Chapter 115: I am a good person

"Don't try to scare me!" Shi Hong didn't believe Chen Guanlou would sincerely help him and subconsciously retorted.

"Scare you! Heh, your encounters over this recent period—am I scaring you? Think about it yourself: since you became the squad leader, how has it tasted?"

"I... if you have an opinion about me, just say it directly." Shi Hong refused to yield. While retorting to Chen Guanlou, he was pondering who exactly looked at him with displeasure—could it be Master Xiao Fan? That shouldn't be!

Master Xiao Fan and Master Fan were one body; if he defected to Master Fan, it was equivalent to defecting to Master Xiao Fan.

"What opinion could I have about you? You haven't hindered me. It's nothing more than handling official business. Seeing that the accounts are about to be handed in, if you can't hand in the money, the one who will be unlucky is you, not me. If I really had an opinion about you, I should just watch you be unlucky, rather than kindly reminding you here."

Chen Guanlou shook his head repeatedly; in this day and age, human hearts are not what they used to be, and one cannot be a good person. Good intentions are treated like a donkey's lungs.

Shi Hong was half-believing, "Tell me first who exactly hates me?"

"There are plenty of people who hate you. Do you know that before you, someone had already set their sights on this position and spent a lot of money? As a result, you intercepted it halfway. Think about it carefully yourself."

Shi Hong was left speechless and hurriedly picked up his teacup to take a sip, masking his inner unease.

"Is Master Xiao Fan dissatisfied with me?"

Chen Guanlou snorted coldly and remained silent.

Now, Shi Hong felt even more flustered, "It couldn't be that Master Fan is dissatisfied with me."

Chen Guanlou still remained silent, holding his teacup without speaking.

"Could it be that Master Song is dissatisfied with me? Master Song doesn't look favorably upon this position, right?"

Chen Guanlou chuckled, letting the other party figure it out for himself.

"Could it really be Master Song?"

"Regardless of who it is, hurry up and hand in the money. If there is a chance, I will definitely put in a few good words for you in front of the superiors. You have a connection with Master Fan, so you can also put in some effort. At worst, spend more money."

Shi Hong's cheeks twitched; he had no money to send gifts now. He had sent his cousin and also spent money to get the squad leader position. As a result, bad luck arrived; as soon as he took office, he encountered the adjustment of the distribution ratio from above, which caused his income to drop significantly. The input and output were not proportional, and the more he worked, the more resentment he felt.

Now that he knew he was being targeted, and it was highly likely that Master Song looked at him with displeasure, his heart was in a panic.

"If Master Song really had his eye on my position, why am I still sitting here? Even if Prison Warden Fan is awesome, he isn't more awesome than Master Song, right?"

"How would I know the things inside this? I'm just kindly reminding you for the sake of being brothers working in the Heavenly Prison. Believe it or not, it's up to you. Now, you should hurry up and find a way to settle the money matter. Once the money is settled, everything else is easy to talk about. Right!"

Shi Hong looked confused; for a moment, he didn't know whether to believe Chen Guanlou or doubt the other party's intentions.

His mind was a mess.

Deep down, he didn't hate Chen Guanlou as much, and was even a bit grateful for the other party's reminder, although he refused to admit it himself. Whoever hated him and caused him trouble, he would find out sooner or later. Sooner or later!

Liu She saw Shi Hong leave and opened his mouth; Xiao Jin was right, they didn't fight, and it seemed they talked quite well. When Wu Bantou Shi left, he was full of anxiety, not anger.

He ran into the duty room and asked cautiously, "Chen Tou, is the problem solved?"

"Basically solved. Next, Hong Tou will work hard to make money and won't have time to gossip. You did very well this time. Remember to report any situation in time in the future."

"Oh! Chen Tou, don't worry."

Liu She left the duty room in a daze, still not figuring out what method Chen Tou had used to make Hong Tou change his confrontational attitude. No wonder people are leaders; he himself has been a small prison guard for so many years.

On Manager Zhao's side at the Sitong Bank, people were sent to urge him every day.

Chen Guanlou's answer was always "soon, soon," and once the eight days were up, it would definitely be handled.

He was also anxious, waiting for news from Qi Wuxiu's side.

News didn't come, but the Heavenly Prison had a few more prisoners—prisoners who were suddenly thrown into the big prison, all coming from the Imperial Treasury Department.

Chen Guanlou:...

He vaguely felt that the Embroidered Uniform Guard must have taken action.

The Imperial Treasury Department had its own prison, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard also had the Imperial Prison, but the prisoners were locked in the Heavenly Prison. This was clearly to prevent collusion between inside and outside, letting the Ministry of Justice supervise the Imperial Treasury Department and supervise the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Preventing the Imperial Treasury Department from killing to silence witnesses and preventing the Embroidered Uniform Guard from lining their own pockets. Only by placing them in a third-party prison was it somewhat reliable.

The imprisonment of Imperial Treasury Department officials greatly eased Shi Hong's economic crisis. One was assigned to him, and the speed and quantity of the money he paid were that of a wealthy man—a real wealthy man.

Chen Guanlou was also lucky enough to be assigned one. As soon as the person opened his mouth, it was two thousand taels. Besides not being able to let the person out, Chen Guanlou instructed the prison guards to serve the other party like a grandfather, live in a top-class prison cell, replace the bed board, change to a rosewood bed, and use new cotton quilts with fine cotton cloth. Tables, chairs, benches, the four treasures of the study, teapots, and teacups were all present. Daily wine and water were provided as much as he wanted.

Want to take a shower? No problem. Let the prison guards send buckets of hot water to the prison cell, and white towels were provided.

"Grandfather, do you have any other instructions?"

This service, this attitude—if you don't give a five-star review, your son won't have an asshole.

Yu Zhaoan couldn't stand it.

He stopped Chen Guanlou, "Why does that bastard have hot water to bathe? I also gave money, why don't I have hot water to use? I've lived in the Heavenly Prison for a year, and my body is smelly, yet I haven't seen you send a towel."

Chen Guanlou extended his right hand, rubbed his index finger and thumb together twice, and then asked, "Understand? If Master Yu is willing to give money, if you want hot water, you will definitely have it."

"I gave money."

"Is that money you gave? That's the threshold fee for entering the Heavenly Prison. What is a threshold fee? It means that any official who enters the Heavenly Prison, regardless of whether they are poor or rich, must pay this money so that everyone's face looks good. If you want better treatment, you have to be proactive! Eh, I'm not soliciting bribes, and even less am I blackmailing. Master Yu, think about it yourself: over the past year, have I or the prison guards under me ever asked you for money, or ever hinted at you to pay? No, right? If you hadn't asked today, I wouldn't have revealed a word about these things. In life, one must learn to be proactive."

Chen Guanlou smiled.

Yu Zhaoan thought highly of himself, which meant he was stingy—stingy to those below him and disdainful of giving money to people with lower status than himself. He lived in the Heavenly Prison, and his days were leisurely, thanks to his family members bringing money to handle things. Asking him to be proactive was an insult.

How could such a proud person proactively say to a prison guard that he wanted to pay money to change his treatment?

However, times have changed, and Master Yu, who had been imprisoned for a year, had long since become smelly. He wished he could soak in hot water for three days and three nights. That bastard from the Imperial Treasury Department made him jealous to death.

"How much money? I also want hot water to wash up."

"One hundred taels!"

"Why don't you go rob someone!" Yu Zhaoan was furious! ===== CHAPTER 116 =====