W Chapter 37
by VolareChapter 37 (Two-in-One)
“The county magistrate has sent clerks to various villages to proclaim the laws, enlightening the people, so they are not ignorant and foolish.”
“Let the people know what is right and what is wrong. When encountering harm, they will know they have the option to report to the authorities. There’s even no rule to immediately beat someone before reporting, but rather layer by layer investigations to ensure the report is not false before punishment is given.”
“Entering the county today, I learned that the magistrate has also reduced the fees for entering the city, benefiting the people.”
Ling Xing recounted everything he knew, giving examples for each point.
All the achievements he had made with painstaking efforts in the details were seen and remembered in their hearts.
Lin Qingyu listened with great pleasure and satisfaction.
Of course, he didn’t reveal too much emotion on his face, but just closed his eyes and stroked his beard, as if feeling the gentle breeze by the pond.
Relaxed and content.
After quietly listening to Ling Xing, Lin Qingyu seemed to want to hear more.
He opened his eyes and said nonchalantly, “These are all small matters that can be done well with a little money. They are not worth the people remembering in their hearts with gratitude.”
As the saying goes, a new official lights three fires, but Lin Qingyu was not like that.
He was a new official who brought three boxes of silver; money makes the world go round. Giving silver to those who can do things well is more effective than anything else.
This is also why the clerks were willing to go to remote villages and tirelessly proclaim the laws.
Each trip was paid according to the distance of the area, the more remote the more money was given.
Everyone was vying to go.
Lin Qingyu said so, but Ling Xing naturally couldn’t follow his words.
He knew this much about dealing with people.
“As a beneficiary of your policies, the people should naturally be grateful for your decisions, sir.”
Lin Qingyu nodded slightly, picked up the recipe on his lap, and looked at it carefully again.
He stared at the words “the dough expands and becomes larger” repeatedly, remembering the letter from his clan asking him to find some unique objects to send to the capital.
He understood what the clan meant: to take advantage of the emperor’s relaxed attitude in the past two years and present some “auspicious omens” to the emperor.
To show the attitude of the Lin family, acknowledging the current emperor as the true Son of Heaven.
Lin Qingyu originally hadn’t planned to bother with it. In such a small place, what could he possibly come up with, even if he tried?
It would only waste money and manpower. It was better to do nothing, at most being scolded lightly in letters from his family.
At first glance, the recipe in his hand didn’t seem special, but now, looking at it carefully, there was a lot of room for manipulation.
“This recipe, I will accept it. What do you want to get from me?”
Everything has a price. Lin Qingyu came from a noble family and disdained robbing ordinary people.
If he took a fancy to something, he was willing to exchange it.
If he thought the thing was worth it, he was willing to pay a great price.
Ling Xing was overjoyed upon hearing this. He exchanged a look with Li Huiyuan, who was also happy for him.
“In response to your words, sir, I would like to use the recipe to ask you to grant a plaque.”
…
Returning to Yunxia Town from the county seat took four hours. By the time they reached the town, it was already dark.
The carriage could be returned by noon tomorrow. After Shen Hui took Li Huiyuan back, he drove the carriage straight home with Ling Xing.
Before going to the county, Ling Xing spent some money to have someone make a trip to Xiao Liucun to tell the Shen family that they had matters to attend to in the county and would be back later.
Even knowing that the two had matters to attend to and would be late, the Shen family was still very worried.
It was strange to go to the county for no reason.
After thinking it over, they could only guess that something had happened to the steamed bun stall.
“Father, is that the sound of a carriage outside?”
Xu Youfang rubbed her eyes, hearing the movement outside the kitchen.
“I’ll go take a look.” Shen Chengshan got up with a solemn expression, standing at the fence gate, looking into the distance.
The carriage got closer and closer. Ling Xing lifted the curtain and, seeing someone looking out at the gate, recognized who it was and waved his arm, laughing, “Father! Second Brother and I are back!”
Hearing Ling Xing’s voice, Shen Chengshan breathed a sigh of relief, the worry in his heart finally lifted.
He immediately returned to the kitchen, “They’re back, they’re all back safe.”
The family had left food for Ling Xing and Shen Hui. Because they had some income, the flour porridge was mixed with better flour.
It didn’t taste as difficult to swallow as before.
Only after the two finished eating did Shen Chengshan ask them what had happened.
Taking advantage of the fact that the family was all there, Ling Xing told them about it.
It would take a few days for the government to send the plaque. In any case, the family had to know so they could be careful.
When telling the Shen family about Zhao Chuping threatening to sell the recipe at a low price, everyone’s expressions turned unhappy, feeling that Zhao Chuping was taking advantage of his power to bully others.
At the same time, they were thinking about how to break the situation.
Just as they were starting to think of ideas, they heard Ling Xing say that he had asked someone to present the recipe to the county magistrate.
And he had even had the opportunity to meet the county magistrate. The Shen family looked at him with disbelief, as if listening to a story.
Cao Manyue thought that she would be so scared her legs would tremble even seeing a clerk. Her brother-in-law could actually think of seeking the county magistrate’s protection.
“Brother-in-law, you’re really brave.”
Xu Youfang also patted her chest, frightened by Ling Xing’s words. “Who says you’re not? How dare you, Ge’er, be like this? What if that county magistrate is someone who eats people and spits out bones? Would you even be able to come back in one piece?”
It wasn’t her fault for being afraid. The scene of the family being raided was still vivid in her mind.
It was something Xu Youfang hadn’t dared to touch or recall all these years.
Ling Xing had also had a desperate idea at the time. The important thing at this time was to soothe Xu Youfang’s emotions, not to have to explain whether what he did was right.
He didn’t analyze too much but said gently, “I won’t do it again next time. Besides, Second Brother was with me. Now we’re back safe and sound, so don’t worry, Mother.”
Xu Youfang sighed helplessly a few times. It was true that the second son of the family was strong and could scare some petty thieves.
But that was the county government. Second Brother was just an ordinary citizen. Without the county magistrate’s permission, he probably hadn’t even entered the county government office today.
Xu Youfang didn’t say these words out loud.
She could also see that Ling Xing didn’t want her to worry about it.
Now that he was back safe and sound, it was better than anything else.
Speaking of which, she had really underestimated him. She hadn’t expected Ling Xing to be so fierce and dare to think and do so much.
The matter had already happened, and as Ling Xing said, if they were frightened by Zhao Chuping at this time and gave him whatever he wanted, then future business would really be difficult.
Shen Chengshan said, “This move is right. A risky move can catch the other party off guard.”
“You don’t have to worry, Ling Xing. Your father and your fourth brother still have some strength. Besides, even if our village is not as united as other clan villages, we won’t tolerate outsiders harming people from our own village.”
“That’s right, Brother-in-law, with me and Father here, you can rest assured.” Shen Gui was so sleepy that he yawned twice in one sentence, finally finishing his words.
Seeing his lazy appearance, Shen Chengshan couldn’t help but raise his hand and slap him on the back.
He directly slapped Shen Gui awake.
He felt a little aggrieved that his father hit him, but he didn’t dare to ask, afraid of getting slapped again.
Only when Cao Manyue reached out to rub his back did he hum and say, “Wife, my back hurts.”
“Where does it hurt? I’ll rub it gently for you.”
“It all hurts, rub it all.”
Shen Chengshan and Xu Youfang closed their eyes, unable to bear to watch.
Ling Xing watched with a smile as Xiao Chun and Xiao Xia, like their mother, stretched out their little hands to gently rub Shen Gui’s back.
On the other side, Shen Gui narrowed his eyes, enjoying it, happiness overflowing.
Ling Xing felt a sense of longing in his heart as he watched this scene.
It was the feeling of home.
Shen Hui followed Ling Xing’s gaze, lost in thought.
*
The steamed bun stall had to continue. At home, Shen Chengshan also perked up and kept an eye on things.
Returning the carriage to the carriage shop and retrieving the deposit.
When setting up the stall today, an accident happened as expected.
As soon as the stall was set up, several beggars surrounded the steamed bun stall, their bodies emitting a stench. Anyone who approached would be met with screams and howls, appearing crazy and terrifying.
Shen Hui couldn’t drive these people away either. A group would leave, but another group would quickly fill their place.
They would even try to bite Shen Hui when he touched them.
Seeing their yellow and stinky teeth, Ling Xing was afraid Shen Hui would get bitten and quickly pulled him back, not letting him chase people away anymore.
Business was naturally affected. They didn’t sell a single steamed bun all morning.
Ling Xing didn’t care. He knew this was only temporary.
As long as they persevered, they could get through it.
Because he had anticipated this, Ling Xing hadn’t prepared too many ingredients.
When it was time to close the stall, he took all the steamed buns with him.
Back in the village, Shen Chengshan came forward and sent half of the steamed buns andSteamed bun(mantou) to the village chief’s house.
They would be troubling the village chief later, and the family had nothing else to give.
It just so happened that the village chief’s family liked to eat steamed buns and Steamed bun(mantou). They had sent some before, and when they met and chatted, they would praise them a few times.
Shen Hui took the remaining half of the steamed buns and Steamed bun(mantou) to the mountain.
To find his third sister, Shen Yan.
Shen Yan had married a mountain dweller named Zhao Changming.
Back then, the family was so poor that they couldn’t even afford a mouthful of food. Shen Chengshan and Xu Youfang did their best to choose a family for their daughter.
The mountain dwellers weren’t rich, but they lived off the mountain and would never starve.
Zhao’s family was also approved by Shen Hui. He often went to the mountains because of hunting. He had some dealings with the mountain dwellers, sometimes bringing them things from the foot of the mountain, and they would exchange them for furs or meat.
He had also gotten to know Zhao’s family because of this. After years of getting along, he knew that Zhao’s family was simple and kind.
They were poor, but they were down-to-earth, and there wasn’t much infighting between family members.
Ordinary people live for nothing more than peace and harmony.
There were too few men in the family now, and they had children. Shen Chengshan was afraid of all possibilities.
It just so happened that his in-law’s family had many sons. He simply asked them to send a few people down the mountain to help keep an eye on things.
The grain yield on the mountain was much less than at the foot of the mountain. The steamed buns and Steamed bun(mantou) that Shen Hui brought were something that only families with some spare money could afford to eat at the foot of the mountain. The mountain people ate these grains more sparingly than those at the foot of the mountain.
Looking at the white, soft steamed buns and Steamed bun(mantou), even if they hadn’t eaten them before, the Zhao family knew that these things were very rare in the mountains.
The two families were in-laws. The Zhao family didn’t care that it was the time when people were needed for sowing. They waved their hands and called their fifth, seventh, and ninth sons to go down the mountain with Shen Hui.
Hearing about the family’s affairs, Shen Yan was also very worried.
If she didn’t have a child in her belly, she couldn’t wait to go down the mountain with them.
Zhao Changming was ranked fifth at home. It was his father-in-law’s family that had an accident, so he definitely had to go.
He waved goodbye to his wife, promising to protect the Shen family and himself, before going down the mountain.
As night fell, three tall and strong men stood in the Shen family’s spacious courtyard.
The Zhao family lived in the mountains all year round and made a living by hunting. The muscles on their bodies were hard as iron.
Their faces were covered in beards, and their backs were as thick as bears, scaring Xiao Chun and Xiao Xia so much that they didn’t dare to come out.
Even Shen Lai, who wasn’t afraid of anything except his second brother, was shrinking behind Ling Xing at this moment.
Only Zhao Changming had met Ling Xing on the wedding day.
The other two brothers hadn’t gone down the mountain that day, but they had come to Shen Hai’s funeral.
But at that time, Ling Xing was unconscious. They were men and couldn’t enter to see how Ling Xing was like women and Ge’ers.
Now that they saw Ling Xing, they were very unfamiliar and greeted him with restraint.
Ling Xing felt quite impacted by being called Brother-in-law by three burly men who looked like they could be the father of his body.
He nodded with a dry laugh, calling them Fifth Brother, Seventh Brother, and Ninth Brother in turn.
The Shen family’s place was small, and they couldn’t let them have nowhere to sleep.
For the next few days, Xu Youfang and Cao Manyue, with Shen Lai, Xiao Chun, and Xiao Xia, squeezed together in the east room.
The three Zhao brothers slept with Shen Gui and Shen Chengshan.
The bed in Shen Gui’s room was a little bigger, so three people slept there.
Shen Chengshan slept in the same room with his son-in-law.
The next day, Ling Xing and Shen Hui still got up early to set up their stall.
Today was no exception, the beggars were still blocking the way.
After the steamed buns and Steamed bun(mantou) were steamed, Xu Qi came over with a group of people.
“I’ll take you to another place to set up your stall. These are people from Tu Hai, he asked me to bring them to help you.”
These days, the cold noodles business was booming. Tu Hai had almost turned Yunxia Town upside down, but he still couldn’t find Ling Yue.
He guessed that the person wasn’t in Yunxia Town.
His reach couldn’t extend too far. Outside the town, his words didn’t work.
It was Tu Hai who hadn’t handled the matter well, but Tu Hai couldn’t return the cold noodles business.
Yesterday’s matter naturally couldn’t be hidden from Tu Hai.
With a little inquiry, he could find out what was going on.
He couldn’t find Ling Yue for the time being, so he could only take the initiative to help Ling Xing.
The owner of Yunxia Restaurant had some power and was opened by the county deputy magistrate’s brother-in-law. Tu Hai wasn’t willing to fight with the other party head-on.
But protecting Ling Xing to change stalls and helping to drive away the beggars was possible.
Xu Qi also meant to change the stall temporarily. They couldn’t earn anything by staying here.
Who knew that Ling Xing wouldn’t leave?
“Changing stalls doesn’t make much sense. Even changing towns doesn’t make much sense. Zhao Chuping wants to annoy me and force me to hand over the recipe. Wherever I go, he can send people to pester me.”
That was the truth, and Xu Qi couldn’t do anything about it for a while.
“Then you’re just going to keep going with them like this?”
Usually, when encountering this kind of situation, even the toughest people can only hold on for a few days.
After all, they all have families, and they have to live their lives. No family can stand being tormented and threatened like this every now and then.
Living in fear every day, disagreements and suspicions will always arise between family members.
Ling Xing nodded, raising his voice a lot, “Yes! I’m going to keep going! Even if I die, I won’t be forced to sell this recipe cheaply.”
“You Ge’er are tough. Ah-”
Xu Qi sighed, looking at Shen Hui, only to hear Shen Hui say, “The family has the same attitude on this matter and will not have any suspicions. Thank you, Brother Xu Qi, and Tu Hai for your kindness.”
Since the family was working together, Xu Qi shouldn’t say more.
What’s more, what Ling Xing said wasn’t false.
“Alright, if you need any help, just come to me if I can help.”
Ling Xing and Shen Hui thanked Xu Qi and continued to set up the stall.
Until closing time, they hadn’t sold a single one.
And the sentence that Ling Xing deliberately shouted out was heard by the person Zhao Chuping sent to secretly watch the stall and relayed back to Zhao Chuping’s ears.
He laughed disdainfully, “Overestimating your capabilities.”
Then he’ll give them a little more color to see, to let the other party know his power.
Today’s steamed buns and Steamed bun(mantou), Ling Xing brought home as usual, sent some to the village chief’s house, and the rest were eaten at home.
The three Zhao brothers and Shen Hui each ate a dozen, and they were still holding back.
Otherwise, it wouldn’t be enough to eat at all.
These two days, the three children, Shen Lai, Xiao Chun, and Xiao Xia, felt like they were celebrating the New Year, being able to eat delicious steamed buns and Steamed bun(mantou) every day, and there were always relatives at home.
It’s just that it was too crowded when they slept at night. Shen Lai felt like he was going to be squeezed into a cake.
Ling Xing was also squeezed so much that he couldn’t sleep, so he simply got up and went out to look at the stars.
The ancient starry sky wasn’t like modern cities, where you could barely see the stars.
Here, as long as you looked up, you could see the starry sky full of twinkling stars, and the beautiful and mysterious Milky Way sparkling, greatly reducing the stuffy emotions in his heart.
After watching for a while, Ling Xing felt a little thirsty and was going to go to the kitchen to drink some water before going back to sleep.
Who knew that as soon as he reached the kitchen, he heard movement in the courtyard.
Borrowing the moonlight, he looked through the crack in the door and saw three figures in the courtyard.
Without guessing, he knew who these people were sent by.
Afraid of alerting the enemy, he slipped into the kitchen very lightly, lifted the curtain, felt his way to the bed in the dark.
“Second Brother, wake up.”
The hand he stretched out was grabbed halfway by a rough, powerful hand just as it was about to touch Shen Hui’s body.
Shen Hui suppressed the surging, unknown emotions in his heart, pretending to be calm on his face.
“Brother-in-law, don’t go out here.”
The movement outside couldn’t be hidden from his ears. He wanted to go out, but he didn’t expect his brother-in-law to be so bold–
To come to his room in the dark of night to find him.
Ling Xing nodded when he heard this. His combat power was limited, and he wouldn’t go out to make trouble.
He watched Shen Hui leave in big strides, and screams soon rang out in the courtyard.
The family was awakened. The three Zhao brothers moved the fastest, rushing out of the house and helping Shen Hui to completely keep the people in the yard.
One almost ran away after flipping over the fence.
Shen Chengshan looked at the three thugs who tried to attack his family with a calm face and said to Shen Gui, who was standing beside him, “Ask the village chief to send these three to see the officials.”
“Understood, Father.”
As soon as Shen Gui left, one of the thugs tried to struggle and was directly pressed down by Shen Hui, unable to move.
At the village chief’s house, oil lamps were lit at this time.
Shen Gui knocked on the door anxiously, and someone soon came to open it.
“Aunt Wang, I’m looking for the village chief.”
Wang Chunxia wasn’t too surprised to see Shen Gui.
Her family had eaten a lot of steamed buns and Steamed bun(mantou) sent by the Shen family these two days. Those were the good things that the Shen family took to town to sell.
It is said that those who eat are soft-mouthed and those who take are short-handed.
Wang Chunxia knew that the Shen family was probably in trouble that was difficult to solve, so they wanted them to come forward and help a little.
But going in now would not be a good thing.
She blocked the door and whispered a reminder: “Fourth Brother, the neighborhood head is inside. If something happens to your family tonight, I’m afraid Old Zhu can’t help.”
Hearing this, Shen Gui immediately understood.
The neighborhood head was neither early nor late, but came from a long way away in the dark, which must be wrong.
When the village sent people to see the officials, it had to go through the neighborhood head’s hands.
Now, with the neighborhood head appearing at the village chief’s house at this juncture, Shen Gui didn’t believe that he was foretelling the future to help the Shen family send the thugs to the yamen.
He rolled his eyes and immediately clasped his hands at Wang Chunxia, “Thank you, Aunt Wang.”
The neighborhood head and the three were likely in cahoots. If they were handed over to the neighborhood head, it would be the same as letting the people go.
Wang Chunxia told him to go back quickly and closed the door again.
The voice inside asked, “Mother, who is it?”
“It’s Aunt Liu. She suddenly remembered that she forgot to ask me to go to town to buy candy tomorrow, so she came to say hello.”
Shen Gui ran home and told the family about the neighborhood head being at the village chief’s house.
The Shen family also knew that the neighborhood head was the backing of these people.
Shen Gui stared at the three thugs, a little worried, “If the neighborhood head doesn’t wait for the people, will he come to our house to find them? Should we go to the county overnight?”
Shen Chengshan glanced at the sky, “Let’s go.”
The three thugs were a little horrified. No, they really dared to take them to the county yamen at night?
They didn’t expect the Shen family to have so many strong men at first, but now they didn’t expect the Shen family to be willing to risk walking at night just to send them to the yamen.
Their mouths were stuffed with grass balls, and they couldn’t open their mouths to speak, so they could only make a whimper in an attempt to get the Shen family to give up the idea.
Of course, this was not successful.
To prevent any trouble, the three Zhao brothers and Shen Chengshan went to the county yamen.
Shen Hui and Shen Gui stayed at home to watch the house.
Those three thugs had some strength, so it was good to have more people watching them closely.
The neighborhood head waited at Zhu Rushan’s house for a long time, but he didn’t hear the agreed catcall, so he knew something bad had happened.
After leaving quickly, he didn’t go to the Shen family but went straight back to his own house.
Just as the sky was getting light, Shen Chengshan and the three Zhao brothers came back with scratches on their faces.
Ling Xing and Shen Hui didn’t go out to set up a stall today. They stayed at home to guard and wait for them to come back.
Seeing the appearance of the four, they knew that the three thugs had escaped.
Shen Chengshan got angry when he thought about it.
They had already walked halfway when someone suddenly jumped out to stop them.
In the end, they couldn’t beat them and could only watch as the people were taken away.
There was no way, the four had to come back.
Xu Youfang asked people to hurry into the house and checked them one by one before feeling relieved.
Fortunately, they were okay, just some scratches.
Under Lin County Magistrate’s governance, it became easier for the people to report to the officials, and the security of Yunshui County had improved a lot in the past two years.
Even Zhao Chuping didn’t dare to really hurt people’s lives.
Ling Xing also knew that he didn’t have the guts.
But these small tricks were the most annoying, constantly reminding him and tormenting his nerves.
Like flies, very annoying.
The steamed bun stall didn’t set up today. Ling Xing was making cold noodles at home, grinding mung beans, when he heard a noisy sound not far away.
Looking up, he saw the village chief leading two clerks, carrying a plaque, happily coming towards the Shen family.
Ling Xing rubbed his eyes, thinking he had seen it wrong.
Why was it delivered so quickly? Shouldn’t he have to wait a few days?
“Official sir, the Shen family is at the foot of the mountain.”
Zhu Rushan was also quite frightened by the neighborhood head last night, thinking that he was going to attack the Shen family.
That Shen Hui was fierce, and if he held a grudge, Xiao Liucun would have no peace.
Who knew that the neighborhood head suddenly left, and the Shen family didn’t move either.
Before he could breathe a sigh of relief, he saw clerks coming, saying they wanted to send the word written by County Magistrate to the Shen family, the carved plaque.
The village chief thought over it several times, but he couldn’t connect the Shen family with County Magistrate together.
Naturally, he didn’t dare to delay the official business and immediately led the way in front.
On the way, he learned that County Magistrate was rewarding the Shen family’s honor, and since the Shen family was from Xiao Liucun, that was the honor of the entire Xiao Liucun.
The village chief didn’t care about those things he couldn’t figure out, he was very happy in his heart and felt that he was facially bright.
The Shen family was also at home at this time, and all came out to receive the plaque.
The red silk cloth was uncovered, and on the black plaque were the four big characters flying in the wind, “Honest Merchant”.
This was what Ling Xing asked for.
He was going to do business in the future, and the common people wouldn’t understand the meaning of writing other literary words.
For business people, integrity is the most important thing.
With the plaque sent by County Magistrate, it was County Magistrate’s recognition of him, and he left an impression in County Magistrate’s side.
If anyone else smashed his business, they would be questioning County Magistrate’s judgment.
As for the beggars, please ask Tu Hai to help to drive them all away.
He refused to help earlier, just to make Zhao Chuping think that he had been stumped by this trick.
To save him from thinking of other bad tricks to deal with.
Fortunately, Zhao Chuping believed it, otherwise, before the plaque arrived, if he did something to his steamed buns and other foods, or bought people to pretend to eat out of problems, it would be difficult to solve.
Wang Tuan and Sun Youyu were on duty today and happened to be sent to deliver the plaque.
Because Wang Tuan was friendly with Li Huiyuan, and guessing some of Li Huiyuan’s intentions, with the mentality of considering for his brothers, Wang Tuan took the initiative to come forward and said to Ling Xing: “By the way, County Magistrate knows about the Yunxia Restaurant.”
Ling Xing was slightly taken aback. He hadn’t told County Magistrate about Yunxia Restaurant that day.
If he did, the purpose would be too obvious, and it would be difficult to have a good impression on County Magistrate’s side in the future.
He only wanted the plaque, and the back things could also be solved, although it would be more difficult.
But it wouldn’t be worse than it is now.
How did County Magistrate know?
Ling Xing was wondering, Wang Tuan didn’t make him wait for long, and explained directly, “Third Brother went again later, explaining the reason and asking County Magistrate for help.”
He lowered his voice a lot, “The adults know that your dedication of the recipe is certainly not just to ask for these four words, but you do not say clearly, the adults are too lazy to investigate and deal with. If you don’t mention it, there shouldn’t be another chance to mention it.”
“Third Brother asked County Magistrate for the first time, and also looking at Third Brother’s face, the adults are willing to ask about this matter again, and also rushed to make the plaque to send it over.”
Ling Xing completely didn’t expect Li Huiyuan to do this, could it be that he knew about the beggars surrounding the stall?
“Do you know what the adults did for this matter?”
Wang Tuan was not asking, but just to attract Ling Xing’s attention.
Seeing Ling Xing look over, he said: “The adults let the county deputy magistrate personally go to Yunxia Restaurant to talk to the shopkeeper.”
Yunxia Restaurant was opened by the county deputy magistrate’s brother-in-law. Not only Yunxia Town has it, YueBay Town also has a YueBay Restaurant.
The county’s several large towns basically have the other party’s property.
Ling Xing was a little dumbfounded. How much of a favor did he owe Li Huiyuan?
Yunxia Restaurant.
County Deputy Magistrate Zhou Tuo was sitting on a long bench in the lobby.
Zhao Chuping was kneeling aside, with cold sweat on his face.
Zhou Tuo was not wearing official uniform, not coming as an official. This kneeling was a punishment, not in the category of law allowing.
He had been a county deputy magistrate in Yunshui County for ten years, supporting his own family, his wife’s family, and his concubine’s family to do various businesses in Yunshui County.
He also controlled a county’s finances, with a large room for manipulation.
In theory, he was the most powerful and wealthy in Yunshui County.
Of course, this was only in theory.
The reality was that everything he had added up, even with his wife’s family and his concubine’s family’s everything.
It couldn’t match the little bit that Lin County Magistrate lightly spilled.
He should have become Zhou County Magistrate two years ago.
But now, he had been Zhou County Magistrate for a full ten years.
Not only that, but he also had to be called by Lin County Magistrate to reprimand him, saying that he was condoning his relatives to force and harm the people.
Then he was punished to come to this small town to deal with such trivial matters.
This was more uncomfortable than killing him.
The air pressure around Zhou Tuo was lower again, he suddenly asked, “With that recipe, will you make a lot of money every day?”
Zhao Chuping swallowed his saliva and shivered, “N-No.”
“Then do you have a blood feud with the owner of the steamed bun stall?”
“No…”
“Can’t, no.” Zhou Tuo seemed puzzled, and asked lightly, “Then why do you want to get that recipe by any means?”
At this time, Zhao Chuping was so scared that he was like he had been fished out of the water.
His throat was dry, and his body was as soft as if he was powerless, but he still had to brace himself and answer, “Because the restaurant doesn’t have any special dishes, so I wanted that recipe, to earn more money, to make the accounts look good. I will, I will get the praise of the owner.”
Zhao Chuping didn’t dare to lie, every word he said was the truth.
“Nothing else?”
“Nothing else.”
Zhou Tuo sneered, tapping the table lightly with his thin hand. The wrinkles on his face were twitching, he was actually being lectured by Lin Qingyu in front of so many people for a reason as ridiculous as an ant.
“Drag the people out.”
As soon as Zhou Tuo finished speaking, the shop assistants pulled the person towards the outside, one on the left and one on the right.
Zhao Chuping didn’t dare to say anything, and the shop assistants didn’t dare to disobey. The whole process was very silent.
At this time, the streets were crowded with people. Kneeling outside the restaurant besides Zhao Chuping, there were also the beggars he paid to surround Ling Xing’s stall.
“Call the beggars to do it, slap Zhao Chuping ten times each.”
“Lord! Lord, spare my life!”
Zhao Chuping felt really ashamed, kneeling in public was not enough, he had to be slapped by lowly, dirty beggars!
Zhou Tuo’s expression didn’t change.
Ashamed?
Could it be as ashamed as he was?
“Say one more word, kneel until tomorrow.”
Zhao Chuping’s begging words could only be swallowed, kneeling on the street with people coming and going, enduring the beggars’ slapping.
There were also the glances and discussions cast from the crowd.
The slapping outside didn’t relieve Zhou Tuo’s anger. He stared at him after he finished slapping, got up and left directly, going to his wife’s brother’s house.
Inside the Liu residence, Liu Yuansheng was slapped hard in the face by his all-powerful brother-in-law in front of a crowd of servants.
He covered his face and knelt down, only daring to ask softly what he had done wrong to make his brother-in-law so angry.
The Liu family relied on Zhou Tuo’s protection. Without this protection, their family would be gone.
Liu Yuansheng humbled himself, not daring to offend Zhou Tuo in any way.
“What did you do wrong? The dog you raised goes around looking for meat to eat. As a result, he ran into a tough bone and made a fuss in front of the county magistrate. What do you say you did wrong?”
Liu Yuansheng was dumbfounded, he didn’t know at all!
“Brother-in-law, I will definitely restrain my subordinates in the future.”
Zhou Tuo said annoyedly: “If you don’t have the courage to do nothing and do nothing, then don’t do anything. If you cause any more trouble for me, I won’t let you go.”
Liu Yuansheng was startled, “Yes, brother-in-law.”