After a sleepless night, the amnesty order from the state capital came as promised with the first ray of sunshine in Yuncheng County.
Shi Jin and Chao Gai left the Yuncheng County Prison under Guan Ying's attentive greetings. Outside the prison gate, a Chao family's carriage had long been parked. Before Shi Jin and the two could approach, they sat inside. Shi Qian came out first.
"This is the famous Chao Tianwang," Shi Qian looked at Chao Gai as if he was sizing up an object. Chao Gai's whole body felt uncomfortable with his gaze.
Chao Gai didn't know that this was happening. Seeing how close Shi Jin was to the man, he thought he must be one of his own, so he politely said: "I don't dare to take it, I don't take it."
Shi Jin took this opportunity to introduce Shi Qian to Chao Gai. After the two of them made a close friendship, the three of them got on the carriage and went straight to Chao's village.
Although Shijie Village is some distance from Yuncheng County Prison, the three of them chatted all the way and didn't know how time passed. They only heard someone outside shouting happily, "They are back," followed by the groom's low voice. Voice: "Second Master, you're home,"
"Okay, let's get out of the car," Chao Gai said with a more or less joyful tone. Although he only stayed in prison for a few days, the feeling of surviving after the disaster still made him feel involuntarily when he saw the house he had received again. The ground was slightly moved.
"Second brother, you are back, and I'm worried to death. If it weren't for this prince, I really don't know what to do."
When Chao Gai heard the sound and looked around, he saw Chao Jidao rushing out to greet everyone. He called out "brother" and stepped forward to hug his elder brother Chao Jidao tightly.
"Go into the house and talk," Chao Jidao said, seeing that his second brother was fine, he felt even more grateful to Shi Jin and became even more enthusiastic.
Everyone went into the front hall of the Chao family and sat down together. A servant came up and offered tea. Before Chao Jidao and Shi Jin could say a few polite words of gratitude, Chao Gai asked anxiously about the Zang family's activities in the past few days. .
As soon as he mentioned this, there were dark wrinkles on Chao Jidao's face. He sighed and said: "This old guy Zang Hanzhong has been mysterious for the past two days. There is no sign of him. But his bastard son doesn't know either." Where did you hire the doctor? What kind of bullshit plaster did you take? Our people said that Zang Ao is now swaggering around in Yuncheng County, forming gangs, looking like he is prosperous, huh, this is all It's just an appearance. I sent someone to inquire and found out that this Zang Ao is now throwing around a lot of money. I don't know what he is planning. He probably doesn't do anything good. I have to be careful."
Chao Gai nodded, but then shook his head slightly. He seemed to be a little dissatisfied with what his elder brother Chao Jidao knew. As a last resort, Chao Gai asked further: "Brother, have several properties of our family been damaged? ,"
After being reminded by Chao Gai, he seemed to have grasped the key point, and turned the topic in this direction, saying: "There is no damage yet, it's just that our rice was trampled by their Zang family's cattle before. "It is estimated that there will be no harvest after autumn. I am afraid that when the new year is approaching, we will not be able to get any food. How will we be able to open a porridge shop by then? The rules handed down from our ancestors cannot be broken in our hands."
Chao Gai agreed very much after hearing this, but this was something he had neglected. If his eldest brother had not taken it into consideration, he would have almost forgotten about it due to Zang Hanzhong's continuous troubles.
Zang Hanzhong looked at Shi Qian and Shi Jin at this time, and said to himself: "So, I took precautions and sent a few disciples who learned about the rice market to sell grain. Look, it's almost the time today. arrive,"
Chao Gai nodded assuredly, but at this moment, although Shi Jin didn't know where Chao Jidao would buy multi-crop rice at this time, an indescribable ominous premonition quietly rose in his heart.
"There hasn't been much trouble in our gambling house these past two days, right?" Chao Gai suddenly asked out of nowhere as he remembered something.
Chao Jidao waved his hand and said seriously: "The casino has been surprisingly peaceful these days, nothing happened. According to the disciples who came back to see the place, there have been more unfamiliar gamblers coming in these days, and the business is actually better than before. few,"
"Oh, there are some strange faces, why are you coming in?" Chao Gai couldn't help but feel wary when he heard the word "strange".
However, Chao Jidao seemed not to be aware of the danger hidden in this. Instead, he still looked happy and said to everyone: "What can I do here? Besides gambling, I am just gambling. I was a little skeptical at first, fearing that these people are from the Zang family." The people sent to cause trouble, but after watching them for two days, I found that those people were gambling as expected, but they seemed to be too unlucky, and they often lost everything. Hahaha, sometimes I lost all my money and still relied on it. If I don't leave, I just lose everything I can pledge, and then I leave in anger," Chao Jidao laughed at this.
However, Chao Gai did not laugh with his elder brother Chao Jidao. Instead, he turned to look at Shi Jin. At this time, Shi Jin also turned to look at Chao Gai. The two looked at each other and understood what they meant. When they communicated, their eyes were filled with one meaning: there was definitely something fishy in this matter.
Shi Jin coughed slightly, cleared his throat, and asked: "Brother Chao, according to your observation, when those people come here on weekdays, what are they dressed like and what do they do?"
Chao Jidao saw that no one was laughing with him, so he smiled to himself and stopped laughing, saying: "Those people are all wearing brand-new clothes, but in my opinion they are just idle laziness. As soon as he squatted on the bench, he put out his money as if he was rich, and he danced with joy when he won, and he cursed the heaven and earth when he lost, which was quite refreshing. By the way, why are you asking about this? Could it be that... you think? There's something fishy here," Chao Jidao didn't know Shi Jin's identity, but since he rescued Chao Gai, he admired Shi Jin's ability. When Shi Jin asked about it, he felt more or less in his heart Some estimates.
Shi Jin nodded deeply and said: "These people are just afraid that the visitors are unkind. Although the gambling house is a place with a large flow of people, most of them are regular customers. Even if they have familiar faces, in addition to the outsiders, they will definitely We were led by acquaintances, but now, the number of strangers has suddenly increased. There will definitely not be so many outsiders. They are obviously premeditated. Brother Chao, think about it. Those people are well-dressed and like to show off. I don’t feel sad if I lose. Isn’t this kind of customer the most welcome and favorite person in our casino? How could this pie-in-the-sky thing happen to hit our door at this time? There must be a conspiracy here, but Be careful,"
When Shi Jin said this, Chao Gai also took over and said: "These people are probably here under Zang Ao's instructions. Brother, we need to send more people to keep an eye on these people. This casino is the most likely to cause trouble." , is also what I am most worried about. How do I think that the Zang family will do the surgery there first? After all, this gambling house is a golden hole and the backbone of the industry."
Chao Jidao was a little puzzled. He didn't know why Shi Jin and his younger brother would forget the bad things, so he said: "You mean that these people were instructed by Zang Ao. Ha, how is it possible? Zang Ao is that monkey spirit." How can you be willing to spend money on these idle guys, let alone let them come and lose money every day in our gambling house? Even if he does this, then I will let him come like this even more. The more the merrier, this is obviously sending money to our family. His Zang family’s money will be free if he doesn’t take it. I wish that Zang Ao would scatter all his family wealth and enter our house.”
When Chao Gai heard that his elder brother was getting into trouble again, he couldn't help but feel a little anxious, and said: "Brother, what you are saying is wrong, because Zang Ao is a clever guy, so this kind of loss-making business is definitely not allowed." He can do it. Even if he is distributing money now, he must have seen that there is a greater benefit to be gained. Otherwise, how could he do such a stupid thing?"
When Chao Jidao heard what Chao Gai said, he felt a little embarrassed in front of Shi Jin and Shi Qian. After all, a eldest brother would be denied everything by his younger brother. How can he show his face? Moreover, in this matter, Chao Jidao had also treated him well. After thinking about it, even now he still felt that although this matter was wrong, it was definitely not Zang Ao's trick, let alone as important as Chao Gai said, so Chao Jidao also said bluntly: "Second brother, Are you too nervous because of the Zang family? Now everything that comes to you has something to do with the Zang family. If something is a little different, it becomes the Zang family’s conspiracy. So, what can the Zang family do? What skills do you have? To put it bluntly, they are just a bunch of people with some connections and some money. As for what you said is so terrible, second brother, you heard me right. I just came out of prison. Take a good rest and don’t do anything to yourself. I have to be nervous,”
It's okay that Chao Jidao didn't say these words. Now that Chao Gai heard it, he became more and more anxious. He was afraid that his eldest brother would relax his vigilance too much and give the Zang family an opportunity, so he admonished him: "Brother, the matter is serious. It's not as easy as you think. You also know our business, and you won't suddenly make such a large amount of money. This must be a trap set by the Zang family, and you have to guard against it."
Seeing Chao Gai's resolute attitude, Chao Jidao felt uncomfortable, so he couldn't help raising his voice, and interrupted Chao Gai's words: "Okay, you are afraid of too many bad things, and you are afraid of too many good things. I also feel scared, hum, I will be careful about this, and you should stop making noise."
Seeing that his elder brother had lost his patience, Chao Gai looked at Shi Jin with helpless eyes. In fact, Shi Jin also knew that Chao Jidao was wrong. However, in Shi Jin's opinion, based on Chao Jidao's temper, it would only be possible to dissuade Chao Jidao now. It was counterproductive, so he shook his head slightly and signaled Chao Gai not to talk anymore.
Just when everyone was in this brief awkward moment, there was a sudden panic and shouting outside.