Xie Hong's family background was quite good. Although it couldn't compare to Gu Shao's family, more than a dozen members of the Xie family held official positions in the court, and his father was even the Minister of War.

Xie Hong is now about the same age as Gu Shao, and he has taken many concubines, but none of them are married.

Suddenly, a father-in-law appeared, and everyone looked over.

Xie Hong's face was grim, but he didn't say anything more because Gu Shao was there.

Gu Shao stepped forward. "What's wrong?"

When Ding Ruiming, the magistrate of Shawan County, heard the voice, he turned around and saw Gu Shao, dressed in black with a cold face, standing behind him.

And then there's Xie Hong, with a sullen face.

Ding Ruiming, unaware of the situation, suddenly knelt on the ground, his legs buckling: "General Gu, this humble official... this humble official..."

At this point, his tongue began to tie itself in knots.

The main problem is that Ding Ruiming himself doesn't even know where he went wrong.

Unfortunately, Chen Dawei lacked tact. Upon seeing his patron arrive, he immediately put on a fawning smile, "General Xie, what brings you here? Look at me, I haven't even had time to prepare. General, please come and sit down at my house."

Xie Hong's face was ashen and he remained silent.

Gu Shao glanced at him and said, "Take care of this. Don't forget why we're here. Give those women in your room a good talking-to and make sure they don't cause any trouble."

Xie Hong's eyes were filled with anger. He almost gritted his teeth as he bowed and respectfully replied, "Yes."

This scene left Chen Dawei completely dumbfounded.

Weren't these people supposed to be refugees?

How come refugees, who are all alone and have no one to rely on, have such a powerful backer?!

Seeing Xie Hong's respectful attitude towards the young man in black, and his faction siding with the Lin family...

Chen Dawei was stunned.

Xie Hong was filled with resentment. He had lost face so much, and his anger was soaring. He had always been overshadowed by Gu Shao, and now that such a scandal had occurred, how could he ever hold his head high in front of those scions of noble families again?

Xie Hong kicked him in the stomach, sending him flying.

He gritted his teeth: "Who do you think you are, daring to call yourself my father-in-law?"

Chen Dawei was caught off guard and panicked, immediately kneeling down to beg for mercy.

He was joking; he had seen Xie Hong's tormenting behavior before, and he dared not challenge Xie Hong's bottom line.

Chen Dawei didn't want to die yet.

Xie Hong threatened, "If you dare to act recklessly in my name again, I'll skin you alive."

Xie Hong then looked at Lin Jinyue with displeasure: "Are you satisfied now?"

Lin Jinyue was not afraid of him.

She whispered, "They also secretly sabotaged our ship, which cost 150 taels of silver."

As for what happened early this morning, her brother led a group of people to Chen Dawei's house, smashed his tables and chairs, and beat him up, she didn't mention it at all.

Xie Hong gritted his teeth: "Fine, make him pay you double."

Chen Dawei wanted to argue, but when he saw Xie Hong's murderous gaze, he didn't dare to say anything.

No matter how dissatisfied he was, Chen Dawei could only swallow his anger.

Xie Hong felt utterly humiliated. How could he have failed to notice that Chen Dawei was a troublemaker?

He also harbored resentment towards Lin Jinyue's entire family.

If Lin Jinyue hadn't gone to complain, would he have lost so much face?

Lin Jinyue noticed his gaze but didn't care at all.

At worst, she could earn enough money to teach Gu Shao how to make ice in exchange for a favor.

Gu Shao and his group did not come empty-handed; they brought mutton, pork, and a basket of vegetables.

Lin Jinyue then said to her father, "Father, General Gu said he wanted to eat the barbecue you make, and they even brought their own lamb."

The crisis was resolved so easily, Lin Shucheng smiled and patted his daughter's head.

This family would fall apart if it didn't have a daughter.

Lin Shucheng chuckled: "Sure, I was also planning to go to Shawan County to do barbecue business, so I had Li the blacksmith make a few barbecue grills for me."

Lin Shucheng then looked at the magistrate of Shawan County: "Lord Ding, why don't you stay for a simple meal? Look at this, you arrived at noon and haven't eaten yet, have you?"

Ding Ruiming was shrewd enough to know that General Gu favored the Lin family, and he wanted to take this opportunity to build a good relationship with the Lin family, so he stayed.

Lin Jinyue then said, "Then shall I show you around?"

Gu Shao nodded.

Lin Jinyue, however, was pondering which piece of land to choose when the time came.

The county magistrate happened to be there too. Could she ask for a few more plots of land? She was willing to pay whatever it took. She needed the villagers to grow a lot of grain so that her farm could gain experience.

Lin Jinyue led them to the woods.

Dongyang has a keen sense of smell, and after taking a sniff, he exclaimed, "It smells so good!"

Lin Jinyue then explained, "There are many insects in the forest, so my mother made medicine packets and hung them on the trees to repel insects."

Further on, I saw several little children peeking into the school.

Lin Jinyue became serious, hands on her hips: "Why don't you all study?"

Stone replied, "Sister Er Ya, the teacher just said he had something to do and left in a hurry, leaving us to see for ourselves."

However, the children were starving.

The adults were all arguing with Chen Dawei in front of them and hadn't had time to cook yet.

These children had no interest in studying, were hungry, and were also caught off guard by the commotion nearby, which they couldn't see, making them extremely anxious.

Lin Jinyue: "You all study on your own. There will be lamb barbecue later."

Lin Jinyue was worried that the children would go hungry, so she gave them a bag of pastries to share.

Gu Shao looked at the simple bamboo house and chuckled, "You've made this place quite impressive."

Shi Tou stopped reading halfway through and interjected, "They were all drawn by my older sister Er Ya. Er Ya is amazing."

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