The Guardian's Return by Old Pumpkin

His 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 home to 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 I 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, some companies 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 fire.

He was so mad that he almost ground his teeth to dust. "Aren't you being greedy? I gave you so many subsidies, and you still think it's not enough? You must've

hundreds of thousands of compensation, didn't

man's head still hung

was stunned. Two grand? He had allocated billions,

help only received two

is

"Twenty acres."

grand for twenty acres of land? Are you lying

finally looked

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

asked, "How much is the company paying to lease

man said,

hundred for three years?" Stephen was shocked. That

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

Before entering the interrogation room, he had been prepared

word. He stood up and left. Although they caught the arsonist, he felt

old man only receive two thousand

acre of land for

were too many problems. Stephen could not help but wonder how Ethan managed to achieve