A blessed wife leads her husband to wealth and prosperity!

Lin He'er made a mental note of this, and the two of them went back to their room first.

Does He'er have any way of finding out about this?

Seeing that his wife didn't seem to care about the matter, Wen Yuning couldn't help but wonder if she had already thought of a solution.

Lin He'er had just thought of asking someone about this matter.

Naturally, it belonged to the original owners of the shop, the Xu family.

Given the Xu family's status, they certainly haven't paid protection money.

Now that the shop has been open for several months, these protection money collectors are only coming to our door now. They must have thoroughly investigated our background.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have waited so long to come and collect protection money.

Our family has actually taken advantage of the Xu family quite a bit.

Brother Wen, I'll go to Xu's Restaurant tomorrow and ask the manager there to find out who the other party is.

Well, when Wen Yuning heard that Lin He'er wanted to inquire with the Xu family, she also thought it was a good idea.

We haven't been to the Lin family's house since we got back. Let's go there for dinner tonight.

Lin He'er has been away for several days, and I imagine Lin Niangzi must be worried. Now that she's back, she should go and visit her mother.

Okay, Wen Yuning has no opinion on where to eat.

The two rested in the room for half the afternoon. When it was time for the shop to close, they locked the door together and went to the Lin family's house.

In the afternoon, Lin Niangzi heard from Meng Xing, who had returned to the courtyard, that her daughter had come back and would be coming to the house that evening.

So at this moment, he and Zhang had prepared a large table of dishes, just waiting for their daughter and son-in-law to arrive.

Mother, I'm here!

When Lin He'er arrived at the Lin family home, she started calling for people as soon as she entered the front yard.

Hearing the commotion in the front yard, Madam Lin quickly put down what she was holding, got up, and left the room.

Lin He'er had already run to the backyard by then.

"Mother!" Lin He'er rushed into Lin Niangzi's arms and gave her a big hug.

With her daughter back, Madam Lin was relieved to see that the two of them had returned safely from the city.

Lin Dong squeezed to the front to greet his elder sister and brother-in-law.

Dongdi, do you miss me?

Lin He'er pinched her younger brother's head, and when she saw him glaring at her, she chuckled and let go.

Hey sis, you messed up my hair again!

Now that Lin Dong is in school and has been listening to the teacher's lectures more, he feels that he has grown up and is no longer like before, always bickering and joking with his older sister, which is not gentlemanly.

If Lin He'er knew what her little brother was thinking, she would definitely give him another good scolding. What gentlemanly manners? At such a young age, he must not learn from those old pedantic scholars.

After enjoying a good meal at the Lin family's house and chatting with her mother about her experiences in the prefectural city, Lin He'er returned to her own shop, completely satisfied.

He'er, do you still want me to go with you?

Lin He'er ate breakfast early and was about to go to the restaurant on Guanqian Street to find the Xu family's steward.

No need, Brother Wen, you should stay home and rest.

Refusing Wen Yuning's company, Lin He'er only took Li Mama with her, and the two headed towards Xu Family Restaurant.

Xu Family Restaurant is located on Guanqian Street, the most famous street in the county. Guanqian Street is considered one of the busiest places in the county. Although it is not in the center of the county, it is closer to the city gate, so more people going in and out of the county go there.

The Xu family's restaurant is over there, occupying a good location.

The two arrived at the restaurant. Since it wasn't mealtime, there were very few people in the restaurant. Lin He'er was meeting people now so as not to delay other restaurants' business.

After informing the waiter, Lin He'er was invited to a private room on the second floor.

After everyone was seated in the private room, Manager Liu followed them in.

Mrs. Wen, it's been a long time!

As soon as Manager Liu entered, he greeted Lin He'er warmly.

"Good day, Steward Liu!" Lin He'er also stood up from her seat and bowed to him.

After the two of them were seated again, Lin He'er told Manager Liu the purpose of her visit to the restaurant that day.

Manager Liu, I apologize for disturbing you today. I've come to inquire about something.

Oh? What is it? Madam Wen, please tell me.

When Manager Liu heard that Madam Wen had not come for business matters, he became curious about what she wanted to do.

"It's like this, Manager Liu. A few days ago, I accompanied my husband to the prefectural city for the exam. When we came back, I heard from the people in the shop that a group of people who collect protection money had come to our shop. I came here today to ask you about the background of this group!"

When Manager Liu heard that Lin He'er was asking about this matter, he nodded calmly.

Madam Wen, I know who these people are. We encountered something similar when the shop was under the owner's name.

This group of people does have some background, after all, they wouldn't be able to do this kind of work without powerful backers.

Oh? And who's behind that group?

Lin He'er hadn't expected that these people were not ordinary thugs, which meant that her family would have a hard time dealing with them.

Yes, they are being managed by the brother-in-law of Chief Clerk Zhao of the county government.

After hearing what Steward Liu said, Lin He'er didn't expect that this matter involved people from the officialdom.

This is a problem that has no solution.

Manager Xu, the shop didn't pay protection money back then, did it?

Lin He'er asked him a question.

Of course they've never paid for it. Our Xu family's shop—even if they had the guts, they wouldn't dare mess with us.

Manager Liu said with considerable pride.

"Thank you for informing me," Lin He'er said, receiving the news from Steward Liu. She felt a little worried.

Given their current situation, they have no way to fight against the government officials. It seems that they will have to obediently hand over the protection money for the foreseeable future.

After bidding farewell to Steward Liu, Lin He'er returned to the shop with Granny Li.

On the way, seeing Lin He'er's worried expression, Li Mama could only comfort her mistress in a low voice.

Madam, let's be patient for now. The common people can't fight against the officials. As long as their demands aren't excessive, we can only temporarily buy peace with money!

Who can argue with that? We can't really confront them head-on, so for now we can only compromise a little.

The two returned to the shop, and Lin He'er told Wen Yuning the information she had gathered.

Wen Yuning hadn't expected that there were people from the government backing him up. In that case, we couldn't fight against these people.

At this moment, Wen Yuning felt somewhat useless. If he had some official rank now, even the minor officials in the yamen wouldn't dare to mess with his shop.

Sigh, I still need to work harder, otherwise all the promises I made to my wife before will just be empty talk!

Because of this sudden incident, Wen Yuning began to reflect on himself again!