Chapter 66 Grandmother 1
◎Son and daughter-in-law pissed off their mother◎
"Girl, this excuse is hard to explain to the people!"
Captain Zhu needed an explanation that could calm the people's doubts, but Yan Yue had no choice but to go back and think of a solution.
The next morning, Captain Zhu received a note from Yan Yue, saying "The matter has been settled, just bring the people here." Captain Zhu was overjoyed. He embraced the county magistrate and the people who were blocking the county government office and came to the City God Temple again.
There were already quite a few people gathered outside the City God Temple.
In the distance, a woman dressed in pure ink, holding a black umbrella, stood facing the wind like a goddess from the sky. The warm winter sun shone on her face, but failed to bring her a bit of warmth. Her frosty and snowy face was filled with aloofness and indifference, which made people feel cold just by looking at her.
When the county magistrate saw Yan Yue for the first time, he finally realized that what people said was true. She looked like a fairy with such an aura that could not be approached. She was indeed not like an ordinary person.
"Sir, this is the owner of Half Moon..."
Before Captain Zhu finished speaking, the county magistrate had already bowed to Yan Yue: "I have long admired Miss Yue's great name, but I have never been able to pay her a visit. I am sorry for my impoliteness!"
Yan Yue was thinking about how to perform the ceremony. When she saw the county magistrate take the lead in bowing, she could not help but blurt out two words: "No need to bow."
Captain Zhu was shocked and quickly followed suit with a salute, his heart filled with fear: ...What's going on? Have I been a little neglectful to Miss Yue on a daily basis?
After saying those two words, Yan Yue was stunned. Fortunately, Nan Qing taught her not to be afraid when encountering problems, and as long as she kept a cool face and kept silent, no one would dare to do anything to her.
She nodded slightly in return of their greetings and immediately got straight to the point: "Please look, sir."
The City God Temple, which was a messy ruin yesterday, now has a vacant area in the center. On the high platform, the statue of the City God stands alone. The fallen wood and rubble seem to be afraid of defiling the City God and have hidden themselves around. It is quite strange.
Yan Yue motioned to the county magistrate to stand in front of the gate of the City God Temple, which was still intact. Looking inside from the gate, he could just see the statue of the City God on the high platform.
"Evil spirits were rampant on Lantern Festival night. To protect the people's safety, the City God risked his own home to suppress the evil spirits with all his might."
With just a few simple words, the county magistrate instantly let go of his heavy burden and knelt down directly in front of the clay statue, shouting: "May the City God bless you!"
As the county magistrate knelt and kowtowed, Captain Zhu and his detectives also knelt, and the common people followed closely behind, bowing their heads and shouting: "May the City God bless you!"
Yan Yue looked around the room and found that no one was standing. Just as she was debating whether to kneel down, the county magistrate stood up again.
He stood beside Yan Yue and announced loudly: "The Immortal Master personally confirmed that on the night of the Lantern Festival, evil spirits wanted to wreak havoc on the world. In order to protect the people, the City God used the entire temple as a formation to exorcise the evil spirits! We should be grateful for the City God's kindness and rebuild the temple for him and re-sculpt his golden body as soon as possible!"
The people's doubts were immediately dispelled, and they all shouted that they wanted to join the team to rebuild the City God Temple.
Having solved the big problem, Yan Yue felt relieved. He said goodbye to the county magistrate and returned to the teahouse.
Last night, Yan Yue told her family that the county magistrate asked her to help solve the collapse of the City God Temple, but she did not mention that the temple was collapsed by Bai Chen.
Zhou Lin came up with a good idea. Since people were thinking it was divine punishment, he decided to just create a "miracle."
He greeted the ghost guests who often visited the teahouse and promised to offer incense to each of them for three days. Then the ghosts followed Yan Yue to the City God Temple.
They don't have any great abilities, and even if they try their best, they can only create a whirlwind at best. But if the whirlwinds are superimposed, they should not be underestimated.
The tornado blew away the rubble and revealed an incomplete statue of the City God.
Nan Qing used his magic power to piece together the statue of the City God, thus creating the scene of "The City God suppresses evil spirits".
As for how long it will take for the City God statue maintained by magic power to collapse again, that is not Yan Yue’s concern. After all, it will not cause much trouble by then.
Nan Qing worked all night last night and is still busy now, but he is obviously not in good spirits.
Yan Yue advised her: "Miss Xu is diligent and studious, so you can just let her do the work and take a break!"
Nan Qing glanced at the black umbrellas in the compartment and said with a smile, "You should take care of yourself first! The guests have contributed as much as I have. The incense and food they ordered will be delivered after dark. You should be polite to them then."
Yan Yue yawned and said, "Zhou Lin and Jiang Lao will take care of them. There's no need for me to do anything."
Without saying anything, she explained everything to Chu Zhi and Miss Xu, then dragged Nan Qing home.
Yan Yue hadn't slept all night and was feeling sleepy and hungry. She passed by a wonton stall and couldn't help but sit down at it.
Nan Qing has always had a big appetite and he was still asking for more after eating four bowls. Yan Yue felt relaxed and happy after eating. She was bored of just waiting, so she ordered another plate of peanuts, rubbed the skins leisurely, and put them into her mouth one by one.
"This doesn't taste good! I don't want to eat it!"
Yan Yue heard the sound and went to see. It was a boy about five years old, with a boy and a girl sitting on each side. It was obviously a family of three. The mother held the bowl, scooped up a wonton with a spoon, and patiently coaxed the child: "My dear, you must eat well so that you can grow taller!"
The little boy turned his head away wilfully, "No! I want to eat what my grandma cooks!"
The couple's faces suddenly turned ugly. The husband sullenly snatched the bowl from his wife and scolded the child, "You kept yelling for wontons, and I brought you out to eat but you started making a fuss again!"
The little boy retorted, "I want to eat my grandmother's wontons!"
"Just eat your food honestly, or I'll beat you up!"
Without giving any explanation, the husband scooped up a wonton and tried to force-feed it to the child. The child dodged and refused to eat. While struggling, the wonton bowl was overturned with a "clang" and fell to the ground.
The husband picked up the child and placed him on his lap, then slapped him twice on the butt. The sharp howling sound immediately filled the entire wonton stall.
The wife didn’t stop him before, but now she grabbed the child back and angrily accused her husband: “It’s just a bowl of wontons, what’s wrong with you? Your son just recovered from his illness, and you had the heart to do that to him! Are you still his real father?!”
The young woman felt sorry for her son, scolded her husband and left the table angrily.
The gazes from people around him were like ink splashed on the husband's face. His dark face was filled with embarrassment and resentment. He counted out a handful of copper coins and put them on the table, then left without saying a word.
The wonton vendor picked up the broken ceramic bowl and sighed, "Oh, what bad luck!"
Yan Yue asked: "Isn't the bowl not broken?"
The stall owner held up the bowl to show her and said helplessly, "The rim of the bowl is cracked. No customer would want to use a bowl with a cracked rim!"
No matter whether it is a restaurant, a food stall or a roadside stall, no one dares to use a broken bowl. Just because beggars beg for food with broken bowls they picked up, diners would feel belittled and humiliated if they used bowls with broken porcelain or chipped edges.
The diners at the next table said, "Just consider yourself unlucky! The Kong couple are away doing business all year round, and they have very bad tempers. The old lady is alone at home taking care of her grandson, how hard it is! The son and daughter-in-law only come back for two months a year, and when they come back they always find fault! This time they really pissed off the old lady!"
"How can there be such heartless children?"
"Oh! This will ruin the old lady. The couple can't go out to do business and can only look after the child every day!"
"You deserve it!"
"How can it be so easy to take care of a child? You have to do it yourself to know how much worry and exhaustion it is! The old lady has been working hard for several years, and her white hair is getting more and more every year, and in the end, it's not a good ending!"
“What a sin!”
Yan Yue smiled at the wonton stall owner and said, "Give us two more bowls. The money we earn from this table today will be enough for you to buy another bowl!"
"Thank you so much!" The stall owner smiled innocently and hurried to cook again.
The two tables of diners, who had become close because of gossip, began to talk about the latest news they had seen and heard today.
"Have you heard what happened this morning? The City God appeared!"
"Ah? Didn't the City God Temple collapse the night before last?"
"You only know one side of the story! It did collapse the night before, but I don't know what happened last night. The City God actually stood out from the ruins!"
"Stand up? The clay sculpture stood up?"
"Oh, it's not really standing! It's just that the broken beams and tiles that were pressing on the City God flew away by themselves, revealing the City God! The county magistrate announced that it was an evil spirit causing chaos during the Lantern Festival, and the City God appeared and used the City God Temple to suppress the evil spirit!"
"It's just the government's words to appease everyone. It's not credible."
"This time it's true! My brother-in-law's sworn brother lives near the City God Temple! He heard some noise outside last night, so he went out to see. He saw with his own eyes that the ruins of the City God Temple were covered with flying sand and rocks, making it difficult to see! The noise lasted all night, and after dawn he saw the statue of the City God standing in the middle!"
"So mysterious?"
"That's right! The City God in our City God Temple is just a clay sculpture, but it remained intact in such a serious collapse. What else could it be but a manifestation of the gods?"
"I heard that the county magistrate is organizing the reconstruction of the City God Temple. I have to sign up to accumulate some virtue for my family and future generations!"
Someone else interrupted and asked, "You were at the scene. Did you see the immortal master that the county magistrate mentioned? Was he the owner of the Banzhang Mingyue Teahouse?"
"That's right! I thought she was just a mysterious charlatan before, but today, I see that she is indeed extraordinary! You didn't see it. The county magistrate and the people from the government office bowed to her respectfully, but she just nodded in response. She is so cold and noble that she is like a god!"
"The county magistrate bowed to her?"
"It's absolutely true. I saw it with all my heart! Not only that, when the county magistrate led the people to kowtow to the City God, she was the only one who stood still, ignoring the power and gods! Her graceful and ethereal appearance is truly unforgettable!"
Facing Nan Qing's surprised and slightly reproachful expression, Yan Yue tightened her green cotton cloak, hurriedly paid the money and took Nan Qing away.
"It's a misunderstanding, it's all a misunderstanding! I simply didn't react, I really wasn't being arrogant on purpose!"
Nan Qing rubbed his bloated stomach and asked, "Does the county magistrate care?"
Yan Yue thought about the county magistrate's humble and polite appearance, and said as a matter of course: "The county magistrate is broad-minded, how could he care about such a trivial matter..."
"You are trying to force people to death!"
The miserable screams of a woman coming from a distance easily attracted Yan Yue's attention. Seeing her turn around and move forward, Nan Qing asked helplessly, "Aren't you sleepy?"
Yan Yue didn't even turn around: "Well, it's okay to sleep less!"
A middle-aged woman was sitting on the ground with a bamboo basket hanging on her left arm. The basket was tilted, and a lot of paper money and paper ingots were scattered inside. On the right was a food box that was tipped over, its lid flipped over and a plate of fruit on top spilled out.
She slapped her thighs in excitement, pointed at the three people in front of her and cried and cursed: "I am a widow, and I have endured so much hardship and suffering to raise Jicun. Now that Jicun has just passed his seventh day, you Zhang family want to take back the property. Are you still human?"
Jicun? The seventh day? Zhang family?
Yan Yue looked at Nan Qing in surprise, and read the answer in the other's eyes: Zhang Jicun's mother!
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