After leaving the cloth shop, Song Ning went to where Song Dahai worked.
Song Dahai insisted on coming to Jiangning County this time.
This time, I came to Jiangning County to work. They provided lunch and accommodation for the night. I heard the benefits were pretty good.
They came from Tianxiang County and were all traveling as a group.
From the east of the city to the west, when you arrive at a place, one person is responsible for several households. Once you finish working in this area, you move on to the next place.
When Song Ning arrived, Song Dahai was laying bricks, so he didn't go in, but only glanced at him from the outside.
Just as I turned to leave, I heard a commotion coming from next door.
People who heard the noise came out to see what was going on. Song Ning glanced inside and immediately saw Liu Hong.
Two people were arguing fiercely in the courtyard, seemingly about the heated kang (a traditional Chinese bed-stove).
Everyone in this area was building heated brick beds, and when they heard Liu Hong's voice, they all came out to see what was going on.
"Who do you think you are? We hired you to build a kang (heated brick bed), and you dare to cheat us out of our money! The kang is unusable. If you don't pay us back today, you're not leaving this house!" The homeowner shouted, his face flushed with anger, his finger almost slapping Liu Hong's face.
"Pah! You think I stole your money just because you say so? Where's the proof? We kindly came to set up your bed, and you think we're easy to bully?" Liu Hong was always shameless, and this kind of scene didn't scare him at all.
Facing so many people, he glared with his triangular eyes and tilted his head back, looking as if he was ready to lie down and stage an accident if the other side dared to make a move.
"Listen to this, everyone! They brought us a heated kang bed, and we paid for it! And now they're trying to take credit for it!" The host was furious and shouted.
Zhou Cheng quickly pushed through the crowd and went inside: "What's going on?"
The host snorted coldly and shouted in a shrill voice, "You bunch of refugees, you're all the same, no wonder Yao Family Village didn't want you back then, ptooey!"
"What bad luck! Let me tell you, my family has connections in the county government. If we don't get an explanation today, this isn't over!"
"They even dared to cut corners and skimp on materials when building a kang (heated brick bed). Luckily, we found out. Everyone, you'd better do your due diligence and don't let these heartless bastards fool you!"
To make things easier, the people who build the kang (a heated brick bed) now find the bricks themselves and then get a uniform price.
The homeowner paid for the bricks before they were brought back.
However, when Liu Hong was buying bricks, he refused to do it with everyone else, saying that the quality of the bricks he found was better, but the price was a bit high.
Today, the owner found out that it wasn't because of its high quality, but because he had taken a kickback. He didn't know how much money he had embezzled from that one kang (heated brick bed).
Moreover, the kang (heated brick bed) they installed for them wasn't heated properly, and the stove was constantly emitting smoke; they simply refused to redo it.
There's a proper way to build a kang (heated brick bed), and it's not always done perfectly. You have to heat it up after it's built, and if you find it's not right, you have to scrape it up and start over until it's fixed.
These things were all discussed with the host family in advance.
After everyone understood what was going on, their expressions became subtle.
Ultimately, these are all outsiders. Although the county magistrate invited them to set up the kang (heated brick bed), they are refugees, outsiders, and different from the locals.
"Is this for real? My kang (heated brick bed) was just finished yesterday. Could it be that I've been scammed too?" a woman whispered in the crowd.
"That's right, these bricks aren't cheap, and our money doesn't grow on trees..."
Zhou Cheng and his group dared not speak. They had finally settled down, but now they were being labeled as refugees because of this incident.
But they didn't become refugees voluntarily.
Since this was their fault, Zhou Cheng quickly went up to speak on their behalf.
"Sister, it's all because we didn't think it through. How about this, if the kang (heated brick bed) isn't suitable, we'll have someone else make a new one for you, and we won't charge you for the kang itself."
No sooner had Zhou Cheng finished speaking than Liu Hong objected, shouting, "Why should I?"
Zhou Cheng wanted nothing more than to beat him to death. He glared at him with a dark face and said, "The magistrate said that I am in charge of everyone here. If you're not happy, then get out!"
Liu Hong dared not utter a sound, but the woman on the other side had objections.
"Hmph, not taking the money? What about the money he embezzled? You're their leader, aren't you? Let me tell you, no one's leaving here today without paying me five taels of silver!"
They haven't even earned five taels of silver yet, where are they going to lose it?
Turning to look at Liu Hong, Liu Hong shrank back, clearly unable to produce five taels of silver.
Many of those who were just watching the spectacle were tempted to do the same, their eyes gleaming with excitement.
They were indeed at fault first. Even if they took it to the county government, they wouldn't get away with it. Haven't you heard? They have connections in the county government.
Zhou Cheng was sweating profusely. He couldn't let everyone suffer because of Liu Hong alone.
“Sister-in-law, you see, we are all from poor backgrounds and really don’t have that much money. How about this, I’ll compensate you half a tael of silver first, and he can apologize to you. We’ll compensate you again when we’ve saved up enough money.”
"Ha, then? You'll deny it then, won't you? Let me tell you, if you can't come up with five taels of silver now, come with me to the yamen and let the magistrate see the true colors of you refugees!"
With refugees on one side and refugees on the other, Zhou Cheng felt somewhat ashamed.
Although Liu Hong is a scoundrel, he is still a member of their group. If he really goes to the county government, who will hire them to work in the future?
Song Ning pushed through the crowd and announced loudly, "I'll pay the money."
Then he took out five taels of silver and handed it to the man.
"Uncle Zhou, why don't you take some people to set up the kang first? Finish the work you're doing now, and don't go to do anything else yet."
Zhou Cheng wanted to say something, but Song Ning waved his hand and said, "Let's get to work first."
Song Dahai and his group had just finished their business and came over to help without saying a word.
Song Ning looked at the woman who was beaming with joy as she took the silver, and without saying much, he had someone drag Liu Hong out of the courtyard.
Liu Hong is very proud of himself now. Look, having a niece really makes a difference.
"Er Ya, if I had known you had so much money, why would your uncle have bothered with the kang (heated brick bed)? You could have just given me the money directly."
She only knew that Li Guixiang was shameless before, but she never expected that there would be someone even more shameless now.
Song Ning tried his best not to lose his temper and calmly asked, "Tell me the truth, how much silver did you embezzle from them?"
Liu Hong's eyes flickered, and he pursed his lips in dissatisfaction: "Who said I embezzled her money? That's all lies!"
"Okay, since it's a rumor, let's go to the county government and report her for fraud."
Liu Hong panicked and grabbed Song Ning, saying, "Hey, hey, don't, don't go to the county government."
Song Ning's face darkened: "Aren't you going to talk?"
"Just, just half a tael of silver."
Song Ning laughed, and the people around him realized that something terrible was about to happen.
Song Ning looked down, seemingly searching for something, then saw a stone not far away. She walked over, picked it up, and walked back with a smile.
His expression changed drastically, and he threw the stone directly at Liu Hong.
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