The two of them were already tired of being yelled at by him. Since they thought theyâd land a good job soon, why bother to care about his anger?
âWe all know the immoral things you did! On the eighth day of the New Year, you asked us to kidnap Miss Ling from Yanling Storefront, and said that you would give each of us a hundred dollars eachâ¦â
Manager Liang yelled at them to stop, but everyone already understood that he was the perpetrator, then even made a big show here to ruin the girlâs reputation.
Ms. Liang searched around for a stick, and ruthlessly beat Manager Liang, âYou black-hearted bastard, see if I donât beat you to death today!â
Lu Junming said, âThanks to our timely arrival that day, Miss Mo Ling was safe and sound. If something had happened that day, you would have been in prison already.â
Just like that, Mo Lingâs reputation was restored.
The onlookers all said that the officials should be alerted, and Lu Junming urged Xiao Chuzi to get the horse again. Zhou Liangsheng said, âThis guy does shady things constantly, itâs a disgrace to Qianshui City.â
Who wouldnât be wary when someone like Manager Liang was in Qianshui City? Everyone told him to get out, and he suddenly became like a street rat. He wanted to rush out of the door, but was blocked by Xiao Chuzi, and he couldnât escape for a while.
Seeing his state, Mr. Cao said to the widow, âI remember you accompanying your husband to my clinic for treatment. He had tuberculosis, but you didnât let me spread the word because you were afraid of being rejected by the villagers.â
Tuberculosis was an incurable disease at that time, and it was contagious. When everyone heard about it, both the onlookers and people who came with her recoiled back, âHow can you be so vicious and hide the truth? We all have families, what if we got infected? Itâs not worth dying for a few hundred dollars.â
So she had hired those people with money.
The woman anxiously argued with a pale face, âMr. Cao, you didnât say it was tuberculosis at the time, you just said he had a bad cough!â
Mr. Cao said, âYou either forgot, or are unwilling to face reality.â
At this time, she did not say what Mr. Hoâs diagnosis was. It was clear she was full of lies.
Everyone covered their faces and shouted to let the door open. Lu Junming nodded to Xiao Chuzi, who opened the door, and everyone escaped. The widow was also among them, no longer thinking about asking for money, and Manager Liang also escaped in the chaos.
Holding Zhaoâer in her arms, Ms. Hua asked in shock, âSir, did her husband actually suffer from tuberculosis?â
Zhaoâer replied, âNo, I took his pulse during their visit. It was weak and fluctuating, and I concluded that he had internal bleeding.â
Everyone else didnât understand, but Mr. Cao smiled very happily, âZhaoâer is really smart. In just a few months, he has understood diagnosing a pulse for the most part. He had a carbuncle in his internal organs which ruptured, causing bleeding. There is no cure.â
After hearing this, Ms. Hua also patted her sonâs head, with a face full of relief, âThank you for your teachings and guidance!â
Ms. Liang and Mo Ling started to clean up the broken things in the courtyard, when the two kidnappers from the back kitchen of Shunlai Restaurant ran back in to ask, âAre you still keeping to your promise?â
Ms. Liang swung her broom at them, âYou two bastards dare come back? Who promised you anything? If you ever come back, thereâll be a beating waiting for you.â
The two ran away protecting their heads in their arms. Ms. Hua and Mr. Cao couldnât help but laugh out loud. Mo Feng asked, âWeâre letting them off like that?â
Mr. Cao said with a smile, âAlthough everyone knew about Manager Liangâs deeds, there was no evidence. Even if you tell the officials, you may not be able to convict him. However, the weight of words crushes people. Neither Manager Liang nor the widow will have an easy time in the future.â
Mo Yan went over to pick Wang Wang up. Ms. Hua said, âBury it under the tree in the yard!â
When cats and dogs died in the countryside, they were usually buried under trees and used as fertiliser. Ms. Hua took a shovel and dug a hole under the tree. Mo Yan put Wang Wang into the hole and watched the soil gradually bury its small body.
âGodmother, we must get a dog in this yard, one that is big and smart.â
âOkay, Iâll look for one later.â
âLook for two more, weâll need them in our workshop as well.â
Looking at the dried fruit scattered on the ground, Ms. Liang cursed distressingly, âThis group of bastards ruined all our goods.â
Mo Ling said, âHer husband was already dead, and she still wanted to make money from the dead? She really lacked all notion of morals.â
Ms. Hua patted Zhaoâerâs head, and said sadly, âWhen Zhaoâerâs father left, he was entangled with that Liu Fengchun. [1] I was called a shrew by the townspeople for arguing with them. Now that womanâs husband obviously died of illness, but she still dares to come here to mess around and try to blackmail us for money. I donât know who gave her such courage.â
Manager Liang may have come up with the idea, but he definitely didnât give her that courage!
Lu Junming stood there, frowned and thought for a moment, âTheyâve spent so much trouble just to get you to close your shop. Who will benefit from this?â
Mo Yan smiled slightly after hearing this, âWonât we know after closing it?â
After hearing this, Ms. Liang dropped the broom in her hand, âNo way! We didnât do anything wrong. If we close the shop for no reason, people will gossip.â
âMother, if we donât close this shop, Iâm afraid something else might pop up. This time they want to implicate Moâ, she wanted to say Mo Zenian, but she felt it was inappropriate since he was still her biological father.
âMo Zhengâs father, they wouldâve blamed him for the poisoning if we decided to pay reparations. Then, theyâd pretend he couldnât be punished as he couldnât be found, and then pretend to be merciful, and say we can settle things by closing our shop.
Thankfully, the widow forgot that cats donât eat dried fruit when making up her story. They also never thought that Mr. Cao would say that her husband had tuberculosis.â
Mr. Cao said, âIt was in the heat of the moment. As a doctor, I shouldnât have lied.â
Xiao Chuzi suddenly remembered something, âI forgot godmother initially asked me to buy food and wine. I only came here because I saw my elder brother and Liangsheng coming this way. After Iâve been gone so long, my godmother must be anxious.â
Lu Junming asked, âWhat does my mother want with the food and wine?â
Xiao Chuzi chuckled and said, âWhat do you think?â
Then, he ran out. Mo Yan smiled at Lu Junming and said, âIs your father here?â
Lu Junming turned his head away and didnât look at her, âIâll go back to see my motherâ, and after saying that, he left the courtyard.
Post-translation notes: The end of this mini-arc, and hopefully means finally getting this storefront closed to move on to more profitable ventures.
[1] Thatâs Mo Zenianâs mistress in case you forgot.