Chapter 66: Three Mu of Land

“Boss, something bad happened! Tianhao and Miss Bai Qi are about to fight!”
Inside the room, Lin Dong was pushing himself toward his fifth 36-week cycle when urgent knocking sounded at the door.
With no choice, Lin Dong got out of bed to open it. The setting sun cast its glow inside through the door.
“What’s going on?”
Lin Dong was puzzled. If Tianhao really wanted to fight Bai Qi, he wouldn’t worry that Tianhao would be at a disadvantage. But this was Lin’s Inn. Although Tianhao now understood that he wasn’t as feared for causing trouble as before, five or six years of habits couldn’t change in such a short time. No matter how bold Tianhao was, he shouldn’t dare to fight someone right under his nose.
“It’s because of Dean Fu,” the thin man explained as they walked. “Miss Bai Qi went outside to get some air. Coincidentally, Dean Fu came in. Seemingly preoccupied, he didn’t notice her at first, and they bumped into each other. Miss Bai Qi cursed Dean Fu, who got angry and started arguing with her, and that’s how they started fighting.”
“Sixth Brother couldn’t calm them down and was afraid it would cause trouble, so he sent me to find the boss in the back yard. Tianhao was practicing in the yard at the time. After hearing what happened, he went over. Then he saw Dean Fu furious and started arguing with Miss Bai Qi…”
Lin Dong frowned. Bai Qi was becoming more and more outrageous—she’d even argue with an old man.
The two entered the main hall, where Wang Liuzhi hurried over to greet them.
“Where is he?” Lin Dong asked.
“Tianhao probably didn’t want to affect the inn’s business, so he used words to lure Miss Bai Qi outside,” Wang Liuzhi explained.
Lin Dong couldn’t help but laugh. Good kid—already knowing how to use provocation!
“Alright, I’ll go take a look.”
After leaving the main hall and glancing around, he saw that it was dusk, with few passersby and stalls on the street. He quickly found the three of them on a small open space about ten meters away.
“Step aside. Today, I must teach this brat who disrespects his elders a lesson,” Bai Qi said coldly, staring at Fu Chunjian standing in front of Tianhao.
“Disrespect my elders?” Fu Chunjian’s long white beard bristled in anger. “Even if I bumped into you just now and apologized, you weren’t hurt at all. It was me who fell. Why do you still call me blind? When have you ever shown respect for elders?”
“Do ordinary people count as elders?” Bai Qi sneered.
“Your father is also an ordinary person,” Lin Dong suddenly replied from behind.
“My father is my father. What does that have to do with me?” Bai Qi retorted irritably.
Lin Dong didn’t bother to respond. He bowed slightly to Fu Chunjian and said with a smile, “Dean Fu, did you come to see Tianhao?”

Fu Chunjian forced a wry smile. “I came to Xilan City on business. Seeing it was getting late, I thought I’d check if Tianhao had returned to the Gu Huan Sect and stay there for the night. Who would have thought I’d run into this?”
“Forget it, let’s go back!” Lin Dong called out.
“You just say forget it and that’s it?” Bai Qi said coldly, “Don’t think you can be brothers with my father just because you have a Spirit Speed Array. That’s just luck on your side.”
“Bai Qi, for the sake of Brother Bai, I’m warning you—don’t act like you’re some great figure. Otherwise, if you really get into trouble, you won’t be able to handle the consequences.” Lin Dong frowned. “Do you believe it or not, but it was me who convinced Sect Master Xiao to take you as his disciple.”
“You did? Could it be you have some kind of relationship with my master?” Bai Qi sneered as if hearing the biggest joke. “A mere mortal can make a sect master make an exception and take a disciple? Would anyone believe that? If you really had such a relationship with my master, why is my son still my junior disciple?”
“Sect Master Xiao should be coming in a few days. I’ll ask him to explain things to you.” Lin Dong looked at Bai Qi indifferently. He couldn’t bully her, and Tianhao’s strength couldn’t be revealed. For the sake of Bai Jingtai, he could only ask Xiao Tianchi to teach this Miss Bai a lesson.
Bai Qi scoffed. In her eyes, this was just a delaying tactic.
Seeing her expression, Lin Dong knew she didn’t believe him and was too lazy to explain. After saying goodbye to Fu Chunjian and Tianhao, as Bai Qi tried to stop them again, he said in a harsh tone, “And if you want to lose your temper now, I’ll shut down the Spirit Speed Array right away.”
“You’re threatening me?” Bai Qi gritted her teeth.
“Not too stupid after all.”
Lin Dong smiled calmly, leaving Bai Qi, whose expression was filled with turmoil, and led Fu Chunjian and the others back to the inn.
“Dad, she knows about the Spirit Speed Array too?” Tianhao asked softly.
Lin Dong nodded. “Uncle Bai was eager for her to meet the standards for becoming a disciple in the Gu Huan Sect, so I stepped in to help.”
Tianhao realized then why this woman came to the inn—she had known about the Spirit Speed Array months ago.
Back at the inn, after asking Slim Bamboo to arrange a room for Fu Chunjian, Lin Dong led her to the back yard and sat her down at a stone table. After exchanging a few polite words, Liu Hao came over to serve tea.
Recalling that Slim Bamboo had said Fu Chunjian was preoccupied, Lin Dong couldn’t help but ask, “Dean Fu, you said you came to Xilan City on business. Have you finished it?”
“Don’t even mention it. It just makes me angry.” Fu Chunjian shook her head.
Lin Dong felt pleased. It wasn’t out of schadenfreude—since Fu Chunjian was already staying at the inn and faced unsolvable problems, it could be considered a hidden mission.

After pondering for a moment and organizing his thoughts, Lin Dong spoke up, “Dean Fu is highly respected in Xilan County. Who would dare to mistreat you?”
Fu Chunjian snorted, “It’s that money-grabbing county magistrate.”
“Is it something important?”
“A maid.”
“A maid?” Lin Dong was confused.
“Niu Dabang from Niu Family Village broke his leg while gathering herbs in the mountains half a year ago. Without him as the pillar of the family, their already difficult life became even tougher. Recently, they had to pay land taxes, so they had no choice but to sell their youngest daughter to a wealthy Niu family member as a maid. Five taels of silver was agreed upon, and the contract was signed. Unexpectedly, that wealthy Niu family member used the contract to force Niu Dabang to hand over three mu of his land. Niu Dabang couldn’t read and thought the contract was about buying the maid as agreed. He bravely took the wealthy Niu family member to the county office, only to be beaten and sent back home.”
Fu Chunjian sighed, “Every time I send the apprentices home, I encounter such things. To be honest, I dare not go out anymore.”
Lin Dong remained silent. He had once been framed by Fu Zizhou, but fortunately, the old beggar helped him. Later, on a whim, he rented a house to take care of the old beggar and allowed him to adopt orphans and the elderly. By now, there were nearly a hundred orphans and the elderly living in that house. If there were so many beggars in just Xilan City, one could imagine the situation in the surrounding villages.
That’s why Lin Dong never wanted to leave the city; even when he went out to get some fresh air, he only strolled around the nearby streets. The main reason was to avoid wasting time, and also, like Fu Chunjian, he was afraid of encountering injustices, especially those he couldn’t resolve with his current strength.
There were too many injustices in the world. If he didn’t see them, he could pretend not to know; but if he did, Lin Dong feared he might act recklessly to fix them.
“Father, Dean, I’ll go find that wealthy Niu family member!” Tianhao suddenly stood up, his eyes filled with anger.
“It’s useless. If you hurt him, he might pay compensation and change the contract, but he’ll only become more ruthless later. If you kill him, he still has sons. You can’t kill his entire family, right? Even if you did… his land and wealth would still fall into the hands of another wealthy Niu family member,” Fu Chunjian shook his head. “The real culprit is the local official, but killing an official is a grave crime.”
“Then we can’t just let it go, right?” Tianhao retorted.
“Dean Fu, three mu of land is only worth fifty or sixty taels of silver. That wealthy Niu family member surely can’t afford to pay more to send Cheng Wencai away. Cheng Wencai shouldn’t hold a grudge against you. How could this happen?”

Lin Dong was puzzled. Fu Chunjian had countless disciples and was kind to others, enjoying unparalleled prestige throughout Xilan County. If it involved several thousand taels of silver, Cheng Wencai wouldn’t mind being labeled as disrespectful to his teacher. But for just a few dozen taels, he should at least show some respect to Fu Chunjian.

“Has Manager Lin not received Cheng Wencai’s invitation?”

“What invitation?” Lin Dong asked, confused.

“Cheng Wencai’s cat died, so he sent invitations to all merchants in Xilan City to attend the cat’s funeral the day after tomorrow,” Fu Chunjian said calmly.

Lin Dong was speechless. Sending invitations just because a cat died—wasn’t he crazy about money!

That doesn’t make sense! What does this have to do with the maid?

Lin Dong frowned and pondered for a moment. Just as Fu Chunjian was about to speak, he suddenly asked, “Is Cheng Wencai leaving?”

Fu Chunjian was astonished. “How did you guess that Cheng Wencai is leaving?”

Lin Dong couldn’t help but laugh and cry. “Cheng Wencai goes to such lengths even for a dead cat, and he dares to offend the head of the Qiushui Academy for just a few dozen taels of silver. Is it that hard to figure out?”

Realizing he had lost his composure, Fu Chunjian apologized, “Please forgive me, Manager Lin.”

Lin Dong shook his head. After thinking for a while, he said, “I think I can handle this matter.”

“Manager Lin has a solution?” Fu Chunjian stood up abruptly, his eyes filled with disbelief. In his memory, this Manager Lin was quiet and honest, not even daring to associate with a local official, let alone having any dealings with Cheng Wencai.

Lin Dong nodded. “Not 100%, but probably 90%.”

Fu Chunjian sighed. “It’s surprising that Lin’s Inn has expanded several times over the past few months. I never thought Manager Lin would even have connections with Cheng Wencai.”

Lin Dong smiled. “I don’t really have any connections with Cheng Wencai. It’s mainly because that ‘tiger mother’ often visits the inn. She probably won’t refuse such a small favor. Cheng Wencai didn’t send me an invitation probably because that ‘tiger mother’ spoke well of me behind his back.”

“The tiger mother?” Fu Chunjian was stunned, then suddenly understood. “So Manager Lin knows her. That makes things easier. If Cheng Wencai can do it, that ‘tiger mother’ can just say a word.”

“Tianhao, stay with Dean Fu for now. I’ll go check if that ‘tiger mother’ is still at the inn,” Lin Dong said, standing up.

“By the way, Manager Lin…” Fu Chunjian hesitated before asking, “Is there any way to find out who will take over?”

Lin Dong nodded. Who would become the new magistrate of Xilan County was crucial not only for the people of Xilan County but also had significant influence before Lin’s Inn opened branches.