On the other side, Ling'er and Zhong Xiaoyan both looked surprised.
"Miss, why did he let the thief go?"
"I don't know." Zhong Xiaoyan pursed her lips, grabbed the long sword on the table, and said, "I can't stand by and watch this anymore, I have to intervene."
She was so angry that she even forgot to correct the maid's address.
Releasing the thief with just a few words, what kind of situation was this?
Ling'er risked her life to hold Zhong Xiaoyan back.
"Miss, a strong dragon should not oppress the local snake!" Ling'er quickly advised, "If you take action, you can definitely deal with that dog catcher, but he is the local snake, causing trouble for you everywhere in the county, what will you do?"
"Am I afraid of him causing trouble? A corrupt official who can't distinguish right from wrong."
"Aren't you in Qingyang County to resist evil spirits? Offending the local snake, you won't be able to stay in Qingyang County, what will you do?"
Hearing this, Zhong Xiaoyan finally put down the sword in her hand.
"You make sense." Zhong Xiaoyan nodded, then glared fiercely at Lin Ji.
"This young master is being too lenient. If it were any other time, I would have to make this guy explain himself!"
"That's right, that's right." Ling'er nodded quickly.
On the other side.
Lin Ji looked at the somewhat embarrassed but uninjured young master.
"How much money do you have in your purse?" Lin Ji asked.
"If I return to Lin Catcher, I should have over twenty taels." The young master replied quickly.
Lin Ji nodded, reached into his chest and searched for a while, only managing to find a few taels of silver.
"Innkeeper, give me thirty taels of silver." Lin Ji looked at the innkeeper of Ruyi Building.
The innkeeper didn't dare to delay, quickly took out three ingots of ten taels of silver and handed them to Lin Ji.
"You don't need to, Lin Catcher, when Young Master Zhou left today, he left five hundred taels on the counter for you." The innkeeper quickly said.
"Is that so? This Zhou Qian is quite thoughtful." Lin Ji smiled twice, then handed the thirty taels of silver to the young master.
"Take it, consider it a supplement from me."
But the young master dared not accept it: "Lin Catcher, how can I let you pay for this? This loss should be mine to bear."
"Just take it, stop talking nonsense."
After handing over the silver, Lin Ji bowed to the surrounding guests.
"Please forgive me for my rudeness, let's not spread today's events everywhere."
The many onlookers naturally agreed.
But Lin Ji continued, "Don't just placate me, if I hear about today's events in the county in the future, each and every one of you will be held accountable, no one can escape, remember that!"
This time, no one dared to be perfunctory anymore.
After bowing to the crowd again, Lin Ji finally left Ruyi Building.
The Daoist Pingxin had been silent all along, only following Lin Ji after he had finished dealing with the matter.
"Lin, how come you let that thief go? Your kick earlier didn't even use a bit of strength." Daoist Pingxin was quite curious.
"The money thief is called Liang Naodai, he is an honest child, just because his head is a bit big, he is bullied by other children in the county all day long." Lin Ji casually said.
Lu Cong wandered around Qingyang County all day long, always liked to chatter with Lin Ji, and since Lin Ji had lived in the county for several years, he didn't know everything about the county, but he knew quite a bit.
"So it's Lin Catcher's junior, no wonder."
"He's not my junior, I just feel that this child grew up in Qingyang County since he was a child, never seen him steal or do anything bad, so I wanted to see what was going on."
Daoist Pingxin nodded, then asked curiously, "Why did you stop others from talking about this just now?"
"Rumors are fearful, if there are really any hidden secrets. If the thief's reputation spreads, that child will never be able to lift his head in the county for the rest of his life."
In the time it took to talk, Lin Ji had already brought Daoist Pingxin to a somewhat dilapidated courtyard.
He knocked on the door, but no one answered.
But there was smoke rising from the chimney inside.
When he pushed open the door and walked into the courtyard, Liang Naodai, the money thief, happened to walk out of the inner room.
As soon as he saw Lin Ji, Liang Naodai's face turned pale, he stopped in his tracks and didn't dare to move, trembling all over.
Lin Ji noticed the medicine bag in his hand.
"Who is sick at home?"
"It's my mother."
"Did you steal the money to treat your mother?"
Liang Naodai nodded quickly.
Seeing that Lin Ji didn't say anything else, Liang Naodai, afraid that Lin Ji would arrest him now, suddenly knelt down.
"Lin Catcher, I..."
"Don't talk nonsense, go boil the medicine and serve it to your mother, then come out and find me."
Lin Ji waved his hand, then found a tree stump in the courtyard to sit down.
Liang Naodai nodded repeatedly, hurriedly went to work.
Daoist Pingxin also wanted to sit down, but there were no chairs in the courtyard, nor were there any other tree stumps.
After hesitating for a while, he cautiously asked, "Lin, can I sit on half of the stump?"
Lin Ji glanced at Daoist Pingxin, didn't say anything, just moved his butt, firmly occupying the entire stump.
Daoist Pingxin could only stand awkwardly next to Lin Ji.
After more than half an hour, Liang Naodai finished serving his mother, and tremblingly walked out of the inner room.
"Xiao An, who's outside?" A weak voice came from inside the room.
Liang Naodai didn't know how to respond.
Lin Ji spoke up, "It's Lin Catcher from the county, looking for Liang Naodai to do a little something, you rest, don't worry, it's just running errands."
"Lin Catcher, oh Xiao An, you must help Lin Catcher with his work."
"I know, mother." Liang Naodai replied, looking at Lin Ji.
"Tell me, what's the situation at home, where's your father?"
"He passed away half a month ago, from tuberculosis." Liang Naodai lowered his head, "My mother also has this illness."
Lin Ji sighed lightly, then looked at Daoist Pingxin behind him.
"Do you know medicine?"
"I don't."
Lin Ji shook his head slightly, then asked Liang Naodai, "Is your family relying on just you now?"
"Yes."
"How do you make money?"
"I get up early to pull carts for Master Zhou's family, and in the afternoon, I go to help people repair their courtyards as a laborer until dark."
"How much money do you make in a day?"
"Less than two taels."
One hundred wen is one tael, and ten taels make one liang.
This amount of money is enough for food and clothing, but far from enough for medical treatment.
And today, Lin Ji had two meals at noon, which were all good, so at least seven or eight taels were spent.
"How much did the medicine you just took cost?" Lin Ji asked again.
"Eight taels for one dose, I gave all the stolen money to the pharmacy, and the boss saw that I was pitiful, so he gave me three doses of medicine."
Speaking of this, Liang Naodai's eyes were visibly red, but he held back.
"The boss of the pharmacy said that my mother's illness would require at least seven doses of medicine to cure, and recovery is difficult, and there may be a recurrence in the future, and she will need to take more medicine then."
Lin Ji sighed, looked at Pingxin Daoist beside him.
Pingxin Daoist had no smile on his face, just quietly watching Liang Naodai, not saying a word.
After a moment of silence, Lin Ji suddenly said, "Hold out your hand."
Liang Naodai didn't understand, so he held out his right hand.
"Left hand!"
Liang Naodai switched hands.
Lin Ji grabbed the long sword hanging from his waist, and used the scabbard to hit his hand several times, until the entire palm swelled up completely before stopping.
"This is your punishment for stealing, do you accept this punishment?" Lin Ji said sternly.
Liang Naodai didn't say a word, just gritted his teeth and endured the pain, nodding heavily.
"I should have taken you to jail for a few months, but considering that you are a first-time offender and have a reasonable excuse, I'll let it go this time!"
Hearing this, Liang Naodai raised his head, looking at Lin Ji in disbelief.
He thought Lin Ji had come to his house to arrest him.
Lin Ji asked again, "I remember you studied in a private school, right?"
"Yes."
Lin Ji took out his own scattered silver from his chest, stuffed it into Liang Naodai's right hand, and said, "This money is enough for you and your mother's expenses for two months."
"Lin Catcher, I can't take your money."
"Stop talking nonsense, just listen." Lin Ji stared, saying, "Later, go to the pharmacy, have someone apply medicine to your hand, then tell the pharmacy boss, say it's my idea, let him give your mother four more doses of medicine."
In Qingyang County, Lin Ji still had some face, and no one dared to use his name to deceive others.
"Young man, remember, this is what you owe me! Four doses of medicine plus this scattered silver, plus interest, you owe me forty taels in the future!"
After a pause, Lin Ji continued, "Master Zhang in the county office is getting old, go help him out a bit, write the official documents in the yamen on weekdays, the monthly salary is not much, about six taels. But the advantage of this job is that it's easy, and you'll have time to take care of your mother."
After saying this, Lin Ji patted Liang Naodai's shoulder.
"Next time you dare to steal, I'll break your legs, understand?"
Liang Naodai couldn't hold back anymore, tears streamed down his face, he knelt down to kowtow, but was supported by Lin Ji.
"Be a man, what's the use of crying, your mother is counting on you."
After that, Lin Ji left Liang Naodai's house with Daoist Pingxin.
Just a few steps away, Liang Naodai chased after them, knelt on the ground and knocked his head fiercely, until his forehead was bleeding and he didn't stop.
"Go back!" Lin Ji scolded.
On the way, Lin Ji was not in the mood to chat, and Daoist Pingxin did not speak either.
After wandering around for a while, they arrived at Lin Ji's doorstep.
Daoist Pingxin seemed to have just come to his senses.
"Want to come in and sit?" Lin Ji casually asked.
But Daoist Pingxin shook his head, bowed deeply to Lin Ji.
"What are you doing?"
"Today's events have opened my eyes, my friend."
End of chapter.