express gratitude to Dean Zhou, after all, without the cultivation of the academy, they wouldn't have their present status.As the head of the Zhou clan and his men, they naturally couldn't mingle with...Of course they felt sorry for Wei Dajun breaking his leg, but compared to the complete destruction of their home and family, this was already the best possible outcome.

The elders and villagers were willing to help them, to correct Wei Dayong's bad habits. They only felt grateful and had no resentment.

The villagers thronged around them as they left, especially the women, who offered words of comfort.

After all the households had extinguished their lights and fallen asleep, the noisy night finally came to an end.

Originally, Li Er and Liu Biatou thought that Zhang Jin from Xiao Wangzhuang just wanted to inquire about the news and would have to wait a few days.

To everyone's surprise, Zhang Jin, either innocent or deeply pressured by the casino, actually came back to the village the afternoon of the second day.

At the village entrance, Li Yong's house was bustling with activity as they were constructing a courtyard. People came and went, working hard and energetically.

Zhang Jin casually grabbed a man and asked, "Big brother, how do I get to Wei's army's home"

The man was taken aback, eyeing Zhang Jin's shifty appearance and thinking him no good. He furrowed his brow and countered, "Where are you from, and what business do you have with Wei Dajun"

Zhang Jin quickly smiled and said, "Big brother, don't worry, I'm from Xiao Wang Zhuang, we are family."

As expected, when the man heard it was Little Wang's manor, the apprehension on his face vanished. He smiled and said, "That's right, you're family! Just go straight in, the second house from the east in the last row of buildings is Wei Dajun's."

"Okay, big brother. I'll be going now. Let's have a drink together sometime!"

Zhang Jin greeted and left, a hint of disdain flashing in his eyes.

They say the people from Suijin Beach are amazing, but they're just a bunch of simpletons. They're so easy to fool.

He didn't know, in the blink of an eye, the whole village knew that this weasel had entered their village, with a hundred pairs of eyes watching her.

It's really hard to say who is being deceived!

Wei Dagun broke his leg, he was in so much pain last night that he couldn't sleep. Now he has taken medicine and eaten something.

But with the children studying at home and his daughter-in-law working, he was left alone on the kang, with only a urine pot for company. It was truly pitiful.

As Zhang Jin walked in, he was about to get up, but winced in pain and fell back down.

Zhang Jin hurried forward to help him up, and whispered, "Brother Wei, what's wrong with you Didn't we agree to go back to the city today to repay the debt"

Wei Dajun's head was throbbing, beads of sweat rolling down his temples. He cursed, "Don't mention it, what a terrible day! The village paid out wages last night, and we got three taels of silver. I wanted to come find you, so I went into the city early this morning."

“Who would have thought that when I took a shortcut over the mountain, I fell straight down. Luckily, there were people patrolling the village, otherwise, I'm afraid I would have to lie in the mountains for a night.”

Zhang Jin lifted the blanket to look. Wei Dagun's injured leg was swollen terribly, and blood could still be seen seeping through the bandages.

This really hurt!

Zhang Jin cursed him internally for being useless, but on his face, he put on a distressed expression and said, "What can we do If we don't pay back the money today, I'm afraid the casino will come looking for your family!"

"No, no!" Wei Dajun was terrified and quickly grabbed his hand, pleading, "Zhang brother, please help me, beg for me, okay"

As he spoke, he reached under his mattress and pulled out a purse.

Yesterday's wages are all here. Zhang brother, help me take them to the casino. Please allow me two more months to repay the debt. The village head said that the mountain fruits sold for over five thousand taels. Our family can get at least one hundred taels. I will definitely pay off the gambling debts when the time comes.

Zhang's eyes lit up, he patted his money bag and said, "You know, the casino has been struggling with business lately. When you're better, bring a few more customers over there. Maybe the manager will be happy enough to waive your gambling debt."

Wei Dagun was like he had grabbed a life-saving straw, quickly replied, "Good, good, I'm healed, and the village is also distributing silver. At that time, I will bring more people. My family is the poorest, they are all richer than my family!"

Zhang Jin became increasingly satisfied as he listened, pocketed the money, and casually said, "Alright, take good care of your injuries. I'll go to the casino and try to get you some leniency. Come see me again in a few days."

"Good, good!" Wei Dagun let out a breath of relief and kept thanking him gratefully.

Zhang Jin waved his hand and walked away.

After leaving the Wei family's gate, he spat furiously and muttered under his breath, "Useless things."

After venting his anger, he raised his head and gazed at the neat and clean new village. In the distance, the mountain peaks, riverbanks, and hot spring valleys filled his eyes with greed and jealousy once again...

At the village entrance, people were busy building houses while watching Zhang Jin leave the village.

Liu Biaotou was about to follow, but Li Yong wasn't reassured. He gave Hui Niang and the village head a few instructions before hurrying after Liu Biaotou. The two of them were companions...

In the evening, after having dinner, the people who were building the house returned.

Li Lao'er and the village head quickly inquired, Li Yong said, "This Zhang Jin went straight to the casino in the city and talked with a small clerk for a long time. We couldn't go up to him, and we didn't hear what he was saying."

"But I borrowed two old soldiers from the Hou Mansion. They'll help us keep an eye on that casino clerk. If he has someone backing him, we'll definitely find something."

Liu Biaotou nodded and said, "For now, Zhang Jin seems to be the snakehead of the gambling den, responsible for bringing in customers from outside."

"Well, let's just do things this way for now. We need to keep ourselves stable, and it won't be so easy for outsiders to plot against us." Li Lao Er comforted the crowd.

Everyone chimed in, "That's right! No matter who schemes, everyone keeps their money bags tightly shut. Who would dare to rob us then!"

Thus, this little storm has been calmed.

Except for Wei Dajun, who was in agony every day and regretted it to his core, the rest of the villagers lived their lives as usual.

Soon, it was time for the betrothal ceremony at home.

Li Jia closed the gate to his courtyard and asked Zhao Shu and a few others to help keep an eye on it. Then, Li Zhensheng and Li Lao Er, along with the village head, all got in a car and drove to Luo'an Town.

The village head didn't really want to go, after all, he came from a farming family and was naturally somewhat in awe of scholars and academies. This made him feel a little nervous.

Li Lao'er reassured the elder, "Uncle, you've even met the Emperor, so why be afraid of these schoolmasters We are relatives, not asking them to do us favors! Besides, Uncle is the head of Suijin Tan, a feng shui treasure bestowed by the Imperial Court. Just hold your head high and face anyone, we won't back down!"

Such a big bowl of chicken soup, just poured it into the old man's mouth, the effect was even better than chicken blood.

The old man put on his best clothes and polished his pipe to a shine. He was full of confidence as he climbed into the carriage...

In Li's courtyard in the town of Luoan, the dowry was ready, neatly arranged.

Besides the two hundred handwritten copies of books promised to Mr. Peng, there were also two sets of head ornaments, one made of gold and one made of pearls. In addition, there were sixteen bolts of various silks, a pair of rouge and powder boxes, a pair of dragon and phoenix candles, four colors of candies, four colors of nuts, four cans of tea leaves, and four jars of fine wine.

Most importantly, there's a red envelope of dowry money, containing two small gold ingots.

The dowry came in a box, containing ten gold ingots of two ounces each, worth two hundred taels of silver.

All of this together is worth about five hundred taels of silver.

When arranging the marriage, Zhao Yuru had put in a lot of effort, but she didn't have to spend a single copper coin.

This is the rule set by the Li family patriarch for every descendant's marriage.days. All the flower buds will bloom layer by layer, which is indeed magical and rare."“I plan to use this Golden Lotus to exchange for food and essential medicines, as the first batch of supplies d...