Chapter 134

That County Magistrate of Qingcheng was an old stubborn, but he was a solid, good official, and handling these matters should be second nature to him.

If he hadn't suddenly remembered this, Jiang Jinshi wouldn't have known how long he would have kept the other party locked up; he had almost forgotten.

However, forget it for today; he would go back to the mountain stronghold tomorrow to probe the attitude of this old stubborn.

When night fell, everyone dragged their exhausted bodies to the County Magistrate's residence.

Looking at the weary figures of everyone, Jiang Jinshi said softly to Li Xinyue, "Xiao Yue, why don't you go to the back and prepare, let everyone have a hot pot or something together to reward them."

Li Xinyue nodded and went to the backyard to prepare.

Zhang Honghong couldn't help but complain, "I really can't stand this group of people; none of them listen, and I don't know how many times I've repeated what was on that notice today."

If she were asked to do this work, she would rather charge into battle; even if she got hurt, it wouldn't be this tiring.

Among them, only Luo Feng was doing manual labor, constantly repeating the task of moving firewood and burning corpses; there were many corpses, and basically, he and his brothers had spent the whole day moving firewood.

It was only because his physical strength was decent that he could manage; the other brothers were already exhausted.

Nie Fengyun and Wang Hou were relatively relaxed, but their harvest was also very small; currently, only a few dozen people were willing to work in exchange for food.

Li Xinyue's side was unusually smooth; except for one Shopkeeper Zhang who was unwilling to join the Chamber of Commerce, everyone else had agreed.

Jiang Jinshi cheered everyone on, "Thank you all for your hard work; tomorrow I will find a way to find someone to help."

"Who?" Luo Feng asked curiously.

"That dead old man in the dungeon!" Jiang Jinshi got a headache just thinking about the other party's stubborn temperament.

Nie Fengyun's eyes lit up; he was familiar with the County Magistrate of Qingcheng, after all, he was the one who kidnapped him!

"That old man is capable; Qingcheng was managed by him in perfect order."

Being able to let a mountain bandit say such words was the greatest recognition of him.

"Tomorrow I will go back to the mountain stronghold to see, but I might not necessarily be able to handle it. Let's have dinner now; everyone, let's eat hot pot together." As he spoke, Jiang Jinshi stood up and walked toward the backyard.

"What is hot pot?" Jiang Ze looked at the various old squad leaders.

"Don't know, never seen it!" Luo Feng spread his hands; he was the earliest to follow Jiang Jinshi, and he had never heard of this pot that was steaming with fire.

Zhang Honghong walked in front, "What's the use of nagging here? Just go in and see, and you'll know."

Because there were many people, Li Xinyue specifically prepared two portions of everything; except for the fire, everything else was just bought from the mall.

"Come, come, come, everyone sit, sit!" Jiang Jinshi took his seat, and seeing that the dishes on the table were all his favorites, he immediately winked at Li Xinyue.

Li Xinyue first rolled her eyes, then looked at Jiang Jinshi dotingly; both of them had only each other in their eyes.

The squad leaders felt as if they had received invisible damage, standing there not knowing what to do.

Except for Zhang Honghong who was a woman, the rest were all big men; it was one thing when they couldn't get enough to eat or wear in the past.

Now that life was getting better day by day, and seeing the Big Brother and Big Sister-in-law so intimate, they couldn't help but have thoughts of starting a family.

Jiang Jinshi didn't feel it was cheesy; he leaned close to Li Xinyue and chuckled, then said to everyone, "If you see any girl you like, remember to tell me, and I will help you propose; you must not use force."

"Then you have to save your monthly wages to marry a wife; you can't spend it recklessly anymore." Luo Feng took over the conversation and snickered, raising his eyebrows at Jiang Ze.

Jiang Ze's face flushed, and he stammered in response, "Luo... Brother Luo, what... what are you looking at me for?"

Jiang Jinshi's eyes lit up; seeing Jiang Ze's appearance, he knew there was a story, and immediately switched to gossip mode.

"Which family's girl is it? Tell me, and your brother will help you weigh it up!"

Jiang Ze lowered his head and spoke in a voice so soft it was almost inaudible, "Nothing of the sort, there's not even a shadow of it yet!"

"The shadow is simple; Xiao Hu, go call Yu Heng; he understands this." Jiang Jinshi clearly didn't intend to let Jiang Ze off easily.

Jiang Ze waved his hands hurriedly, "Brother Xiao Hu, no need, no need."

Jiang Ze knew that if he didn't explain clearly, everyone would tease him, so he said embarrassedly, "I... I don't know her thoughts yet!"

Once this was said, everyone knew; this kid was having a one-sided crush!

"Xiao Ze! Brother has to teach you a couple of tricks." Jiang Jinshi had the look of someone who had been through it all, just short of having the word 'smug' carved on his forehead.

"Women are thin-skinned; you have to take the initiative; what it calls for is being thick-skinned and persistent.

What's the use of your one-sided crush? You have to loudly tell the other person your feelings; even if the other person really doesn't have that intention toward you, at least you have tried and didn't leave yourself with regrets."

Jiang Ze listened with a red face, taking everything Jiang Jinshi said to heart.

It wasn't just Jiang Ze who took these words to heart, but also Zhang Honghong, who had been silent on the side.

Taking advantage of everyone's attention being on Jiang Ze, Zhang Honghong secretly glanced at Tang Lin beside her.

Although she felt that the Big Boss was right, she was a married woman who had been sold, and her looks were not as good as the Stronghold Mistress or Luo Jin and the others, so how could she be worthy of a handsome scholar like Tang Lin.

Wasn't that the reason why Zhang Honghong rushed forward when Jiang Jinshi took out the sign language book?!

Now she had learned a lot of sign language and could have some simple communication with Tang Lin, which already made her feel satisfied.

Jiang Ze nodded vigorously, "Big Boss, I know, I will work hard."

One must know that Jiang Ze was the youngest among all the squad leaders, and if he had the beginnings of feelings, it would be a lie to say that others had no thoughts in their hearts.

"Come, come, come, eat while we chat!" Jiang Jinshi looked at the rolling red soup, his heart already itching with impatience.

He skillfully picked up a slice of lamb, started swishing it in the pot, and when it was ready, he picked it up, coated it in sesame sauce, and ate it in one bite; a sense of satisfaction instantly welled up in his heart.

Seeing this, everyone also started swishing in the pot in the same manner, very interested in this novel way of eating.

Zhang Honghong swished a slice of beef, and after eating it, her eyes lit up; she immediately swished another piece and put it in Tang Lin's bowl.

"Old Tang, try this; this is delicious."

Tang Lin used sign language to say thank you, and Zhang Honghong grinned, "We're all buddies, why be so polite!"

This scene didn't seem inappropriate in everyone's eyes; after all, no one had ever thought of Zhang Honghong as a woman; her strength was greater than a man's, and her build was sturdier than most squad leaders.

On the contrary, Tang Lin was a weak and delicate scholar who needed more care on ordinary days.

Only Li Xinyue quietly observed the two and found that Zhang Honghong was particularly attentive to Tang Lin; the desire to share was a very magical thing, and only when you like someone will it become increasingly intense.

After everyone dispersed, Li Xinyue couldn't wait to tell Jiang Jinshi her guess.

"I feel like Zhang Honghong likes Tang Lin!"

Jiang Jinshi seriously suspected that Li Xinyue was playing matchmaker randomly, "Impossible, I didn't even notice!"