A Good Country Wife

Zhao Erhu could never have anticipated that the people from the Government Office would be so shameless, and he was infuriated on the spot. However, he wasn’t one to let his emotions rule him, and after arguing for a bit, he realized it was futile and had no choice but to let it go.

There is a saying, "Spend money to avert disaster." Now that the situation was against him, he had to compromise. After all, he was but a humble commoner. If he angered the people from the Government Office and ended up in jail, not only would he not recover his silver coin, he would have to pay even more silver, not to mention the suffering that would ensue. Although Zhao Xinglin was still an arrest officer under the Magistrate, he probably wasn’t having an easy time under the current Magistrate either. Erhu had no intention of troubling him, especially since the former Magistrate had settled all the debts with silver before leaving, so the loss wasn’t too severe.

"There’s no need to go, the goods we’ve delivered in the past half month are probably all lost, but we’ve also made quite a bit of money from the Government Office in the past, so let’s just consider these goods as having been fed to dogs." Knowing that he couldn’t keep the matter from Lin Yue and worried that his wife, unaware of the gravity, might go to the Government Office to demand debt repayment, Zhao Erhu told her everything in detail.

As soon as Lin Yue heard the story, she understood the situation. She and Zhao Erhu had discussed that once Magistrate Chen had left, they didn’t know what the temperament of the new appointee would be, and now their previous worries had become reality. Just from Zhao Erhu’s encounter today, it was evident that this Magistrate could not be compared to Magistrate Chen in terms of justice and integrity, and he seemed difficult to deal with. Having arrived in Xin’an City only a short while ago, his subordinates were already behaving like this; it must have been with the Magistrate’s tacit approval, or perhaps it was even his idea to embezzle money.

"Although I was angry at the time and really wanted to beat those people up, I ultimately held back. If something happened to me, what would you and the children do? Besides, by doing so, it would give them even more reason to come after our family, so I had no choice but to let it go. Wife, you won’t think I’m a coward, will you?"

Lin Yue let out a sigh, "How could I? In such a situation, we can only give up. As the saying goes, ’the commoners cannot contend with the officials,’ so even if we are wronged, we must swallow our grievances and be more cautious in the future. We must not let others grab ahold of any leverage against us. Pay more attention to any rumblings from the Wei Residence. Old Master Wei is adept at scheming, and by the looks of this new Magistrate, he is not one to be clean and honest. It wouldn’t be surprising if he ends up colluding with Old Master Wei in corruption. Old Master Wei hasn’t held back in targeting our family in the past, and has even suffered a major loss at our hands. He surely bears a grudge, so we must be vigilant and not fall into their traps."

"You’re right to remind me, wife. Ever since the incident with the counterfeit prescription, there has been little movement from the Wei Residence, and I’ve nearly forgotten about it. We need to be on our guard," Zhao Erhu said, thinking of Old Master Wei who eyed their family with covetousness, as well as the corrupt Magistrate. He was worried that such people would likely join forces and cause trouble, but he couldn’t show his concerns in front of his wife and instead chuckled.

"Wife, don’t worry about these things, I have it all under control."

While Lin Yue and Zhao Erhu talked, Zhou Yakuai from the dental clinic had already brought people over, and with things as they were with the Government Office, life had to go on. So, setting aside their governmental troubles for the moment, Zhao Erhu and Lin Yue focused on selecting the right people.

"Boss Zhao, Mrs. Zhao, I have brought the people. Do you find them suitable?" Knowing Lin Yue’s requirements from before, Zhou Yakuai had already preselected the candidates, retaining only those who met the criteria and bringing all of them over. They were divided into two rows in front of Zhao Erhu and Lin Yue for them to choose from.