Chapter 42: CH 42

8-10 minutes

When the onlookers heard this, some people shouted, “It seems that there isn’t just a problem with the food! They even had an affair with a man at the threshing field at night!”

Both the men and the women burst into laughter. Mo Ling was so ashamed and angry that she wanted to cut someone up with a knife, but she could only place the blame on him.

“What nonsense are you talking about here?”

Zhong Cheng also realised that he had said something wrong and quickly tried to explain to the crowd, “No, that’s not what I meant, I don’t know them at all.”

The crowd shouted again, “You called their names just now, but now you’re saying that you don’t know each other? Stop lying!”

Zhong Cheng couldn’t explain clearly, and he rubbed his hands in a hurry. Someone had already started shaking their cart, and the crowd was getting closer and closer to them.

Mo Ling pulled Mo Yan behind her to protect them, and Zhong Cheng took a step forward to protect them, “It’s too much for you to bully two young girls like this.”

As he was a stranger, Manager Liang said disdainfully, “You’ve come here to stand up for others; do you want to get beaten up? If it’s wrong for us to bully these two, then we’ll focus on you instead!”

The crowd made a loud racket, and someone in it pushed Zhong Cheng. He staggered and knocked over the basket of duck eggs on the ground, a lot of which were broken. He stepped on the broken duck eggs, slipping and almost fell backwards. If Mo Ling hadn’t helped stabilise him, he’d have fallen.

In the crowd, an old woman said, “They’re shamelessly hugging in broad daylight!”

Their words got worse and worse, and Mo Yan got so angry she was going crazy. She took a cleaver and slashed at the crowd, “Get out of here! I’ll cut out the tongue of whoever talks nonsense next time!”

Seeing the dazzling knife made the crowd quieter, but some people still whispered, “A little girl wouldn’t dare kill someone.”

“I will!” Mo Yan’s shrill voice spread across the crowd.

She had just finished speaking when a loud shout came from outside the crowd, “Scram!”

Everyone looked back and saw a young man holding a wooden staff standing there aggressively. The young man was wearing a moon-white brocade robe, which was expensive but not flashy, and there was a white horse behind him.

“Lu Junming!” Mo Yan called out to him, her voice full of grievances.

“Don’t be afraid, I’m here!”

Lu Junming’s eyes were blazing with anger, his face was cold, and he had a domineering aura. This time, no one made a ruckus anymore, but Manager Liang hadn’t given up, “Who are you, and what are you doing here?”

Lu Junming didn’t talk nonsense with him, he tapped and thrust the staff in his hand towards his chest. He didn’t use any force and just pressed it against his chest, and then gritted out, “Scram!”

Manager Liang’s bad temperament was exposed, and he immediately shouted loudly, “You’re hitting people in broad daylight, go and report to the governing official!”

Someone in the crowd shouted, “He’s here, he’s here!”

A governing official is in charge of the household registration and public security of a settlement. Even the tiny Chenzong Village had one. Qianshui City was much larger than Chenzhong Village, and it was a marketplace, so naturally there was a governing official.

Qianshui City’s governing official was called Liu Fengchun, and was in his thirties. He wore blue robes and was full of energy. His aura was several times stronger than Wu Pingshun. There were also several young men dressed in green beside him, all of them also energetic. [1]

Liu Fengchun came out to the crowd and shouted, “LeaveI Stop making a ruckus!”

Manager Liang put on a bitter face and complained to Liu Fengchun, “This kid hit me!”

Lu Junming didn’t bother to explain, and put more force into his thrust. Liu Fengchun came over and grabbed his staff, “Which village are you from? How dare you come to my city to make trouble!”

Lu Junming didn’t go to see Liu Fengchun, and said disdainfully, “They bullied people first.”

Mo Yan put down the kitchen knife in her hand, pointed at Manager Liang, and cried while wiping her tears on her sleeve, “He was the one who bullied me! He deliberately sold us braised pork which made people have diarrhoea and said it was our problem.”

Liu Fengchun looked at Manager Liang, “Really?”

He retorted, “How is it possible? Don’t listen to her nonsense! I’ve been running a restaurant here for many years, and I’ve never had a guest get diarrhoea here.”

“You’ve only been running this restaurant for two years!” Zhou Liangsheng was the one who spoke up.

Liu Fengchun removed Lu Junming’s staff from Manager Liang’s chest, “Young man, you can’t solve all problems with force. Now that I’m here, this problem will definitely be solved.”

Lu Junming stabbed his staff on the ground and glared angrily at Manager Liang.

Cao Zhang had also ran over, “Yan’er, are you alright?” [2]

Mo Yan just shook her head and did notn’t speak.

Manager Liang didn’t take Zhou Liangsheng seriously at all, “So what if it’s only been two years? I never sold anything that gave people diarrhoea. I remember that your family bought wraps yesterday, so why did no one from your family get diarrhoea? I think this is your work because people are buying meat from my restaurant instead of your shop.”

Zhou Liangsheng was young, but he didn’t panic, h. He smiled slightly and said, “Shopkeeper Liang, you’re very concerned about my family’s affairs. I bought wraps from here yesterday, but I saw that there was something wrong with the meat, so I didn’t give them to my family. Of course we wouldn’t have had diarrhoea. They bought their meat from you yesterday, you can’t deny that!”

Manager Liang wasn’t in a hurry, “This child has always been a liar and a thief.”

The two sides argued endlessly, but they had no evidence. At this time, Mo Yan remembered they could end this case using both parties’ motivations.

“A person would only meddle to ruin our reputation, drive us away, and prevent us from doing business here. Let’s talk about who will benefit the most if we left.”

Zhou Liangsheng added, “Most of the people on the road are in a hurry to get back on the road and don’t care about eating well, so they just grab something to eat nearby. Before, the only place with food nearby was the stall in Shunlai Restaurant and everyone went there. Now that they have a small store like them, with delicious and easy-to-carry wraps. There would naturally be more people who buy from them, so wouldn’t they steal the inn’s business?”

Someone in the crowd said, “You have to assemble and carry the food you buy from Shunlai Restaurant by yourself. But here, it’s all ready to eat, and it also tastes great. The girls don’t earn much per wrap either.” The one who spoke was the postman who bought their wraps on the first day, leading a horse and carrying a bag on his back.

The postman didn’t come yesterday, so he doesn’t know what happened, but he told the truth. He was still busy, so he said, “Quickly make two wraps for me to eat on the road.”

At this time, Manager Liang said again, “Yesterday, there were a lot of people who got diarrhoea here. Do you dare eat their wraps?”

The postman looked around and hesitated a bit. Zhou Liangsheng said, “Don’t worry, there will be no problem with today’s meat, because it was bought from my father’s store. Three wraps, please.”

Lu Junming said, “Give me two wraps.”

Cao Zhang also said, “I’ll have two wraps, too.”

Post-edit notes: Feels like this is pretty cut and dry from this point onward.

[1] So apparently the name of the governing official of Chenzhong Village is Wu Pingshun…I had to go back and check the only mention of that name from twenty-odd chapters ago.

[2] Why is Cao Zhang here? Zhang Liangsheng too for that matter.