162 – The End of Lei Xiangren and Zhao Shi

Lei Tie read, “There are a total of 30 chickens and ducks in a cage. Each chicken is 4 Wen and each duck is 2 Wen. If you sell all the chickens and ducks, you will get 80 Wen. How many chickens and ducks are there respectively?”

Yuanyuan and Manman spread their fingers to count, but they discovered that there was nowhere to begin with.

Qin Mian relaxed and leaned back in his chair, smiling and glancing at Lei Tie, “Yuanyuan and Manman, your Old Dad is powerful! Ask him if you don’t understand.” It was a quadratic equation of two variables. He didn’t believe that Lei Tie could solve it.

The corner of Lei Tie’s mouth twitched almost imperceptibly and his eyes stared at his wife. His wife’s smug appearance was too attractive.

Manman turned to Lei Tie for help with an expectant look, “Old Dad?”

Lei Tie lowered his head and looked at the trusting little boy. He remained silent as his ears turned red.

Qin Mian snickered so hard his shoulders unceasingly shook. After laughing enough, he turned around and urged with a pair of ridiculing eyes, “A-Tie, the son asked you, help them quickly. You are the most most amazing!”

Lei Tie sighed silently. The son only praised him once as the “most most amazing”. How long did his wife have to remember it?

“Old Dad.” Yuanyuan also urged him.

“A-Tie, you are their most powerful Old Dad.” Qin Mian stood up, went in front of Lei Tie, and leaned on his shoulder as he looked at Lei Tie with a grin.

Lei Tie suddenly embraced his waist, turned his back to Yuanyuan and Manman, and kissed his wife fiercely, “Wife, you are more powerful than me.”

Qin Mian smiled with satisfaction and squatted down in front of Yuanyuan and Manman. “Do you want Dad’s help?”

The two little boys nodded.

Qin Mian announced the answer with a smile, “There are 10 chickens and 20 ducks. The calculation is right or wrong?”

Yuanyuan said, “10 chickens and 20 ducks are 30 in total.”

Manman calculated very fast, “Each chicken is 4 Wen, 10 chickens are ten ‘4’, so the total is 40. Isn’t that right, Dad?”

“Each duck is 2 Wen, 20 ducks are twenty ‘2’, so the total is 40.” Yuanyuan affirmed, “40 plus 40 is 80.”

Qin Mian nodded with appreciation, “Yes.”

“How did Dad count?” Yuanyuan had a strong thirst for knowledge.

Qin Mian rubbed his head, “When you grow a little bigger, Dad will teach you.” After he finished saying that, he still didn’t forget to ask, “Is Old Dad powerful or Dad more powerful?”

Yuanyuan and Manman understood why he became like this today. They laughed and said in chorus, “Dad is more powerful.”

“Hahaha! That’s right.” Qin Mian finally raised his eyebrows and gave Lei Tie a smug look.

“Wife, how did you count it?” Lei Tie was very curious. He guessed that there must be some way.

For him to be willing to learn, Qin Mian naturally was willing to teach. They educated Yuanyuan and Manman with a combination of ancient and modern education. Lei Tie could also help him teach Yuanyuan and Manman after he learned. So, he pulled Lei Tie back to the table and wrote to him on the paper, “We use Օ and ∆ to stand in for the chickens and ducks. Look, Օ + ∆ = 30. Like so, Օ = 30 – ∆…. And then, like this…. understand?”

Lei Tie nodded with understanding.

Yuanyuan said with a deadpan face, “Hm, knowledge is boundless.”

Qin Mian laughed despite himself. With the advantage of transmigration, he successfully got away.

The fermented workshop was built half a month later and officially opened a month later.

Qin Mian also set his sight on daily necessities. He spent nearly a month working on perfumed soap, toothpaste, and washing powder in the space and successfully made soap, toothpaste, and washing powder. He found Nie Heng and cooperated with him. He invested in technology and Nie Heng invested in capital. For the profits, he accounted for 40% and Nie Heng for 60%.

Amid hustle and bustle, the 9th lunar month arrived.

After a period of silence, Zhao Shi began to wear gold and silver again and took Zhu’er to walk around the village every day.

“Yah, Lei Old Two’s wife, the style of your dress is very novel. It looks good on you.” Fang Hongliu looked at Zhao Shi’s dress enviously and reached out to feel it.

Zhao Shi pretended to stop her hand unintentionally and said with a proud and self-satisfied look, “That’s right. This was custom-made when my Family Head [husband] took me to the county town. It’s said that it’s a new style from the Capital.”

Fang Hongliu curled her lips and put down her hand.

“Must cost a lot, isn’t it?” A young married woman cast covetous eyes at the dress.

“What do you think? This dress cost me 2 taels of silver!” Zhao Shi smiled happily, “But it’s worth the money. This material is very comfortable to wear.”

Fang Hongliu wore a look of disdain. She winked and cast a glance as a signal at Zhou Cuihua, who always had a good relationship with her: no matter how beautiful the dress is, it looks like rags on Zhao Shi’s body.

Zhou Cuihua covered her mouth as she laughed.

Standing behind Zhao Shi, Zhu’er suddenly made a nauseous sound. She ran to the side and supported herself on a tree as she vomited.

“Oh, what’s the matter with Zhu’er?” asked Sister Zhang with concern.

Another married woman asked, “Did she eat something bad?”

There was no time for Zhu’er to speak when another retching sound was uttered, and she vomited a mouthful of filth.

Fang Hongliu noticed that her face was pale and her eyes were a little flustered. She said half-jokingly, “Why do I see it like she’s pregnant?”

It was rare for Zhao Shi to be keen; she examined Zhu’er’s expression, which flashed a burst of anger and embarrassment. She rushed over and grabbed Zhu’er’s ear and asked fiercely, “Zhu’er, you say it! Is that true?” If it was true, the one who could have a chance to do something to Zhu’er was Lei Xiangren.

“No, no, your slave just ate bad things…” Zhu’er pleaded in panic, but her right hand involuntary covered her abdomen betrayed her statement.

Zhao Shi screamed and ruthlessly slapped her in the face.

Zhu’er fell to the ground and covered her stomach with a scream. “It hurts. My stomach hurts…”

Seeing her light-colored dress dyed red, Zhou Cuihua cried out in alarm, “She’s bleeding!”

Was there anything else that one still couldn’t figure out?

Zhao Shi was so angry that she could care less for Zhu’er. She turned around and ran home, crying at the top of her lung, “LEI XIANGREN, YOU VILLAIN. I’M GOING TO KILL YOU…”

The women over there were afraid that the fall could be fatal, so they had to carry Zhu’er to Sister Zhang’s house first, which was nearby, and then went to call the village doctor.

This matter soon spread to Qin Mian’s ears, who dismissed it with a laugh.

However, what he didn’t expect was that the trouble of Lei Xiangren’s family was not over.

Two days later, a well-dressed man in his early thirties came to Green Mountain Village with a group of thugs. Without saying a word, he broke the door of Lei Xiangren’s house.

“Who are you? What do you want to do?” asked Lei Xiangren warily.

The well-dressed man smiled faintly, “I’m Liu Baofu. Lei Xiangren, you should be familiar with my name.”

Lei Xiangren was so terrified that his face turned pale. Liu Baofu!

Back then, only Lei Xiangren, Lei Xiangyi, and Lei Xiangli knew the contents of the charcoal burning formula – Lei Daqiang only focused on Wei Shi and did not interfere with it; Lei Xiangzhi was busy studying and also did not interfere with it. Before the formula was sold, Lei Xiangren did the least work but shared the money equally with Lei Xiangyi and Lei Xiangli. The reason why Lei Xiangzhi advocated selling the formula was that Lei Xiangren was not agreeable to his eyes and he was outraged by an injustice for Lei Xiangyi and Lei Xiangli. When they agreed to sell the charcoal burning formula, Lei Xiangzhi was worried that Lei Xiangren might do something after the formula was sold. Lei Xiangzhi read the contents of the document to Lei Xiangren, Lei Xiangyi, and Lei Xiangli, and asked them to press their thumbprints. He also explained in the document that in the case that the formula was leaked, only the person who leaked it would be investigated; it was not a joint liability. This was actually to protect Lei Xiangyi and Lei Xiangli. Lei Xiangzhi’s worry was not unreasonable. For the money, Lei Xiangren went as far as doing something stupid.

Lei Xiangren was a bit quick-witted. He soon calmed down and asked as though nothing had happened, “So you are Sir Liu. What can I do for you?”

Liu Baofu was neither anxious nor angry, “Sir? Well then, this Sir would like to speak frankly with you. Recently, there is a charcoal shop in Wanliu County that produces the same smokeless charcoal as my Liu’s shop. You sold the charcoal burning formula to him, right?”

“How could that be?” Lei Xiangren immediately denied, “Absolutely not me! Sir Liu, you should know that it was not only me who knew the formula, but also my third and fourth younger brothers – could it be them?”

Liu Baofu was so angry he laughed. “I’ve heard that Lei Xiangren of Green Mountain Village is shameless. Today, this Sir I have seen it. Lei Xiangren, do you think that if this Sir I didn’t make a clear investigation, will this Sir I beat the grass to scare the snake? Do you want this Sir I find all the people who have seen you in Wanliu County? Hm?” He kicked Lei Xiangren down.

Lei Xiangren hurt so much that his face paled and couldn’t speak for a long time.

“It was clearly written in the original document that once the secret formula was leaked, either 10,000 taels of silver would be compensated or the leaker would go to jail for a lifetime. Second Sir Lei, which way are you going to choose?” asked Liu Baofu coldly.

Like a dead duck’s mouth, Lei Xiangren stubbornly denied, “Sir Liu, it’s really not me…”

“Catch him!” Liu Baofu was too lazy to talk with him.

The two thugs immediately lifted Lei Xiangren like a chick.

“No, you can’t catch me! My fifth brother is an official in the Capital and my brother-in-law is the Magistrate of Chong’en County!”

Amused, Liu Baofu laughed so much that he fell on his behind; his thugs also doubled up with laughter.

One of the thugs laughed with tears and kindly reminded Lei Xiangren, who was stunned by their laughter, “Your fifth brother is just a seven-ranked petty official and your brother-in-law is also far away. Our Sir’s cousin-uncle is a fourth-ranked senior official in the Capital! What a reckless person. Pah!”

Lei Xiangren’s legs trembled. In a split second, a foul smell came out of him.

Zhao Shi came back from the outside and still didn’t know what had happened. As soon as she saw that some people wanted to catch Lei Xiangren, she immediately ran to protect him.

“What do you want to do? Isn’t there a law under the land of peace and prosperity?”

Liu Baofu lost his patience and said, “Take him away!”

“Someone, help—” screamed Zhao Shi.

A thug waved her away with a slap.

Zhao Shi fell sitting on the ground. She had a burst of abdominal pain. When she looked down, her light green dress was red with blood. After a moment of stupefaction, she came to a realization. With anger and resentment, she lost control and cried out loud, “YOU KILLED MY CHILD, MY CHILD…”

Liu Baofu gave her a cold look. With a fling of his sleeve, he said, “Go!”

The two thugs held Lei Xiangren’s arms with a face of disgust and frowned at the smell of urine.

Lei Xiangren hit on an idea in desperation, “You catch her. It’s her who told me to sell the formula to others!”

Liu Baofu and his party all stopped and looked at Lei Xiangren like a piece of dog excrement, full of contempt and disdain.

Lei Xiangren thought that he had stirred them up and said with an obsequious smile, “Catch her, catch her. It’s all the fault of that woman!”

Zhao Shi stared at Lei Xiangren in disbelief. Her eyeballs did not move, but the muscles on her face were completely twisted, looking horribly ferocious.

The thugs continued to drag Lei Xiangren.

“Sir Liu, please let me go. I don’t want to sit in prison…” Lei Xiangren shed streams of tears and mucus. If one plan failed, another would come up. “Wait, wait! I compensate, compensate! Do you know my Eldest Brother Lei Tie? He’s the owner of Double Xiang House. He’s rich!”

“Oh?” Liu Baofu doubtfully looked at him, “This Sir I have investigated the situation of your family. The relationship between you and your eldest brother is not very good.”

Lei Xiangren confidently said, “He and I are blood brothers, will he dare to be unconcern of me?”

He didn’t know that when his neighbors heard of the trouble in his house, they ran to Leisurely Farmhouse and told Uncle Fu about it. Uncle Fu reported the matter to Lei Tie.

When the party was halfway along the road, Lei Tie appeared and stood in the middle of the road with no expression on his face.

“Eldest Brother, help me!”

This call of “Eldest Brother” was the only time that Lei Xiangren used with genuine feelings.

Unfortunately, Lei Tie didn’t look at him at all and said to Liu Baofu, “I have nothing to do with him. You don’t have to take him to Leisurely Farmhouse to be an eyesore to my wife and my sons.”

“Your distinguished self is Boss Lei of Double Xiang House?” Liu Baofu was a shrewd businessman. He had no intention to be an enemy and was very polite, “I’ve been looking forward to meeting you for a long time.”

“Nice to meet you.” Lei Tie slightly nodded and flew away. His qinggong skill had reached perfection.

Liu Baofu was glad that he had made the right choice.

Lei Xiangren looked in the direction of Lei Tie’s departure in despair. His eyeballs turned upward before he fainted.

None of the onlookers sympathized with him. Their hearts had long been on Qin Mian and Lei Tie’s side.

That same night, when the neighbors heard the cry of Dabao and Erbao, they found out that Zhao Shi’s anger was so intense that she died while sitting down.