236 The Owner of Miaochun Hall Was Arrested
"Hey, have you heard?"
"What? The owner of Miaochun Hall in the county town is in trouble and has been arrested by the officials!"
"Ah, what happened? Just three days ago, I went to the county town to get dicine for my wife, and everything was fine."
"What could have happened? He probably started playing tricks once his business grew."
"Really? I thought the shopkeeper was pretty honest. Once when I didn’t have enough money for the dicine needed for my wife’s treatnt, he didn’t charge . Instead, he let work off the debt by sorting dicinal herbs for him for a day."
"Yes, in terms of affordability, Miaochun Hall offers the best-priced dicines in the county town. Moreover, every sumr, they cook Gotu Kola tea—free for passersby."
"Well, who knows for sure? Isn’t it commonly said that appearances can be deceiving? Apparently, Miaochun Hall accepted a military order, and the owner got greedy. He was found adulterating the dicinal herbs being delivered to the frontier. That’s why he was arrested."
On her way ho from school, Zhao Zhitong overheard the villagers’ chatter. She couldn’t help but stop in her tracks.
Upon noticing her halt, Zhao Cheng turned his head and looked at her. "Sister, what’s the matter?"
Zhao Zhitong replied, "Brother, they said the owner of Miaochun Hall was arrested!"
Zhao Zhitong found it hard to believe. They frequented Miaochun Hall to sell dicinal herbs and knew the shopkeeper quite well; he didn’t seem like the type to resort to trickery.Besides, securing an order from the border garrisons was a great honor for Miaochun Hall.The shopkeeper had valued that order imnsely, calling it a prize everyone coveted. How could he be foolish enough to tamper with military dicinal herbs and dig his own grave?
After listening in for a while longer without hearing any more about Miaochun Hall, Zhao Zhitong returned ho with Zhao Cheng.
When she arrived ho, she inford her parents about the incident. Upon hearing this, both Sun i and Zhao Dong were equally incredulous. They suspected it was just a rumor people were spreading.
However, when she went to her grandfather’s house, she learned the incident was indeed true.
Her eldest maternal uncle had just happened to be in the county town selling dicinal herbs that day and witnessed the soldiers closing down Miaochun Hall.
Sun Youwei shared in horror, "Ah, the soldiers were ruthless. They imdiately arrested the owner! I heard that this is a serious cri punishable by death! I got so scared that I didn’t even try to sell my herbs; I just hightailed it back."
"Oh, and by the way, those hemostatic herbs our family recently sold to Miaochun Hall. I heard from the shopkeeper they were all being transported to the frontier. Do you think the soldiers might co to arrest ?"
After saying that, Sun Youwei’s own face turned pale with fright.
"Ah! No, I, I don’t want my daddy to be beheaded, SOB SOB SOB."
"Mom, I’m scared!"
Her young cousins nearby were all terrified by the talk.
At this point, Zhao Guifen ca out of the kitchen, "Hey, stop, stop discussing this. It’s rather frightening."
The grandmother’s words silenced the conversation. Seeing Zhao Zhitong standing there in a daze, Zhao Guifen thought she was scared and motioned for her to co over, "Co here, Tongtong, co to Grandma."
"Grandma." Zhao Zhitong ran to her grandmother.
Zhao Guifen pinched Zhao Zhitong’s little face. "Good girl, Tongtong, don’t be scared. We’ve done nothing wrong. Besides, those herbs were transported to the frontier by Miaochun Hall; it has nothing to do with us. So, they won’t co to arrest us."
Zhao Zhitong nodded. "Mm-hmm, I understand, Grandma. I’m not scared."
After their mother scolded them, Sun Daqing and the other children stopped crying. They eagerly grabbed the pencils and notebooks Zhao Zhitong had given them and started to practice their writing.
After comforting Zhao Zhitong, Zhao Guifen waved her off. "Alright, go find your grandpa."
Zhao Zhitong nodded, then trotted off to find her grandfather.
「 」
A day after this incident, Sun Youcai heard about the latest developnts when he went to the county town to buy peony saplings for the next year’s planting.
It was said that the authorities had already investigated thoroughly. Miaochun Hall had indeed passed off adulterated dicines as genuine. The shopkeeper’s younger brother was behind it, and he had admitted his guilt.
The authorities sentenced everyone involved with Miaochun Hall, from top to bottom, to exile a thousand li away.
As the dust of the case settled, the matter gradually faded away, and new topics quickly took over the villagers’ tea-ti and alti conversations.
For example, Guang Ju Restaurant had recently introduced a new dish, braised pork, said to be made with a new breed of pork that was odorless and tender, which allegedly made everyone salivate upon hearing about it.
At this point, everyone was discussing how delicious this braised pork must be.
As for the affair of Miaochun Hall, it was put behind them. However, the impact of this event was far from over; in fact, it was just beginning, though no one realized it at the mont.
「 」
After discussing this with a few of her good friends, Zhao Zhitong also put it out of her mind, her daily routine taking her between school, her grandfather’s house, and the Zhao family ho.
The pig farming project that Zhao Dong had organized was also progressing smoothly.
So was Mrs. Zheng and Mrs. Wang’s joint pig-raising plan.
In the beginning, they would show off on the streets, thinking there was nothing difficult about raising pigs.
But two months later, Mrs. Zheng found that the pigs they were raising were not as fat as the ones raised by Zhao Dong’s team!
At that ti, Mrs. Zheng was at Xiao Wang’s house, discussing this matter.
Mrs. Zheng said, exasperated, "What in the world is going on? Yesterday, I went to the Village Chief’s house and saw that their pigs are a whole lot fatter than ours!"
Xiao Wang was incredulous, "Ah, why is that? We secretly followed them to choose the sa breed of pigs. How can there be such a big difference?"
Mrs. Zheng said, "I’m not sure. Do you think they are feeding them better than us?"
Xiao Wang thought for a mont and said, "I secretly checked it out. They are feeding the pigs the sa things we do—pigweed, soybean al, leftover food—everything’s the sa! Could they be feeding them more than we do?"
Mrs. Zheng suddenly had an idea. "Let’s stop guessing. I’ll go find Lei Guang’s wife and secretly ask her. She must know sothing."
Xiao Wang agreed, "Yes, yes, that’s a good idea."
Mrs. Zheng imdiately set off, leaving Xiao Wang’s house to head straight for the Village Chief’s house.
It was Tian Cuihua who opened the door for her. Seeing Mrs. Zheng, Tian Cuihua’s face fell and she asked irritably, "Mrs. Zheng? What are you here for?"
Mrs. Zheng tiptoed to take a look inside the courtyard and said with a smile, "Oh, nothing important. I was just thinking of making a new dress for my Miaomiao and I got the sleeve wrong. I thought I’d ask Lei Guang’s wife for help. She’s the best at sewing in the village."
Tian Cuihua instinctively felt that Mrs. Zheng was up to no good.
She was about to refuse, saying Lei Guang’s wife was not at ho, when Lei Guang’s wife ca into the courtyard to throw out so water and was seen by Mrs. Zheng.
Mrs. Zheng imdiately called out, "Lei Guang’s wife! It’s , Mrs. Zheng, I have sothing to ask you!"
Lei Guang’s wife ca out, listened to Mrs. Zheng’s explanation, and without suspicion, followed her.
When they arrived at Mrs. Zheng’s house, however, Lei Guang’s wife found that there was no dressmaking going on at all.
Lei Guang’s wife looked at Mrs. Zheng, puzzled.
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