Chapter 48: Any turtle you pick up is your ancestor
In front of the ruins of the thatched house, the originally flat ground was dug into potholes.
Lin Jianshan's expression could be described as exasperated. No, no, no, nothing at all!
Where's the silver? Where did the silver go?
Lin Jianshui, who was standing next to him, yawned as he pounded his hoe. "Brother, stop digging. We've dug everywhere and there's no silver."
"Shut up!" Lin Jianshan glared at his brother. Lin Jianshui curled his lips, picked up the hoe and went to rest nearby.
The villagers were originally very interested in watching the fun, but after seeing Lin Jianshan digging for a long time and finding nothing but mud and stones, they gradually felt bored. Many of them went back to work, and a small number of them stayed to wait for the results.
Shang Wan knew what Lin Jianshan was looking for, but unfortunately, he would never find it.
She reached out and fiddled with Lu Chengjing's long eyelashes. Seeing that his eyelids were trembling as if he was about to wake up, she immediately stopped and started playing with his hair instead.
Little Yuanyuan had woken up from a good sleep. Seeing her mother touching her father, she stretched out her short fingers and curiously poked her father's face, then poked her own chubby cheeks. She blinked her big eyes and stretched her little face towards Shang Wan. Her face was even more touchable.
Shang Wan pinched her amusedly, and when no one was paying attention, fed her a drop of spiritual spring water.
"Found it!" Lin Jianshan shouted excitedly, and the crowd who were yawning out of boredom immediately gathered around to take a look.
There was only a piece of red cloth lying in the pit, loosely covered by soil.
Zhang Er frowned, "This isn't silver."
"It's under the red cloth." Lin Jianshan said firmly, reached out and grabbed the red cloth and pulled it up hard.
"Dadadada--" The soil fell like rain, and seven or eight gray-white stones were exposed.
Everyone: “…”
"How could it be a stone?" Lin Jianshan widened his eyes in disbelief, and held the red cloth in front of him to take a closer look. It was the same piece of cloth used to wrap silver in his family, so how could it be a stone?
Shang Wan glanced at the bottom of the pit, a smile flashing across his eyes, "Don't get excited, I'm a generous person, it's just a few stones, take them if you want, my family doesn't need this."
"Who wants the stone?" Lin Jianshan turned and shouted at Shang Wan, "I want silver! My silver!"
"Pa!" Shang Wan slapped him in the face, picked him up and threw him outside, and he fell next to Village Chief Lin with a "bang".
"Brother!" Lin Jianshui rushed over and helped the man up.
Lin Jianshan was so angry that his face twisted, and he stared at Shang Wan as if he wanted to eat him.
Shang Wan glared at him coldly, "I asked you to search the place and dig a lot of holes. If you can't find it, just apologize and get out of here. You're losing your temper with me, am I giving you face?"
The sudden burst of murderous energy stunned everyone present, and many people looked at Shang Wan with fear.
Shitou swallowed his saliva and thought, it’s time to remember. That day on the cart, his sister was so mean to him. It was so scary.
Shang Wan walked towards Lin Jianshan step by step, with an imposing aura.
Lin Jianshan held onto his injured arm and tried not to retreat. He said in a timid tone, "What do you want to do?"
"Of course it's reasonable." Shang Wan clenched his fist, and the stone immediately turned into powder and flowed out from between his fingers.
Everyone swallowed their saliva and said, "Oh my god, where does this strength come from?"
"Catch the thief and take the spoils! You've practically turned this land upside down and still haven't found the silver. Clearly, the thief isn't one of our family. We've been wrongly accused, our reputations damaged, and our spirits severely wounded. Isn't some compensation too much to ask for?"
Without waiting for the Lin family to speak, the others agreed on their behalf, "It's not too much."
Shang Wan raised the corner of his lips in satisfaction. "For the reputation loss, mental damages, and land leveling fees, add them together. For the sake of our fellow villagers, I'll give you a discount. I'll ask for... eighty taels."
"Why don't you go and rob them!" Liu didn't understand what Shang Wan said before, but she understood the meaning of silver. She pointed at Shang Wan and was about to give it up, but Shang Wan gave her a cold glance, and her words were immediately choked in her throat.
"Mrs. Xiucai, Mr. Lu's jade pendant appeared at the Lin family's house for no reason. It's understandable that the Lin family suspected Mr. Lu of being a thief, but he didn't cause any damage to your family. Asking for eighty taels is simply too much."
Old Man Qiu, who had been silent the whole time, stood up and stared at Shang Wan with cloudy eyes. "We are all from the same village. In my opinion, we should let the young man from the Lin family return the jade pendant and apologize to the scholar. Let's forgive others when we can and don't hurt the relationship."
Shang Wan had never met Old Man Qiu before. "Who are you?"
Old Man Qiu was Qiu Xiaofeng's older brother, and he was the one who arranged the marriage between Lin Jianshui and Chen Guifang. He had gone to the Chen family's funeral, but because Liushu Village was too chaotic, he returned with the Lin family today and had not yet met Shang Wan.
He was older than Old Man Luo and had never been treated so rudely by a younger person in the village. His face immediately darkened. "What an unruly woman! Is this how the scholar teaches you to disrespect your elders and speak rudely to them?"
"Do you live by the sea? Why are you meddling so much?"
Shang Wan felt puzzled. Did this old man think that because he was old, others should worship him like a Bodhisattva?
"We're not even related, but you're scolding each other on our first meeting. Who's more rude?"
"If age alone makes you an elder, then any turtle you pick up from the river is your ancestor. You haven't even taken a sip of this stew."
"If you want others to respect you, you should first control your mouth and stop saying all the dirty, smelly things. You're afraid that others won't know how crooked you are, right?"
Old Man Qiu's cheeks flushed with anger, and his fingers were shaking as he pointed at Shang Wan, "What a sharp tongue you have!"
"Thank you for the compliment." Shang Wan glanced at his hand, which he had not yet put down. "Let me ask you, do you not want your hand anymore?"
"Yes." Lin Jianshui rushed over to help Old Man Qiu hold down his arm, and stroked his back to help him breathe while persuading him. The more he persuaded, the angrier Old Man Qiu became, and his face turned purple with anger. But Lin Jianshui was still unaware of it, and even felt that he had done a good job of persuading him.
Shang Wan felt that Lin Jianshui's brain might be a retribution for the Lin family's many bad deeds.
She looked at the sullen-faced Village Chief Lin, a smirk curling up the corners of her lips. "Village Chief, you're experienced enough to know the consequences of accusing my husband of stealing silver. It's a good thing nothing was found. If anything had been found, my husband's hard-earned title would have been ruined. That loss wouldn't be erased with a few words."
"You are the one who knows right from wrong. Whenever someone in the village does something wrong, no matter how related they are to your family, you punish them without mercy. Now that it's your family's turn, the village chief won't be tempted to show partiality, right?"
Everyone looked at Village Chief Lin, especially Old Man Wu and Old Man Liu, with expressions as if they were enjoying a good show.
Village chief Lin, who was being held up, pursed his lips and thought quickly about countermeasures in his mind.
Shang Wan continued, "It's still early, so why don't we figure out why my husband's lost jade pendant ended up at the Lin family? If we can't figure it out, we can always go to the government office and ask for help..."
"It's just a small matter and can be handled in the village. Why bother going to the government office and disturbing the peace of the masters?" Village chief Lin interrupted Shang Wan with a dark face.
Shang Wan raised an eyebrow. "If we don't go to the government office, does that mean the village chief has agreed to compensate us?"
(End of this chapter)
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