Inside the Deheng Tea Room.

Mr. Zhang invited Zhao Shouzheng to sit at the head of the table, and he sat beside him, while Zhao Hao and the man with the goatee beard sat opposite each other at the bottom.

After looking at the tea, Mr. Zhang gave another round of blushing flattery.

Fortunately, Zhao Shouzheng's ears were callused from all the compliments he received these days, so he was not fooled by his sweet talk.

After patiently waiting for Mr. Zhang to finish his polite remarks, Zhao Shouzheng glanced at Zhao Hao.

Zhao Hao then took out a pawn ticket and a bill of exchange with a face value of four thousand taels from his sleeve.

"Thanks to your care last time, the Han family has overcome the difficulties. Now that the six-month period has come, I have come to redeem the prescription."

"Why bother bothering your father and son to come in person? I am preparing to send it to your house myself." Mr. Zhang waved his hand, and the waiter brought out the wooden box wrapped in layers of rice paper. It seemed that it had been prepared in advance.

Mr. Zhang took the wooden box and held it in front of the father and son, letting them check that the rice paper was intact, and the seal, stamp and signature on it were also intact. Then he used scissors to cut open the rice paper and took out the wooden box inside.

Then Zhao Shouzheng took out the key that Mr. Zhang had given him and opened the copper lock.

Only then was Mr. Zhang able to open the wooden box, take out the secret recipe with both hands, and prepare to carefully flatten the paper and return it to its original owner with both hands.

But halfway through, his movements froze.

Mr. Zhang widened his eyes and suddenly lifted up the secret recipe, but saw that it was just a blank piece of paper, without a single word on it.

"What's going on?!" Mr. Zhang was dumbfounded and looked at the court official beside him.

Chao Feng was also stunned. He hurried over to take a look and was also stunned.

“This, this…”

Over there, Zhao Hao and his son also stood up. Seeing the white paper in Mr. Zhang's hand, they shouted together, "Where is my family's secret recipe?"

"This, no one has touched it, how could it disappear?" Mr. Zhang looked at the Zhao father and son with sweat on his forehead.

"Yes, yes, you saw it just now, it is sealed well and has not been moved." Chao Feng also hurriedly explained.

Zhao Hao was unyielding and said, "You pawnshop members are as cunning as ghosts, and you have many tricks. Who knows how you replaced my family's recipe!"

"It's a misunderstanding, it must be a misunderstanding. We at Deheng always put integrity and trust first and would never do such a thing..." While Mr. Zhang kept denying it, he carefully looked at the white paper, trying to find some clues.

"People always say that you've been cheated, and it turns out that nothing good can come of being cheated in a pawn shop!" Zhao Hao said firmly: "Let's go and see the official!"

Zhao Shouzheng, who now cooperated with his son to perfection, immediately stood up and said, "See you at the county government office!"

After saying this, the father and son left angrily.

"No, no, please stay, let's talk it over..." Mr. Zhang hurriedly chased after him and bowed repeatedly.

"What else is there to say?!" Zhao Hao shook the pawn ticket in his hand and sneered, "According to the rules, I will pay ten times the compensation. Give me twenty-five thousand taels!"

"This..." Mr. Zhang was stunned for a moment. How could this be possible?

As he hesitated, Gao Wu pushed him away.

Seeing the father and son getting into the carriage and leaving, Mr. Zhang still reached out to pull the carriage.

The court official beside him tugged at the corner of his clothes. Mr. Zhang was stunned and stretched out his hand to grab nothing. He could only watch the carriage drive towards the Shangyuan County Government Office.

"Boss, we've been fooled." Chao Feng said solemnly, "The words on this recipe are probably written with squid ink."

"Oh, that must be the case!" Mr. Zhang slapped his forehead in sudden realization, and said with regret on his face, "Why didn't I think of this at the time?"

"If someone else had taken it, they would definitely be on guard. But who would have thought that a nerd would also learn to cheat?" Chao Feng was also surprised and asked, "Could it be that the first time he came to pawn the jade pendant, it was just a show to paralyze us?"

"That's probably the case." Mr. Zhang slapped his thigh vigorously, regretting it deeply: "How can a fool pass the imperial examination? I think he is just pretending to be stupid, pretending to be a pig to eat the tiger!"

~~

In the carriage, Zhao Shouzheng sneezed several times.

He didn't know that others had already imagined him to be a seemingly honest but sinister person. He was still asking Zhao Hao, "Son, the rice paper was clearly signed with my name, and the box was not touched at all, so why was the secret recipe inside replaced by someone else?"

"It can fly." Zhao Hao replied with a smile.

"Ah, so powerful?" Zhao Shouzheng stared at Zhao Hao with wide eyes. After a while, he patted his head and said with a smile: "You little bastard, you dare to play tricks on your old man? Why don't you tell the truth now!"

"Don't pat your head, it will make you stupid." Zhao Hao quickly put his hands on his head to avoid Zhao Shouzheng's heavy slap, and then he told the truth: "Have you forgotten what this recipe was written with?"

"Ink ink." Zhao Shouzheng was surprised when he heard it: "Could it be that the words written with ink ink will fade?"

"Yes, although there is no difference when it is first written, the handwriting will disappear after about a month," Zhao Hao replied with a smile, "It has been half a year now, and even gods can't tell that there were words on it."

"My son is really cunning." Zhao Shouzheng suddenly realized, but was a little surprised and said, "Mr. Zhang runs a pawnshop, doesn't he know about this kind of thing?"

"He should have known, but firstly, he was blinded by greed, and secondly, he relied on his father's charisma." Zhao Hao praised seriously, "If it were someone else, it would be difficult to accomplish. But only my father, Zhang, would not doubt a gentleman like you."

"Oh, haha, you are insulting me again!" Zhao Shouzheng grabbed Zhao Hao and clamped his neck under his armpits, saying with a smile: "It turns out that in other people's minds, your father is a fool."

"Is father really stupid?" Zhao Hao asked back.

"I don't think I'm stupid..." Zhao Shouzheng said proudly, "At most I can be considered as being ignorant of worldly affairs."

"Then let others think so." Zhao Hao broke free from his father's clutches, straightened his clothes and said, "It won't cost you anything anyway, and there are unexpected benefits."

"Hmm." Zhao Shouzheng stroked his chin and his newly grown short beard and said, "I can't control what others think of me. I can do whatever they want."

In the past, when he failed to pass the imperial examination, he shaved every day in order to look younger. How could he dare to grow a beard?

Now that I have become a scholar, I finally dare to let my beard grow freely...

"But now that my father has become a juren, it won't be so easy for him to play the pig and eat the tiger." Zhao Hao shook his head with a look of regret.

"Then let's pretend to be tigers and eat pigs!" Zhao Shouzheng slapped his thigh and said proudly, "First, eat Zhang's pig to vent my hatred!"

"After father passed the imperial examination, his confidence really increased." Zhao Hao gave a thumbs up.

Unexpectedly, Zhao Shouzheng revealed his true colors the next moment, and immediately became a little unsure, asking, "Son, that Zhang guy has the support of the Southern Household Department, so we won't get into trouble, right?"

"Don't worry, father," Zhao Hao said confidently, "We are not fighting a lawsuit, we are fighting loneliness..."

As he spoke, he took out a letter from home from his sleeve and handed it to Zhao Shouzheng.

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