Chapter 1: The Wedding Night (New Book...)

  On that day, after lunch, a merchant named Zhu Chun from the neighboring Bazhou County suddenly came to Dongliu Township to buy and sell grain. He was wearing a luxurious silk robe, with a full brain and a rich temperament.

  This merchant Zhu Chun, accompanied by several servants and underlings, swaggered through the streets of Dongliu Village, loudly proclaiming that grain prices were rising in Bashan County and urgently needed to purchase tens of thousands of pounds of grain.

  The Wu family has already begun to transport grain out of the warehouse in large quantities, selling it to Zhu Chun at a price 20% higher than the market price.

  The Wu family sold grain in large quantities, envied by the ordinary people of Dongliu Township, who were all guessing how much silver they had earned this time.

  There is envy, and naturally there is jealousy.

  At the entrance of Wu's house, there was a mountain-like pile of grain, and just as they were weighing it bag by bag, some busybodies had already spread the news to Liu's family, which was less than two miles away from Wu's.

  Liu Lao Lai was sitting in the main hall with his son Liu Aman, holding a bowl of tea and listening to the visitor's vivid report, his face becoming more and more colorful.

  Liu Lao's thin body, like a withered hemp stalk, suddenly tensed up, his high cheekbones twitching and quivering, it was unclear whether he was joyful or startled.

  But his son, Liu Amang, who had a pug nose and was fond of inserting scallions into it, was different. He was already beaming with joy, counting on his fingers and muttering to himself: "Two tenths higher than the market price, heh-heh, this time I've really made a fortune."

  He immediately shouted at Lao Liu: "Dad, didn't our family just... uh..."

  Before he could finish speaking, his mouth was covered by Liu's bony hand, and then he glared at him with a fierce stare, signaling him to be silent.

  After Liu Aman finished speaking, Old Liar Liu chuckled twice and said to the messenger: "Hmm, thank you for your hard work. Ben Zheng already knows what you're talking about, so you can go back now."

  The messenger is a lazy rascal from Dongliu Township, who belongs to those who have eaten the previous meal but don't know where the next one will come from.

  He came to report the news in such a hurry, just because he wanted to take advantage of Liu's good mood after hearing the news and get rewarded with three melons and two dates.

  But now Liu Li Zheng really didn't want him to be present and hear their conversation between father and son, so he directly ordered him to leave.

  All he did was run around in circles, what can this lazy good-for-nothing do?

  He then slightly got up and stretched out his right hand to scratch the itch on his chest, then put his right hand forward and smiled at Lao Liu with a "heh heh".

  This move is obvious, it's here for a reward.

  Liu Ah Meng, you're paralyzed and still dare to ask for a reward? You really have a nerve.

  Making a gesture as if to get up and slap this lazy fellow two times.

  Just as he was about to get up, he was pulled down by Lao Liu again, who glared at him and whispered, "You fool, don't let a small mistake ruin everything."

  Then he rummaged through his sleeves and finally pulled out a copper coin after half a day of searching.

  Ding~~

  Liu Lao Lai snapped his fingers and directly threw this copper plate into the lazy fellow's arms.

  Lazy Han took over the copper plate and glanced at it. I said, only one? Not enough for me to buy a few small wines to drink.

  Then he continued to scratch the itch on his chest, thinking of reaching out for another reward, but before his hand was even stretched out, Liu Amang could no longer hold back.

  He stood up abruptly and scolded the lazy guy: "Get out, or I'll let the dog loose."

  My goodness!

  The lazy fellow knew how ferocious the several black dogs in the Liu family's courtyard were.

  No one dared to linger here any longer, and with a rustling sound, they had already slipped out of the hall and fled in all directions.

  As he escaped from the Liu family's courtyard, he turned his head and spat a mouthful of saliva, cursing loudly: "You stingy Liu family, I curse you all to be seized by the government. You bullied me, you were stingy, you deserved to die, you damned old scoundrel Liu."

  The Liu family father and son in the big courtyard naturally couldn't hear the lazy man's curse, because at this time the father and son had already started quarreling, where could they still care about this lazy man.

  Liu Amang picked his nose with one hand, stood on one leg on the chair, and shouted loudly: "Dad, you're being foolish. Looking at the silver in front of your eyes and not making a profit, do you want to wait until those tens of thousands of catties of grain go moldy and rotten?"

  Bang!

  Liu Lao Lai slapped the table beside him and scolded Liu Aman: "You ungrateful rascal, do you dare to scold your own father like this? Where am I muddled? This is being cautious, a thousand years of safe sailing, don't you understand? You know those grains are not to be exposed to the light, if they are discovered, it's not just you and me, the whole Liu family, even your brother-in-law will lose their heads."

  He grabbed Liu Amang's ear and scolded, "You ungrateful thing, you don't remember the beating but only the food, if you lose your head, you'll still be a useless fool!"

  Watching the silver flowing in front of his eyes, but only being able to look and not touch, unable to grab it into his pocket, Liu Amang didn't care about the pain of his ear being grabbed, continuing to struggle: "It's precisely because those tens of thousands of kilograms of grain can't be exposed that they want to get rid of them quickly. My dear father, how many people are in our Liu family? When will we be able to finish eating all that grain? By then it'll go bad and moldy, won't it be a waste? Besides, doesn't my sister's husband work at the county yamen as a police officer? He's a big shot, can eat for free at any restaurant, and is very arrogant. What are we afraid of?"

  As soon as he heard that his son-in-law Qin Wei was working in the government office and was even a prominent captain, Liu Lao's emotions gradually calmed down.

  He slowly released Liu Amang's ear, walked back to his seat, and muttered: "Not good, not good, this matter is too suspicious. The 10,000 catties of grain just lost in the drying field, and then merchants from Bazhou County came to our Dongliu Township to collect grain, it's too coincidental."

  Liu Amang is now single-mindedly focused on getting his hands on the silver, regardless of whether it's a clever coincidence or a suspicious circumstance. He only knows that as soon as he gets rid of this grain, he'll have 700-800 taels of silver flowing in.

  What is Liu's family income source?

  Isn't it just collecting rent from nearly a hundred mou of good land?

  But this hundred mu of good land is worth no more than a hundred or so taels of silver per year, and it's not even in the same league as the Wu family.

  What a scene it would be if the Liu family suddenly had an extra 700 or 800 taels of silver? He'd make a profit of over 100 taels, then swagger around in the county town, feeling like a rich second-generation heir.

  The last time his brother-in-law Qin Wei took him to the Man Yue Lou for a banquet, he still remembered it vividly until now.

  The girls in Man Yue Lou are all beauties with powdered heads, they really look good, how can the village widows from Dong Liu Xiang compare to them?

  The pungent smell of lipstick and powder, the cherry-like small mouth coldly pouring a small mouthful of wine into his mouth, that's what I call pleasure!

  Then Liu Amang's eyes rolled, and he thought of a plan. He hummed to Old Liu, "Dad, my sister mentioned last time she went back to her mother's house that her brother-in-law had taken a fancy to a girl in the city and wanted to take her as a concubine into the Qin family. My sister's position in the Qin family is precarious. If you lend her husband a few hundred taels of silver at this critical moment, let him run around and do some official business, heh heh, can my sister's position be shaken?"

  Fools have foolish words, yet they often hit the nail on the head.

  As soon as Liu Aman said this, Liu Lao Lai, a cunning old fox, also became disheartened.

  Yes, nowadays Liu's family can stand firm in Dongliu Township, apart from the operation of several generations, it relies on son-in-law Qin Wei serving as a catcher in the government office.

  The biggest reason Wu Miao Cai this old dog is afraid of Liu's family is because he has a good son-in-law, isn't it?

  If his daughter's status in the Qin family plummeted, what would this old father-in-law be worth in Qin Wei's eyes?

  How about giving it a try?

  Liu Lao's mind began to waver.

  However, as a local snakehead who had been lurking in Dongliu Township for many years, decades of life experience gave him a keen sense of crisis awareness.

  He would rather starve to death than do such a stupid thing, selling the tens of thousands of catties of grain that can't be exposed at home without being able to explain their origin, which is no different from seeking his own death.

  If this tens of thousands of catties of grain is leaked to the ears of the yamen runners, then it's all over.

  It is worth noting that the Hu Cao Fang in the six departments of the county government has records of the large households in each village and town, including how much grain they produce each year.

  The tens of thousands of kilograms of grain and hay in Liu's house, once exposed, would be a dead end.

  Then the cunning old Liu looked at his son who was already anxious and asked, "Why don't we invite that Zhu surnamed merchant from Bashu to our home for a test?"

  Liu Aman slapped her thigh and shouted: "It's about time, my dear father!"

  At this time, the servant sent by Liu's family to investigate Wu's news suddenly rushed into the hall and shouted loudly at Lao Lai: "Master, master, it's all over, really all over."

  Liu Lao Lai was startled by this person and shouted: "What's the hurry, speak slowly, the sky hasn't fallen yet."

  The people below were stopped by Liu Lao's drink and shouted: "Master, the grain merchant surnamed Zhu just spoke again, and he will return to Bazhou County in two days. So the deadline for collecting grains is only today and tomorrow, and..."

  Liu Lao Lai glared at this servant who spoke with a stutter and scolded: "What is it, hurry up and say it."

  The man stuttered and said: "Moreover, the Zhu surname grain merchant has announced that the price of grain will be raised by another 10%, and it will be purchased at a price three times higher than the market price until enough is collected. Just now when I came back, several villages' major grain-producing households have already gone to Wu's house to inquire about the news."

  Ahh...

  A loud cry suddenly rang out in the hall, and an infinite sense of urgency was conveyed through the clear voice.

  Liu Lao Lai swept his eyes, and that rascal son of his had already shot out like an arrow off the string, and had long since scurried out of the hall, dashing towards the gate outside...