Chapter 117: Enter school

Chapter 117 Entering School

After hearing the words of Zenggui, Mrs. Tao jumped on her feet and scolded Shopkeeper Tao: "The plagued bitch, I have told him not to listen to Shopkeeper Zeng, how about now? I didn't curry favor with Zou. The county magistrate even got himself involved."

 You can scold him, he is his own man after all. After Mrs. Tao scolded him, she could only pack up her things and go back to her parents' house to ask for help.

 After Shopkeeper Tao was caught in Silifang, the two scribes from Silifang were heartbroken when they saw Shopkeeper Tao, but they did not ask anything.

Lao Kong and the others are in charge of things like making trouble on the streets. As scribes, they are only responsible for collecting the town's food and tax. However, they are from Zou County Cheng. When they saw Shopkeeper Tao being arrested, they still sent their servants to Fugui Tower. Inform Shopkeeper Zeng and ask Shopkeeper Zeng to send someone to the county to inform Zou County Prime Minister so that he will not be bitten by Jiang County Lieutenant again.

When Shopkeeper Zeng received the news from the scribe's servant, he smiled and said to the servant: "Go back and tell the two scribes, Lu and Zhang, that it was Shopkeeper Tao's own fault and has nothing to do with us."

He just invited Shopkeeper Tao to come to Fugui Building for a meal, and gave a few hints without saying anything too straightforward. Even if Shopkeeper Tao wanted to bite him, he and the county magistrate couldn't be bitten.

Shopkeeper Tao has been doing business for so many years. Shopkeeper Zeng believes that he will not be so stupid. After offending Jiang Xianwei, he would not risk his life to offend Zou Xiancheng again.

The servant conveyed the words of the shopkeeper Zeng to the two scribes.

After hearing this, the two scribes, Lu and Zhang, felt relieved.

Lao Kong was a quick man, and he also wanted to show his face in front of Lieutenant Jiang County. After catching all the beggars including Shopkeeper Tao, Zhao Fu, and Liu Sanzi, he would then question Third Grandpa and ask Haizi to give Third Grandpa's confession. He wrote it down and asked Third Grandpa to hold it for later, and immediately escorted Shopkeeper Tao and others to the county seat.

Third Grandpa returned to the tofu stall and told everyone about the matter: "Lao Kong said that with all the witnesses and material evidence on this matter, and with Jiang County Lieutenant here, at most there will be results tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, so we can rest assured."

 After hearing this, everyone felt relieved. They believed in Jiang Xianwei.

They finished selling tofu and bean dregs cakes that day, and after collecting soybeans in the town, they stored some of the soybeans in Xuanhufang, and each of them carried a load of soybeans back home.

Gu Jinli went to the iron shop to get the prepared discus and hammer, ready to make soybean oil.

On this day, the Luo family also collected two thousand kilograms of soybeans, which filled a side room and the main room.

Grandpa San told several people about the tofu stall, and everyone was very angry, but when they heard that shopkeeper Tao was arrested, they were relieved.

"Shopkeeper Tao should be arrested. He really has no conscience." The third grandmother cursed.

“It’s best to take him to work in the official mines and exhaust him to death!” Mrs. Chen said, and vividly told several families about the beggars who were beaten and those who were caught seeking good luck.

The family members felt very relieved after hearing this, and waited to see the final fate of Shopkeeper Tao and others.

 The next day, the county’s verdict was handed down.

Shopkeeper Tao did not testify against Shopkeeper Zeng. He took everything on himself, saying that he was obsessed with the business of Gu's tofu stall, so he increased the price of soybeans in order to make a profit from them.

Unexpectedly, the Gu family disagreed and started to collect soybeans by themselves. He was so angry that he spent money to find a beggar, hoping to teach the Gu family a lesson.

After Shopkeeper Tao confessed, the matter was no longer investigated. The county magistrate sentenced Shopkeeper Tao to ten boards and fined him one hundred taels of silver. Zhaofu was also given ten boards and fined ten taels of silver. As for Liu Sanzi and his group, they were all sentenced to five years of hard work in the official mines.

Liu Sanzi and the others fainted when they heard this. The work in the government and mines was the most tiring, and their bodies couldn't bear it. They couldn't bear it for even one year, let alone five years.

 But it’s too late for them to regret it.

Because of this incident, the Yu family also hated Shopkeeper Tao. Although Shopkeeper Tao was good at doing business and had made a lot of money for the Yu family in the past ten years, this time he almost dragged the Yu family into Zou County Cheng and Jiang. In the battle between county lieutenants. Mr. Yu was so angry that he personally told shopkeeper Tao and Mrs. Tao to get out of the Tao family grain store. They would no longer run the store.

It turns out that the Tao family grain store does not belong to shopkeeper Tao at all, but to the Yu family. It was because shopkeeper Tao married Mrs. Tao and Mrs. Tao's father begged Mr. Yu that Mr. Yu handed over the grain shop in Qingfu Town. He was managed by Shopkeeper Tao, and the two families were divided into 40% and 60% respectively. Shopkeeper Tao got 40% and the Yu family got 60%.

When Shopkeeper Tao heard the news, he was like a bolt from the blue and fainted immediately. After waking up, dragging his injured body and Mrs. Tao, they knelt in front of the Yu Mansion, begging Mr. Yu to take back his life.

But Mrs. Tao is not Mr. Yu’s biological daughter, but just a niece. She is not willing to protect them and let the servants drive away shopkeeper Tao and Mrs. Tao.

Mrs. Tao’s father loved his daughter so much that he gave Mrs. Tao the one hundred taels of silver he had saved so that the couple could open a small shop in the county town and continue to live.

Therefore, when Taojia Grain Store opened its doors again, the plaque had been changed and it became Xiangjia Grain Store.

The Yu family did not want to get involved in the fight between Zou County Cheng and Jiang County Lieutenant, so they did not run the grain store themselves. Instead, they gave the store to a relative named Xiang. The accounts were still divided between four and six, but Mr. Yu told Xiang Shopkeeper, let him do his job and don't get involved in anything that could cause trouble for them.

Shopkeeper Xiang knew about Shopkeeper Tao, so he was very cautious. After the opening of the Xiangjia Grain Shop, he did not visit Shopkeeper Zeng, nor did he come to Gu's house to say anything about not increasing the price for them. He just opened the business as usual, and the soybeans were informal. No matter who buys it, it costs three cents per catty.

Third Grandpa was worried that Xiangjia Grain Store would target them, so he went to buy soybeans in person, greeted the shopkeeper with a smile, and sold them to them for three cents per pound.

 At this point, the matter has calmed down.

After Shang Xiucai heard about this, he came to Gu's house in person and told Gu Jinan to study at his house.

Gu Jinan waited for so many days and finally received Shang Xiucai's reply. He was both happy and excited.

He suppressed his excitement, knelt in front of Shang Xiucai, and kowtowed to him. He was about to kowtow to him, but Shang Xiucai helped him up.

Shang Xiucai said: "There is no need to pay homage to me as a disciple. I don't accept disciples. I am only a teacher and teach you how to read. Your family still has to pay for these things."

After Shang Xiucai read Gu Jinan's answer to Wen Zhi, he thought of his performance on the day he captured Lu Laosan, and heard that he had not attended a private school, but relied on self-study to learn the thousand-character essay, so he was very satisfied with him, but After thinking about it for several days, I finally decided not to accept him as my disciple.

Gu Jinan is a piece of rough jade. As long as he polishes it well, he will definitely become a talent in ten years. The master-disciple status is similar to the father-son status. Once you become a master, it is a lifelong matter. The master can decide many things about the apprentice, even It's a marriage.

Shang Xiucai knew his identity. His family was only slightly famous in Tianfu County. Outside of Tianfu County, it was nothing. Gu Jinan deserved a better master. As a teacher, he only needed to teach him for a few years.

 (End of this chapter)