The village chief is a very clever person, and his cleverness is reflected in the fact that he will not let go of any news.
Only when you have more information can you seize the opportunity in the village. The village chief knows this very well.
So he stayed and stood quietly nearby, wanting to see who the two fast horses were looking for.
Judging from the dress of the man on the horse, he seems to be someone from the government. Could it be that... Gonggong did something wrong? If that's the case, it'll be interesting to see.
If it was a serious crime, the village chief would not mind adding insult to injury and letting Gonggong be arrested, and then lead the whole village to divide his property.
If it's a minor crime, the village chief wouldn't mind begging for mercy and letting Gonggong be saved, and then let Gonggong pay with his family property.
Yes, drought and flood guarantee harvest. This is how the village chief makes a fortune.
Just as the village chief thought of this, the two fast horses stopped in front of him.
The village chief felt excited: It seems that he is really going to make a fortune today.
The man on the horse jumped off and asked a little tiredly: "May I ask my husband, is there a man named Gonggong here?"
The village chief nodded quickly: "Yes, yes. This is the family. The man inside is Gonggong."
The man on the horse nodded and said, "Thank you." Then he stuffed five or six Qin Banliang into the village chief's hand.
The village chief took the money and was very happy: Can you see the money so soon?
But he was also a little confused: Why were these two people so polite? Are you here to arrest someone? Hmm... maybe this is the legendary smiling tiger. When nothing happens, he always has a smile on his face. Once something happens, he immediately becomes extremely vicious.
The village chief followed the two strangers in.
The stranger asked, "Excuse me, can Gonggong be at home?"
Gonggong looked unhappy and did not answer. The woman didn't answer either.
Now the word "Gonggong" has become completely ironic in their ears. When these two strangers came up and asked Gonggong, they always felt that they were laughing at people.
The village chief coughed dryly, walked over to them in a pretentious manner, and shouted at them: "Have you taken the courage of a leopard? Didn't you see these two adults looking for you?"
Gonggong raised his head and realized that the two men seemed to be wearing official clothes.
He was a little panicked and stammered: "Yes, I am Gonggong."
The two men haven't spoken yet. The village chief suddenly turned his head and said to the two men: "May I ask what crime this co-worker has committed. If it is a small crime, the old man dares to help him plead for mercy. If it is a major crime, the two adults do not have to pity him and take him to the police immediately. Go and punish the crime.”
The two people looked at the village chief up and down for a while and asked in confusion: "Who are you?"
The village chief said: "I am the chief of this village."
The two people said lightly: "The person we are looking for is Gonggong. If the village chief has anything to do, please go ahead and get busy."
These words were obviously meant to drive people away. He probably felt that the village chief was too wordy and an eyesore here.
After hearing this, the village chief was not angry but happy: Well... this tastes just right. He's so fierce, he looks like someone from the government.
The village chief didn't leave, but he shut up and stood obediently not far away.
The two men bowed their hands to Gonggong: "We are officials in the patent office. My brother's article is reasonable and has been rated D. This is a bonus of one thousand yuan."
Later, the clerk took out a thousand coins and gave them to Gonggong.
Gonggong took it over in a panic, almost crying with excitement: "Did my article pass?"
The clerk smiled and nodded. Then he handed Gonggong another piece of paper: "This is your certificate."
Gonggong looked at the certificate for a while and the money for a while. Suddenly he laughed loudly, shook the thousand dollars in his hand proudly to his wife, and said like a child: "Did you see? Did you see? I have said before that I can make money, even if I study a bowl Water, I can also make money.”
The woman also smiled happily.
The village chief was a little disappointed: It turned out that it was not a crime.
However, the village chief quickly adjusted his mood: It doesn't matter if it's not a crime. He was just lucky enough to get this thousand dollars, and I just happened to catch him.
In this way, it would be more logical for him to invite everyone to a banquet.
Hmm...what should I eat for one thousand dollars?
At this moment, the village chief even arranged the dishes. This thousand money will definitely not leave a penny for Gonggong.
Seeing Gonggong and the woman still smiling.
The village chief coughed dryly and said, "You two ignorant fools, these two adults have come all the way, and you don't even give them a bowl of water?"
Only then did the woman react and quickly brought out a bowl of water.
The two clerks drank the water.
They were really exhausted and thirsty.
After the clerk drank the water, he said to Gonggong with emotion: "Brother, you are too hard to find. Although the article is wonderful, the name used is false. Based on the clues from the inn, we stopped one by one. After searching for it, I don’t know how many people I asked, and my throat is going dry.”
The public looked embarrassed, then took about a hundred coins from the one thousand coins and put them into the hands of the clerk.
The clerk quickly shook his head and said with a smile: "Brother, please don't do this. Although our patent office is under the jurisdiction of the Neishi Mansion, we have the most contact with the immortals. The more contact we have with the immortals, the more we feel that money is just a passing cloud. Every time we see some inventions and creations, we can’t help but feel happy and feel that these things are more exciting than money.”
The clerk smiled again: "Of course, we are not short of money. We are very optimistic about some inventions, so we lost all our money and invested in some, and now we have made a lot of money. Haha."
The two clerks were very kind and chatted a few words with Gonggong La.
Then he asked: "Is there a person named Suiren here? From the information given in the inn, he should live near here."
Gonggong said quickly: "Yes, yes, Suiren is nearby."
The two clerks cupped their hands and hurried to Suiren's home.
The village chief was a little confused: "Could it be that Suiren's articles have also been sold for a high price?"
He looked at Gonggong up and down for a while, then coughed dryly and said, "Congratulations. I'm looking at the banquet and will set it for tomorrow."
Gonggong has just received a thousand dollars, where can he spend it? He whispered: "I don't want to invite you to this banquet."
The village chief chuckled: "If you don't want to invite me, I won't dare to force you. But... you can do it yourself."
Gonggong gritted his teeth and said nothing.
There was nothing he could do about the village chief's threat. As long as I still live here, I can only submit to the village chief.
The village chief left, and the Gonggong chief sighed: "These people are really like jackals."
The woman also sighed and went to light a fire to cook in silence, completely losing the joy of getting a windfall.
Gonggong suddenly said: "Why don't we run away and fly far away."
The woman was startled: "Where to escape to?"
Gonggong said: "Since the banishment of immortals to the imperial court, the control of inheritance has become more and more relaxed. What's more, I have published articles in the patent office. With this certificate in hand, I should go to Xianyang City, and there should be no one stop."
The woman was a little worried: "Are we going to Xianyang?"
Gonggong hummed: "I heard people say that there are opportunities everywhere in Xianyang. If I go to Xianyang, some of the ideas in my mind will have a chance to be realized."
The woman was a little reluctant: "But after traveling thousands of miles and leaving behind our family and property, how will we live there? What will happen to the crops in our fields? When we arrive in Xianyang City, we don't even have any land. We only carry this thousand money with us. Are you just sitting on your butt?"
Gonggong sighed: "If we stay here, can we keep the crops in the fields?"
The woman was silent for a while and whispered: "What if we report to the official?"
After she said this, she smiled bitterly, and then shook her head: "Well, I also know that this is of no use at all."
Report to the official, for what crime? What happens after you report to the police? Those villagers hid in the dark and harassed them from time to time. What's the use of reporting to the official?
The woman added a fire to the stove: "Okay, then let's go. We will burn the house tonight and then leave. We will definitely not leave it to the village chief."
Gonggong was a little reluctant to part with it: "This house was handed down from my ancestors. I'm afraid it's a hundred years old."
The woman looked at the low houses made of wood, mud, and straw, and sighed: "I heard that the houses in Xianyang City are all made of bricks and tiles. I don't know whether it is true or not."
Gonggong said: "It must be true. I think this house does not need to be burned. When we arrive in Xianyang City, we will seize the opportunity. In a few years, we will be able to make a difference. By then, when we return to our hometown in glory, the village chief will definitely return the house. Give us."
The woman hummed.
That night, they had a hearty meal, then packed up the remaining food and carried it all on their backs.
The two took advantage of the darkness and left home on foot.
As a result, as soon as they reached the entrance of the village, they saw two sneaky figures not far away.
Gonggong and the woman immediately did not dare to move.
The two figures in the distance seemed to have discovered Gonggong and hid themselves as well.
After a while, a person in the distance whispered: "The person over there looks familiar, is he Brother Gonggong?"
When Gonggong heard this voice, he suddenly felt happy: "Is that Brother Suiren over there?"
Later, the two families met, holding hands and looking into each other's tearful eyes, speechless and choked.
The relationship between Gonggong and Suiren cannot be said to be particularly good. But after all, we are both fallen people from the end of the world. The same tragic experience made their relationship much closer.
Needless to say, both of them knew what the other was going to do, it was just to escape.
Gonggong said: "Xianyang City?"
Suiren said: "Going together?"
Gonggong nodded, and the matter was settled.
The four people quickened their pace and hurried towards Xianyang City.
As a result, they were stopped not long after they left.
The village chief and his people were blocking the intersection.
The village chief sighed: "You two can do it. You even thought of running away. What do you mean? Do you think our fellow villagers are disgusting? You are slapping us in the face."
Suiren said: "Please give way to the village chief."
The village chief said with a smile: "Make way? You have humiliated us so much and you just want to walk away like this?"
Gonggong held his breath and asked, "Then what do you want?"
The village chief said: "Keep the reward you just received. In addition, write a contract with your house and fields and say that you are willing to give them to us."
Suiren and Gonggong both shook their heads firmly.
Without that thousand dollars, let alone getting ahead in Xianyang City, I would probably starve to death on the way, right?
The village chief sneered: "Search for me."
Several young men behind him came over and tried to steal money from Suiren and Gonggong.
At this time, there was a sudden burst of light in the distance. A group of people came with torches.
Under the firelight, they were clearly a group of officers and soldiers.
Suiren immediately shouted loudly: "There are thieves who rob, there are thieves who rob."
The officers and soldiers obviously heard the sound and ran over quickly.
The village chief sneered, and when the officers and soldiers approached, he immediately said confidently: "These two gangsters are engaged in fornication and rebelling against thieves. After being interrogated by us, they felt guilty about being thieves and wanted to escape at night."
The villagers around the village chief all unanimously confirmed that Suiren and Gonggong were in an affair and rebelled against the traitors.
Suiren panicked, and so did Gonggong.
At this time, someone on a high horse asked slowly: "What are you two called?"
Gonggong and Suiren said their names tremblingly.
Unexpectedly, the people on the horse jumped down immediately, took their hands and said: "Haha, you are here as expected. During the day, the people in the patent office said that there were two talents in Peixian County. I thought they were trying to frame me. "
The village chief looked at this man in confusion. Suddenly, he found that this man looked familiar.
After he looked at it carefully for a while, he was suddenly startled: This... isn't this Magistrate Pei?
Magistrate Pei nodded repeatedly: "Talent, talent."
Gonggong and Suiren were both stunned.
Magistrate Pei smiled and said, "You must not know, right? Not long after the people from the patent office left, another news came, saying that your two articles have been confirmed and are indeed correct."
"Under Ban Xian's personal inspection, your article was transferred from D grade to A grade."
Magistrate Pei took out two pieces of gold from his arms, one for each person, and gave them to the two men.
He smiled and said: "This gold is a private reward from me. The reward from the patent office may not arrive for a few days."
"Not long ago, Banned Immortal established a steam engine institute. The theory of the two of you was used here. Banned Immortal said that if you want to go to Xianyang City, the prefectures and counties along the way must be properly protected."
Magistrate Pei County said with emotion: "I also know that in this small Peixian County, it is difficult for you two to display your talents. I only ask that after you become prosperous in Xianyang City, don't forget our Peixian County. If you can take care of us, One or two, I am very grateful."
The county magistrate spoke for a while, then suddenly came back to his senses and asked: "Just now someone said that you are having an affair and rebelling against thieves? What's going on?"
The village chief's legs suddenly softened and he sat down on the ground with a plop. He forced a smile and said with a pale face: "That's all...it's just a joke."
Suddenly, he grabbed Gong Gong's thigh and said, "Niggy monkey, every one of us in the village will use our money to hold a celebration banquet for you."
Gonggong pulled his legs back and said coldly: "Village chief, call me Gonggong."
