil for this wasteland. There's absolutely nothing wrong with it!"

However, the officer completely ignored Liu Yunxi, instead nodding to the man in plain clothes beside him.

The plainclothes man said nothing, immediately taking a small shovel and digging into the wasteland. As chance would have it, the very first spot he chose was exactly where Wu Dahu and his men had tampered with the soil the night before.

In no time, the man had dug up a soil sample and began testing it. After a brief analysis, he frowned and announced, "The heavy metal content here does indeed exceed the standard! Any herbal medicine grown in this soil would be completely unfit for consumption! If this got out to the public, people could die!"

As soon as he spoke, the atmosphere at the scene grew tense. The officer, who had been relatively amiable, now had a deep frown on his face.

"Mr. Liu Ergou! The test results are in. Although it was just a basic field test, it was a professional one—it doesn't make mistakes! So, I'm afraid you'll have to come with us. Please cooperate with our investigation. But rest assured, we won't wrong an innocent person, nor will we let a guilty one go free!"

With that, two officers stepped forward to take Liu Ergou away.

Standing to the side, Liu Yunxi stared at the test sample in the man's hand, completely dumbfounded. She had taken countless samples from this land and tested them all. Not a single one had excessive heavy metal content. So why was their result so different?

Liu Yunxi found it impossible to accept and was about to speak, but before she could, Liu Ergou cut in, "Officer, could I say a couple of things?"

The officer nodded. Having gotten permission, Liu Ergou continued, "Isn't testing just one spot a bit one-sided? Shouldn't you take multiple samples and run multiple tests?"

As soon as Liu Ergou spoke, Liu Yunxi immediately chimed in, "That's right! Proper soil analysis requires multiple samples and tests! I'm a student at Jindu University; I've studied this field!"

Her words made the officer pause. He then turned to look at the plainclothes staff member, who immediately understood and proceeded to take another sample from a different spot.

However, the result was identical to the first. But this time, Liu Ergou noticed something strange. The spot the staff member chose for the second sample was, once again, a place where Wu Dahu's men had tampered with the soil last night. That's a bit too much of a coincidence.

Seeing two identical results, the officer said no more and simply waved his hand, signaling for his men to take Liu Ergou away.

Watching from the side, Wu Dahu grinned with delight. Finally, I'm going to take Liu Ergou down.

Even then, Liu Ergou remained perfectly calm and composed.

"Officer, can I say one more thing?"

Hearing this, the officer was growing impatient, but he still gave Liu Ergou a chance to speak. "Quick, out with it! After you're done, you can say whatever you want at the station. Don't delay us any further!"

Liu Ergou didn't waste any time. "Comrade," he said, addressing the tester directly, "I have a suggestion. Could you take one more sample, but this time from a spot several miles away from where you've been digging? If that one also fails the test, then I'll have nothing more to say!"

The staff member clearly wasn't in a position to make that decision and looked to the officer. The officer, as if sensing something, pondered for a moment before nodding in agreement with Liu Ergou's request.

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