Hearing Chen Yan's words, Mrs. Lei sighed even more.
"Young lady is really too optimistic. If my husband and I could still make as much money as before, we wouldn't have run away, and so many people wouldn't have run away."
"After all, it's not who you pay taxes to."
From what Mrs. Lei meant, there seemed to be something inside.
Chen Yan glanced at Zhou Yaoniang, and Zhou Yaoniang also walked up, "What do you say, madam?"
When Mrs. Lei heard this, her face was full of shame, "Our place used to be surrounded by beautiful mountains and clear waters, and it was very close to the capital. It was indeed a place often chosen by students in spring and autumn. In the past, because of the arrival of these students from other places, there were also people going there. Thanks to the care of the ladies and ladies who burn incense and worship Buddha in Guyue Town, our business here is indeed very good. Even when the Dharma King of Guyue Temple asked us to pay one hundred taels every six months, we were able to pay it."
"But since the year before last, our business has been getting worse year by year. Since Guyue Island was occupied by them, they have often come to the town to make trouble. The government initially thought of controlling them, so the government also organized They carried out several operations to suppress the bandits, but each time the result was a huge defeat. Moreover, every time the government failed to suppress the bandits, the monks from Guyue Island would retaliate against the surrounding people. Over time, the government had nothing to do with them. , and ignored them, but the government was also afraid of the greater impact, so they would tell scholars from other places that our town was no longer suitable for living, and as time went by, the business in our town became worse and worse."
Mrs. Lei continued: "Not only do they run rampant in the town, they often come to our shop to eat and drink for free, and even force us to provide them with free food and accommodation. If we are slightly dissatisfied, they use various reasons to They smash our things and even threaten our lives. We, small business owners, simply cannot bear their extortion."
Chen Yan was very angry when she heard this. She could not imagine that these monks from Guyue Temple could be so arrogant and wanton. They not only harmed the people, but also destroyed the economic order of the entire town.
"Mrs. Lei, why don't you run away?" Chen Yan asked in a low voice.
Hearing Chen Yan's question, Mrs. Lei became more and more panicked, "We just ran away today, but the girl also saw the consequences of our escape."
Chen Yan immediately whispered, "I mean you all run away together. If you run away together, they won't be able to catch you if they don't have enough manpower. And if they can kill you, you can also kill them."
Hearing Chen Yan's words, Mrs. Lei seemed to have heard some wild fantasy. She chuckled, "Girl, do you think we are willing to hand over this offering? But we can't help it. Many of our relatives have been killed." We have been captured on Guyue Island, if we escape, our relatives will undoubtedly die."
Hearing Mrs. Lei's words, Chen Yan immediately thought of the group of skeletons she saw on the island living in drafty shacks and eating Guanyin soil. .
When she thought of those people, Chen Yan was very touched.
"We actually saw that group of people on the island, and many of them were no different alive than dead."
Hearing Chen Yan's words, Mrs. Lei then only said, "Actually, we also had a collective escape, but the result of that time was not very good. Many people died on the way to the collective escape. The price was too high." It’s too big for us to bear, so who can be the lucky one to escape?”
Hearing Mrs. Lei's words, Chen Yan just responded and asked, "Then will you continue to wait here to die?"
Upon hearing this, Mrs. Lei only looked up calmly and glanced at Chen Yan, "This is our life."
As soon as she heard Mrs. Lei's words, Chen Yan gave up her intention to continue talking to her. After all, to save a person from the fire pit, that person must first have the determination to jump out of the fire pit. Mrs. Lei did not have this determination at first glance. They Looking forward and backward, there are too many worries.
So Chen Yan didn't say much anymore. She just said to Mrs. Lei, "Okay, Mrs. Lei, let's not talk about this topic. Since you think so yourself, I don't have anything to say. Anyway, let's just You stay in this town and work as a monk ringing the bell for a day. Now you and your son will not be in danger for the time being. We live one day at a time.
, you can stay and work in my shop with peace of mind. "
After hearing Chen Yan's words, Mrs. Lei naturally just thanked her again, "Thank you girls for taking me in. I really don't know what else to say. It's obvious that we tricked you, but the girls helped us and our husband regardless of the past grudges. I really don't know what to do." Is good."
When Chen Yan heard this, she just waved her hand and said, "Okay, don't mention these words anymore, we don't want to hear any more."
After saying this, Chen Yan finally handed the ginger soup in her hand to the little fat man.
Then Chen Yan asked Mrs. Lei again, "What is your child's name? Have you always been so stupid?"
Hearing her benefactor's question, Mrs. Lei did not dare not answer. She only whispered, "His name is Lei Xiaoming. He is fourteen years old. He should be sensible at this age. In fact, he was indeed a sensible person before he was stupid." child, but when he was twelve years old, those people came suddenly. In order to control us, they tied my son and my husband's father to that island. After that, we could only see each other once every six months. As long as we pay the tribute, we can see our relatives."
"But for some reason, when we met again when the child was thirteen, we didn't see my father-in-law, and the child was also stupid. We still don't know what happened to them on the island. "
Speaking of this, Mrs. Lei couldn't help but have a look of sadness in her eyes.
"But because of this, they may have found that the child was stupid and might not be able to survive on the island, so they finally returned the child to us. However, my son was already stupid."
Speaking of this, Mrs. Lei felt another burst of sadness.
Seeing Mrs. Lei like this, Chen Yan also felt a burst of pain in her heart. She stopped saying anything. Now they are just a group of miserable people. What else can she say.
At this time, a guest happened to come to the door, so Chen Yan naturally asked Mrs. Lei to go to the front door to greet the guest.
After Mrs. Lei left with her children, Chen Yan couldn't help but turn to look at Zhou Yaoniang and said, "Does Mr. Lu's arrangement for them just let these people fend for themselves?"
When Zhou Yaoniang heard Chen Yan's question, she still chose to believe Lu Zhizhang. After all, Lu Zhizhang had investigated a lot for his family's case. She whispered, "Master Lu must not be such a person. I believe him. It's just this." The case may not be within Mr. Lu’s control. There’s nothing he can do about it.”
"But although we can't save the people inside, didn't Manager Qin say that we are going to trick a group of people into coming in? I think I will tell Mr. Lu about this situation, and I think Mr. Lu will definitely supervise and control this situation. of."
After hearing Zhou Yaoniang's words, Chen Yan naturally stopped talking.
"Those two new girls have a figure that can be broken like a willow, and their skin is so tender that it can squeeze out water. When have we ever seen such beauties?"
"Yeah, it's been a long time since we've seen such a young and delicate girl in this wretched place. You think it wouldn't be satisfying if we went over to make trouble with her."
Several evil monks in Guyue Temple were discussing Zhou Yaoniang and Chen Yan who came to the temple today.
While they were discussing, they did not realize that a figure wearing black clothes was standing behind them.
Until the figure suddenly said, "What young girl can pinch water? What new young girl? Are you going out to find the flower girl outside behind my back?"
The sudden majestic voice only frightened the two evil monks and turned pale, but after seeing the person clearly, the smiles on their faces returned.
"Guardian Zuo, it turns out it's you. You really scared us to death."
The young man in black, who was called Protector Zuo, obviously didn't care about their violation of the ban. He just smiled and said, "Did you brats go out to play behind my back again?"
It was obvious that Protector Zuo was a member of the same group as them. The two men quickly wooed the young man in black and said, "Protector Zuo is really good at joking. How can we dare to go out when the wind is tight these days?"
"Then where do you think the girl came from?" Guardian Zuo asked.
Seeing the other party asking, one of them immediately said, "Dr. Zuo, are you not here today?"
, so you don’t know yet, the Dharma King plans to attract a new group of worshipers. Among the new worshippers, two girls have already come in. Those two girls look young and have pretty features. We will be blessed in the future, hehe. . "
Speaking of the two girls, one of them just laughed obscenely.
But the other person immediately slapped the person on the head and said, "What are you thinking in your pig head!"
After scolding the man, the man then approached the so-called Protector Zuo to please him and said, "These two girls must be enjoyed by Protector Zuo first."
Upon hearing what the man said, the Zuo Protector sneered, "I'm not very interested in these girls."
Another person immediately said, "Those two girls look very rich."
"Yes, in order to save a person, they agreed to pay four hundred taels as an offering without blinking an eye."
After hearing this, Protector Zuo finally looked at the two people and said, "Do you think they are really that rich?"
The two people nodded immediately, "No! Protector Zuo, would you like to go over and take a look?"
Protector Zuo was clearly interested.
Then he pretended to say, "Since you all said so, it's only appropriate that we go and take a look. After all, this newcomer definitely doesn't understand our rules here. We should teach them the rules."
After saying this, Protector Zuo asked again, "Are there many of them?"
The two evil monks immediately shook their heads, "There are not many people, just two girls, and at most two or three servants. I think those servants are not of much use. Four or five of us will definitely be more than enough to deal with them, and if they know our identity You must not dare to resist."
