Liu'er's hair was disheveled, and there was an obvious red mark on her face, with five fingers clearly visible, and blood on her nose and the corners of her mouth.
Liu'er was sold to be the eldest daughter of the county magistrate at the age of six. This was probably the first time she was beaten.
"You are such a loser!" Fang Jinxiu gritted her teeth in anger and poked Liu'er's head with her hand, "Why are you crying? You are such a bully!"
Liu'er reached out and hit her hand.
"There are so many of them," she cried, "How can I defeat them?"
"If you can't beat them, just run away." Chen Qi couldn't help but interrupt.
"My young lady hasn't been found yet." Liu'er cried.
Fang Jinxiu bit her lower lip angrily.
"Don't cry." She said unhappily, "What did Chief Lin say?"
Liu Er wiped away tears.
"I didn't see Lin Zhubu. They said he wasn't at home." She cried, and then looked at Fang Jinxiu, "Are you lying to me? Are you deliberately trying to get me beaten?"
The beating she received was too light.
Fang Jinxiu glared angrily and raised her hand towards Liu'er. Although Liu'er was very ferocious now, she also made defensive and attacking gestures.
"You stupid thing." Fang Jinxiu didn't hit her in the end. She waved her hand and said, "I'm going to the Lin family to look for someone. You go back and tell the people in the Fang family that your young lady can't be found. What can you do alone?"
Liu'er looked at her doubtfully.
"Do you want the Fang family to fight with others?" she muttered.
Fang Jinxiu was too lazy to pay attention to her and turned away. Chen Qi cried out twice and hurriedly caught up with her, carrying the grass circle.
"Are you really going?" he asked.
Fang Jinxiu said nothing and just walked quickly.
"You are just a child, and there are only two of us. We still can't win if we fight." Chen Qi said, "Let's go and notify the Fang family and let them come."
Fang Jinxiu stopped and looked at him.
"You're wrong. It's a person." She said, "It has nothing to do with you. You've sold your candy figures. Pack up your stall and go home."
Chen Qi said "oh" and watched Fang Jinxiu walk quickly again, then caught up with him after a moment.
Fang Jinxiu stared at him.
"I'm here to show you the way. Do you know where Lin Zhubu lives?" Chen Qi said hurriedly. "Although you're not a delicate young lady who is used to staying at home. But you're definitely not as familiar with this city as I am. The Lin family lives in a big place. You can't just go there and ask around, right?"
Fang Jinxiu really didn't know where Lin Zhubu lived, and she really planned to ask along the way.
Chen Qi was right. Liu Er had already made a fuss just now, and the Lin family was on guard. If he continued to ask questions, he might be stopped before he even got close to the Lin family.
Fang Jinxiu looked at Chen Qi.
"Well, thank you very much," she said.
Chen Qi chuckled, raised his head and put the bamboo pole on his shoulder.
"Come with me," he said, and walked ahead.
Fang Jinxiu looked at his complicated expression for a moment and followed him.
"You've sold all your sugar figures, why are you still carrying this?" she said.
"It takes a lot of effort to make one of these." Chen Qi said. "With the time I spend making one of these, I can make ten sugar figures, and I can earn ten dollars from ten sugar figures. So this grass circle is money. How can I throw money away?"
Fang Jinxiu curled the corner of her mouth and said nothing more.
Chen Qi held the bamboo pole tightly.
Besides, if a fight breaks out later, this thing can be used as a weapon for self-defense.
The Lin family's residence was easy to find. It was dusk, and the alley was quiet instead of the children running and playing outside.
Chen Qi paused, raised the grass circle on his shoulder, motioned Fang Jinxiu to follow, and strode inside.
"Sugar man, sugar man." he shouted.
The sound broke the silence in the alley and made people hiding in the alley come out.
Chen Qi is considered a celebrity in Yangcheng, and most people know him.
When they saw that it was Chen Qi, they frowned but their expressions relaxed.
"What are you doing, Chen Qi?" someone said.
"Selling sugar figures." Chen Qi said with a smile.
Everyone looked at his empty grass circle.
"What the hell." Someone said unhappily.
"I've sold out all the candy at the Cantoutai," Chen Qi said. "I'm on my way back so I came to take a look around and see if anyone wants some candy figurines. I can bring some back."
Chen Qi makes money from everything and does all kinds of business, and everyone is used to it.
"Who wants this?" Everyone said impatiently, their eyes falling on Fang Jinxiu who was following Chen Qi.
This time, Fang Jinxiu was not wearing a young lady's clothes, but a coarse cloth shirt, which was specially found for her by Yuanshi.
Don't show off your wealth. If a girl is alone and wears nothing but clothes outside, it will attract attention and be unsafe.
"Of course someone bought it." Chen Qi said, looking back at Fang Jinxiu with a bit of pride, "How much did you want?"
"Only three." Fang Jinxiu said in a low voice, "Can you hurry up? Do you have any more at home?"
This was probably the girl from that family who came to buy candy figures for her younger brothers and sisters. After Chen Qi finished selling them, he took her home to get them.
The people from the Lin family stopped looking at Fang Jinxiu.
"Don't hang around here, there's no business for you, go back quickly," they said.
Chen Qi responded in a flurry and went into the alley. The Lin family's clansmen lived here, and the alleys were connected. If you go in from here, you can also go out from other places. The servants of the Lin family didn't care and let Chen Qi go.
After turning an alley, Chen Qi breathed a sigh of relief.
"There wasn't such a person before. This person is guarding here specially." He whispered.
Fang Jinxiu also looked forward. There were three or four men standing at the entrance of the alley, talking and looking outside warily.
"You're so alert," she said. "There must be something wrong."
Liu'er said that after they watched the beheading, they were walking on the street and Jun Zhenzhen saw an official from Taiyuan Prefecture. He said something was wrong and asked Liu'er to tell Old Madam Fang.
What did she see that was wrong? Was it related to the Fang family? Was it related to the Fang family’s enemies? Was it related to this Lin Zhubu?
So Jun Zhenzhen found Lin Zhubu to ask, and then was deceived by Lin Zhubu?
Maybe he couldn't fool her, but Jun Zhenzhen was too brave. She dared to break in even though she knew it was a scam.
"Where is Lin Zhubu's home?" Fang Jinxiu asked.
Chen Qi pointed at a house.
…
After continuous knocking, the door was finally opened impatiently, and the person who opened the door also looked impatient.
This is a maid.
"What are you doing?" she said unhappily, then recognized Chen Qi, "Chen Qi, why are you knocking on my door?"
Chen Qi shook the bamboo pole in his arms.
"Auntie Wang, let's buy some sugar figures for the young ladies and gentlemen in the family." He said with a smile.
Mother Wang made a "pooh" sound, her expression relaxed, and she took her hand off the door.
"You kid, you do all kinds of business, how come you come to us..." she said.
Before he could finish his words, Fang Jinxiu, who was standing behind Chen Qi, stepped forward, stretched out her hand, pushed the door open, and stepped over the threshold.
Mother Wang was startled and screamed.
"Who are you? What do you want?"
Fang Jinxiu didn't move forward, but stood inside the door and looked at her.
"Tell Chief Lin that I am from the Fang family. The Fang family is the same family that mobilized the troops and officials of Shanxi and Henan and smashed the gate of the county government and captured the county magistrate. They just showed the people of Yangcheng an execution where the head was not turned away after three cuts." Fang Jinxiu said, "Tell him that the Fang family is here to take my life."
The maid's face turned pale and she looked terrified.
Chen Qi looked at Fang Jinxiu with admiration.
What a bold, neat and powerful move.