Chapter 156: 【Proactively Showing Goodwill】 (Part 2)

He was just thinking about the charity auction when he saw several people quickly walking toward him. Looking closely, it was County Magistrate Xu Qinglian, with his advisor Xingshan behind him and two government office guards.

Xu Qinglian's carriage was parked not far away, but because the road near the dike was muddy and he feared the carriage would get stuck, he walked up along the stone-paved path. Although the distance was short, his official boots were already covered in mud.

Hu Xiaotian bowed his hands from afar toward Xu Qinglian and laughed, 'Good morning, Sir Xu!' He subconsciously glanced at his crotch; Xu Qinglian today had not wet his pants.

Xu Qinglian looked up at the sun; it was already past si hour, still early? This kid never speaks with any sense. He glanced at the dike with his small eyes and said in a sarcastic tone, 'How come only you are here?'

Hu Xiaotian said, 'The weather cleared; the brothers have been working day and night, exhausted, so I let them go rest.'

Since yesterday, when Hu Xiaotian made him wet the bed, Xu Qinglian had been holding in anger with no outlet. Seeing Hu Xiaotian, old and new grudges surged, and he snapped, 'Hu Xiaotian, guarding the dike is no trivial matter; I have repeatedly warned you—this dike concerns the safety of all Qingyun County. If anything goes wrong, the imperial court will investigate, and I fear I won't be able to protect you.'

Although Xu Qinglian had always been ill-disposed toward Hu Xiaotian, since Hu Xiaotian arrived in Qingyun they had superficially maintained mutual respect. Before so many people, Xu Qinglian was now losing his temper and scolding Hu Xiaotian for the first time; as a superior reprimanding a subordinate, it was only natural and justified.

Hu Xiaotian did not buy Xu Qinglian's act; if it were any other subordinate, they would just bow their heads and endure a couple of scoldings. But Hu Xiaotian never took Xu Qinglian seriously, and though he had not yet turned hostile, Xu Qinglian had already shown his displeasure. Hu Xiaotian let out a heh heh laugh.

Xu Qinglian was stunned by that laugh, thinking, 'Did I say something wrong? What's funny? You punk, a newly arrived county secretary, are basically showing me no respect!'

Hu Xiaotian said, 'Sir Xu, are you feeling better?'

Xu Qinglian narrowed his eyes, a bit unable to figure out this guy's motives: 'Many parts of Qingyun are flooded inside. How could I possibly rest easy and recuperate?' He spoke as if he were extremely dedicated.

Hu Xiaotian said, 'Yesterday's torrential rain saw you nowhere inspecting; today, with fair weather, you come running here worrying about the country and the people. It's true I'm responsible for watching the dike, but if something goes wrong and I'm held accountable, do you, as Qingyun's local chief, think you can stay out of it?'

"Uh… this…"

Hu Xiaotian said, 'Since we are colleagues, we should look out for each other. Yesterday I stood in the wind and rain all day and night—where were you, Sir? Some things are obvious to all; you really need to lay them out plainly. Aren't you afraid of hurting feelings?' His words were full of threat.

Xu Qinglian had thought his official rank would give him the advantage to overwhelm his opponent, but he hadn't expected things to go poorly; after just asking one question, he was met with Hu Xiaotian's reasoned rebuttal, and his face instantly turned awkward.

Behind him, Advisor Xingshan could not stand it. He had followed Xu Qinglian in his term in Qingyun and had never seen a subordinate so disrespectful. He snapped, 'Hu Xiaotian, how dare you be rude to the County Magistrate!'

Hu Xiaotian coldly turned to Xingshan, clenching his fists. Xingshan was startled, thinking, 'This guy's aura is fierce—does he want to hit me?' But thinking that Xu Qinglian was right there, even if he lent Hu Xiaotian courage, he wouldn't dare. He immediately regained his composure, stepped forward, pointed at Hu Xiaotian and said, 'Based on what you just said, I can punish you for disrespect.'

Hu Xiaotian shook his head, looking at Xu Qinglian and said, 'Sir Xu, is it you who decides here, or is it him?'

Xu Qinglian glared at Hu Xiaotian, his small eyes almost spitting fire: 'He doesn't seem to have said anything wrong.' The meaning was clear: 'I back him. What can you do?'

Hu Xiaotian said, 'Sir Xu, yesterday morning when I went to your residence to look for you, what did you say?'

"What did I say?"

"You said the three shifts of government workers are all under my command!"

Xu Qinglian said, 'Yes, I did say that, but I gave you such great authority and you failed to execute it. Not a single government worker can be seen patrolling the entire dike—how are you handling things?'

Hu Xiaotian laughed, 'Sir Xu, do you not even know how many people are on duty in the three shifts? I called everyone I could find; yesterday Sir Liu even specially dispatched twenty soldiers to help. Today the flood situation has eased, so I let them rest. Do you think we are made of iron, able to patrol day and night without eating or sleeping?'

Xu Qinglian said, 'Hu Xiaotian, as far as I know, you weren't on guard here last night!' Hu Xiaotian has recently been thick as thieves with Wan Boping; Xu Qinglian had heard about this for a while and had also wanted to ingratiate himself with Wan Boping, but unfortunately Wan Boping thinks highly of himself and doesn't even regard this county magistrate. If Hu Xiaotian truly attached himself to Wan Boping, Qingyun's richest man, Xu Qinglian's position would be even less secure—officials all know to prepare for a rainy day.

Beside him, Xingshan's face showed a smug expression; Hu Xiaotian realized Xu Qinglian had come prepared, having surely investigated his whereabouts clearly beforehand, and now coming to provoke him, he must have full confidence.

Hu Xiaotian said, 'Sir, are you going to bring charges against me?'

Xingshan interjected, 'According to Dakang law, defying orders and neglecting duty is a serious crime; if you report to the prefecture, Sir, this county secretary probably won't be able to keep his post.'

Hu Xiaotian didn't even glance at Xingshan, but instead lowered his voice to Xu Qinglian: 'Sir Xu, let's step aside to talk.'

Xu Qinglian thought he had finally seized the initiative and said arrogantly, 'Whatever you want to say, say it here.'

Hu Xiaotian said, 'Sir, do you want me to tell everything I heard and saw at your residence yesterday?'

Xu Qinglian's heart jolted—what did he mean? Was he going to bring up his bed-wetting incident? Though shameless, he still cared about face; if Hu Xiaotian exposed yesterday's incident of him wetting himself, he'd become a laughingstock in Qingyun County—where would he put this old face? As the saying goes, killing a man only needs a nod to the ground; if he really pushed Hu Xiaotian to desperation, the guy might really go berserk; even if he could beat that drowned dog badly, he couldn't guarantee not being bitten back. Xu Qinglian also knew the wisdom of cutting one's losses, and he snorted coldly: 'Hu Xiaotian, let this matter drop; it's not that I'm targeting you personally, but the dike concerns the lives and property of the whole county—no room for loss.'

Hu Xiaotian heard his tone soften, realized this man was yielding, and shifted his tone: 'Sir, thank you for your instruction; I will respectfully follow your teachings.' The two reached an unspoken understanding here, while the advisor and attendant on the side looked bewildered; Xingshan was even more confused, not understanding why Xu Qinglian would so easily let Hu Xiaotian off.

Xu Qinglian turned and walked away; Hu Xiaotian called from behind, 'Sir Xu, take care, Advisor Xing, watch your step—don't slip!'

Xu Qinglian walked back along the original route to his carriage; Xingshan puzzled, said, 'Sir, are we really just letting this go?'

Xu Qinglian coldly replied, 'No need to rush!' It wasn't that he could hold his temper; rather, he truly had no way to deal with Hu Xiaotian.

After Xu Qinglian had walked half an hour, he finally saw the relief guards arriving late; Hu Xiaotian didn't blame them either, given his current influence in Qingyun, being able to mobilize these few people to work for him was already difficult, and from the earlier situation, the problem likely lay eight or nine times out of ten with Xu Qinglian's clique. To resolve the current state, he must quickly suppress the arrogance of Xu Qinglian's group in order to establish his absolute authority in Qingyun.

In fact, the guards coming to protect the dike were all working hard; Hu Xiaotian recognized among them Li Er and Wang San, who were responsible for gate duty at the government office. Because they had previously responded to Hu Xiaotian's summons to help beat the board, after Xu Qinglian heard about it he directly assigned these two fickle‑aligned fellows to dike duty—a job tougher than gatekeeping. This was also a 'kill the chicken to scare the monkey' tactic, letting all the guards see that siding with Hu Xiaotian leads to this outcome.

Li Er and Wang San looked at Hu Xiaotian with clearly strange eyes; deep down they both felt they were suffering because of Hu Xiaotian's involvement.

Hu Xiaotian knew the most effective way to deal with these people was to appease them; he called Li Er under the shed, took out a silver ingot, threw it to him and said, 'You've worked hard; this is my own gift to you—at noon I'll add some tasty food for the brothers.' In these guards' impression, superiors always reached out for handouts; none had ever voluntarily spent money. Li Er was both surprised and delighted; this county magistrate, rumored to be a salt merchant's son, was indeed generous.

Li Er, having taken the silver, was visibly moved and whispered, 'Thank you, Sir Hu!'

Hu Xiaotian, with a pleasant expression, said to Li Er, 'Li Er, I know these past two days haven't been easy for you all, but as long as you complete this task perfectly, I will only reward you heavily.'

Li Er said, 'Sir, rest assured, we will surely guard the dike well.' Under generous rewards there will be brave men; money can make ghosts push mills—let alone this bunch of greedy guards.

Money can solve most problems; Hu Xiaotian need not spend too much time communicating with these guards. First let them taste the benefits, then gradually let them realize that following him brings more advantages than following others, and they will naturally begin to side with him.

Returning to his residence on Sande Alley, he had just stepped through the gate when he heard a loud voice say, 'Young master, your subordinate arrived late; please forgive me!'

Hu Xiaotian's heart warmed at the familiar voice; he looked up and saw Hu Tianxiong striding toward him, stopping about four feet away and performing a deep bow. Although Hu Xiaotian and Hu Tianxiong had little interaction, when they had earlier abducted Tang Qingxuan into the manor, Hu Tianxiong had rushed over immediately to help, leaving Hu Xiaotian with the impression that he was skilled at tumbling and his martial arts stood out among the household servants—he was the first guard beside his father and enjoyed great favor. They rarely spoke, but meeting an old friend in his hometown, Hu Xiaotian felt a natural affection upon seeing him.

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