Chapter 366: Chapter 353: Drive Out
The shop assistant led Zhuang Qingning and Zhuang Yutian towards an aged Qingfeng Tea House across the street. Along the way, he explained, “Originally, the manager intended to invite both of you to have tea in the shop, but as it is still undergoing renovations and is rather messy and dusty, he decided to make arrangements here instead.”
“This tea house has been here for some years. The second floor has private booths that are rather tranquil, and you can get a good view of the shop from the window.”
The assistant helped Zhuang Qingning to his seat, “Please take a seat and wait for a moment. Our manager will be here shortly.”
“I need to get back to overseeing the renovations in the shop, so I won’t be accompanying you both. I hope you gentlemen will understand.”
“You go ahead and attend to your business,” Zhuang Qingning said with a smile. “We’ll wait for Manager Cheng.”
“Yes.” The assistant bowed to Zhuang Qingning and Zhuang Yutian, and then hurried downstairs.
Zhuang Qingning and Zhuang Yutian soon watched the assistant return to the shop to resume his duties.
Apparently, the assistant had already ordered some tea and snacks. Not long after, a pot of tea and four small plates of delicacies were brought upstairs.
Zhuang Qingning and Zhuang Yutian each picked up a cup to drink.
It was a green tea, with a full aroma and a subtle hint of sweetness.
Zhuang Qingning found it good and poured himself another cup.
“Is the tea to your liking?” Zhuang Yutian asked with a smile.
“Yes, it’s very refreshing, and the water quality is also good,” Zhuang Qingning nodded.
“The water is from a well in a village on the eastern side of the county town. Only that well produces sweet water, which is delightful to taste even without adding any tea leaves. This tea house uses tea from Cheng’s tea shop. The tea is a type called ‘Yuwu tea,’ not sold anywhere but in tea houses in the county town. Only a few branches of Cheng’s family have regular dealings with the tea shop and receive some during the holidays.”
Zhuang Yutian remarked, “Manager Qian asked me a few days ago if I drink tea and said he would send me some of the new Yuwu tea when it arrives. If you like it, I can set some aside for you.”
“If there’s plenty, please set some aside for me,” Zhuang Qingning, liking the tea a lot, did not hold back and promptly agreed.
“Sure, I will send it over to you when it arrives,” Zhuang Yutian replied.
“Get out, get out!”
While the two were talking, a commotion could be heard downstairs.
“If you keep causing trouble, I will take you to report to the authorities!”
The voice was filled with anger. It was clear it belonged to the tea house’s waiter, who had just served them.
“Your shop is obviously bullying customers. I clearly won the grand prize and earned this tael of silver. Yet you insist on giving it to someone else. There must be some underhanded dealings, probably thinking of swallowing it all yourself.”
An argument erupted. Zhuang Qingning raised his eyebrows.
The voice was familiar…
Was it Zhuang Yuanren?
Zhuang Qingning leaned over the stairs to look downstairs and sure enough, he saw Zhuang Yuanren arguing with a waiter.
Dressed in a brocade robe but in a dishevelled state with his hair all messy, he was loudly berating the waiter, “You dare to bully people like this, using the County Government to intimidate. Are you implying that you intend to join hands with the Government Office to bully a scholar?”
“If you’re aware you’re a scholar, then you should behave like one and not be here stirring up right and wrong,” the waiter retorted, hands on his hips as he looked Zhuang Yuanren up and down. “I thought you looked familiar earlier, and now I remember.”
“A few days ago, there was a scandal involving the Kong family in the county. You must be the evil man’s son who is willing to sell his biological daughter for money. I saw you at the entrance of the Government Office. You are the vile person who denies any knowledge of it and pushes everything onto your own father.”
“Tsk tsk, no wonder, you are capable of such things. No wonder you have eyes only for money and cause trouble over this single tael of silver.”
“In that case, I don’t have to hold back. I’ll take you to the county yamen right now and shout along the way to let everyone take a good look at you!”
With that, the tea house waiter rolled up his sleeves, intending to grab Zhuang Yuanren’s collar.
Zhuang Yuanren was clearly startled and went pale due to the waiter’s words. He didn’t argue further and turned to leave.
He tripped over the doorstep in his haste, stumbling for a few steps before regaining his balance. Fearing that the waiter was catching up, he hastily fled.
The waiter spit contemptuously and muttered angrily before returning to soothe the patrons in the shop.
Noticing Zhuang Qingning and Zhuang Yutian peering over, the waiter quickly fetched a hot water kettle to refill their cups, apologising with a sheepish smile on his face, “I am sorry for the disturbance.”
“To attract customers, the shop manager had a couplet placed downstairs. If anyone can provide a matching second line and it’s judged to be the best, they would receive a tael of silver and a free meal, valid for one month.”
“As for that man just now, he did provide a couplet, but it was not deemed the best, so the silver was given to someone else. One would think that he would be ashamed for not being as good as others, but instead he was quite arrogant and accused us.”
“But considering his character, it is typical of him to do such things. I don’t know if you heard about the incident involving the Kong family a few days ago. The wealthy Kong family in the county was about to hold a wedding for their only son. It was supposed to be a joyous occasion, but on the wedding day, someone reported to the authorities that the Kong family was actually planning to marry a wife for their deceased son.”
“As you probably know, this is strictly forbidden by our empire’s laws. Magistrate Ding, upon hearing this, led a team to investigate. The investigation confirmed the allegations. But what’s infuriating is that the family who was selling their daughter, despite doing such evil deeds, claimed that she was their own daughter and they could decide her fate.”
“And worse was the girl’s elder brother, who had been adopted by the Kong family. Originally destitute, he now donned luxurious clothes. He claimed to have no knowledge of the incident and blamed everything on his family, using his sister’s life as a stepping-stone to climb up the social ladder.”
“When Magistrate Ding heard this, he was even more furious. He ordered the Kongs and the family who sold their daughter to be flogged, followed by a one- year labour sentence. As for the elder brother, due to his refusal to admit guilt and lack of evidence indicating his knowledge of the incident, he could only be flogged and expelled from the government school.”
“That man just now…”
“I guess he has nowhere to go and ran out of money, so he came to the shop to cause trouble.”
Probably because he was still agitated, the waiter spoke for quite a while. After finishing his story, he realised he may have spoken too much and gave an embarrassed smile.