They were heartbroken that Wei Dajun had broken his leg, but compared to the loss of their family, this was the best possible outcome.
The village elders and villagers were willing to stand up for them and help Wei Dajun correct his bad habits. They felt only gratitude and had no resentment.
The villagers surrounded them as they went out, especially the women, who all offered words of comfort.
After everyone turned off their lights and went to sleep, the noisy night finally came to an end.
Originally, Li Lao Er and Liu Biao Tou thought that Zhang Jin from Xiao Wang Zhuang would only come to gather information, and that it would take several days.
Unexpectedly, Zhang Jin, whether out of a clear conscience and a sense of righteous indignation, or because he was being pressured by the casino, actually found his way to the village the very next afternoon.
At the village entrance, Li Yong's house was under construction, with people coming and going in a bustling atmosphere.
Zhang Jin randomly grabbed a man and asked, "Brother, how do I get to Wei Dajun's house?"
The man paused for a moment, looking at Zhang Jin's shifty-looking face, which seemed like a bad guy, and frowned, asking in return, "Where are you from, and what business do you have with Wei Dajun?"
Zhang Jin quickly smiled and said, "Brother, don't worry, I'm from Xiaowangzhuang, we're family."
Sure enough, when the man heard that it was from Xiaowangzhuang, his guard dropped and he laughed, "Then you are indeed family! Just go straight in, the second house from the east in the last row is Wei Dajun's house."
"Alright, bro. I'm off now. See you another time for drinks!"
Zhang Jin said hello and left, a hint of disdain flashing in his eyes.
People outside say that the people from Broken Gold Beach are very powerful, but they are just a bunch of peasants who are too easy to fool.
Little did he know that in the blink of an eye, the whole village knew that he, the weasel, had entered the village, and hundreds of eyes were staring at him.
It's really hard to say who's easier to fool!
Wei Dajun broke his leg and was in so much pain last night that he couldn't sleep. He's taken his medicine and eaten now.
But with his children in school and his wife at work, he was left alone lying on the kang (a heated brick bed) with a chamber pot beside him for company. It was a truly miserable situation.
Seeing Zhang Jin walk in, he tried to get up, but cried out in pain and lay back down.
Zhang Jin quickly stepped forward to help him up and asked in a low voice, "Brother Wei, what's wrong? Didn't we agree to go to the city to repay the money today?"
Wei Dajun was sweating profusely from the pain on his forehead and cursed, "Don't even mention it, what a terrible day! Last night the village distributed wages, and my family received three taels of silver. I was thinking of going to find you, so I went to the city early today."
"I never imagined that when I was taking a shortcut over the mountain, I would fall straight down. Luckily, there were people patrolling the village, otherwise I'm afraid I would have had to spend the night in the mountains."
Zhang Jin lifted the blanket to take a look. Wei Dajun's injured leg was swollen beyond recognition, and there was still a faint trace of blood on the bandage.
This is a real injury!
Zhang Jin cursed him inwardly for being useless, but put on a troubled expression and said, "What should we do? If we don't pay back the money today, the casino might come looking for us at home!"
"No, no!" Wei Dajun was terrified and quickly grabbed his hand, pleading, "Brother Zhang, please help me, you must plead for me."
As he spoke, he pulled a money pouch out from under the mattress.
“The wages I received yesterday are all here. Brother Zhang, please give them to the casino for me. Please give me two months’ grace. The village chief said that the fruit from the mountain sold for more than 5,000 taels. Our family will get at least 100 taels. We will definitely pay off all the gambling debts by then.”
Zhang Jin's eyes lit up. He tossed the money bag and said, "You know, the casino is worried about its business not being booming. Once you're healed, bring a few more customers over. Maybe the manager will be so happy that he'll forgive all your gambling debts."
Wei Dajun, as if grasping at a lifeline, quickly replied, "Okay, okay, I'm healed, and the village has given out money. I'll take a few more people with me then. My family is the poorest; they're all richer than me!"
Zhang Jin was increasingly satisfied. He took the money pouch and said perfunctorily, "Alright, then you should take good care of your injuries. I'll go to the casino and plead for you first. I'll come see you again in a few days."
"Okay, okay!" Wei Dajun breathed a sigh of relief and thanked him repeatedly.
Zhang Jin waved his hand and left.
As he stepped out of the Wei family's gate, he spat fiercely and muttered under his breath, "Useless thing."
After he finished cursing, he looked up at the neat and clean new village, the distant hills, the riverbanks, and the hot spring valley, his eyes filled with greed and envy...
As the villagers busied themselves building houses, they watched Zhang enter and leave the village.
Liu, the镖头 (bodyguard), was about to follow, but Li Yong, worried about him, gave Hui Niang and the village chief a few instructions and then hurried after Liu, so the two could keep each other company...
In the evening, the people who were building the house had dinner before they returned.
Li Lao Er and the village chief quickly inquired, and Li Yong said, "This Zhang Jin went directly to the gambling den in the city and talked to a manager for a long time. We didn't dare to go up and couldn't hear what they were saying."
“But I borrowed two unfamiliar veterans from the Marquis’s residence. They will help us keep a close eye on that casino manager. If he has connections, we’ll definitely be able to find something on him.”
Liu, the head镖师 (bodyguard/escort), nodded and said, "For now, it seems that Zhang Jin is a human trafficker for the casino, specifically responsible for recruiting gamblers outside."
"Let's leave it at that for now. If we keep things stable, it won't be so easy for outsiders to scheme against us," Li Lao Er reassured everyone.
Everyone chimed in, "Yes, no matter how much someone schemes, if we all hold onto our money, who would dare to rob us!"
Thus, a minor disturbance was brought to a close.
Apart from Wei Dajun, who was in so much pain every day that he was half-dead and filled with regret, the rest of the villagers continued to live their lives as usual.
Soon, it was time for Jia Huan to present the betrothal gifts.
The Li family closed their courtyard gate and asked Uncle Zhao and a few others to help look after the place. Then, Li Zhensheng, Li Lao Er, and the village chief all took a car to Luo'an Town.
The village chief was initially reluctant to go, as he was of farming background and naturally held scholars and academies in high esteem, which made him somewhat nervous.
Li Lao Er reassured the old man, "Uncle, you've even met the Emperor, what are you afraid of these schoolteachers for? We're getting married, not asking them for favors! Besides, Uncle is the head of Suijintan, a place blessed by the Emperor with auspicious feng shui. Just hold your head high, we're not afraid of anyone!"
A huge bowl of chicken soup was poured down the old man's throat, and it had an even better effect than chicken blood.
The old man changed into his best clothes, polished his pipe until it gleamed, and strode confidently into the carriage...
In the Li family courtyard in Luoan Town, the betrothal gifts have been prepared and arranged neatly.
In addition to the two hundred handwritten copies of books I promised Mr. Peng, there were two sets of headdress jewelry, one set in pure gold and the other in pearls. In addition, there were sixteen bolts of silk of various colors, a pair of rouge and powder boxes, a pair of dragon and phoenix candles, four kinds of candies, four kinds of nuts, four jars of tea, and four jars of fine wine.
Most importantly, the matchmaker gave a red envelope containing two small gold ingots.
The betrothal gift was a box containing ten two-tael gold ingots, worth two hundred taels of silver.
All of these together are worth about five hundred taels of silver.
When it came time to make the purchases, Zhao Yuru put in a lot of effort, but she didn't have to pay a single tael of silver.
This is a rule established by the public ceremonies for every son and grandson of the Li family when they get married.
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