Phi-Fic Chapter 382 If you ask me, he should pay for all of this.
Chapter 382 If you ask me, he should pay for all of this.
Neither Cai Lizheng nor the old clan chief dared to speak; both of them looked like eggplants that had been hit by frost.
Especially the old clan chief, who is so old, still has to clean up the messes of these younger generations and be disciplined like a grandson. Right now, he really wants to take a rattan cane and give each of these little rascals a few whacks.
Zhou Hai wasn't a mind reader, so naturally he had no idea what they were thinking.
Seeing that they remained silent, he assumed they were trying to shirk responsibility and thought there was no hope. He sighed inwardly and said, "Things have come to this point, so I won't hide anything from you."
"The county magistrate took his men on an official business a while ago. When they returned the day before yesterday, they happened to pass through our area and stayed for two days."
"This very morning, when those men from your Cai family came to cause trouble, the county magistrate was staying at the Gu residence."
"If it weren't for the Gu family's benevolence..."
He pointed to the group of troublemakers in Gujia Village and said, "You youngsters will all end up in jail."
After he finished speaking, everyone in Caijia Village was shocked.
Especially the Cai family mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, who were so eager to kneel down to Lin Chang'er again.
"Stop..." Lin Chang'er said softly, "I told you not to kneel, so don't kneel. If you kneel again, I'll send someone to the county government to call for help right now."
"We won't kneel! We won't kneel!" Cai's mother was startled and suddenly straightened her knees, which were bent halfway.
Wu Shui, supporting her mother-in-law, bowed to Lin Chang'er and said, "Thank you for your kindness in giving my man a chance."
Otherwise, they would be visiting the prisoner at the county office right now.
Lin Chang'er pouted, "I never said I would just let them go like that."
Upon hearing this, Madam Cai glanced at Lin Chang'er and then said to her son, "Shitou, hurry up and apologize to the important person."
Cai Shitou was still confused. He had only come because he heard that Guo Caishi had been detained by the Gu family. He didn't know that the Gu family had connections with the county magistrate.
The thought of almost causing a major disaster made Cai Shitou break out in a cold sweat.
But how could a grown man apologize to a woman?
Cai Shitou turned his face away and ignored him.
Upon seeing this, Wu Shui hurriedly stepped forward, bowed, and apologized, saying, "We are at fault no matter what. Please forgive us this time."
"From now on, we will be careful with our words and actions and will never make the same mistake again."
"Please take stock of the losses in your household and give us a figure. If it is insufficient, please grant us some more time."
Madam Cai also came forward with a smile, "We know that the important person will not be short of the money we give as compensation."
"It's just that this brat has displeased the important person. Rather than letting him continue to loiter in front of the important person and annoy him, it's better to let him stay."
"If you could bestow another favor upon us, we would remember your kindness forever."
Upon hearing this, Cai Lizheng also agreed and stepped forward to mediate, saying, "Yes, Mr. Lin, today's events were all caused by the impulsive actions of the men in our village who disregarded the consequences."
“Our two villages have a long history of intermarriage and have a good relationship, so please do us another favor.”
The old clan chief slowly walked up and said, "Don't worry, Mr. Lin, when we get back, I will definitely teach these men a good lesson."
"They've been detained here for most of the day without water or food, and the sun is quite strong today. I suppose they've learned their lesson."
"You're a very busy person, so don't waste your time helping this old man discipline his unfilial descendants!"
Having said that, without waiting for Lin Chang'er to speak, the old clan chief shouted at the group of men, "Are you all mute?"
"You're all married people now. If you've made a mistake, do you expect your elders to grovel and apologize on your behalf?"
"What are you pretending to be, acting all high and mighty!"
These words were pleasing to the ear. Lin Chang'er couldn't help but take another look at the old man. He was quite clear-headed, but unfortunately, he was too old. Otherwise, he could be of some use.
When the men heard that the old clan chief had lost his temper, they were furious.
It's unclear who started it, but one after another, they bowed and apologized.
Lin Chang'er glanced around, her gaze finally landing on Cai Shitou, whose face was ashen, as if he was extremely unwilling to accept reality.
Lin Chang'er scoffed, "A real man can bend and stretch. What kind of man is he if he makes a mistake, doesn't dare to admit it, and hides behind two women!"
Cai Shitou was startled and looked up at Lin Chang'er, only to meet her teasing gaze.
Cai Shitou's face flushed red, then quickly turned pale.
Seeing this, Lin Chang'er stopped arguing with him and looked at Liu Zi, "Liu Zi, go and get the account books from when we built the new house!"
"Alright!" Liu Zi responded and strode into the house, returning shortly with a thick account book in his hands.
Lin Chang'er raised her chin at him, "I won't talk about the cost of building the house, but let's talk about my camphor tree. It's not worth much now because it's not mature enough. Judging from how badly it's burned, it should be able to be saved if I take good care of it. I won't charge for the shipping costs."
"This tree..."
Liu Zi chimed in, "Young Master Bai bought it for 50 taels of silver per plant, which is the market price."
Lin Chang'er nodded, "Judging from the charred area, it's about one-tenth of the total area, so let's just give you 5 taels of silver as compensation!"
Upon hearing this, the Cai family mother-in-law and daughter-in-law turned deathly pale. They remained silent, instead clasping their hands together as if they had made a firm decision.
Cai Shitou retorted hastily, "If we can support them, why should we lose money?"
Lin Chang'er curled her lips slightly, "What's the rush? I haven't finished speaking yet!"
After scanning the group of troublemakers, I said, "Cai Shitou has gathered a crowd to cause trouble, disturbing our family's peace and causing our female relatives and baby to be frightened. I won't say anything more."
"The money to calm the nerves is one string of copper coins per person, but Cai Shitou, who is in charge, gets an extra string."
"If there are no objections, you may leave now that you have paid the money!"
Then he looked at Liu Zi and said, "Count the money that Granny Cai and Madam Wu gave you before. How much is still owed? Write an IOU and have Cai Shitou sign and put his fingerprint on it!"
He paused, then emphasized again, "Let him sign it himself, understand?"
Liu Zi nodded vigorously.
The crowd was buzzing with discussion.
"Five taels and two mace, where would Cai Shitou's family come up with so much money?"
"It's considered good if you can save a penny or two in a year!"
"What are we going to do? His wife is pregnant! Isn't this driving him crazy?"
Lin Chang'er was about to enter the house with the little goldfish when she heard the sound and looked towards Cai Shitou's wife.
Wu's eyes were red, but when she met her gaze, she still smiled and nodded at her with gratitude in her eyes.
Lin Chang'er felt quite bad, but people won't remember things unless the lessons are severe enough.
At that moment, someone in the crowd spoke up again.
"After saying all that, have you figured out what to do with your last penny?"
"No, you have time to pity people..."
“It’s all Cai Shitou’s fault. If he hadn’t said so, I wouldn’t have come.”
"That's right, if you ask me, he should pay for all of this..."