If Zhang San hadn't heard the news at Chunfeng Tower and then kept asking around about it until he found out about his cousin, he probably wouldn't have been able to find the mine in Luozi Village.
Zhang San waited at the mine entrance for two days before finally finding an old miner who had just finished work. He spent fifty coins to get information about Pei Dalang and Pei Erlang from him.
"Those two, even if you find out the news, it's useless. They're probably not going to make it. They've been hit by stones for several days, and no one has taken them to get medical treatment. It's going to be tough for them."
The miner wiped the silver in his hand with the dirty corner of his clothes, then put it in his mouth with yellow teeth and bit it to confirm that the silver Zhang San had given him was not counterfeit.
Upon hearing this, Zhang San immediately planned to go back to find Manager Qian, who happened to be in the county to handle some matters at the time.
There was only one official road leading to the county, so Zhang San met Manager Qian halfway there.
He immediately got off the carriage and stopped Manager Qian, telling him everything he had learned over the past few days.
When Manager Qian heard that the person was on the verge of death, he immediately became anxious.
In order not to waste time, Manager Qian directly asked Zhang San to take him to the county first.
Once they arrived in the county, Manager Qian asked an acquaintance to deliver a message to Erdan, urging him to quickly inform the Pei family.
Given the urgency of the situation, and knowing that it would take some time to notify Pei Yao, Manager Qian didn't dare to delay. He took the only fifty taels he had and went to the mine to see if he could bring the person out and take her to the clinic.
Pei Yao had previously given Manager Qian a recipe to help Deyun Restaurant through its most difficult days, and he had always remembered this kindness, so he was doing his best to help Pei Yao now.
As a result, when Manager Qian and Zhang San arrived at the mine, the people there were indeed afraid that the Pei brothers and the Shen father and son would die there. After all, they could have a little trouble, but now that the families had come looking for them, if someone died, they would have a hard time explaining themselves.
So they agreed to let Manager Qian take the person out and send him to the clinic temporarily, but a ransom had to be paid if he wanted to take the person away permanently.
Then, under the pretext of fearing they might abscond with the people, they detained them at the mine.
"They want two hundred taels of silver?" Pei Yao had heard Shen Yu mention it before.
So when she came, in addition to paying the clinic's fees, she left Yunniang one hundred taels as the clinic's ongoing expenses, and took the remaining two hundred taels with her.
One hundred and fifty taels of it were in silver notes, which were placed in his shoes, and the remaining fifty taels were kept close to his body.
Luozi Village is not in a remote location; it was just getting dark when the group arrived.
Zhang San was familiar with the location, so he went straight to the front and directed the coachman to drive the carriage to a spot not far from the mine.
When the group arrived, the miners were finishing their shift, so they hid in the carriage and waited until everyone had dispersed a bit before getting off.
Shen Yu was left in the carriage because of his leg problems. When Pei Yao left, she gave Shen Yu all the fifty taels of silver that she kept on her person.
"Take this money for me. If we don't come out soon, have the coachman take you to Meiling Town first..." Pei Yao said in a low voice, so only Shen Yu, who was close to her, could hear her.
After saying that, he added, still not entirely at ease, "If we don't get out, we must go find him."
Shen Yu nodded seriously.
...
Ordinary miners usually finished work on time around 5 PM, leaving behind only the officials on duty that day and the workers captured by the saltworks.
Workers captured from the saltworks would be housed in temporary wooden houses built in front of the mine for easy supervision.
Several officials did not leave work on time today because they had received fifty taels of silver from the shopkeeper during the day.
This group planned to secretly divide the silver tonight and treat themselves to a good meal.
Life at the mine was tough, and the wages for the officers on duty were lower than others. So, having finally earned so much silver, they didn't tell any of them, planning to secretly divide it among themselves.
"Boss, Lao Liu has been gone for half a day and hasn't come back yet. We just asked him to go to a nearby villager's house to buy a few old hens, and he's been gone for so long." One of the officers complained, glancing at the sky outside.
They deliberately let the workers leave early today so that they could have a snack without anyone watching, but Lao Liu has been gone for so long and still hasn't come back.
"Look at the people in this village. They're so poor they can't even afford to eat, let alone chickens. I bet Lao Liu went to another village to buy some."
The officer called "boss" was the leader of the group of officers. He was sitting in a chair, drinking cheap tea, showing off his big yellow teeth, and staring at Manager Qian, who was tied to a stool next to him.
"Hey, third brother, why do I feel like I've seen this old man before?" Ye Laoda looked at Manager Qian and felt like he looked familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen him before.
“Boss, I also think he looks familiar, like I’ve seen him somewhere before.” Wu Laosan was still thinking about Lao Liu going to buy chickens, but when he heard what Ye Laoda said, his slender eyes stared at Manager Qian and suddenly he slapped his forehead.
"Hey boss, I remember now, isn't this old man the manager of the Deyun Restaurant in Meilin Town?"
After Wu Laosan finished speaking, he moved closer to Manager Qian and looked him up and down, his narrow eyes darting around.
Upon hearing this, Ye Laoda also leaned closer to Manager Qian's face to examine him. Manager Qian was so disgusted by Ye Laoda's large yellow teeth that he silently turned his face away.
Old Master Ye pinched Manager Qian's face, forcibly turning his face back, and then said to Old Master Wu, who was standing next to him, "Old Master Wu, you know what, I also think it looks like him..."
"Boss, there are a few people looking for us at the door..."
Suddenly, a henchman's voice came from the doorway. Boss Ye was engrossed in studying Manager Qian's face when he was startled by the shout.
He suppressed his anger, slapped the shopkeeper's face away, and yelled at the underlings outside, "What's all the fuss about? What have I been teaching you all along? I've told you to be steady, steady! Huh!"
The underling was somewhat bewildered by Boss Ye's outburst and stammered, "They said they're here to ransom the shopkeeper..."
Upon hearing this, Boss Ye's eyes lit up. He hadn't expected that someone would actually come to redeem him, and so quickly at that.
Then, with a look of exasperation, he yelled at the henchman outside, "Why didn't you say so earlier? Hurry up and let him in!"
"Yes... Boss."
The younger brother quickly went out to call Pei Yao and the others in. As soon as Zhang San saw the younger brother who opened the door, he immediately greeted him with a smile: "Big Cousin, how did it go?"
The older cousin looked pale and looked up at Zhang San before opening the iron gate: "Go in, Boss Ye is waiting for you."
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