Chapter 19: County Magistrate Gao Comes to Shangliu Village
County Magistrate Gao just returned to the county government office this morning. When he arrived at the office, he heard the constable say that the family that adopted Chao Chao had escaped.
Now, the government has sent people to search, but because the matter of Tianmu is in a mess in many places, they are short of manpower, and it may not be easy to find the person.
Especially since the other party had just received more than two hundred taels of silver, the difference between having money and having no money was too huge.
County Magistrate Gao had a terrible headache, but he didn't care about much else and went to Shangliu Village first.
He hadn't slept all night and was very tired, but he couldn't rest for a moment. If this matter is not handled well, his position as an official will probably be over.
When they arrived at Shangliu Village, Yue Chai was already waiting at the entrance of the village with sweat on his face, and Guo Xiucai was also there.
When he heard Chao Chao mention Shangliu Village yesterday, he knew that he didn't need to say anything more to the county magistrate, and the county government would send someone to the village to find out the situation.
As expected, the constable came yesterday and today County Magistrate Gao came in person.
County Magistrate Gao did not exchange pleasantries and directly said, "Let's go to the Hu family first."
"Yes, sir." Yue Chai was extremely nervous. Although he was the village chief, his words only carried some weight in the village. This was his first time meeting an official. Especially since he had done his job poorly, not only had Chaochao been bullied during the two years here, but he had also allowed the three members of the Hu family to escape. Now he was afraid that the county magistrate would punish him.
Therefore, he tried his best to push Guo Xiucai to the front and let him answer on his behalf.
The group soon arrived at the Hu family, and there was a constable standing at the door of the Hu family.
County Magistrate Gao walked in and took a look around. Most of the Hu family's belongings were there. That was right. After all, they were leaving secretly and could not attract too much attention. The things they could take away were very limited.
Some commonly used clothes and bedding were gone, and maybe a few pots and pans were taken away, but there was nothing worth a penny.
County Magistrate Gao walked around the yard again, and Yue Chai said, "They originally raised five chickens, two ducks, and a pig. Now one chicken and one duck are missing, so they must have taken them away."
County Magistrate Gao nodded, walked out of the main hall, and asked, "Where does the little girl live?"
Yue Chai's heart skipped a beat. After hesitating for a moment, he still led the way, "This way, sir."
The door of the woodshed was still open. It had not been closed since Chao Chao ran out that night, so the things inside were clearly visible.
Especially the worn sheets and straw that fell on the ground, which clearly showed what kind of life the little girl had lived before.
County Magistrate Gao took a deep breath, walked to the two bed boards, squatted down and touched them. There were barbs on the bed boards. He asked Yue Chai and others to step back and he personally looked through the things in the woodshed.
Chaochao had very few things. She did have one set of clothes for changing, but they were also very thin and worn out. There was still a large piece of hard steamed bun on the ground, and some were round little stones that the little girl had probably picked up. There are also two straw rabbits that look like they have been played with many times and are very old.
This thing probably accompanied the little girl through many difficult days.
County Magistrate Gao put all these things in place, quickly lifted the straw in the corner, and then saw scratches on the ground.
He frowned and asked, "What is this?"
Yue Chai and Guo Xiucai both came forward to take a look, and after studying it for a while they were still confused.
As if he had thought of something, Guo Xiucai said hurriedly, "Why not ask the villagers who have a good relationship with Chao Chao?"
County Magistrate Gao stood up and said, "Okay, I was just thinking of asking them about this girl's past behavior."
Yue Chai immediately ran out, "I'm going to find Lin Lan and the others."
In fact, he didn't need to run far, Lin Lan and the others were already at the door of the Hu family.
They were all very regretful at this time. If they had known that the village chief was so unreliable, they would have looked after the three members of the Hu family themselves.
When they heard that the county magistrate was coming, they hurried to the Hu family.
At this time, Lin Lan and others followed Yue Chai into the courtyard. Facing County Magistrate Gao's question, the others all shook their heads. Only Lin Lan said, "These scratches are a favor that Chao Chao specially wrote down."
"Favor?" The others looked puzzled.
Speaking of this, Lin Lan felt a little sad. "Although Chaochao is young and has a hard time in the Hu family, she is really a very good and kind girl. She said that she can't do anything now, but she will grow up in the future, and then she will repay those who have helped her in the village. These scratches are the marks she made in case she forgets. Here is a steamed bun I gave her, a pair of socks given by Grandma Zhou, firewood that Uncle Dashan helped her carry, two old clothes given by Aunt Yu, and a straw grasshopper given by Liangping..."
As she spoke, Lin Lan felt a little uncomfortable. "In fact, they were all small things, which were just a piece of cake for us, but she wrote them down very seriously. Her life was already difficult, but she never complained about the injustice of God. Instead, she said that although many people in the village treated her badly, we were still good to her. She was not without anything, and there were still people in this world who cared about her."
"Yes." Grandma Zhou couldn't help wiping away her tears. "Such a good girl, the Hu family treated her like this, it's really a sin."
"Isn't this retribution coming?" Liang Ping snorted coldly, "I want to see where they can escape to."
"The sky curtain is hanging in the sky. No matter how you run, you can't escape from the palm of the little fairy boy Chao Chao." Aunt Yu was not worried at all.
She felt that Chaochao was right. Evil would be punished and good would be rewarded. Look, the results were reflected in just one day.
The three members of the Hu family who had committed so many evil things now have no home to return to, and the Zheng family who helped them have all their assets stolen. There was also Jiang Laosan. When he heard that the county magistrate was coming, he was so scared that he wanted to hide. However, when he ran to the village entrance, he fell into a gutter and broke his leg. He is still lying in bed.
But as for the people who took care of Chao Chao, apart from anything else, the Lin Lan family was divided, and it was divided very 'fairly'.
All of them have benefited from this, and those who used to look down on them and make fun of them are now polite to them.
County Magistrate Gao listened to them in silence. When he looked down at the scratches, his mood became complicated. Yesterday he was still thinking that the girl had met a family that abused her, and now that today's curtain had appeared because of her, it might be a disaster rather than a blessing for the Great Qi Dynasty.
But now, he felt that it might be a blessing rather than a curse.
How come such a grateful girl happened to meet people from the Hu family?
Magistrate Gao put the straw back on, stood up and told the constable, "Don't let anyone in this room for the time being."
"yes."
County Magistrate Gao led everyone out, and when they reached the courtyard he asked, "I heard that the little girl gave you something before she left?"
(End of this chapter)
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