Li Hong gritted his teeth in indignation; this was too much.
The poor fisherman in the fleet married Xiao Shuang'er, who was clearly his younger brother, but these people refused to admit it. They didn't get a single penny and were even beaten up. Li Hong felt extremely aggrieved.
Li Hong was a scoundrel in the village. Although he was shameless, he rarely ran into trouble and was usually the one bullying others. This time, however, he got a good beating.
Once the fishermen were incited by the sinking pond, they started beating people.
However, everyone was careful not to hurt the older man, so they focused their attacks on Li Hong.
Of course, there was another reason why the fishermen targeted Li Hong: before the sinking pond appeared, he was too arrogant, even bringing Zhou An to berate him for being poor, penniless, and having cheated his brother. Several people who spoke up for Zhou An and Li Hong were also scolded by Li Hong.
"I told you long ago, the people in that fleet all have powerful backers, they're not to be trifled with," Li's father sighed.
The fleet of ships belonging to Yucang County belonged to the county magistrate. When Li Hong said he wanted to go and demand the people back, Li's father did not quite agree.
Li Hong said resentfully, "Who knew that the county magistrate had so much to do?"
Li Hong is a coward at heart; he doesn't want to deal with Lu Lin, but rather his younger brother, Li Xiaoyu.
Li Honghui mustered up the courage to go to the new magistrate's door, having heard that the new magistrate was afraid of his wife and, after arriving, only knew how to open various restaurants, and was a good-tempered and honest official.
"Maybe it's just that he looks like him, but he's not your brother." The father felt a pang of unease that his perfectly healthy son had jumped into the river.
Li's father had initially believed that the girl Zhou An married was his son, but after Chen Chi's outburst, he became somewhat uneasy. He had only heard that Zhou An had found a girl who looked quite like his son, but he wasn't sure if that was true. After being beaten up, Li's father began to think that they might have made a mistake.
“How could it not be? If it really wasn’t, we should call them out for a confrontation. That Shuang’er is just spouting nonsense because she has the magistrate as her backer, and she’s even trying to shift the blame.” Li Hong said angrily.
“There are so many fishermen, and they’re so fierce, I think we should just forget about it,” said Li’s mother.
Although the fishermen were worried about killing Li's mother, they didn't hit her hard, but she was still kicked several times and had several bruises on her body.
Li's mother was old, and after being beaten like that, her whole body ached.
Li Hong nodded, no longer wanting to provoke the fleet. Li Hong was a local bully in the village, but he only bullied ordinary people. Having suffered such a great loss, he wouldn't dare to confront so many fishermen.
The entire Li family was beaten, and a gloomy atmosphere hung over their home.
Suddenly, a commotion broke out outside. When Li's father went out, he found many people standing in the courtyard, each looking bitter and resentful.
"Master Li, my husband went out with you and got beaten up. You have to give us an explanation!"
"That's right! Manager Li, this is the busy farming season, and now that my husband has been beaten, who will go to the fields!"
"We only went with you because of our family ties, and now you've dragged us all down with you without even understanding the situation..."
Li Hong was scolded by the crowd and said angrily, "This injury was caused by that little rascal Shen Chi. If you want an explanation, go find him."
Li Hong thought to himself: It is said that the county magistrate's two wives are very fierce. I didn't expect that the county magistrate's brother-in-law's two wives are also so fierce. They are not like twins at all.
Several villagers knew Shen Chi's identity, so of course they didn't dare to confront him.
"Li Hong, you bastard, you're trying to extort money from me! You've dragged my family into this mess!"
"Yes! Li Hong, it's one thing for you to cause trouble in the village, but how could you possibly set your sights on the county magistrate?"
"That's right! Li Hong, how could you make such a claim of kinship without understanding the situation? You went and started looking for trouble before you even got to the bottom of things. What if the county magistrate investigates?"
Li's father looked pale and knew that the fleet had powerful backers. So he found a few villagers to embolden him. After things turned out this way, Li Hong was furious. A bunch of people came to his door demanding money, but Li Hong naturally refused to pay.
These people were not to be trifled with, and they outnumbered the others. When several villagers saw that Li Hong was unwilling to pay, they simply barged into the house and started taking things. The old man and woman of the Li family cried and screamed, but they couldn't stop them.
After this commotion, all the pots, pans, and dishes in Li Hong's house were taken away.
After Zhou An's incident, the fleet calmed down for a while. Zhou An was worried that Li Hong would not give up, so he asked Li Xiaoyu to stay in the fleet's dormitory on weekdays.
There are always many people gathered at the fleet's dormitory, and Li Xiaoyu can ensure safety here.
The families on the fleet's side are mainly responsible for drying fish and cooking for the travelers, so they have a lot of free time.
Chenchi posted a job advertisement on the fleet's side, inviting some of the family members with more free time to work as helpers at the restaurant. They could earn a dozen or so yuan a day, and several fishermen's family members had already gone to help at the restaurant.
Lu Lin glanced at the fleet list and said, "There are more and more people buying houses these days!"
Chen Xiaomi nodded and said, "Yes! Three taels of silver is something most people can afford." Chen Xiaomi thought to himself: When he lived in the mountains, if there had been a house like that that could be bought for three taels of silver, he would definitely have bought one.
Chen Xiaomi thought to herself: It seems that there are more pregnant women on the fleet lately. If the living conditions are good, the survival rate of newborns should also increase. As a result, the number of fishermen should increase.
"Boss, your things have arrived," Qin Lang said as he walked up to Lu Lin.
Lu Lin nodded and said, "Be careful."
Chen Xiaomi glanced at Lu Lin and asked with some curiosity, "Are you very interested in this kind of seashell?"
What Qin Lang brought over was a box of dried scallops. Don't be fooled by the small box; it took a lot of effort. Although the scallop shells are large, the meat inside is little. Drying them makes them shrink even more. This small box was hard-earned.
“I want to send this to Kyoto,” Lu Lin said.
Chen Xiaomi blinked and said, "Are we still selling it to the prince? This thing doesn't look very appealing!"
Lu Lin shook his head dismissively and said, "It doesn't matter if it doesn't look good. We can just package it properly. I've ordered a wooden box. We'll wrap it carefully and put it in the box before sending it over."
Chen Xiaomi asked with some surprise, "Is it really necessary to make such a fuss?"
Chen Xiaomi knew that Lu Lin had ordered a batch of wooden boxes some time ago, but she didn't expect that the wooden boxes would be used to store dried oysters.
Lu Lin smiled and said, "You don't know about oysters? They're known as a man's energy booster and a woman's beauty salon, with excellent health benefits."
"Gas station? What's that?" Chen Xiaomi tilted her head and asked.
Lu Lin smiled and said, "That means this stuff can nourish the kidneys."
Chen Xiaomi said helplessly, "Then it's not appropriate to just give this to the prince so easily." Although Chen Xiaomi felt that if this thing really had the effect that Lu Lin said, then the prince would probably need it, but needing it is one thing, whether he would actually accept it is another matter.
Lu Lin rubbed his forehead, thinking to himself: Xiaomi is right! It wouldn't be good if the prince misunderstood that he was looking down on the prince's abilities.
"Can this stuff really beautify the skin?" Chen Xiaomi asked curiously.
Lu Lin nodded. "When have I ever lied to you? This stuff has a really good whitening effect."
Chen Xiaomi nodded and said, "Alright then, we'll send a batch to Ji Yun'an and see how it goes."
“Good stuff, we don’t have to worry about selling it. If we can’t sell it, we’ll just eat it ourselves,” Lu Lin said.
Chen Xiaomi glanced at Lu Lin helplessly and said, "Be careful not to overdo it with the supplements."
Lu Lin scratched his head, looking a little shy.
Kyoto.
"Wheat, what is this?" Song Yufei asked curiously, her round eyes wide open.
Xiaomai opened the box, looked at it, and said, "It's dried oysters, the meat of a type of shellfish that's dried. Fresh ones are hard to transport, so we can only send the dried ones."
Song Yufei nodded and said "Oh".
Xiaomai glanced at Song Yufei and said, "Don't underestimate this thing! My brother's letter came even faster. He said in his letter that this thing can both enhance male virility and improve beauty."
When Song Yufei heard Xiaomai casually mention that it was an aphrodisiac, he couldn't help but blush. "Can it really beautify the skin?"
Xiaomai nodded and said, "Big brother said that eating this stuff can make your skin whiter and smoother."
Song Yufei asked with some doubt, "Is it really that amazing?"
As the saying goes, beauty fades and love wanes. Many noblewomen in the capital feared nothing more than the passing of time and the loss of their youthful looks. Women love beauty, and these noblewomen of the capital never hesitated to spend money on various cosmetics. Although Song Yufei was bisexual, she too loved beauty.
Xiaomai nodded and said, "That's what my brother said. He doesn't lie."
Xiaomai squatted down and opened the oysters that were delivered, checking them over. Song Yufei squatted beside her, admiring their freshness.
"Can this stuff really improve your health?" Song Yufei asked, using a more tactful approach.
Xiaomai thought for a moment and said, "I don't know! I'll know once I try it."
Song Yufei nodded and said, "That's true!"
A soft cough came over, and Chen Xiaomai and Song Yufei turned their heads at the same time. Song Yufei didn't know when the prince had arrived, but guessed that the prince might have overheard his conversation with Chen Xiaomai, and immediately felt a little guilty.
"Your Highness, you've arrived!" Chen Xiaomai greeted him with a calm expression.
Song Yufei glanced at Chen Xiaomai's expression, unsure whether to call her calm or oblivious. Song Yufei thought to himself: Sometimes, being a little silly isn't such a bad thing!
"Your elder brother has brought you something again!" Prince Cheng asked.
Chen Xiaomai nodded and said, "I did send some. Would you like some, Your Highness?"
Prince Cheng: "...Seeing that Prince Cheng remained silent, Chen Xiaomai said casually, "Let me pack some for Your Highness. You can give it to the Princess Consort; it's good for her beauty."
Song Yufei looked at Chen Xiaomai with some worry, afraid that Chen Xiaomai would say that it could enhance male virility, but fortunately Chen Xiaomai did not say so.
Prince Cheng accepted the gifts, and perhaps feeling a little embarrassed, he left quickly.
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