"Regardless, thank you for your generous help, Mr. Luther."
Leno shook his head helplessly when he heard that. "It seems, Patrick, you still have some opinions about me."
"No, I just think, Mr. Luther, your agricultural fund should help farmers who need it more than I do."
Peter looked at Jonathan, who was repairing the roof in the distance. "For example, Jonathan. He's planning to take out a bank loan recently. I think your agricultural fund should be able to solve his difficulties."
Leno glanced at Jonathan and said, "Of course, I also hope to help Mr. Kent."
Then he took out a business card and handed it to Peter. "This is my private business card. If you have any questions, you can call this number."
Peter took the business card and nodded. "Thank you, I will."
"Perhaps there's been some misunderstanding between us, Patrick."
After handing over the business card, Leno coughed and said, "Previously, a staff member of my company, due to issues with farm land acquisition, might have had a small conflict with you. I apologize to you. I have already dealt with that staff member who acted on his own initiative."
He was referring to the time the Luther Group tried to forcibly buy the farm.
"It's alright."
Of course, Peter wouldn't believe that it was his subordinate acting on his own.
Given this old fox's past behavior, it was likely that the subordinate was acting on his instructions.
Looking at his current behavior, could this old fox be plotting something against him?
Or was he simply coveting the swamp land he had purchased?
He knew that the other party had previously sent people to the mayor's office to buy the swamp land, but he had gotten there first.
Putting away the business card, Peter suppressed the thoughts in his mind and said to Leno with a serious expression:
"The people in town might misunderstand you, Mr. Leno, thinking you are of bad character, but I think bad character and being a wicked person are two different things, don't you agree?"
Leno: "..."
Are you praising me or insulting me?
Leno, realizing Peter's cunning, gave an awkward laugh, "As a businessman, you sometimes unconsciously make enemies of most people, even if it's not your intention."
As the two were talking, they saw Martha walking towards them. After a few more words, Leno bid Peter farewell and left.
Watching Leno's retreating figure, Martha asked Peter in surprise, "Was that—Leno Luther?"
"Uh huh, this Metropolis banker wanted to fund my farm's reconstruction, but I don't need it."
He said to Martha, "Comparatively, you all need help more."
Martha was a little touched when she heard Peter's words.
"Thank you, Martha, I don't know how to thank you enough."
"It's alright, Martha, we're family, but—there's one troublesome thing, you need to convince Jonathan."
Peter sighed and said, "He's not willing to accept help from the Luthor Family."
"Yes, I don't need his help."
On the way back home, hearing his wife talk about Luther's willingness to provide an agricultural fund, Jonathan shook his head and said, "We can get through this."
Martha sighed helplessly, "You're still so stubborn, Jonathan."
"Actually, through Horry's incident last night, I've realized many of my own issues."
Jonathan drove the car forward. "I'll try my best to correct them, but regarding this matter, it's not about stubbornness. The Luthor Family has always been cunning, and if we accept his help, we might lose something even more important in the future."
Martha nodded when she heard that.
She felt her husband had a point.
As the car drove onto a secluded road near Kent Farm, Martha suddenly noticed something.
"Jonathan, stop the car!"
"What?"
Jonathan stopped the car and looked at his wife in confusion.
Martha didn't speak, pushed open the car door, got out, and walked towards a place obscured by weeds.
Jonathan followed his wife, and when he saw the skeleton of an animal lying on the ground, he was stunned.
The animal seemed to have been dead for a long time, already reduced to bones.
The surrounding weeds were withered and yellow.
Everything in their line of sight presented a desolate and decaying scene.
"Is this a coyote?"
Squatting down, Jonathan briefly examined the animal's skeleton, saying with some uncertainty.
"But why did it decompose so quickly?"
Shaking his head, Jonathan said in confusion, "When we passed by here, we didn't smell any rotting odor."
Martha was also at a loss.
After a while, she stood up and looked at the setting sun in the sky.
As the afterglow of the sunset faded, the dim light fell, giving her a slightly cold feeling.
The next day.
Smallville Elementary School.
Clark was about to stuff his backpack into the locker when he heard a familiar voice from behind him.
"Hi, Clark!"
Hearing Lana's voice, Clark got so excited that he directly twisted off the locker's latch.
Holding the lock he had broken off, he quickly hid it behind his back and used his body to block the latch inside the locker, so Lana wouldn't notice anything unusual.
"Hey, Lana."
Clark greeted Lana guiltily.
"Are you alright, Clark?"
Seeing that Clark looked a bit off, Lana asked with concern.
"I—I'm fine, just a little hot."
Lana nodded, not suspecting anything, and continued to ask, "I heard Uncle Peter's farm was damaged yesterday? Is Uncle Peter okay?"
Clark didn't dare to say that the farm was destroyed by him and Mark, so he could only vaguely answer, "Uh, yes, Godfather is fine."
"That's good."
Hearing Clark say he was fine, Lana breathed a sigh of relief.
Clark mustered his courage, just about to say a few more words to her, when Lana's friends arrived.
"See you later, Clark."
Lana linked arms with her friend and waved goodbye to Clark as she left.
"See you later."
Watching Lana's retreating figure, Clark mumbled softly.
Because he failed to strike up a conversation, Clark was still in low spirits when school let out in the afternoon.
Mark didn't notice Clark's low mood; he was in a good mood.
"Clark, let's race to the farm."
"Maybe next time."
Clark wasn't in the mood.
"Are you scared?"
"Scared of what?"
Mark said provocatively, "Scared that you can't run as fast as me."
"I run much faster than you."
As soon as Clark heard Mark say he was slow, his competitive spirit immediately flared up. "I run faster than lightning!"
"Uh huh, then let's try it!"
Clark, having fallen for Mark's clumsy taunt, immediately stood at the same starting line as Mark.
"Ready!"
"Go!"
As Mark shouted the command "Go!", the two immediately shot forward like arrows released from a bow.
Clark, turning his grief and indignation into strength, immediately took the lead.
The two mischievous children, at a speed far exceeding human limits, rushed forward like two streaks of lightning on the road.
Seeing himself falling behind, Mark immediately gritted his teeth and chased forward with all his might.
"I'll always run faster than you!"
Mark, letting out a roar, ran wildly forward with all his strength.
"Whoosh!"
A blur flashed past Clark's face, and then, to Clark's astonished gaze, Mark's feet left the ground, and he directly shot into the sky.
Watching Mark "flying" forward in the sky, Clark stopped, his face full of disbelief.
The next second.
"Ah!!!"
Accompanied by a scream, Mark directly fell from the sky, crashing into the windmill on the farm.
The windmill collapsed from the impact, sending up smoke, dust, and rocks, and making a deafening sound.