Lian Bao reacted quickly, speaking with a streetwise air, "You must be Master Qian? I t Shao Yao at the market, and I’ve heard her ntion you, saying you’re a kind and enthusiastic person. You said and Shao Yao..."
He hesitated at this point, turning to look at Shao Yao, and paused, looking eager to gain favor.
Lately, his dressing style was adapted to the local customs here.
A flash of surprise crossed Shao Yao’s eyes. She glanced quickly at Lian Bao, catching the aning in his gaze.
She noticed sothing and then lowered her head, remaining silent.
This deanor, in Master Qian’s eyes, seed like tacit approval.
He looked at Shao Yao, then at Lian Bao, and suddenly understood, "Oh, you two are lovebirds, eh? That’s good, that’s good, hahahaha..."
Lian Bao smiled sheepishly, feeling quite embarrassed.
When Shao Yao heard the word ’lovebirds,’ her face turned crimson, and she said nervously, "Master Qian, please don’t tell my mother."
Master Qian laughed heartily, readily agreeing, and generously said that if they needed help, they could co to him.
Lian Bao thanked him profusely, and only then did Master Qian saunter away.
He whistled and teased the birds in the cage, strolling away leisurely.
Turning at the corner, he looked back and saw Lian Bao go into the fence, fetching water to fill the trough for Shao Yao to feed the chickens, while Shao Yao’s face was flushed.
Master Qian watched Lian Bao’s proficiency, unable to see anything unusual, and left with a thoughtful look.
Lian Bao secretly paid attention to Master Qian’s movents and only apologized earnestly after the man left, "Sorry, I was out of line just now."
Shao Yao shook her head, not speaking, trying to take back the things from Lian Bao’s hands.
Lian Bao didn’t intend to return them, thought for a mont, and added, "If this affects your reputation and your mother blas you, I’m willing to take full responsibility."
Shao Yao laughed, self-deprecatingly saying, "It’s nothing, I’m just their adopted daughter, they don’t care."
Only then did Lian Bao realize Shao Yao wasn’t their biological child, no wonder that family treated her so poorly.
Feeling sowhat apologetic, he simply fetched several buckets of water for her, washed the feed troughs for Shao Yao, and couldn’t be stopped no matter how she tried.
On the way, Shao Yao said sothing that caught Lian Bao’s attention.
He asked Shao Yao, "Is this farm given to your family by Master Qian?"
Shao Yao nodded, "Yes, he charges very little rent, even the chickens were his idea for my parents to raise. He occasionally cos to check on them."
Lian Bao asked several questions in a row, sharply perceiving sothing.
He put down the pole, simply took a broom, and ticulously cleaned inside and outside the chicken farm, even shoveling the manure for Shao Yao, finding nothing.
Lian Bao was convinced there was sothing wrong with the chicken farm, but with Shao Yao there and under the broad daylight, it wasn’t convenient to cause a big stir.
He had to leave after cleaning, under Shao Yao’s stunned gaze, planning to bring soone from the Internal Guard Bureau at night.
From that day, Lian Bao worked with the Internal Guard Bureau, both surveilling Master Qian to figure out his personnel and trying to investigate the chicken farm.
He suspected the Guo family’s treasure was hidden in the chicken farm, likely buried underground.
But the Internal Guard Bureau encountered a problem. They scoured the outskirts of the chicken farm but hadn’t searched the most crucial henhouse, not because they didn’t want to, but because it was challenging.
At night, the chickens all lay down to sleep in the henhouse, with nowhere to step.
Lian Bao and the Internal Guard Bureau were troubled because if one hen got startled and clucked, all the other chickens would follow, creating a cacophony.
In the dead of night, this noise would carry far, waking everyone in the neighborhood.
The Internal Guard tried once at night, tiptoeing carefully into the henhouse, but accidentally bumped into a hen, nearly startling it.
Luckily, that Internal Guard person was skilled and brave, quickly catching the hen and clamping its beak shut as he darted out, averting a clucking fiasco.
Only then did Lian Bao realize Master Qian’s cleverness in raising a flock of reporting chickens that didn’t attract attention.
Plus, the surrounding environnt; the chicken farm was nestled within residential housing, with many secret posts set up by Master Qian.
If the surrounding people were alerted, with a surround on all sides, even a thief would be at a loss.
Lian Bao was thus more certain that there was sothing wrong with the chicken farm. The hidden treasure must be here.
Soone from the Internal Guard Bureau proposed a plan: why not drug the chickens?
Lian Bao asked how, since the chickens eat at dusk and by then people are around, if the drug is put in the food, as soon as it’s fed, the chickens would start falling over, causing an even bigger commotion.
Soone suggested putting it in the water?
Lian Bao said not every chicken drinks right before entering the henhouse at night, what are you going to do, pry their beaks open and feed them one by one? It’s still uncontrollable.
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