Lin Yuan was taken aback, only now truly grasping why Mo Sanniang had hurried over after seeing Li Chang arrive. It turned out it wasn’t just about informing her of gifting matters, but also this underlying reason.
Even those disdainful or sympathetic looks from shop owners outside weren’t because Li Chang had brought her a gift, but because they had misinterpreted her relationship with Li Chang!
Seeing Lin Yuan still in a daze, uncertain what she was thinking, Mo Sanniang grew anxious. She fiercely gripped Lin Yuan’s arm and shook it, "Did you hear me, huh? This is no trivial matter! You’re new here, you might not know of Li Chang’s reputation in Zhuma Town, but Sister knows! You’re young, and your parents aren’t by your side, Sister can’t let anything happen to you!"
The two murmured to each other for quite a while, Xia Zheng looked over puzzled, deliberated for a moment if he should come over, but was stymied by a look from Lin Yuan.
Xia Zheng pursed his lips and flopped back down onto the chair, staying put.
Lin Yuan grasped Mo Sanniang’s hand and nodded seriously, "Sister Mo, rest assured, I remember! I’ve somewhat heard about what Master Magistrate is like, I won’t fall for his tricks."
Hearing her say this, Mo Sanniang was still somewhat uneasy, but after repeatedly cautioning her, she shook her head and went back to her shop to attend to her business.
Watching Mo Sanniang’s retreating figure, Lin Yuan felt a warmth in her heart, but her eyes swept around, and she happened to see two women from the neighboring shop pointing and gesturing at her own doorway, she didn’t know what they were talking about.
Lin Yuan let out a cold laugh and didn’t bother with them.
Let the misunderstanding be, she didn’t care anyway. Xia Zheng cared even less, although that was the case, Lin Yuan only told him about Li Chang accepting gifts from shopkeepers, she did not share the others’ thoughts with him.
After hearing Lin Yuan’s words, Xia Zheng scoffed, showing an unsurprised expression, "Li Chang’s indulgencies in wining, whoring, gambling, and the like are nothing he hasn’t dabbled in. Let alone accepting bribes? Don’t worry, he won’t last much longer."
Xia Zheng spoke with confidence. Lin Yuan didn’t ask further, she just wanted to run her shop well, earn Silver, and didn’t care who the officials were. Of course, if they could get a better Master Magistrate, she would be quite pleased.
Lin Yuan knew the purpose of Li Chang’s visit, but others didn’t. Fifth Sister Bai and the others were still a bit afraid that those thieves would come again, but seeing that even the Master Magistrate had personally visited to ensure he would capture those criminals gave them a peace of mind, energizing them to work even harder.
However, Uncle Wang looked at Lin Yuan with somewhat peculiar eyes as if he had something to remind her, but after glancing at Xia Zheng, he ultimately didn’t speak out.
It was unclear whether it was because of Li Chang’s personal visit to Rice Flower Fragrance that word had spread, or because the shop now had those guards, but no more thefts had occurred since then.
Nevertheless, Lin Yuan specially hired a skilled craftsman to make her a trick shelf, where she placed the God of Wealth.
The craftsman was not the only contributor to the project. The main structure was made by the professional, but the intricate mechanisms were devised by Lin Yi. According to Xia Zheng, Lin Yi, being one of their own, had better skills than the other craftsmen.
Lin Yuan agreed with this statement, she had heard plenty of stories about people stealing from their own customers before, like tomb robbers relying on their own tomb designs and understanding of the various mechanisms to then hire someone to steal, right?
After these days of adapting, Meng Liangdong became more proficient at calculating and settling accounts, and hardly needed Mo Sanniang to teach him every day anymore. With Uncle Wang now able to fully handle the kitchen work, it allowed Lin Yuan, the Boss, to have some free time.