"Everyone has heard Doctor Chen's diagnosis. The food from our stall is absolutely fine. As for why this man's wife miscarried, I'm afraid only he himself knows." Lin Yao's gaze was sharp.
"Then… then perhaps my damned wife ate something else without telling me, and made up lies because she was afraid I'd find out. I was deceived by her too." The man roared with a bluster that barely concealed his guilt, trying to mask his unease.
"My brother and I were just injured yesterday, and you come here today to cause trouble. Do you think we can't see through your scheme? You simply thought we were seriously injured and too preoccupied to manage our business at the dock, so you took the chance to slander us and ruin our reputation!" Lin Yao's willow-leaf eyebrows shot up as she raised her voice in angry rebuke. "Let's go! To the magistrate's office! You must come with us today to clarify this matter!"
As the man attempted to argue further, Lin Cheng moved swiftly, grabbing a rag from the table and stuffing it into his mouth, then twisting his arms behind his back to immobilize him.
A group of burly men emerged from the crowd, led by their regular customer — Head Escort Wu. With a face full of remorse, Head Escort Wu stepped forward and clasped his hands in apology to Lin Yao and Lin Cheng. "Lady Lin, Young Brother Lin, I must sincerely apologize for today's misunderstanding." He paused, "We were too quick to believe this man's one-sided account and thought there was truly something wrong with your food. We acted rashly."
Lin Yao gave a slight curtsey in return. "You are too kind, Head Escort Wu. Anyone faced with such a situation would have doubts—it's only human nature. Please don't trouble yourself over it."
"Lady Lin is truly magnanimous! My men and I will accompany you to the magistrate's office to serve as witnesses. We'll also help escort this troublemaker to ensure he doesn't escape along the way!" Head Escort Wu's voice boomed. He turned to the group of strong men behind him and waved his hand commandingly. "Brothers, today we'll escort Young Lord Lin and Lady Lin to the magistrate's office and lend them our support!"
"Agreed!" the young escorts chorused with formidable spirit. Lin Yao felt a warmth in her heart and looked at Head Escort Wu with deep gratitude.
"Let's go!" Head Escort Wu strode forward, taking the troublemaker from Lin Cheng's grasp as easily as lifting a chick. Lin Yao and Lin Cheng followed closely behind, and the group marched imposingly toward the magistrate's office.
Along the way, the man tried to struggle, but Head Escort Wu held him firmly, making escape impossible. The onlookers from earlier trailed behind, all eager to see how the matter would be resolved.
Upon reaching the magistrate's office, Lin Yao took up the drumstick and struck the drum to announce their grievance. Shortly after, the county magistrate ascended the bench to hear the case. Lin Yao and the others knelt orderly before the court and recounted the entire incident from beginning to end.
After listening, the magistrate frowned deeply. "You there in the court, do you confess your crime? Who instructed you to slander the Lin siblings? Speak the truth, or you will face severe punishment!"
The man, already guilt-ridden, trembled like a leaf under the magistrate's intimidation. The threat of torture terrified him out of his wits, and he immediately spilled everything like beans pouring from a bamboo tube: "Your Honor, I… I was also acting under someone's orders. After my wife miscarried, a young man of about seventeen or eighteen sought me out and promised me five hundred coins if I caused trouble at the dock today."
"What did that man look like?" the county magistrate pressed.
The man narrowed his eyes slightly, trying hard to recall. "Your Honor, the young gentleman was pale and plump, with small eyes and a mole the size of a pinky finger near his mouth."
Lin Cheng understood immediately—it was indeed his uncle's family again. "Your Honor, this person is the eldest son of my uncle. The attack on my younger sister yesterday was likely their doing as well. He currently works as an apprentice at the Drunken Immortal Tavern in town."
The magistrate immediately dispatched constables to accompany Lin Cheng to the tavern for identification.
Inside the tavern, Lin Youfu was wiping tables halfheartedly with a rag. When he looked up and saw Lin Cheng entering with constables, his heart sank. Hadn't the masked man said the matter was settled yesterday? Shouldn't Lin Cheng be tending to his sister whose hand was injured? How did he have time to report to the authorities?
Lin Youfu initially denied everything stubbornly, but when he was brought to the yamen and saw the man kneeling on the ground, he realized he'd been deceived by the masked man. He cursed the masked man repeatedly in his heart.
Being cowardly by nature, Lin Youfu broke down before the magistrate could even resort to torture. Terrified, he confessed the entire sequence of events.
Among the onlookers were several villagers from Huaihua Village, and the news spread instantly. When the main branch of the Lin family heard, they rushed over. Upon learning that Lin Youfu was sentenced to one month in jail and ordered to compensate the Lin siblings for medical expenses and today's consultation fees, Hu Shi plopped down on the ground and began making a scene. However, the magistrate wasn't having any of it. He slammed his gavel sharply and declared, "How dare you cause such a disturbance in the court! If you continue this unreasonable behavior, you'll be charged with disrupting court order!" The stern rebuke instantly silenced Hu Shi, frightening her into compliance. She climbed up from the ground, sobbing quietly.
After leaving the yamen, Lin Yao and Lin Cheng finally relaxed their tense nerves, both letting out simultaneous sighs of relief.
"Lady Lin, it seems you won't need to pay today's consultation fee," Chen Qianyuan said with a smile.
Lin Yao immediately understood his meaning. "If not for Doctor Chen's intervention today, my brother and I might never have cleared our names. Although the magistrate ruled that the main Lin family should cover today's fees, that family has always been shameless. I doubt we'll see the money anytime soon. Doctor Chen, please look after us in the future. Feel free to visit our stall often—consider it payment for the consultation."
"That would be wonderful!"Chen Qianyuan hadn't been particularly concerned about the several taels of silver anyway, as most of his money typically went toward buying food."
After bidding farewell to Chen Qianyuan, Lin Yao and Lin Cheng hurried home without delay. If they were caught by Uncle Lin and Hu Shi, the two would surely pester them endlessly—a situation they couldn't afford.
By the time the siblings returned to the village, Lin Song had already eaten at Liu Dazhuang's home.
They brought Lin Song back, reheated the rice, and had a simple meal with the Mó yù shuǎng made earlier in the day before retiring to their respective rooms. Lin Yao felt utterly exhausted; the moment she touched the bed, she fell into a deep sleep.
The next day, Lin Yao was awakened by the sound of konjac being peeled outside. Lin Cheng had made two trips up the mountain early that morning to dig up konjac and was now in the yard with A Yu, intently peeling konjac skins.
"Brother, A Yu, why didn't you wake me up?" Lin Yao walked out of the house while yawning and stretching.
Lin Cheng wiped the konjac peel from his hands. "You're still injured, and you were running around all day yesterday. You must be exhausted. Sleeping more will help you recover faster."
Wang Xiaoyu nodded in agreement. "Master, just leave these tasks to us. You should rest properly."
Lin Yao wasn't one to stay idle. After breakfast, she began contemplating new dishes again. Her gaze fell upon the casually piled sweet potatoes nearby, and a sudden inspiration struck her. Yes, she could make sweet potato skins!
The key ingredient for making sweet potato skins was sweet potato starch. Lin Yao immediately instructed Wang Xiaoyu to peel the sweet potatoes, cut them into small pieces, and put them into the stone mill. Lin Cheng began pushing the mill, and as the millstone turned, the sweet potatoes were ground into a pulp that flowed into a basin.
The sun was gradually rising higher, and Lin Cheng was sweating profusely from the heat. Seeing this, Lin Yao thought to herself that they really needed to buy a donkey. That way, neither she nor Lin Cheng would have to work so hard, and their efficiency would improve.
When the basin was filled with sweet potato pulp, Lin Yao brought over a piece of cheesecloth and patiently guided Wang Xiaoyu in filtering the pulp. Wang Xiaoyu grasped the cloth and squeezed hard, causing the juice to drip through the fine mesh into the basin below. In no time, they had filtered out a large basin of clear liquid.
"It's done. Let it settle overnight, and tomorrow we can pour off the cloudy water on the surface. Once it's dried, it'll be ready to use," Lin Yao said with satisfaction as she looked at the liquid in the basin.
"What is this for?" Lin Cheng asked, unable to contain his curiosity.
"This ground powder is sweet potato starch. It can be steamed to make noodles or used to create a food called sweet potato skins!" Lin Yao grew more excited as she spoke, as if she could already see the Hot and Sour Noodles and sweet potato skins laid out before her.
"What are sweet potato skins?" Wang Xiaoyu also looked curious, having never heard of such a food before.
"Sweet potato skins look somewhat similar to konjac tofu. You add pickled vegetables and minced meat to them and pan-fry them on an iron plate. The taste is absolutely delicious!" Lin Yao explained while gesturing.
Lin Yao was someone who acted on her ideas. She decided to pickle three large jars of vegetables that very day—sour radish, spicy cabbage, and sour cowpeas—none could be missing.
Since many villagers grew these vegetables, Lin Yao sent Lin Cheng to Liu Dazhuang's house to purchase some. During this period, the three siblings had managed to survive largely thanks to the help from Liu Dazhuang and his wife. Whenever Liu Dazhuang went hunting in the mountains, he would take Lin Cheng along. Even if Lin Cheng didn't catch anything, Liu Dazhuang would share some of his hunt, and Sister-in-Liang often brought them vegetables.
At Liu Dazhuang's house.
Liu Dazhuang was in the yard cleaning a pheasant he had just hunted when he heard knocking at the door. "Coming! Coming!" He quickly put down the pheasant and hurried to the gate.
Opening the door, he saw Lin Cheng standing outside and warmly invited him in. "Cheng Ge, come in! What brings you here?"
"Brother Dazhuang, I'd like to buy some cabbage, radishes, and cowpeas from you," Lin Cheng promptly stated his purpose.
"Don't talk about buying! We have plenty of these vegetables at home. Just come with me to the backyard to pick some," Liu Dazhuang waved his hand dismissively.
Lin Cheng quickly waved his hands in refusal. "That won't do—we must pay. All these years, thanks to you and sister-in-law's care, our three siblings and mother managed to survive. Now that we can support ourselves, how could we possibly take your vegetables for free?"
"Why stand on ceremony with me? You kids work so hard at the docks to earn money. Save your coins for yourselves," Liu Dazhang still refused to accept payment.
"Brother Dazhuang, really, we can't. This time we need a large quantity—A Yao plans to make pickled vegetables to sell. If business goes well, we'll need to regularly source from you in the future. If you won't take payment, we'll have no choice but to buy from others," Lin Cheng said, seeing Liu Dazhuang's insistence.
"You stubborn child… alright then, come with me." Liu Dazhuang reluctantly led Lin Cheng to his vegetable patch.
After working for quite some time, they harvested two full baskets containing ten jin of cabbage, eight jin of white radish, and five jin of cowpeas. Calculating at the rate of one wen for two jin of cabbage, one wen per jin of radish, and two wen per jin of cowpeas, Lin Cheng figured the total came to twenty-three wen.
Just as Lin Cheng was counting out the copper coins to give to Liu Dazhuang, Liang Shi, Liu Dazhuang's wife, returned home. Spotting the two large baskets of vegetables and Lin Cheng counting money, she immediately understood the situation and smacked Liu Dazhuang's back. "How could you take money from Cheng Ge'er? These are just vegetables we grow for ourselves—they're hardly worth anything!"
Lin Cheng hurriedly intervened. "Sister-in-law, I insisted on buying these from Brother Dazhuang. We plan to pickle them and sell them at the market. We'll need to trouble you and Brother Dazhuang for vegetables regularly from now on. If he doesn't accept payment, we'd feel too guilty and would have to buy elsewhere. Please don't refuse."
Liang Shi finally relented. "You child, still so formal with your sister-in-law. Fine then, since you put it that way, I'll accept. In the future, just come take whatever vegetables you need."
Lin Cheng acknowledged her words, picked up the vegetable baskets, bid farewell to the couple, and headed home with the two large baskets of vegetables.