Chapter Thirty-One: Ma Baihu

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  One day on the street, his companions teased the women of Qian Hu's household. Ma Gong could no longer stand it and beat them up. The others came over to fight him but he knocked down four or five of them.

  The officer's personal soldier, Ma Gong, caused trouble and was to be punished according to military law. After beating someone, he ran away quickly. Fortunately, Ma Baihu had some connections in the Wei Suo and spent some money to beg for mercy, so the commander agreed not to pursue the matter.

  It's also impossible to mix in Ling Shan Wei Suo, can only go to Ou Meng Town to do some temporary work. But for young people who are alone outside, no one is in charge, and they often don't learn anything good.

  The wages in Ma Ge's hands were all lost in the gambling house, and he often asked for money from home. As a result, the more he gambled, the bigger the debt became. The day before yesterday, someone came to deliver a letter saying that he had lost 300 taels of silver in the gambling house and couldn't pay it back, so he was detained there and needed money to bail him out.

  Three hundred taels of silver, this is indeed a huge sum for the Ma family. Where can they get it from? The little savings they had at home were also squandered by Ma Gun. Borrowing money is not an option either. In the thousand households under Xue's jurisdiction, the Ma family was already considered to be one of the better-off families, yet they couldn't even come up with five taels of silver, let alone others.

  But the casino side has put out a message, if you don't give silver, they will cut off hands and feet. The Ma family is just a single seedling, and they can't borrow money, owing debt to the casino, which is not illegal, reporting to the authorities won't work either. Mrs. Ma really had no way out, even thinking of hanging herself.

  It was just chatting with Mrs. Zhao that I always heard the old lady say how capable Li Meng was, so I thought why not ask and see if she could help.

  By this time, Li Meng finally understood what was going on. He looked at Ma Shi who was crying and didn't know what to do, it was indeed pitiful. But this kind of thing wasn't good to intervene in either. After hesitating for a moment, he opened his mouth and said:

  "Or should I lend you these three hundred taels of silver first?"

  Although three hundred taels of silver is not a small amount, the private salt business has been on track for half a month and has started to grow rapidly. Just as he was saying this, Ma Bao's wife suddenly burst into tears and wailed:

  "We poor people, how can we repay these three hundred taels?"

  Ma hesitated for a moment, then opened his mouth and begged:

  "Can't we ask Li Ge to go and talk to the boss of that casino, and get our Lao Er released?"

  As soon as Ma's words fell, an old man rushed out from the side house with a furious look on his face. Li Meng recognized this old man, who was Ma Baihu, the local leader. Ma Baihu's whiskers were all standing up in anger, and he pointed at his wife and shouted:

  "Is this not human sentiment? You, a woman, also have the nerve. That scoundrel would be better off being slaughtered by the gamblers with one knife, why drag me and you down, and also harm others."

  Zhao Neng's mother hastily confessed her guilt and left the house to go home. Li Meng had no choice but to stand up with a smile and called out:

  "Hello, Mr. Ma."

  Anyway, Li Meng still treated his superior with courtesy. When Ma Baihu turned around, he was also embarrassed. Mrs. Ma had already been crying loudly there, saying "We only have one son, what if he dies?"

  Li Meng sighed and said loudly:

  "I happen to have business in Mengzhen Town tomorrow, and I'll take the opportunity to plead with those gamblers."

  When she heard this, Madam Ma also stopped crying and said in a low voice:

  "Those gamblers are all evil spirits, can you handle it, Brother Li?"

  The old man was heartbroken for his child, but at the same time he was also worried about the future. Li Meng smiled and said calmly:

  "Auntie, don't worry, I'll go and reason with them."

  This remark was said with great confidence, and Ma's crying stopped. Ma Baihu's face became even more embarrassed, and he repeatedly scolded his wife to leave, then turned around and hesitated for a long time before speaking:

  "I also know your parents, but with this matter coming out today, I really don't know how to put it into words. You, Li Meng, are a capable person, but what can I use to thank you here..."

  "Magistrate Ma, you're being too polite. We're all fellow villagers, there's no need to be so formal. If there's nothing else, I'll take my leave."

  Ma Baihu looked very embarrassed, perhaps not thinking that as a hundred households he would have to humble himself to ask for help from a small military household, although this military household's power and strength were very strong. Li Meng didn't think too much about it, looking at Ma Baihu and his wife being so worried about their son, reminded him of modern parents, wondering how sad they must be now. This kind of association always made Li Meng feel soft-hearted.

  As soon as he came out of the hospital, he saw that there were already forty or fifty people sitting or standing at the door. The leader was Chen Liu Zi. Seeing Li Meng coming out safely, everyone quickly stood up and almost unconsciously formed three rows. Li Meng nodded and smiled:

  "Go back and continue practicing!"

  These people are just scattered, Chen Liu Zi walked up and smiled, lowering his voice and said:

  "That person came and told me, it really scared me to death. But just now when I went out, Zhao Neng's mother explained everything clearly, so brothers can rest assured."

  Li Meng smiled and asked back:

  "Don't worry, just stay at the door, you're not thinking of slacking off, are you?"

  Chen Liu Zi scratched his head and chuckled, saying:

  "Now that you've come out, everyone's heart is at ease. To think that Ma Baihu actually had the nerve to ask you for help! Some time ago, I heard him spouting nonsense, saying that a real man should focus on serving the imperial court and the emperor, and that getting involved in such base things was beneath him!"

  Upon hearing this, Li Meng couldn't help but burst out laughing. It turned out that Ma Baihu's "not knowing how to open his mouth" was actually this. After some deliberation, Li Meng opened his mouth and laughed, saying:

  "This Ma Baihu is just privately discussing, and didn't even report to the authorities, still considering the friendship."

  It's been almost half a year since Li Meng arrived here, and everyone he has come into contact with, whether officials or ordinary people, all have a dejected and desperate look on their faces. As long as they can feed themselves and their families, they are content, and they don't care about anything else around them. Sometimes Li Meng thinks that it's no wonder the Ming dynasty will be destroyed by the Qing in just over a decade with such numbness among the people. But this Ma Baihu still has some passion in his heart, which is quite admirable to Li Meng.

  Li Meng turned around and said to Chen Liu Zi:

  "Tell the salt transport team to get ready, we're going to deliver salt tomorrow, let's go with thirty people!"

  Nowadays, sending salt and selling salt are all familiar tasks that can be completed on their own without Li Meng following along. However, this time Li Meng followed along with Zhao Neng and Wang Hai leading the way, while Chen Liu Zi stayed behind to take care of things in the village.

  These salt transport team boys thought something was wrong and were all nervous on the road, Li Meng didn't say a word, just silently accompanied them for the whole journey.