After twenty solid blows from the sticks, Tang Lao Er's skin was torn and he fainted.

But it’s not over yet.

The tribesmen stuffed him into a bamboo cage and carried him out of the yard.

“No one will be killed, right?” Zhao Hao was shocked when he saw this.

"Young Master, this is rare. For this kind of situation, they will be thrown into a pig cage after being beaten." Tang Youde said as if it was commonplace: "For serious crimes, they will be stuffed with stones and drowned. For minor crimes, their heads can still be above the water."

After a pause, he sneered and said, "It's just a show. We'll let him go once we leave."

"Oh." Zhao Hao nodded and felt relieved. He thought to himself, I am such a kind-hearted boy.

The leader of the Tang Society scolded all the tribesmen and drove them all away. Then he said to the young man riding the donkey with care, "Master, you have calmed down now."

"I'm no longer angry. But there are some things we still need to talk about." Zhao Hao said expressionlessly, "Just now this lady said that you guys exchanged someone else's land. Is that true?"

"Yes, I was too soft-hearted and didn't hold on." The leader of the Tang Society pretended to slap himself and said, "I'll change it for them later."

"Thank you for your help, but please don't bother me." Tang Si Ya suddenly said, "We are going to move away and not return to Tangjia Market!"

"That's perfect." Zhao Hao clapped his hands and smiled, "The leader of the Tang Society can buy out the land and house and use it as a settlement allowance for you and your wife."

"It has to be based on the original price of the land!" Tang Youde reminded.

"No problem..." Tang Sheshou was not worried about purchasing Si Ya's land. He would buy it at a low price and make a small profit by reselling it in the future.

"But all my belongings have turned into raw silk, and I can't come up with the money right now. I have to ask Si Ya and her husband to wait for a few days..."

"No need to wait, just deduct it from the money from selling the silk." Zhao Hao is such a smart guy, how could he be allowed to take advantage of this loophole?

Zhao Hao asked Si Ya how much land she had, and then counted on his fingers: "In Nanzhili, an acre of good paddy field costs 20 taels per acre, and mulberry field costs 10 taels per acre. Si Ya's family has a total of one and a half acres of paddy field and two and a half acres of mulberry field, totaling 55 taels."

He looked at the dilapidated yard and said, "This house is not worth much, so don't worry about it. Just give me sixty taels in total."

"You are very fair, sir." Tang Youde gave a thumbs up.

"Sir, you are talking about the land price in Suzhou, right?" Tang Sheshou said with a sad face, "In our small place, paddy fields are 10 taels per mu, and you can choose any one you want. Mulberry fields are even less valuable now!"

The house is worth five taels, but the wool comes from the sheep, and all the money added up makes him lose a lot.

In his opinion, giving Si Ya thirty taels would be the most generous thing in the world.

"I haven't finished calculating yet, why are you in such a hurry?" Zhao Hao coughed, glanced at the head of the Tang Society with dissatisfaction, and then said: "And the medicine fee for my brother Wu, twenty taels from you. There are more than a dozen brothers, you can't make a trip in vain, right? At least twenty taels."

Then he looked at Tang Youde and said, "Old Tang, how much do you want for running errands?"

"I'll just forget it." Seeing that Tang Sheshou was about to jump into the river, Tang Youde waved his hand and didn't join in the fun.

"Then I'll waive my mediation fee as well." Zhao Hao waved his hand generously and said to the head of the Tang Society with a smile, "It's just a hundred taels, not too much, right?"

"It's indeed not much, young master is a kind person." Tang Youde nodded, thinking that the timing and measure were just right, and there was no need to worry that the man named Tang would not submit.

If Tang Sheshou doesn't agree, won't the beating his brother received be in vain?

But Tang Sheshou still wanted to try harder. But just as he was about to bargain, Zhao Hao raised his hand and said, "By the way, I usually give a fixed price. If you say something nonsense, I will add 100 taels until the two thousand kilograms of thread are sold out."

The head of Tang She suddenly shut his mouth and began to calculate silently. The price of silk was five cents per catty, and he could sell two thousand catties of silk for one thousand taels of silver. After deducting the one hundred taels, he still had nine hundred taels, which was equivalent to selling one catty of silk for four cents and a half.

There is still some profit to be made at this price, and I also got Si Ya's real estate and land. After all the calculations, I only made a few dozen taels less.

If you hesitate any longer, you won’t be able to sell any silk!

If you think in this way, how can you lose the big picture for the small?

Before Zhao Hao showed any signs of impatience, he gritted his teeth and stamped his feet, saying, "I'll count you as my friend!"

Hearing this, Zhao Hao glanced at Tang Youde.

Tang Youde scratched his cheek awkwardly and secretly vowed never to say this again.

~~

After agreeing on the terms, Zhao Hao deliberately wanted Tang Lao Er to soak in the soup for a while longer, so he cried out for hunger on the donkey's back.

"Kill a chicken, catch some fish, and treat the young master and Mr. Tang to a meal." The head of the Tang Society also put down the heavy stone in his heart, so he didn't care about his brother's life or death. He immediately gave orders to arrange wine and food for the group.

Seeing that the silk sales at Tangjia Market were successful, the other heads of the communities were so anxious that they had no time to eat. They pulled Tang Youdra aside and whispered to each other, and after a long while, they went their separate ways, feeling satisfied.

Zhao Hao said he didn't care about selling silk, so naturally he wouldn't ask any questions.

He was even more impatient to go along with a bunch of old men...Mr. Zhao had obviously forgotten how shamelessly he had tried to please his older brother.

He asked Gao Wu to bring the food to the wall. He sat there, sipping the hot chicken soup while looking at Tang Lao Er, whose head was the only thing above the water.

Tang Laoer had sobered up after a soak in the river water. He held the bamboo cage with both hands and looked angrily at the boy who was deliberately tempting him.

Zhao Hao finished eating a chicken leg and threw the bone into the bamboo cage, hitting Tang Laoer on the head.

"I heard that this chicken was killed by your family. I didn't expect you to be such a bad person and raise chickens so well."

Upon hearing this, Tang Lao Er became furious and wanted to curse, so Gao Wu loosened the rope tied to the wall.

Tang Lao Er was submerged immediately, and Gao Wu was able to pick up the bamboo cage again after a while.

"Cough cough..." Tang Laoer's mouth and nose were watering. He dared not say another word. He just hoped that the damn guy would leave quickly.

"This chicken tastes good. Let's catch a few and bring them back to help my dad improve his brain." Zhao Hao teased him on purpose.

But Tang Lao Er was curled up in the cage obediently, not making a sound.

Zhao Hao lost interest in continuing to tease, and went down to the dike after drinking the chicken soup.

I happened to meet Yu Peng and his friends, who were helping Wu Yu and his wife pack up their belongings and carrying them out of the yard.

"Don't you have a horse-drawn carriage?" Zhao Hao said to a member of the Tang family in dissatisfaction, "A donkey cart will do."

"Sir, all the carts in the market are transporting silk..." the clan member answered timidly, and stepped back to the wall. In the eyes of the Tang family, this child was even more terrifying than the official who went to the countryside to collect rent.

Only then did Zhao Hao let him go and turned to look at Wu Yu and his wife who were walking over.

The couple knelt before him and thanked him in tears.

"If it weren't for you, I don't know what kind of trouble would have happened this time."

"Thank you, sir, for taking charge of us, helping us vent our anger, and even asking for so much silver back..."

"You are too polite." Zhao Hao hurriedly helped the two of them up and said with a sincere smile: "You two are heroes in the fight against the Japanese invaders. Even if you are not Brother Gao's friends, I will still help you."

As he was speaking, Yu Peng brought over a little donkey, and in his other hand he was holding four big fat chickens.

"You really went there?" Zhao Hao asked with a smile as he got on the donkey.

"How dare I not follow the young master's orders?" Yu Peng smiled and raised four chickens, waving at Tang Lao Er in the distance.

The distressed Tang Laoer choked on the water again, but he didn't dare to say a word.

He was seen holding the bamboo cage with both hands, stretching his neck to look at the boy riding the donkey, until the other's figure disappeared in the sunset, and then he shed tears of relief.

"My chicken..."

ps. I'm at the airport, ready to go home, please give me some recommendations and comments~~