On the other side, Ling'er and Zhong Xiaoyan both looked surprised.
"Miss, why did he let the thief go?"
"I don't know." Zhong Xiaoyan pouted, grabbed the long sword on the table, and said, "I can't stand this anymore, I want to take care of it."
She was so angry that she even forgot to correct the maid's title.
How could the thief be let go in just a few words?
Ling'er fought hard to hold Zhong Xiaoyan down.
"Miss, a strong dragon cannot overwhelm a local snake!" Ling'er hurriedly advised, "If you take action, you can definitely take care of that dog catcher, but he is a local snake and makes things difficult for you everywhere in the county. What should you do?"
"Am I still afraid that he will be in trouble? He is a dog official who doesn't know the difference between right and wrong..."
"Didn't you come to Qingyang County to ward off evil spirits? If you offend a local snake, you can't stay in Qingyang County any longer. What should you do?"
After hearing this, Zhong Xiaoyan put down the sword in her hand.
"You...what you said makes sense." Zhong Xiaoyan nodded and glared at Lin Ji fiercely.
"This young master's petty impatience will lead to a big plan. If it were normal, this guy would have to give me an explanation!"
"That's right." Ling'er nodded quickly.
the other side.
Lin Ji looked at the young master who was a little embarrassed but not injured.
"How much money do you have in your wallet?" Lin Ji asked.
"If you go back to Lin to arrest the head, you should have more than twenty taels." Young Master quickly replied.
Lin Ji nodded, reached out and touched in his arms for a long time, and only found out a few taels of silver.
"Shopkeeper, give me thirty taels of cash." Lin Ji looked at the shopkeeper of Ruyilou.
The shopkeeper didn't dare to delay, so he quickly took three ingots and ten taels of silver and handed them to Lin Ji.
"I'll pay you back this money later."
"No need, Mr. Lin, Mr. Zhou left five hundred taels on the counter for you when he left today," the shopkeeper said quickly.
"What else is there? Zhou Qian is a sensible boy." Lin Ji laughed twice and handed the thirty taels of silver in his hand to the young master.
"Take it and treat it as my replenishment for you."
But the young master didn't dare to answer: "Captain Lin, how can I ask you to pay for this? No, this mute will admit it to me..."
"Just take it if I ask you to, there's so much nonsense."
After stuffing the money over, Lin Ji raised his hands to the guests around him.
"I would like to ask you to please be kind and stop talking nonsense about what happened today."
Naturally, many of the guests who were watching the fun agreed wholeheartedly.
Lin Ji continued: "Don't mess around with me. If I hear about what happened today in the county in the future, each of you will be counted as one, and no one will be able to escape. Remember them all!"
Now, no one dares to be perfunctory anymore.
After bowing his hands to everyone, Lin Ji left Ruyi Tower.
Taoist Pingxin remained silent until Lin Ji finished handling the matter, and then he followed him out.
"Brother Lin, how did you let that thief go? Your previous kick was useless." Taoist Pingxin was quite curious.
"The boy who stole the money is called Liang Touou. He is an honest boy. He is bullied by other children in the county all day long because his head is a bit big." Lin Ji said casually.
Lu Cong wandered around Qingyang County all day long, and liked to nag Lin Ji when he had nothing to do. In addition, Lin Ji had also lived in the county for several years, so he was not familiar with the affairs of the county, but he knew a lot.
"It turns out he is the junior of Lin Captou. No wonder..."
"I'm not my junior, I just thought that the kid grew up in Qingyang County and I've never seen him sneak around, so I just wanted to see what's going on."
Taoist Pingxin nodded and said curiously: "Then you didn't let others talk about this just now..."
"People's words are terrible. If there is really something hidden...if the reputation of a thief spreads, the child will never be able to raise his head and lead a good life in the county."
While he was talking, Lin Ji had already led Taoist Pingxin to a somewhat dilapidated courtyard.
Knocked on the door, no one answered.
But there is heat rising from the chimney in the back room.
When he opened the door and walked into the small courtyard, Liang Touou, who had stolen the money, happened to come out of the back room.
As soon as he saw Lin Ji appear, Liang Toutou was so frightened that his face turned green. He stopped and didn't dare to move. His whole body was shaking.
Lin Ji noticed the medicine bag in his hand.
"Who is sick in the family?"
"It's...my mother."
"The money you stole was to treat your mother's illness?"
Liang Tou nodded quickly.
Seeing that Lin Ji didn't speak again, Liang Toou suddenly knelt down for fear that Lin Ji would arrest him now.
"Captain Lin, I..."
"Stop talking nonsense, go make some medicine for your mother to take, and then come out to me."
Lin Ji waved his hand, then found a tree stump in the yard and sat down.
Liang Tou nodded repeatedly and trotted off to work.
Taoist Pingxin also wanted to sit, but there were no chairs or other tree stumps in the yard.
After being awkward for a long time, he asked cautiously: "Brother Lin, please let me sit on half of your butt."
Lin Ji glanced at Taoist Pingxin and said nothing. He just moved his buttocks and firmly occupied the entire tree stump.
Taoist Pingxin could only stand beside Lin Ji with an awkward look on his face.
After more than half an hour, Liang Touou finished serving his mother and walked out of the back room tremblingly.
"Xiao An, who is outside?" A weak voice sounded from the back room.
Liang Tou didn't know how to respond.
Lin Ji then said: "Captain Lin from the county is asking Liang Touou to do some small things. You can just take a rest. Don't worry, it's just an errand job."
"It's Capt. Lin...Xiao An, you have to help Capt. Lin with his affairs."
"I understand, mother." Liang Toutou responded and looked at Lin Ji.
"Tell me, what's going on in your family? Where's your father?"
"He passed away half a month ago due to consumption." Liang Toutou lowered his head, "My mother also had the same disease."
Lin Ji sighed softly and looked at Taoist Pingxin behind him.
"Do you know medical skills?"
"don't know."
Lin Ji shook his head slightly and asked Liang Touou: "You are the only one who supports your family now?"
"Um."
"How to make money?"
"I got up early and went to pull a cart for Mr. Zhou's family. At noon, I went to do hard work in repairing the yard until dark."
“How much money do you make in a day?”
"Less than two cents."
One hundred Wen is one qian, and ten qian is one Liang.
This amount of money is enough for food and clothing, but it is far from enough for medical treatment.
Today, Lin Ji's two lunch meals were all picked up by the shopkeeper, so he went out at least seven or eight taels.
"How much did you spend on the medicine just now?" Lin Ji asked again.
"One dose cost eight taels. I gave all the stolen money to the drug store. The boss looked at me and gave me three doses."
Having said this, Liang Tong's eyes were obviously red, but he still endured it.
"The drug store owner said that my mother's illness requires at least seven doses of medicine to cure, and it is very difficult to recover. There is a chance that she will suffer the same disease again in the future, and she will have to take more medicine then."
Lin Ji breathed a long sigh of relief and looked at Taoist Pingxin aside.
The smile on Taoist Pingxin's face disappeared and he just looked at Liang's head quietly without saying a word.
Lin Ji was silent for a moment and suddenly said: "Stretch out your hand."
Liang was confused and stretched out his right hand.
"Left hand!"
Liang Tou changed hands.
Lin Ji grabbed the long sword hanging at his waist and hit his hand hard several times with the scabbard until the entire palm was completely swollen.
"This is to punish you for stealing. Do you recognize this beating?" Lin Ji said sternly.
Liang Tou didn't say a word, just gritted his teeth and endured the pain, and nodded heavily.
"I should have arrested you and sent you to prison for a few months. Since it was your first offense and there were extenuating circumstances, let's forget it this time!"
Hearing this, Liang Tou raised his head and looked like Lin Ji in disbelief.
He thought Lin Ji came to the house just to arrest him.
Lin Ji asked again: "I remember that your boy went to a private school, right?"
"yes."
Lin Ji took out his scattered silver from his arms, stuffed it into Liang Tong's right hand, and said, "This little money is enough for you two to spend for two months."
"Captain Lin, I can't take your money..."
"Stop talking nonsense and listen honestly." Lin Ji stared and said, "Go to the drug store later and find someone to put some medicine on your hand. Then tell the owner of the drug store that it was my wish and let him give it to you.
Mother will take four more medicines."
In Qingyang County, Lin Ji still has some face, and no one dares to use his name to cheat.
"Kid, remember, you owe me this! After four pills plus this little bit of silver, plus interest, you have to pay me back forty taels in the future!"
After a pause, Lin Ji continued: "Master Zhang in the county government office is old. You go and help him. He usually writes documents for the government office and so on. The monthly salary is not much, only about six taels."
Right. But this job is better than leisure, and you also have time to take care of your mother."
Having said this, Lin Ji patted Liang's head on the shoulder.
"Next time you dare to steal something, I'll break your legs. Do you understand?"
Liang Toandou couldn't hold it in any longer, and tears flowed out. He knelt down and was about to kowtow, but Lin Ji held him back.
"Like a man, it doesn't matter if you cry or cry, your mother is just pointing at you."
After saying that, Lin Ji took Taoist Pingxin and left Liang Tou's house.
After taking just two steps, Liang Toou chased him out, knelt on the ground and kowtowed violently, and did not stop until his forehead bled.
"Go back!" Lin Ji scolded.
Along the way, Lin Ji was not in the mood to chat, and Taoist Pingxin didn't speak either.
After wandering around for a while, we arrived at the door of Lin Ji's house.
Taoist Pingxin seemed to have just come back to his senses.
"Come in and sit down?" Lin Ji asked casually.
Taoist Pingxin shook his head and bowed deeply to Lin Ji.