Divorcing your wife might feel good for a moment, but seeing me make money will make you regret it f

Xu Qing sneered: "A veterinary sedative and anesthetic bought for one tael of silver, of course it's going to be weak, with such foul language, you might as well not have that tongue."

There was still half a pot of boiling chicken soup left in the pot on the stove. Xu Qing scooped out a large bowl, pinched the bandits' mouths shut, and poured a spoonful into each of them.

It must be said that the anesthetic worked quite well; the bandits' mouths instantly became red, swollen, and blistered, but they showed no reaction whatsoever.

Xu Qing suddenly thought of something and began to search the bandits one by one. Before long, he had found a large pile of copper coins and silver coins.

Xu Qing muttered to himself, "Even bandits have a wealth gap."

Some had no money at all, most had a hundred or so coins, and the one-eyed bandit was the richest, having taken 10 taels of silver.

Xu Qing counted the money and found he had received a total of 15 taels of silver.

After doing all this, she bought a bundle of hemp rope in the mall, tied up all the bandits, locked them in the one-eyed bandit's room, and then headed towards the backyard.

The backyard of the small workshop was where the bricks and tiles were fired. It was a large open space with clay piled up on one side and a kiln on the other.

Old Shi and the villagers were tied together and sat on the open ground.

To Xu Qing's surprise, she even saw an acquaintance.

When Zhou Chenggong saw Xu Qing, he twisted into a pretzel with excitement, his mouth stuffed with cloth so he couldn't make a sound, only making "woo-woo" noises.

Xu Qing first untied Lao Shi and asked him to help untie the villagers.

He then walked over to Zhou Chenggong, removed the gag from his mouth, and asked, "What are you doing here?"

Zhou Chenggong took a deep breath and said with a blush, "Aunt Xu, I'm here to check on my father to see if the villagers have learned how to treat rice, and to find out the rice yield in each village."

Who knew that we would encounter bandits so soon after arriving here? I sent my attendant back to report the news, but I don't know if he escaped.

"Aunt Xu, what are you doing here? Where are the bandits?"

As Xu Qing helped him untie the ropes, he replied, "I came here to buy bricks and tiles. I took down all the bandits, and they're locked up inside the house."

Zhou Chenggong was rubbing his sore wrists and moving his shoulders when he heard Xu Qing's words and froze on the spot.

What?

"Auntie...you mean you took down all the bandits by yourself?"

Xu Qing smiled and said, "You didn't think I knocked them out by drugging them with sleeping pills, did you?"

Zhou Chenggong blushed deeply.

At this moment, the old man and his family knelt down in front of Xu Qing with a thud.

"My benefactor, you are the benefactor of our whole family. If it weren't for the medicine you gave us, my granddaughter might be gone... I have no way to repay your great kindness. I kowtow to you!"

A man and a woman knelt behind the old man, kowtowing along with him. The woman was holding a little girl who was fast asleep.

Xu Qing dared not accept such a grand gesture. In this place where sons are generally favored over daughters, she was touched to see how much the old man loved his granddaughter, so she simply helped him out.

She stepped aside and said, "You're really too kind to me. I'm the younger generation, how can you kneel and kowtow to me? If you're really grateful to me, just sell me the bricks and tiles at a discount."

The old man said excitedly, "Where can we still charge money? Take as much as you want, and we'll burn more if it's not enough."

You not only saved my granddaughter, but also the entire village. You deserve this deepest bow from this humble old man.

The villagers behind had all overheard Xu Qing and Zhou Chenggong's conversation, and as soon as they were released, they ran to check on their family's grain.

The bandits had already bagged all the grain and loaded it onto the oxcart; Xu Qing was just one step away from finishing.

They interrupted their grain transport and tied them all up, thus saving the villagers' grain.

The villagers burst into tears of joy and all knelt down to kowtow to Xu Qing.

"Our benefactor, thanks to you, otherwise we would have no food and how would we have survived..."

"My benefactor, please accept my bow."

“My benefactor, my family doesn’t have much good stuff, but we make a lot of this taro powder. Please take some back with you.”

“My chickens were all killed by the bandits. Take them back and eat them.”

After initially expressing their gratitude verbally, the villagers began giving Xu Qing gifts after receiving their own grain.

Xu Qing felt a warm feeling in her heart; it was a pretty good feeling.

However, she couldn't accept anything from them. Her family had plenty of food, but for these villagers, it was an important source of sustenance.

"I appreciate everyone's kind gesture. Please take the things back."

The village chief stepped forward and placed the gifts the villagers had given to Xu Qing directly onto Xu Qing's oxcart.

"You saved our lives and preserved our food. These things are what we should provide. Do you think they're not good enough...?"

The village chief looked hurt.

Xu Qing couldn't bear the old man's words and quickly said, "No, no, I love it! It's just too good for me, I feel bad accepting it. Since the village chief has said so, I won't stand on ceremony with you."

The village chief then smiled.

After thanking them, the villagers carried their belongings into their homes. Once they were done, they looked at the oxcart the bandits had used to transport the grain and were puzzled.

There are a total of 4 oxcarts. If they could be brought into the village, everyone could save a lot of effort during the busy farming season.

But these are bandits' possessions after all. If they leave them behind rashly, won't it cause trouble?

Zhou Chenggong then stepped forward.

“I looked around and didn’t find my attendant. He must have escaped. My father will definitely come to save me, although he doesn’t need to now.”

"I'll tell my dad to give all these oxcarts to your village as a way to calm his nerves."

The village chief's beard trembled with laughter. He pondered for a moment:

“In that case, I’ll take the liberty of giving two trucks to our benefactor. You can use them to haul bricks and tiles, and you can get back in one trip without having to make multiple trips.”

The villagers had no objections. If it weren't for Xu Qing, they might have lost their lives. Now, not only are the people and the grain safe and sound, but the village has also received two oxcarts.

This is like a windfall; an oxcart is worth a lot of money, and each village has at most one.

Just as Xu Qing was about to refuse, the village chief's expression changed, and Xu Qing had no choice but to agree.

The villagers spontaneously helped Xu Qing move bricks and tiles, filling two oxcarts to the brim, with one cart loaded with gifts from the villagers.

Xu Qing insisted on paying for the bricks and tiles, feeling embarrassed to try and haggle over the gifts and oxcart from the villagers. He paid 1 wen for the bricks and 3 wen for the tiles.

But with three oxcarts and only two of them, how were they going to get back to Xujia Village?

Zhou Chenggong volunteered, raising his hand to sign up: "Auntie, Auntie, let me drive one for you. I haven't had your cooking in so long, I miss it so much."

Xu Qing thought for a moment and said, "Didn't you say your attendant went to fetch reinforcements? What if your father comes and can't find anyone? Besides, can you drive an oxcart...?"

Zhou Chenggong chuckled and said, "I'll just leave a message for my dad, telling him to take the bandits back. Can I stay at your house for a few days?"

He wanted to eat Aunt Xu's cooking, but he also wanted to go hunting in the mountains with Xu Gong and play with Wangcai.

Anyway, the rice problem in each village has been solved, so it's the same if his father sends other people to inspect.

Seeing that Xu Qing hesitated to agree, Zhou Chenggong said anxiously:

"Are you angry with my mother, and that anger extends to disliking me as well? Auntie, I really didn't know my mother did those things..."

I had a huge fight with her when I got back, and I stood up for you, Auntie, please forgive my mother…

Xu Qing glanced at Zhou Chenggong. She had actually forgotten about this matter. Besides, the county magistrate handled the matter fairly and justly, so she didn't suffer any loss.

However, when Zhou Chenggong brought it up, she became somewhat curious as to why the magistrate's wife was targeting her.

Xu Qing remained expressionless and asked, "Now that you're coming back with me, will your mother target me again?"

Zhou Chenggong quickly assured her, "No, I've already explained it to my mother. I just like visiting your house. She's still my favorite person."

"She promised me she wouldn't do those stupid things again, and even asked me to apologize to you on her behalf."

"It's just that I haven't finished the things my dad assigned me, so I haven't had time to come see you. I was so happy to see you just now that I forgot for a moment."

As he spoke, Zhou Chenggong bowed.

"Auntie, I'm sorry, Chenggong once again sincerely apologizes to you."

Xu Qing realized that she was jealous of the child. This magistrate's wife was quite interesting.

"Alright then, it's getting late. We still need to go to town to pick up Zhenzhen and her dad. Let's go."

He then turned to the village chief and instructed him to send someone to keep an eye on the bandits, as they wouldn't wake up anytime soon.

Once the county magistrate arrived, they handed the man over to him and then drove off in the oxcart.