novelSusiti Chapter 36, Purely Bad Guy
Chapter 36, Purely Bad Guy
Cao Wenda sneaked away, taking two sets of glass Buddha statues with him. He dared not linger, even though he was skeptical of the craftsman Lin Zhou had mentioned, the items were now right in front of him.
If this thing were to break or be lost, even if Lin Zhou said it wasn't that ridiculously expensive, he couldn't bear the guilt of delaying important matters.
As for where Lin Zhou got all these things from, he had his own set of explanations, which he was sure no one could find a loophole in. Just as Lin Zhou's external brain said, they would help Lin Zhou fabricate an impeccable origin.
As for Lin Zhou himself, Lao Cao didn't really care that much, because what he wanted was not the truth but value.
Soon, these two items were bypassed from everyone else and placed directly in front of Qin Hui.
"Prime Minister Qin, this is that boy's family heirloom. I've heard it's..."
Cao Wenda lowered his voice, looked around, and Qin Hui, whose face was ashen, nodded. The people around him immediately left the room.
"It was a treasure stolen from the Buddhist Kingdom in the South China Sea. Although he said a lot, he was too hesitant in his words, and his father and brothers acted like pirates."
Qin Hui had long, narrow eyes, making him quite handsome. He gently stroked his beard: "Pirates?"
"Yes. Many of his items are of unknown origin, but after my investigation, many of them are indeed products of the South China Sea, which suggests that he is connected with pirates."
Cao Wenda was incredibly shrewd. He initially referred to them as pirates, but after Qin Hui called them sea bandits, he immediately changed his terminology. To hell with pirates and sea bandits, if the boss called them sea bandits, then they were sea bandits.
"Hmm...that makes sense now." Qin Hui squinted and stroked his beard. "Only pirates who spend years at sea would know about dysentery, and only pirates could obtain this South China Sea Buddhist treasure. It seems he's probably a pirate who came to our Great Song to sell stolen goods."
Cao Wenda chuckled coldly: "Xu Ping even claims to be his nephew; in my opinion, he just wants to take it all for himself!"
Qin Hui waved his hand: "It's only human nature. But this child is genuinely trying to please you."
As he spoke, he walked up to the two crystal Buddha statues and examined them carefully. As the prime minister of a country, he had seen and eaten everything, but now he was truly witnessing something new.
During Cao Wenda's demonstration, it must be said that Qin Hui was truly moved, especially when the petals on the large lotus base began to move; Qin Hui was immediately captivated.
"Don't let that child suffer a loss." Qin Hui raised his hand and stroked the Buddha's head: "Go and give him 30,000 strings of cash, and tell him that I am very satisfied and have made a note of him."
"Understood."
"Go."
Cao Wenda took his leave, and Qin Hui played alone in the room for half a day... The more he played, the more reluctant he became, but he didn't have any good ideas. One was a gift for the King's Consort of Jin, and the other was a treasure to present to the Emperor. He could only wait until his own birthday to see what the child could produce.
However, there was another very important reason why he was willing to give Lin Zhou 30,000 strings of cash: Lin Zhou had really solved a huge problem for him.
The reason is nothing more than the so-called "demon star" incident this morning. It's causing quite a stir in the entire city of Lin'an, with all sorts of rumors circulating. The Imperial City Guard has been completely torn apart by him. All the capable people have been sent away, leaving behind a bunch of incompetent fools who are completely unable to solve the problem.
At this crucial juncture, the Shangguan family once again entrusted this difficult problem to Qin Hui. Qin Hui, however, had no time for such matters. On one hand, there was the intestinal plague that had spread to twenty-seven counties in Jiangnan, and the prevention and control methods were proving effective. If he were to step aside now, who knew who would claim the credit? On the other hand, there were the affairs of the Jin envoys coming and going; he simply had no interest in arguing with a mere minor official.
After all, if the stars were truly effective, then the entire world would still belong to Liu Xiu and his family.
The Buddha statue that Lin Zhou presented was of no use in quelling the public's heated discussion. However, it was precisely the kind of thing that could not solve the problem but could appease the person who raised it. If it could not appease the public, then it would appease Zhao Sheng.
If Wanyan…Zhao Gou is appeased, then the world will naturally be at peace. What's more, two children were sent at once, which also solved the urgent problem of sending gifts to Princess Rui.
Such a good child deserves a reward; that would be truly unfair.
Moreover, Qin Hui vaguely felt that this child surnamed Lin was lucky for him. From the moment Lin Zhou appeared, he had solved many thorny problems for him one after another. The trial planting of grain seeds, the spread of the plague, and even the arrival of this evil star were all indirectly helped by this little guy.
So giving him a reward is enough. If it's 30,000 strings of cash, he should be able to make a surplus of 3,000 to 5,000 strings of cash if he listens to him. That's enough for a young boy in his early twenties. Any more would only harm him.
"Lucky Star."
Qin Hui murmured, then chuckled and muttered to himself, "Pirates? What are pirates anyway? Even traitors can sit in high places."
At that moment, Lin Zhou was catching up on sleep so hard that he hadn't closed his eyes for a single moment since he arrived last night. He had been messing around with that broken rocket until morning, and then he even demonstrated a glass Buddha to Cao Wenda.
But he had only slept for less than four hours when he heard a commotion outside.
"Damn it..." He angrily pulled the blanket over his head, but who knew the commotion outside was getting louder and louder.
Now he really had no sleep, so he went to the window and, like Jinlian'er, used a small stick to prop up the window frame, sneaking around and looking outside.
His bedroom faced the street, which was usually lively, but never this noisy. The noisy place was a restaurant diagonally opposite him, where several well-dressed young men were standing and calling out to their friends. Five carts were parked at the entrance, and the restaurant staff were loading food boxes onto them.
Lin Zhou, always eager to find something to do, leaned out and started asking, "Hey, brother. What's going on here?"
The men below looked up at him, then scanned him a few times: "Who's your brother? Don't you dare call me that."
"Why are you being so fierce? I'm just asking you what you want."
At this moment, a refined-looking young man cupped his hands and smiled, saying, "A few of us have arranged to have lunch in the south of the city today."
Lin Zhou narrowed his eyes: "Huh? Dinner's served in Nancheng? What does that mean?"
Those people looked at Lin Zhou as if he were a stray dog. The fierce-looking boy who had spoken first chuckled and said, "You don't even know this?"
"Don't waste time talking to this rough fellow."
Then these people stopped paying attention to Lin Zhou...
Lin Zhou cursed under his breath, then got up and went outside: "Brother Ying, come here."
Eagle, with his short legs, trotted up the stairs: "Master, you're here!"
"Ask them for me later, and I'll teach you what to say."
After a while, at the same window, Eagle poked his head out and made two whooshing sounds. The boy below looked up and saw a pretty little maid, and immediately beamed with joy.
"Brothers, what are you doing?"
"Good sister, we're going to the South City to enjoy some fine food."
Eagle glanced back at Lin Zhou, who whispered, "Ask them what 'refined food' means."
"Brothers, what is meant by 'refined food'?"
Eagle's voice was sweet, and the young men quickly lost themselves in the repeated calls of "brother," vying to explain to the sweet little sister.
It turns out that during the days Lin Zhou was away, a trend suddenly swept through Lin'an City: people went to the South City to "feed dogs." At first, it was said to be an act of charity, but in the last few days, it took on a different meaning and became more like a simple competition.
Whoever feeds their pets the most and the best gets to save face. It sounds incredibly stupid, but these bastards just have to live for a reason…
This competitive spirit is getting worse and worse. They even found the word "feeding dogs" offensive, so they created a new term called "giving a refined meal," which means going to the south of the city every day to give food and then using it to impress themselves and show off.
"Damn...the Song Dynasty has some amazing people."
Lin Zhou's heart skipped a beat, but he didn't say anything. He just listened to the incessant recitation of the menu coming up from below.
At this moment, he couldn't care less about those people's foolish actions. He only knew that someone else was taking care of the aftermath of what he had initially done, and doing it more smoothly and neatly than he had. But the problem was that if something really went wrong, he would still have to take the blame...
No, he doesn't deserve to take the blame. It should be Cao Wenda who takes the blame, after all, Qin Hui is behind Lao Cao.
"Wow, that's awesome..." Lin Zhou sat on the edge of the bed and took a deep breath. Although he didn't know who was behind this plan, he couldn't help but marvel at the guy's ingenuity: "How do these people's brains work?!"