Inviting the Moon to the Farmhouse

Jiang Di went to the noodle shop to deliver salt.

After we finished unloading the salt, I overheard the young shop assistant gossiping, "Have you heard? It seems like Village Chief Zhao got beaten up!"

"What? What happened?" another young man asked.

Jiang Di was also curious, so she went over and listened together.

Since they were all acquaintances, they didn't mind and continued, "He was beaten by a man who climbed over the wall into the official residence. The village security guard heard the screams and rushed over to see what was happening. He found the village chief Zhao being beaten on the ground. Hehehe." The man covered his mouth and laughed as he spoke.

"How did you know?" another guy asked.

"It doesn't matter how I know, just listen to what happened. Then Doctor Zhang rushed over there, his legs were about to break, haha," the young man laughed heartily.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Di couldn't help but laugh. She didn't know who had done it, but she just felt a sense of satisfaction.

After leaving the house, he went straight to Wang Xiang's shop, where they had arranged to meet today.

After waiting for a long time, Wang Xiang finally rushed over.

"How is it? Any news about Dai You?" Jiang Di spoke first.

Wang Xiang shook his head, "No." He drank water in large gulps, and after he felt a little better, he said, "I asked Zhang Langzhong, and Li Zhuang had this symptom before, but it seems that it was caused by eating peaches. So this time he ate rice cakes and it happened. Zhang Langzhong doesn't understand either. He just told him to be careful about what he eats."

Jiang Di looked puzzled. "So it really is because his body is a little special, and I don't know what he eats that causes this."

Wang Xiang nodded, "That should be true."

"Did you hear anything else from Zhang Langzhong? I heard that Village Chief Zhao was beaten," Jiang Di said.

Wang Xiang shook his head. "Zhang Langzhong is a man of his word. How could he casually speak about Zhao Lizhang's affairs?" After saying that, he noticed that Jiang Di's expression was off. "What are you worried about?"

“I’m worried that the person who hit him might be Dai You,” Jiang Di said, expressing her concern.

Wang Xiang also fell silent. After a moment, she said, "It's not impossible. Let's go and inquire about it."

They left through the back door this time, and after taking only two steps, they heard arguing coming from the backyard not far away.

The two looked back together, exchanged a glance, and tiptoed toward the source of the sound, then pressed themselves against the wall to listen to the conversation.

"How can you go back on your word? He's in this state, shouldn't you pay him some compensation?" a man's voice said.

"Hey, keep your voice down. Didn't I say I'd give it to you? You should go back now," came another man's voice, but judging from his voice, he was probably younger and still going through puberty.

Wang Xiang looked around and saw that the shop was roughly the same as Manager Song's fruit shop, which made him even more interested in exploring it.

Then, a voice came from inside, "What can this little bit of money do? My brother has already spent a fortune on medicine, and he's still not better. He said he needs to take it for at least a month. You should give him some more."

"I really can't give you any more. Besides, you didn't even manage to get this done, did you? Manager Song is throwing a tantrum right now, blaming me for hiring the wrong people. Please have some understanding of me," the young man said anxiously.

"No, my brother is really sick. He said before that even if this failed, he would pay for his medical expenses. You're going back on your word. I've revealed all your secrets to you."

"No way! If you dare say anything, won't Manager Song have someone beat you up? If you ask me, this is a lot of money, just take it and go," the young man said.

Give me some more.

The man's words went unanswered.

Wang Xiang sensed something was wrong. Judging from the sound, they might be heading out, so she gestured to Jiang Di, and the two of them retreated to the backyard of the shop together.

As soon as I closed the door, the man opened it.

Wang Xiang glanced at Jiang Di, "Do you have any thoughts?"

"Let's follow them and see," Jiang Di whispered.

So the two of them casually opened the door and followed the man out onto the street.

The man seemed to sense something was amiss. He wandered through the alley, turning several times, and finally, after making sure no one was around, he pushed open the courtyard door and went inside.

Jiang Di and his companion tiptoed over, pretending to pass by. Their eyes glanced at the courtyard, and they discovered that the person sitting in the courtyard was Li Zhuang!

Li Zhuang, who was in the courtyard, happened to see them.

"He seems to recognize me," Jiang Di whispered to Wang Xiang. "What should we do?"

"It's okay, just keep moving forward and don't look back."

Just then, a man's voice came from behind, "Jiang Di?!"

Jiang Di stopped in his tracks. He knew that running now would only make things seem stranger, so he pretended to be surprised and turned around. "Who are you?"

"I'm Li Zhuang. I didn't expect to see you here," Li Zhuang said, walking towards them.

"We haven't seen each other in a long time, what happened to you?" Jiang Di asked, puzzled, as she saw that Li Zhuang's chest and arms were covered in medicinal mud.

"Hey, you're sick. How's your medicine? Why don't you come in and sit for a while?" Li Zhuang extended an invitation.

"You live here now?"

“This is my brother’s house. I’m sick, and it’s convenient for me to see a doctor here,” Li Zhuang said, looking at the medicine on his body.

Jiang Di glanced at Wang Xiang secretly, and Wang Xiang nodded to him.

So the three of them sat down in the courtyard and chatted.

Li Zhuang looked at Jiang Di, whom he hadn't seen in a long time, with great curiosity. "I heard you've been smuggling salt. That's a dangerous job."

"Heh, they're cracking down hard now, I don't dare do it anymore, I'm scared," Jiang Di said, lowering her head.

"Looks like you've made enough money," Li Zhuang's eyes lit up. "What are you doing now? Is there any work that can earn you money?"

Jiang Di looked at him and thought he seemed to be short of money. "I'm looking for work right now. I heard that someone here is repairing a house, so I came to take a look and find some manual labor to do and earn some money." After saying that, Jiang Di grinned and showed a simple and honest look.

Li Zhuang was somewhat disappointed and his smile faded. "This area is full of poor people; there's no way to make money here."

"By the way, how did you get this injury?" Jiang Di asked curiously.

"Oh, my old ailment is acting up again. It's nothing serious, some medicine will do the trick. My brother Li Mu is brewing it for me right now," Li Zhuang said, pointing to his brother, the man Jiang Di and the others were with.

"What caused this old problem of yours?" Jiang Di asked, seemingly casually.

Upon hearing this, Wang Xiang seemed to sense something was wrong and immediately nudged Jiang Di with her foot, signaling him to shut up.

But it was too late. Upon hearing this, the Li brothers immediately tensed up and cast scrutinizing glances at Jiang Di. "How did you know I was eating?"

Jiang Di's heart skipped a beat, but he forced himself to remain calm. "Hey, I heard about what happened to you. You went to Chief Zhao to seek justice, didn't you? I thought that name sounded familiar, so it really is you. I also heard that you ate something bad and got... something else on your body."

Li Zhuang breathed a sigh of relief, "He developed a red rash."

“Yes, yes, rashes,” Jiang Di continued, “Can’t you cure this old ailment? Why hasn’t it been completely eradicated yet?”

“This disease is incurable, you just need to be careful about what you eat,” Li Zhuang said. “Do you also live in town? I haven’t seen you in Hegu Village for a long time.”

“I’m always on the go. We don’t have any land at home anymore. I go wherever I can make money. In a few days, I’m planning to go to the prefecture. I think it’ll be easier to make money there,” Jiang Di said.

Li Zhuang nodded, then looked at Wang Xiang, "And who is this brother?"

Wang Xiang looked at Jiang Di and said, "I am his friend."

"What does this elder brother do?" Li Zhuang asked.

“I sell candied fruit,” Wang Xiang said.

Wang Xiang and Jiang Di chatted with Li Zhuang for a while longer before leaving.

"Why did you tell him your true identity?" Jiang Di asked, puzzled.

“How big is this town? If he really wants to know, he’ll find out sooner or later. Besides, you heard what his brother was saying today, right? Maybe he’ll come looking for us later and tell us something,” Wang Xiang said smugly.

"Really?" Jiang Di didn't believe it and still didn't quite understand.

"I'm not sure either, but no rush, let's see how it goes," Wang Xiang shrugged.