Fisherman Fubao made his fortune by fishing

Li Laosan stepped forward and bowed to Wen Huaian, saying, "Master Wen, please accept it. To be honest, it was really thanks to your face that we were able to keep the goods and make a lot of money this time."

Li Laosan told Wen Huaizhang what Nao Nao had omitted, including that the cat shark earned ten taels of silver.

It’s not that he doesn’t understand the principle of not showing off one’s wealth, but Wen Huaizhang is Nao Nao’s elder brother, and even if he doesn’t say it, Nao Nao will.

From the way the village chief conducts himself, it is not difficult to see that Wen Huaizhang has a good family education. The village chief is an upright and good man, and Wen Huaizhang's words are all frank and gentlemanly. Therefore, Li Laosan still trusts him more.

Things have come to this point. If Wen Huaizhang still refuses, it would be inappropriate. It would make people think that he looks down on them and doesn't want to associate with them.

So Wen Huaizhang said, "Well, I will shamelessly accept it. Since you are Nao Nao's friends, just call me Brother Wen like Nao Nao does. If you have any problems in the future, you can come to me and I will definitely help if I can."

Li Yuer's eyes showed joy. This was exactly what Wen Huaizhang wanted to hear. She could ask him for help if she had any problems in the future.

When they met for the first time, Li Yuer naturally would not ask for anything right away, as that would seem too snobbish.

Wen Huaizhang and his wife wanted to keep some food for them, but Nao Nao and his friends were in a hurry to get back to the village before dark, so they naturally couldn't eat.

Wen Huaizhang was just about to ask his wife to get them some food on the way, but he swallowed the words back.

Recently, the government office replaced the county magistrate, and the internal staff began to re-align themselves. The salary has not been paid for two months. I heard from the higher-ups that the salary for these two months is gone: if you want the salary, go find the previous county magistrate.

He hadn't sent money to Fushui Village for a long time, and his family hadn't eaten meat for a long time, so how could he have any gift to give in return?

It was not difficult for Li Yuer to tell from the furnishings of the Wen family that Wen Huaizhang's family was not well-off.

Even though they are civil servants in the same government office, there is a huge gap in their incomes. She guessed that the department Wen Huaizhang worked in should be a low-income department.

Li Yuer immediately said, "Uncle San, Big Brother, I want to go home. I miss my grandma."

Li Yuer is young and a girl, so it is normal for her to miss home after being away for a long time, and no one would think she is rude.

Seeing that it was getting late, Naonao hurriedly said goodbye to his brother and sister-in-law, and Wen Huaizhang accompanied them to the city gate.

He also called a horse carriage for a few people to go directly to Fushui Village, and he rushed to pay the fare.

Li Laosan wanted to refuse but was stopped by Li Yuer.

She could see that this was Wen Huaizhang's way of making up for not returning the gift. When dealing with people, one should not always take on too much. It is right to reject the other party's kindness.

Sometimes, refusal can also have a counterproductive effect. For example, right now, if Wen Huaizhang is not allowed to pay for the fare, it will make him lose face. Wen Huaizhang is a gentleman, but he will feel somewhat uncomfortable.

Several people got on the carriage. Nao Nao stuck his head out of the window and said to his brother, "Brother, it's cold. You should go back quickly."

Wen Huaizhang waved at him with a smile of relief, but he did not turn around and leave until the carriage had left the city gate.

In the car, Erdan pushed a bucket towards Biaozi.

Biaozi said unhappily: "Erdan, what are you doing?"

Erdan looked at the pig offal in the bucket with disdain and said, "Don't you just like the smell of meat? I'm just sending it to you."

"You!" Biaozi glared at Erdan fiercely and said, "I like to eat pork belly, not pig offal."

Li Erlang put a wicker basket on the bucket and said, "This is better. It will suppress the smell a little."

Li Yuer bought the pig offal to use as bait, but it is not needed today, as bait can only be used during low tide.

When Wen Huaizhang returned home, Lin was sorting out the gifts that Nao Nao and the others had sent. When she sorted them out, she was shocked to find that these things cost at least two taels of silver.

Seeing her husband coming back, she said helplessly, "Huai Zhang, what should we do with these? Some of them are very valuable."

As she said this, Lin went to pick up the bucket, but she couldn't lift it up.

"Why is it so heavy? How many fish are in it?"

"Xiao Yun, let your husband do it," he rolled up his sleeves and reached out to catch the fish. He was also born in Fushui Village and had worked at sea and in the fields. When he was young, he did not turn a deaf ear to the world outside the window and do no work just because of studying.

"Mute!" When Wen Huaizhang caught the eel, he quickly retracted his hand in fear. Xiaoyun heard the sound and rushed forward to check, "Huaizhang, are you okay?"

Wen Huaizhang looked at his wife's arm and smiled gently, "I am fine, I was just scared by the eel bite. I was born by the sea and haven't been out to sea for many years, but I was scared by a fish."

Wen Huaizhang seemed to have thought of something and said, "Please clear a water tank and raise the fish later. I will send the things to the county magistrate and the legal advisor tomorrow."

The appointment system and responsibilities of the county magistrate and the legal advisor are very different.

The county magistrate was a registered official appointed by the imperial court, whose salary was paid by the imperial court. His main responsibility was to assist the county magistrate in handling government affairs. He had the functions of handling criminal justice, managing his subordinates, and partially supervising and impeaching officials.

The legal advisor is hired by the county magistrate to help with government affairs and make plans. The legal advisor can do any function authorized by the county magistrate. The legal advisor is usually a confidant of the county magistrate, and the monthly salary is paid by the county magistrate. The legal advisor is usually very capable, and only wealthy county magistrates can afford it. Therefore, not every county magistrate has a legal advisor.

The county magistrate usually stays in a county government office for a long time and is a local tyrant, while the legal advisor is usually the county magistrate's man. If he follows the county magistrate, he may be a powerful dragon.

The relationship between the powerful dragon and the local snake has always been delicate.

When County Magistrate Wu Liangcai took office, he brought with him a legal advisor named Du Limo, who was in his thirties with a fair complexion and no beard.

Not long after this man arrived, he offered advice to the county magistrate, and like a new official, he made three big moves upon taking office, reshuffling the personnel of the county government.

After this thunder-like operation of killing a chicken to scare the monkeys, many officials and clerks began to give him gifts in private. If he was satisfied with the gifts, everything would be fine.

Wen Huaizhang was a relatively honest clerk who was unwilling to participate in these bribery activities, but he had to bow his head under the eaves. He was almost thirty years old, with parents above him and younger brothers and daughters below him. It was the time for him to shoulder the responsibilities, and many things were often beyond his control.

He came from a poor family with little financial resources. Apart from his salary, he had no other income. His wife had to supplement the household expenses by embroidering.

To be honest, the gifts given by Naonao and the others actually solved his urgent problem.

Especially this bucket of fresh fish. In recent days, a trend has emerged among the wealthy circles in Huihai County. People are proud to eat fresh fish in winter. It seems that it is because Wu Yanei ate fresh fish in Nongchaolou in Xinpu Town not long ago, so his subordinates naturally catered to his taste and followed suit.

What Wen Huaizhang didn't know was that his gift this time had invisibly saved him from a big trouble.

Wen Huaizhang has always been an upright official and has never tried to please everyone. He does not have any close friends in the county government.

On the contrary, some villains secretly laughed at him for being pedantic, inflexible, and pretending to be noble. This time, when Master Du wanted to reshuffle the county government staff, someone secretly went to Master Du to criticize Wen Huaizhang.

When Master Du heard this, he was immediately displeased. He hated those who claimed to be noble and ignorant of the ways of the world the most. Seeing that Wen Huaizhang really did not come to give the gift, he decided to expel him from the county government and set up a trap to frame him.

Unexpectedly, before he could make any plans, Wen Huaizhang came to visit him with generous gifts, including the popular fresh fish.

This made Master Du feel very proud. He thought that the reason why Wen Huaizhang ignored those who spoke ill of him was definitely because their positions were not high enough.

Wen Huaizhang added some more things and also gave gifts to the county magistrate. The county magistrate admired him very much, so he naturally said a few good words for him in front of Master Du, and Master Du would naturally not touch him again.