Chapter Five: Heart's Desire

  In the blink of an eye, a deal was struck in the county government office, and everyone got what they wanted from the incident where Gao Yuan almost lost his life. Except for Gao Yuan losing a lot of blood and nearly losing his life, and the Hos paying out 1,600 taels of silver, everyone else was delighted. A shocking case that had shaken Fufeng City was thus quietly settled.

  However, apart from Gao Yuan, there was another person who suffered greatly in the end - that is, Huo Tianliang. Huo Zhu was heartbroken over the 1,600 taels of silver and locked him up at home, severely punishing this unfilial son for a whole half month, during which he couldn't get out of bed. It's said that even while lying in bed, Huo Tianliang still shouted that he wasn't done with Gao Yuan yet, almost provoking Huo Zhu to take the leather whip and beat him again, but was stopped by Madame Huo.

  What happened behind his back was naturally unknown, but only a few days later Zhang Yi carried a hundred taels of silver in a sack and threw it in front of him, which actually scared him for a moment.

  One hundred taels of silver is a large sum of money for him, who owns hundreds of acres of land. His hundreds of acres of land don't even yield that much profit in a year.

  "Master Lu said that this money is compensation from Huo Tianliang for Young Master's medical expenses, and the matter will be settled here. Master Lu needs to go to the county town for a while, as the governor's birthday has arrived, and Master Lu wants to congratulate him on his longevity. Let Young Master stay at home and recover from his injuries, and when Master Lu returns, Young Master's injuries will have healed more or less. Then, he will arrange a good position for Young Master in the county. Taking advantage of this incident, neither the county magistrate nor the inspector will dare to oppose it." Zhang Yi stood in front of Gao Yuan, recounting Master Lu's words.

  "Is Uncle Lu going to arrange some kind of job for me?" Gaoyuan asked with interest.

  Zhang smiled and said: "I heard the old master say that the young master has always liked to dance with knives and guns, and didn't like reading books. He was preparing to let you become a soldier. In the past, the county magistrate and the inspector opposed it because they thought the young master was too young and inexperienced. But after the 15th of August, the young master will be 18 years old, and with this matter as a stepping stone, it's sure to happen."

  Bing Cao, in other words, is the one who leads troops in the county, Lu Hong himself is the County Wei, specifically in charge of military affairs in the county, and this Bing Cao is a specialized military officer under him.

  Gao Yuan couldn't help but burst out laughing. "This beating was truly worth it, not only did I get a hundred taels of silver, but I also got to be an official, and what's more, I get to lead troops, I like that."

  Zhang smiled slyly and said, "There's another thing that will make you even happier, young master." It turned out that Huo Tianliang was severely whipped by his father with a leather belt, and it was said that he couldn't get out of bed for less than half a month.

  "This isn't over!" Gaoyuan sneered: "But since Uncle Lu said to let it go this time, I'll temporarily swallow my anger. A dog can't change its nature of eating shit, and this son of a bitch will eventually fall into my hands one day. That's when he'll know my ferocity."

  "Young master should focus on recovering from his injuries first. If you want to collect debts, he needs to recover from his injuries first." Zhang said: "Young master, I'll just put this money here for now. At noon, I bought a lamb's leg and stewed it for you to eat."

  "Get up, Zhang Ya, take five taels of silver and go." Gao Yuan didn't get out of bed, nodded his mouth, and gestured.

  "What's five coins for?" Zhang Yi took out five coins from his pocket and asked, holding them in his hand.

  "Give it to you." Gaoyuan said, "These days, you have taken care of me with great difficulty."

  "Ah! Zhang was stunned for a moment, five taels of silver, but it was half a year's worth of salary following Lu Hong, and to him, it was an absolute fortune." "This won't do, I dare not accept it," Zhang said, shaking his head repeatedly.

  "It's yours if I said it's yours!" Gaoyuan said unhappily: "I've already spoken, can't take it back now. If you think it's not enough, then forget it."

  Gao Yuan's anger subsided, and Zhang Yi immediately softened, looking at Gao Yuan with gratitude, saying: "Thank you, Young Master."

  "Thanks for what? You've been taking care of me from dawn till dusk, this is what you deserve," Zhang Yi said with a smile. "You're not even married yet."

  Zhang's face suddenly turned red. "To be honest with you, young master," he said, "I have indeed set my sights on one of them, also from the mansion. She is willing too, and I was just thinking about how to bring it up with the old master."

  "Alright, Uncle Lu is always generous, you just need to ask and he'll definitely agree. At that time, I'll give you a big red envelope! " Gaoyuan said with a smile, but then suddenly remembered something and said: "You take another 10 taels of silver and send it to the Ye family next door, hmm, if they don't want it, tell them it's payment for Miss Ye to do my laundry, you can say I'm not satisfied with your washing skills, got it?"

  "Young master, I washed it very clean!" Zhang Yi said with a tone of discontent.

  "You're blind!" Gaoyuan said in a bad mood: "Those two siblings, I think they've never had enough to eat on normal days, pitifully thin, like a withered hemp stem. As for Ye Shi's daughter, I haven't seen her many times, but she seems to be a proud and arrogant mistress. You're giving it to her for nothing, she definitely won't want it."

  "I get it!" Zhang Yi finally understood and said with a smile: "Young master, have you taken a liking to the young lady from the Ye family? But in my opinion, that little girl is so thin that she could be blown away by a gust of wind. She's definitely not someone who can bear children. Our old master said that women should have big breasts and buttocks to be good at bearing children."

  "Get out!" Gao Yuan angrily said: "What makes you think I've taken a liking to the little girl from the Ye family? She's so young, be careful or I'll beat you up."

  Zhang Yi ran out with a smile, he knew that Gao Yuan couldn't beat him up, and Gao Yuan still can't get out of bed yet. And then there's Ye Xiaoniang, who is so small and delicate, I heard she's already going to be 16 years old, 16 years old, which means she's already at the age of marriage. Hmm, Young Master Gao will also turn 18 soon, which is also the age of marriage. In the past, I couldn't see what the young master was thinking, but it seems that after going through something, he has grown up and now thinks about women.

  With a sinister intention in mind, Zhang Yitian took ten taels of silver and walked into the neighboring Ye family's house.

  Ye Shi stared at the pile of shiny ten-guan copper coins on the table, speechless. Zhang Yi ran over and said a few words without thinking, then threw down the money and ran off. Ten guan of money, she couldn't even earn that much in a year of hard work. Ye Jing and Ye Feng also stared at the pile of copper coins, their mouths agape, unable to speak.

  "Mom, with all this money, can you buy me a chicken to eat?" Ye Feng drooled and looked at Ye Shi pitifully.

  Upon hearing Ye Feng's words, Ye Shi couldn't help but feel a pang in her heart. She looked at Ye Jing and said: "Jing'er, this Gao Yuan used to have the air of a heroic young master, but he was just a spoiled rich kid after all. Although we've received his care, he never really took us seriously. How strange that after almost dying, he seems to have changed his ways. He says he wants me to help him with laundry and whatnot, but why does it require so much money? He's probably afraid I'll get something for nothing, so he's making up an excuse."

  "Mother is right." Although in front of her own mother, Ye Jing'er still sat upright and proper. "These days I've been sending him food and talking to him, although not much, but I feel like he's become a different person. Before, when he saw me, he would always say some crazy things, now he's so polite and courteous, it's as if he's undergone a transformation. I don't understand what's behind this change, could it be that after almost dying, he's gained enlightenment?"

  "What's your idea about this matter?" Ye asked with a sigh.

  Yè Jīng'er took a glance at the pitiful Yè Fēng and said, "Since he's said so, let's just do it this way. It's not like we're going to wash many clothes anyway."

  "I'm worried!" Ye said anxiously: "I'm afraid he doesn't have good intentions towards you, first using some small favors to win you over, and then coming to your doorstep with demands."

  "Mother, if Gao Yuan had ill intentions, he wouldn't be lying in bed now. In the past, he was just a bit dirty-mouthed, but actually, this person doesn't have any evil thoughts." Ye Jing'er said.

  "I also know that this child is not actually bad, if you were the daughter of an ordinary family, being able to find someone like him would make your mother very happy, it's just that his social status is a bit too low, in the past even our household servants who went out were more dignified than him!" Ye Shi sighed.

  "Mother, what did you used to do? Now we are far inferior compared to others." Ye Jing'er lowered her head.

  "In my opinion, that Gao Yuan might still have some thoughts about you, never mind, Jing Er, next year you will be 16 years old, and we have waited for nine years already, next year it will be exactly ten years, if your father is still nowhere to be found, then our Ye family will definitely find it hard to turn things around, I will marry you off to Gao Yuan, no matter what, at least you can eat well and dress warmly from now on. Fang Er also has someone to take care of her."

  Upon hearing her mother's words, Ye Jing'er felt both ashamed and annoyed, stood up, her face red as blood, "Mother, what are you saying? You want to marry me off, but others might not even want to take me!" With a stomp of her foot, she ran to the back hall.

  Ye Shi listened to Ye Jing'er's words and felt a deep sorrow, never expecting that the daughter of the Ye family would one day worry about not being wanted by anyone. If this had been said ten years ago, perhaps no one would have believed it, but in the past decade, the world has changed greatly, and the Ye family of those days is now almost forgotten everywhere except in Jicai City.

  Gao didn't know that next door, Ye Shi and Ye Jing'er had a serious discussion about taking him as their son-in-law. He gave money to Ye Shi's daughter, simply because he thought Ye Jing'er and Ye Feng were too weak and thin, which shocked him. As for Ye Jing'er, he really didn't have any thoughts, maybe his predecessor did, but he honestly didn't think of going anywhere else, just wanting to help them out a bit.