Chapter 61

Chapter 61

Facing the impatient warden, Rong Hongsheng silently nodded his head.

Losing his wife in middle age had almost turned his hair white overnight.

Not a single tear had fallen, but he forced himself to face the brutes who had harmed his beloved Xue'er.

"Who was it? Who made you do this?"

He let out a low, hoarse cry, only to receive a muffled response: "Ugh... ugh ugh..."

Old Fifth opened his mouth, and blood trickled down the corner of his lips. During the cleansing, the tongues of the five brothers had also been ripped out, and now they could hardly speak.

Unable to obtain the desired information, Rong Hongsheng raised the cane in his hand and severely beat them one by one, but in the end, he still did not kill them.

The five men would undoubtedly die the next day, and there was no need to add to the trouble.

In the dark of night, his gaze resolute, he inwardly vowed to uncover the truth. Based on his understanding, the five men's kung fu was not enough to silently and effortlessly abduct Xue'er from the Rong Mansion.

There must be someone else behind this, and he had already sent people to interrogate the maids and nannies around Xue'er.

Rong Hongsheng forced himself to swallow his grief and returned to the mansion to continue the search for clues.

The next day, as noon approached.

Qi Huan sat on the second floor of the restaurant, leaning against the window and watching the five prisoner carts roll by.

By the roadside, passersby stopped to watch, pointing and discussing.

"What crime did these five big men commit? ... Look at the one in the middle, do they really need to behead him? He looks like he's already dead."

Upon hearing this, an old woman immediately spat out a mouthful of saliva and retorted, "Tsk, these scoundrels! Even if they're dead, they should still be beheaded. I heard they brutally tortured and killed the young mistress of the Rong Mansion, so don't they deserve to die?"

"Madam Lu, you're exaggerating. My nephew's neighbor's great-uncle's younger brother, who works in the yamen, says that Miss Rong committed suicide by running into a wall."

"How am I exaggerating?" Madam Lu protested, "If it weren't for them, Miss Rong would be a well-behaved young lady from a good family. How could she have committed suicide by running into a wall?"

"Hey, you two, stop arguing. In my opinion, Miss Rong had it coming. She was always dressed up so flamboyantly, so how could the flower thieves not target her?"

This notion of blaming the victim quickly provoked the criticism of many women.

Amidst the heated debate, some women hidden in the crowd glared hatefully at the five men in the prisoner carts, their eyes glistening with tears. The nightmarish experiences they had endured could finally be avenged.

They angrily picked up stones and hurled them fiercely at the half-dead five brothers, leaving them with bloody heads.

In the window above, Qi Huan observed the entire scene.

The reason she had allowed them to live for two more days was to let these poor women vent their rage.

Detecting the external information, the system in her mindscape praised her, "Host, this action of yours truly warms the heart. The five flower thieves have all been punished, host's good deed +5, points +5.

The victimized women throwing stones to vent their pent-up anger, host's good deed +23, points +23."

"0.5 points, no more than that."

"I thought you couldn't do small decimal calculations anymore? Let's just round it up, System."

"... Forget to tell the host, I've already been upgraded. Small decimal additions and subtractions are no problem at all."

Qi Huan was at a loss for words.

But even a small mosquito is still meat, and 0.5 points will do.

In the end, she joyfully priced the yarns at 100 wen per skein.

She then found some xuan paper and wrote a few large characters to stick above the cabinet.

"Let love surround you..."

Yue Ming curiously read the characters aloud and then asked, "Huan, what does this mean?"

"It means that besides knitting for yourself, you can also knit for your parents, children, friends, and loved ones, to bring them warmth and let love surround them."

"Oh, I see. Just like you and Master Li, one for each of you. So this is to envelop him."

Yue Ming nodded in understanding.

She also bought a skein of xiang fei colored yarn, planning to knit one for her mother. As for the milky white yarn she had just bought, she had other plans for it.

Soon, the word spread, and the scarves became popular throughout Mo County. On the streets and in the alleys, one could often see people wearing them around their necks.

By the end of the month, in the private room, Qi Huan and Yue Ming sat together tallying the accounts, and this month, the Worry-Free Mahjong Parlor, combined with the yarn business, had earned nearly 300 taels.

After a 50-50 split, Qi Huan's little treasury had grown by 147 taels and 5 qian in silver.

Taking out 10 taels, Qi Huan decided to distribute porridge at the restaurant and the noodle shop on the first of the next month.

Most of the money she had earned came from the prosperous families of Mo County. The severe cold weather and inconvenient transportation meant that there were still many people here who were going hungry.

Now that she had amassed a surplus, using a bit of the silver to give back to society was not a bad idea. Moreover, charitable acts also had point rewards.

With her mind made up, Qi Huan called for Xu Mingda. He now held the dual roles of accountant and manager, so this task was best entrusted to him.

"Mr. Xu, here are the ten taels of silver. Please arrange to have someone purchase some rice and congee supplies. From now on, on the first of every month, we will provide free congee at the entrance of our restaurant and noodle shop. The cost will be taken from my account."

"Very well, Master. You can count on me."

After saying this, Mr. Xu took the silver and went downstairs to use the abacus to calculate how much rice, red beans, and other ingredients to purchase.

Upstairs, the waiters continued to bring out dishes, and Qi Huan cheerfully welcomed everyone to start eating.

At the same time, she marveled inwardly that this was the first time in her life she was experiencing the joys of being a wealthy person - no longer needing to cook, just going to a restaurant and having food served to her. How wonderful!

After the pleasant meal, Qi Huan took a sip of tea, but suddenly noticed that Yan Wu and Yan Qinghe across the table were looking at them with puzzled expressions.