He simply couldn’t handle all these pumpkins by himself. He had no choice but to pin his hopes on Zhang Qingyuan and the others’ "combat ability."

But...

When Zhang Qingyuan and the others heard this, they immediately shook their heads like rattle drums. They quickly stepped back several paces.

"We’re not pumpkin thieves; we don’t want these pumpkins!"

"None of the old men who touched these pumpkins last time met a good end; these pumpkins are unlucky."

"Whoever wants them can have them; I certainly don’t!"

"These pumpkins are ominous, Xiao Qin. Are you sure you want to keep them?"

"..."

Everyone shook their heads furiously and waved their hands incessantly, firmly refusing to take the pumpkins. They even advised Qin Mu not to keep these ominous pumpkins. Their reasoning was quite bizarre: they claimed these pumpkins had doomed an entire village. They worried the pumpkins might doom the elderly in their nursing home next.

Qin Mu was speechless.

Seeing Old Zhang and the others vehemently refusing, he ultimately had to ask the cafeteria staff to come and move them into the kitchen. Fortunately, these pumpkins were easy to store and not prone to spoiling, so they could be eaten slowly without going bad.

"Oh, by the way, Qin Mu, there’s something else. My best friend told me that in Zhaojia Village now..."

Just as he finished dealing with the pumpkin issue, Qin Mu received another message from Qing Lan. In the message, she recounted the recent events in Zhaojia Village.

After the verdict was issued, the news that several people from Zhaojia Village had been sentenced spread far and wide, creating quite a stir. The surrounding villages, towns, and even Zizhou came to know about Stealing melon village’s reputation.

Stealing melon village had completely gone viral.

It was said that people in the towns now refused to sell anything to the residents of Stealing melon village. Few dared to pass through Stealing melon village’s territory, fearing their possessions might vanish into thin air. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

In addition, the group of elderly men from Zhaojia Village who had participated in the pumpkin theft also approached Hu Wenning. Surprisingly, they voluntarily admitted their mistakes, apologized, and returned all the money they had earned from selling the stolen pumpkins to her. Apart from Zhao Dezhu and the others who were incarcerated, Hu Wenning essentially recovered her initial investment. With the additional compensation, she even made a small profit.

"These old men... they’ve finally learned to follow the rules."

Reflecting on the events of the past few days, Qin Mu remarked with some emotion. The reason these elderly people had acted this way was likely a decision born of helplessness, stemming from a series of chain reactions. These fines were court-ordered. Failure to pay would not only incur late fees but also lead to legal liability for refusing to comply with the judgment. Zhaojia Village’s reputation was already terrible; another incident would likely mean they could never recover.

"There’s one more thing. My best friend said that for the past few days, no one has dared to steal pumpkins from her patch. Not just from Zhaojia Village, but no one from other villages dares to come either."

Lastly, Qing Lan sent another message.

This incident had served as a powerful deterrent to the nearby villagers. A village was almost ruined because of pumpkin theft. The matter had escalated significantly. Now, her best friend barely needed to monitor her pumpkin patch, let alone worry about theft. The Zhaojia Village case served as a strong deterrent. No longer did any fool dare to target the pumpkin fields.

「Nursing Home.」

In the following days, life returned to its usual tranquility. Qin Mu’s days settled into a routine: commuting, slacking off at work, and going home. His work of caring for the elderly had now turned into setting up screens and projecting trial live streams for Zhang Qingyuan and the others. In his free time, he would sit in the legal consultant’s office, learning how to slack off like Wang Dachui.

It was worth mentioning that Zhang Wei Law Firm, where Wang Dachui worked, had, after this event, indeed successfully penetrated the Zizhou Market. According to Wang Dachui, Legal Pioneer Law Firm had already started competing for cases in Zizhou, showing signs of intending to expand their operations there.

"Are cases in Jin City... really this scarce?" Sitting in the office, Qin Mu couldn’t help but mutter to himself.

Although he had now obtained his lawyer’s license, he was still just an intern lawyer. Since becoming the legal consultant for the nursing home, he hadn’t encountered any actual cases and wasn’t familiar with the goings-on in Jin City’s legal circles.