Erdanzi was so scared he almost wet his pants. He couldn't stand up, his knees buckled, and he fell to his knees with a thud.
"Brother Fugui, I was wrong. Please don't do anything reckless. How can I live without that thing!"
Seeing him kneeling before him like a dog, Liang Fugui kicked him a few more times.
"You son of a bitch, this is outrageous! Come with me to the county government to file a complaint against you for raping a respectable woman."
"Don't report it to the authorities, whatever you do, don't report it to the authorities."
The yamen gate faces south; once you enter that place, you'll be skinned alive, if not dead.
No, we absolutely cannot let him report this to the authorities.
Erdanzi was so anxious he kept pounding his head. He felt like a turtle trapped in a hot bed, suffocating with anger and frustration, his face full of helplessness. He could only try to negotiate in a humble tone.
"Brother, my dear brother, you are my real brother, please just let me go, I promise I'll never do it again."
Liang Fugui snorted coldly and said angrily, "I'm already covered in turtle shells, and you still want me to let you go? What a dream! Hurry up and tell me what to do about this!"
Erdanzi's mind went blank. Sensing the murderous aura emanating from Liang Fugui, he stared wide-eyed in terror, lying helplessly on the ground, muttering, "What to do, what to do..."
Suddenly, he remembered that something similar had happened in Willow Village. Back then, the man had slept with someone's wife, and apparently he had paid her, so the head of the household didn't report it to the authorities.
He hurriedly said, "Brother Fugui, don't report this to the authorities. How about this, I have money, I'll give you two hundred coins, how about that?"
"Two hundred coins? Are you trying to give me a beggar's money?!"
"Three hundred, three hundred coins, is that alright? I only touched it twice, I didn't do anything else!"
"Stop talking nonsense, I don't need your three measly coins."
"Then what do you want?" Erdanzi was taken aback.
Liang Fugui twitched the corner of his mouth and gently patted his face twice with his hand.
"I don't want anything, as long as you answer my questions truthfully, we can pretend this never happened and we can still be good buddies. But if you refuse to listen to reason or are stubborn, don't blame me for being ruthless. Even if I don't beat you to death, I'll still send you to the authorities."
"Alright, alright, Brother Fugui, ask whatever you want. I will answer truthfully. If I utter even a single lie, may I be struck by lightning!"
"I've come to ask you, how does the Chen family make their white sugar?"
"This..." Even if Erdanzi was stupid, he understood what was going on.
No wonder Madam Liang was so attentive; it turns out the couple had been up to no good, trying to use their charms to get the secret recipe for white sugar from him...
Seeing that he remained silent, Madam Liang grew impatient and poked his head hard with her finger, urging, "Hurry up and say it!"
"You little brat, you won't learn your lesson until you're faced with death. If I don't teach you a lesson, you'll keep playing the coward." Liang Fugui grabbed Erdanzi by the collar and raised his hand to hit him.
"Don't hit me, don't hit me, I'll talk, I'll talk!" Erdanzi cried out in distress. These two dim-witted idiots, how would he know how white sugar is made?
Judging from the current situation, if I don't speak up, he's sure to get what's coming to him.
If they were handed over to the authorities, they would be severely punished, if not killed.
Forget it, to survive, I'll just have to get by for now.
Thinking of this, he bowed repeatedly, "Brother Fugui, calm down. You just want to know the secret recipe for boiling sugar, right? I'll tell you everything I know."
Liang Fugui was secretly delighted and finally let go of her hand. "Okay, hurry up and tell me. If you dare to lie to me, I'll beat you to a pulp."
"No, no, the process of making white sugar by the Chen family is similar to that of making brown sugar. The only difference is that they pour a basin of white water into the big pot, which seems to be rice water or something, and the sugar turns white after boiling."
"What? White rice porridge!" Liang Fugui frowned, somewhat disbelieving. "You're not kidding me, are you?"
Erdanzi waved his hands repeatedly, "How could I dare to lie to you? I saw all of this with my own eyes at Chen's Sugar Shop. If I were to tell you even a single lie, may I fall into cow dung and drown."
"That's all? Nothing else?"
"No, absolutely not. I've seen it many times. Chen Zhanshan always pours a pot of rice porridge into the pot. If you don't believe me, you can ask Dalongzi. He's seen it several times too."
Hearing Erdanzi say this, Liang Fugui felt that he wasn't lying. "Then do you know what kind of rice it's made of?"
"It could be sorghum soup, or rice soup, or even millet soup. I don't know exactly what kind of rice soup it was." Erdanzi wasn't lying; he had indeed seen it with his own eyes.
Liang Fugui was overjoyed. He hadn't expected that the method of boiling sugar would be so simple. Knowing this secret would make him rich in the future.
He moved closer to Madam Liang and lowered his voice, "Wife, it seems this boy isn't lying. Now that we've achieved our goal, let's release him!"
"Wait a minute." Recalling how Erdanzi had rubbed and pinched her, leaving her body aching all over, Liang felt a surge of anger. She took two steps forward and, with all her might, kicked him in the buttocks, cursing under her breath.
"You shameless bastard, you still want to hit on me? Take a good look at yourself in the mirror! Don't let me see you again, and get the hell out of here!"
Erdanzi felt as if he had been granted a pardon. Ignoring the pain, he got up and ran away from the Liang family.
He felt incredibly frustrated and wanted to stomp his feet and curse, but he was like a mute eating bitter herbs—he couldn't express his bitterness.
If things really escalate, there'll be nowhere to seek justice.
Thinking of this, he raised his hand and slapped himself hard across the face.
Let you be so reckless and dream big, let's see if you'll learn your lesson!
Muttering to himself, he walked home dejectedly...
Seeing Erdanzi slink away, Liang Fugui turned around, closed the door, and went up to hug Liang Shi. "Good wife, hurry up and get on the kang (heated brick bed), let's have a good celebration."
"Get out of here, I'm not in the mood."
Liang angrily broke free and sat down on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed).
"Look what you've done! You said you'd act according to the situation, but they've already made their move. Why didn't you come out sooner? Now they're covered in your stinky saliva."
"Don't be angry, honey. It's just a couple of bites. As long as there's no deep contact, it's nothing."
"You're really bold. If I hadn't struggled so hard, you would have been a bastard today."
"My dear wife, you've had a hard day. Anyway, we've finally figured out how to make sugar, so all your suffering wasn't for nothing."
"You make it sound so simple. If this gets out, how will I ever face anyone again!"
Madam Liang was worried, after all, Erdanzi had no sense of propriety, and if word got out, she would become a despised slut...
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