Chapter Fifteen Just Suspicion

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  The others who were frightened and afraid also returned to Xue's thousand households at night, nothing happened for two days, and there seemed to be no aftermath in their eyes.

  Everyone made a small fortune from smuggling private salt, bought some good food and cloth, and the whole family gathered together to enjoy this rare happy time. That night, Li Meng had dinner at Zhao Nai's house. The old lady always treated him as half a son, looking at the pastries brought by Zhao Nai, feeling that she had not raised him in vain for so many years, and was also deeply moved. In the evening, let Zhao Nai go to call Li Meng together to come and eat.

  I thought Zhao would buy a few pounds of meat, and tonight the old lady might make some braised pork belly or something to improve the greasy and salty food. Who knew that Zhao's mother just simmered the fatty meat into lard, stir-fried the residue with green vegetables, and then took out the mixed noodles stored at home? The so-called mixed noodles are a mixture of white flour and other grains, which tastes quite different.

  Luckily, being a coastal household, they still had some fish and shrimp to spare, which made for a fresh and delicious topping. Li Meng was craving meat now, but this dish didn't have much to do with that. However, seeing the old lady's beaming face and Zhao's drooling expression, he understood what this humble meal meant to this household.

  But after eating, there wasn't much oil and water in the belly. Li Meng, who had been suffering from hunger for more than a month, also felt that this noodle and soup were indeed extremely delicious, truly good to eat.

  After dinner, the old lady went to clean up by herself. Li Meng wanted to go help, but was scolded by Zhao Neng's mother, who said:

  "Are these jobs also done by men?"

  Li Meng walked out of the house and was about to head home when Zhao Neng caught up with him from behind, hesitating before speaking.

  "Li Meng, the risk of smuggling salt is too great. I've been afraid for the past few days. What if something happens? Who will support my mother then? I really don't have the guts..."

  Li Meng was taken aback by these words and turned his head to look. Zhao Nai hesitated for a moment, scratched his head, and continued to say:

  "Lately things have been too tense, let's just keep a low profile. I really want to earn more money, my mother has gone so many years without even having pork fat to eat a few times, but I'm also afraid."

  Li Meng saw Zhao Neng's hesitation and thought that this honest military household, who was transporting private salt for the first time, had already seen seven lives lost. If he could remain calm, it would be strange. Moreover, after the transaction was completed, Xue Jiaqian's village was searched and confiscated by the government, which was indeed terrifying.

  Selling the salt extracted from seawater to the salt merchants in Fengmeng Town seems to be the easiest way to make money at the moment. Although Li Meng has some capital, taking it out hastily would attract unnecessary trouble. What Li Meng wants most is for everyone around him to live a good life. Currently, the only reliable method is to engage in private salt trading. However, this business can only be done with collective effort, and relying solely on personal strength won't work. Zhao has considerable influence among the young people in the village, but he's hesitant, which is troublesome.

  It doesn't matter, just persuade slowly, no one can get along with money and have a good life.

  Li Meng was about to enter his own courtyard when he saw a figure flashing at the intersection not far away. The sky was not too dark, and Li Meng could see that the two people were Chen Liu and Wang Hai. The two men looked somewhat furtive, Chen Liu forced a smile towards him, while Wang Hai, the youngest of them all, kept his head down.

  Among the young people in Xue's family, Chen Liu was the most gloomy and also the most intelligent. Zhao Neng's concerns had also occurred to him, and he too suspected that Li Meng might have left the village to inform on them in the county town, so he came over to take a look. After arriving, he only found out that Li Meng had already been back for more than half a day, which finally put his mind at ease.

  Li Meng found that he had an advantage in this era, which was not his military skills and physical fitness. Those assassination fighting skills were useful, but they couldn't be considered absolute advantages in this era. What he possessed was a way of thinking and method of consideration. These thought methods and entry points were what he relied on to stand out in this era, such as the murder in Jiaozhou City.

  The next day at noon, the Xue family's thousand households, which had just calmed down, became lively again. It turned out that the two women who were kidnapped a few days ago had returned.

  They also brought news from the city of Jiaozhou to this closed-off thousand-household village. The salt administration's inspector, Mu Lao Hu, and Mu Yan Wang were killed in their bedroom, but the murderer has not been found yet. The county government hastily came up with a reason of "murder for wealth". Those two women are from rural families and have never seen the world outside, so they can't explain it very clearly. However, the city gate of Jiaozhou was not closed, nor were there any officials patrolling the streets.

  The catchers from the prefecture yamen came to Mu Xun's home and made a cursory inspection, Mu Xun was originally a salt merchant, there were no family members at home, his wife and concubine had divided up the property and gone their separate ways, the servants had all been dismissed, neither of the two women who had been seized would be concerned about this, they were released directly.

  As soon as this news came out, all the military households who had been bullied by Mu Xun were cheering for revenge. Whoever's family hadn't been extorted when they went to the salt fields to transport salt was overjoyed, and those whose kidnapped family members had returned home were ecstatic. The rest of the people were also extremely happy, and Chen Liu'zi even went to his father's grave to burn incense and wailed loudly.

  Not everyone in the thousand households was happy and excited, that day ten people went to participate in salt trading, most of them also knew that Li Meng was not in the thousand households for a day and a half.

  Then the news of Mu Xun's murder in the middle of the night spread from the other side of the city. If it were in the past, these people would have cheered that heaven has eyes and wondered which good fellow had done this deed for justice. But having seen Li Meng kill four salt workers with a stick on a small path, one can't help but associate him with the crime.

  That day, Li Meng tidied up his broken house, dug a small pit and buried the gold and silver, which was also the only way he could think of to keep them safe.

  What made him even more strange was that Zhao Nai didn't come to find him for dinner that day. Li Meng went to the seaside at noon to prepare some fish and shrimp for cooking, but on the way, he met Chen Liu, Wang Hai, and several companions who were smuggling salt together. When Li Meng was about to smile and greet them, these people all turned their heads and hurried away, as if they were deliberately avoiding him.

  Li Meng was a bit puzzled, but didn't take it too seriously. Who doesn't have their own troubles? The things he brought back from Jiaozhou City and some future matters all needed careful consideration.

  So everyone was in a daze until the third morning when Li Meng swallowed down a bowl of congee as breakfast, and then heard someone shouting outside:

  "Is Li Dage here?"