Chapter 249: Working Together as One

Seeing Jiang Dafu lift the chair and prepare to strike again, Lin Dong gently pushed with his right hand, causing the chair to flip backward instantly. Caught off guard, Jiang Dafu fell backward as well.
With a loud thud, Jiang Dafu got up groaning, feeling ashamed as he picked up the chair, intending to explain himself to Lin Dong.
“You can’t even lift a chair, yet you still want to hit someone?” Lin Dong glanced at his subordinates still kneeling on the ground and said coldly, “A couple of hundred taels of silver isn’t much. Who’s willing to perform magic for me? If I’m satisfied, not only will I drop this matter, but I’ll also reward you handsomely. If you dare to talk nonsense to me like your boss, my patience is limited—I have no time to listen to your excuses.”
The subordinates trembled, too afraid to speak.
“Let’s start with you! Either perform magic or have your legs broken,” Lin Dong said, pointing at one of the subordinates who had just raised his head to peek.
That subordinate was instantly terrified and collapsed to the ground.
“Damn you, you wretched scoundrel! How dare you ignore Manager Lin’s orders?”
Jiang Dafu raised the wooden chair and strode forward in a few steps, intending to smash it onto the subordinate’s back. But suddenly remembering the suspicion of silencing him, he kicked the chair at the subordinate’s back instead.
Bang!
The chair, held high above Jiang Dafu’s head, plummeted downward, hitting him right on the head with a soft sound, sending him falling backward again.
“Damn this broken chair!”
Jiang Dafu wished he could devour the wooden chair alive. At a time when his life and fortune were at stake, even a broken chair caused him trouble.
“Won’t perform magic, huh?” Lin Dong stood up and walked over to the subordinate, saying calmly, “In that case, stand aside. I’ll take your legs after I finish watching the magic show.”
“No, I’m innocent! I really am innocent!” The subordinate crawled on the ground, crying, “I don’t know how to perform magic, and I didn’t steal the money bag. I’m innocent!”
“Enough. I’ve said before not to explain too much. I just want to see magic.” Lin Dong patted another subordinate’s shoulder. “He can’t do it. How about you?”
Lin Dong’s palm seemed to hide countless tiny needles. The subordinate’s shoulder spasmed, and he nearly fainted from fear.
“I’ll do it, I’ll do it…”
Before the subordinate could speak, the earlier one suddenly started shouting.
“Stop talking nonsense,” Lin Dong said calmly.
The subordinate nodded rapidly, afraid that the other subordinate would snatch his chance, and quickly said, “Manager Lin, Wang Shi must have stolen the silver.”
“Wang Shi stole it?” Lin Dong smiled leisurely. “That’s complete nonsense.”

“Really, I’m telling the truth,” the guy hurriedly explained. “I have evidence—I have proof that it was Wang Shi who stole it.”
“Oh?” Lin Dong smiled. “Tell me, what evidence?”
The guy took a deep breath and gritted his teeth. “Actually, that guy who was driven away last time was framed.”
Liu An was shocked. He knew he had been wronged, but hearing someone admit it outright still made it hard for him to control himself.
“What does that guy being framed have to do with the trick I want to see?” Lin Dong asked coldly.
“It does, of course it does,” the guy nodded repeatedly. “That guy was framed because he often acted as the boss’s lackey. We didn’t like him, and they deducted a lot of his wages last month. So we decided to drive him away and find another way to make some extra money.”
“What are you saying?” Wang Dafu widened his eyes, his face filled with fury. “The ten taels of silver that went missing last time—was it you guys who stole it together? Damn you bastards! How dare you team up to steal my money? I’ll kill you…”
“Shut up!” Lin Dong snapped.
Wang Dafu’s raised fist hung in the air, unsure whether to lower it or strike.
“Get out of here. If you dare disturb me while I watch the trick, don’t blame me if I’m harsh with you,” Lin Dong ordered.
“That’s right, that’s right. It’s just ten taels of silver—how can that compare to watching a trick performed by Manager Lin? I deserve it, I deserve it…” Wang Dafu slapped his own face with his raised hand, making a slapping sound as he stepped back.
“Go on,” Lin Dong pressed.
The guy nodded and decided to be completely honest. “We spent the whole night discussing it and finally came up with a plan that would solve two problems at once: we’d make another key for the counter drawer, then steal the silver from the drawer while that guy was alone at the counter.”
“That’s it? Do you really think I’m that easy to fool?” Lin Dong said angrily. “Was that guy who was driven away deaf or blind? If he was at the counter, couldn’t he see someone approaching or hear someone unlocking it?”
“No, no…” The guy waved his hands frantically, pointing at the counter. “The counter in our silk shop is empty inside.”
“Nonsense. Such a wide counter—could it possibly be made of solid wood?” Lin Dong retorted irritably.

“It’s empty inside; it can hold one person,” the guy organized his thoughts and continued, “According to the rules of the shop, someone has to stay behind to keep watch every night. So we took advantage of the fact that neither the boss nor the guy who was fired was in the shop, and we took turns trying to remove the nails from the counter partition near the table.”
“And then what?” Lin Dong pressed.
“Then we had one of the guys pretend to ask for leave to go home because of family matters,” the guy explained. “In reality, he didn’t go home. Instead, he got someone who worked at another shop and whom we all knew to help, dressed them neatly, and had them come over when there were few customers at noon. Not only were there few people around, but the guy who was fired also stayed alone in the shop to please the boss, waiting until we finished eating before going to eat himself.”
Lin Dong suddenly understood; he finally grasped how it all happened.
“After deciding on the day to act, we opened the shop the night before and let the guy who pretended to be on leave enter and hide inside the counter. Once everyone left at noon, that friend pretended to come buy fabric, deliberately luring the guy who was fired to the top of the east counter. The guy who pretended to be on leave then slipped out of the counter, used a key to open a drawer, took ten taels of silver, and hid back in place, putting the counter partition back in its original position.”
The guy pleaded, “We split the silver. We thought it was more profitable than working hard as employees, so we didn’t reattach the partition, planning to try again if we got the chance. Yesterday, Wang Shi said he had family matters and asked for leave to go home. I guess he must have discussed it with one of the guys and wanted to steal more silver. If Master Lin doesn’t believe me, you can check the counter—he’s definitely still hiding in there.”
“Great! They still wanted to steal silver, and they aimed it at Master Lin!” Wang Dafu shouted angrily, rushing straight to the counter, cursing, “If I don’t break your legs today, I’m not Wang Dafu! I’ll be letting Master Lin down…”
Watching Wang Dafu rush toward the counter in a hurry, Lin Dong felt somewhat emotional. To be a boss who had to deal with employees who pooled their efforts to come up with such a meticulous plan to steal from the very shop they worked for—if anyone was to be blamed, it was probably Wang Dafu for being too cruel.

Otherwise, he would never have pushed all the workers to this extreme. In the Great Han Kingdom, workers generally have high loyalty. Most of them, even if beaten or scolded and facing financial difficulties at home, would rarely do such things, let alone conspire to steal from their own workplace. Lin Dong believed that not only in Autumn Wind City but throughout the entire Lingnan Prefecture, there were only a handful of such shops.

“Where are they? Come out! Wang Shi, get out right now!”

From behind the counter came Wang Dafu’s roars, interspersed occasionally with the sound of heads hitting the top of the counter.

Lin Dong approached Liu An, who looked deep in thought, and tempted him with a smile, “Even though we know you were wronged, he’s only concerned about the ten taels of silver that were stolen from him. How about I help you teach him a lesson, letting you vent your anger, so you can then stay as a worker at Lin’s Inn in peace?”

Liu An hesitated for a moment, couldn’t help but glance at the counter, and shook his head. “Thank you for considering me, boss, but forget it! Being driven out of the silk shop might actually be a good thing for me. Maybe I should even thank him.”

“It’s not just possible—it’s definitely a good thing!”

Lin Dong smiled brightly. Omitting the “Lin” before “boss” made the meaning clear: this trip to the south of the city hadn’t been in vain. Not only was the upgrade task for the inn system now a certainty, but this worker, who might soon become Ma Chun’s top partner, also had his concerns resolved.

“Boss, shall we now…” Liu An glanced again at the counter, from where the shouting still came.

Lin Dong smiled but pointed at the workers kneeling on the ground. “I’m giving you a welcome gift. Since they joined forces to frame you, just say what you want in return, and I promise I’ll make it happen.”

Liu An looked at the trembling workers, who used to be so familiar to him, sighed, and shook his head. “Forget it! It’s my fault they framed me. Besides, they were forced into it. If not for me, they’d suffer fewer scolds every day and have less of their wages deducted each month.”

“You do deserve some of this!”

Lin Dong smiled and slowly opened his right fist. In his palm appeared the money bag that had been the catalyst for the entire incident.

He raised his right arm, and with a soft thud, the money bag fell in the middle of the workers. Lin Dong said slowly, “I just hired a new worker, so I’m in a good mood. Inside is twenty-four taels of gold. I’m giving it to you as a reward, like a magic trick. As for your act of theft, if your boss wants to hold you accountable, tell him that if the silk shop doesn’t want to be shut down, he should go ahead and pursue it.”

The guys looked up at Lin Dong in astonishment, finding it hard to believe such a sudden turn of events.
“Let’s go!”
Lin Dong turned leisurely and stepped out of the silk shop slowly. Staring blankly as his carefree figure gradually disappeared outside, Liu An suddenly slapped himself in the face and rushed after him. The guys who had been kneeling on the ground also seemed to wake up from their daze, all turning to thank the empty doorway…
Inside the counter, Jiang Dafu searched back and forth twice but found nothing. Climbing out of the counter, he was met with an empty shop. This situation left him stunned for a long time.