The only good person in the county yamen? Su Nianyuan instantly felt a surge of curiosity toward Lin Wenbin.
She had Lin Shoufeng carry her further inside, drawing closer to Lin Wenbin and overhearing his conversation with the shopkeeper.
The shopkeeper looked extremely helpless. “Registrar Lin, it’s not that I don’t want to help you. I’m just a businessman and I have to make a living too. If I do this, I’ll be losing money outright.”
Lin Wenbin’s voice was very refined and gentle, though it now carried a hint of pleading. “There must be plenty of aged rice in your warehouse that you wouldn’t be able to sell anyway. Why not sell it to me at a discount?”
What he said sounded quite reasonable.
The shopkeeper’s mouth twitched. “Even with a discount, you want to buy an entire warehouse of mine—a full eighty shi of grain—with just ten taels of silver? Are you out of your mind, or am I?”
Su Nianyuan couldn’t help but find it a bit amusing. One shi was equivalent to one hundred and twenty jin, so wanting to buy nearly ten thousand jin of grain for just ten taels of silver explained the shopkeeper’s expression.
Lin Wenbin felt rather embarrassed as well, the tips of his ears turning red, yet he persisted. “Right now, the commoners outside the city are displaced and have no food. I cannot just sit by and watch them starve to death.”
The shopkeeper thought to himself: *You want to play the good guy, and make me bleed this heavily?*
Just as the shopkeeper was about to have someone escort Lin Wenbin out, Su Nianyuan suddenly spoke up. Her crisp voice pierced right through the hustle and bustle of the grain shop, carrying clearly to the ears of both men.
“Uncle Lin, why haven’t you finished the task my dad assigned to you yet?”
Lin Wenbin: “???”
Lin Shoufeng: “?????”
Shopkeeper Li: “?????”
Xiao Qi: “?????”
Lin Wenbin turned around and saw Su Nianyuan being held in Lin Shoufeng’s arms. Meeting her clear, innocent eyes, Lin Wenbin asked in confusion, “Whose dad are you talking about?”
He could be certain that he had never seen this little girl before.
Lin Shoufeng was also puzzled as to why Su Nianyuan would say such a thing. Could Su Jiancheng be that familiar with Registrar Lin?
However, he trusted Su Nianyuan, so he kept his lips tightly pressed together and said nothing.
Su Nianyuan smiled as she looked at Lin Wenbin, her articulation very clear. “Uncle Lin is so silly. My dad is Zhou Qiyuan, of course! Didn’t dad send you to find a business partner to buy grain at the lowest possible price?”
“There are so many disaster victims right now, so this is a great opportunity to perform a meritorious service. My dad is even planning to nurture an imperial merchant out of this.”
Zhou Qiyuan was her dad? And an imperial merchant?
The person who reacted the most was undoubtedly Shopkeeper Li. He didn’t think for a single second that Su Nianyuan would lie.
Even if Zhou Qiyuan didn’t have a whole flock of wives and concubines in his backyard, he certainly had around ten. Wasn’t it completely normal for him to have a five-year-old daughter?
Besides, how could a five-year-old little girl possibly lie?
Shopkeeper Li’s brain whirred, and his face instantly transformed into a radiant smile. He grabbed Lin Wenbin’s hand and chided, “Oh, Registrar Lin, look at you! Since it’s an order from Magistrate Zhou, why didn’t you say so earlier!”
“My Li Family Grain Shop also wants to contribute to the court, and naturally, I will respond to a single command from Magistrate Zhou! Coincidentally, I do have a warehouse full of aged grain, though it’s gotten a bit moldy. Do you mind?”
Chances to show one’s face in front of the imperial court were things that major merchant associations fought tooth and nail for. He never expected such a great opportunity to fall into his lap.
Looking at Shopkeeper Li’s ingratiating smile, Lin Wenbin’s Adam’s apple bobbed slightly.
He glanced at Su Nianyuan, who wore a gentle smile, as if offering encouragement.
Although he didn’t know what purpose this little girl had, he knew what he needed to do.
Lin Wenbin nodded. “I don’t mind. I will certainly report Shopkeeper Li’s benevolent act truthfully to the magistrate! When the time comes, Shopkeeper Li’s name will likely be written in the memorial submitted to the court and presented right before His Majesty’s eyes.”
“Really?!”
Shopkeeper Li was so excited he looked as if he was about to steam over. His name was going to be seen by His Majesty? That was simply smoke rising from his ancestors’ graves!
He hurried to say, “I’ll write out the voucher for you right away. Registrar Lin, you can just take the voucher directly to the warehouse in the West District to collect the grain.”
*Your Majesty, Your Majesty, here I come! Hehehe~~*
Lin Wenbin’s little heart beat rapidly from the tension; this was his first time ever lying in his life.
Holding Su Nianyuan, Lin Shoufeng maintained a calm expression on the outside, looking very much like an ordinary bodyguard, but inside, his mind was churning with towering waves.
With just a couple of sentences, Shopkeeper Li had contributed an entire warehouse of grain. Even if it was aged grain, it was still immensely valuable.
What on earth was the little village chief trying to do?
Shopkeeper Li finished writing the voucher and handed it to Lin Wenbin with a smiling, cupped-hand gesture. “Registrar Lin, here is the voucher! My name is Li Shoufang—please make sure you don’t remember it wrong!”
Lin Wenbin replied, “I’ve got it, Shopkeeper Li.”
“Take care, everyone!”
It wasn’t until they had walked out of the street and Shopkeeper Li’s scorching gaze finally vanished from behind them that Lin Wenbin let out a breath of relief, turning around to face the three of them.
His gaze swept over them one by one. Even though he was still young, having served as an official for two years, he had cultivated a bit of imposing presence.
“Who on earth are you people?!”
His voice was very low, scaring Xiao Qi so much that he dropped to his knees with a thud, tears welling up in his eyes. “Registrar Lin, I’m just an ordinary beggar! I’ve truly never done a single bad thing!”
Xiao Qi had actually wanted to run away long ago.
Not only did this little sister claim to be the magistrate’s daughter, but she had said it right in front of Registrar Lin. Wasn’t that a capital offense punishable by beheading?
*Wuuu wuuu*, if she wanted to die, why did she have to drag him along? He was only ten years old; he didn’t want to die yet!
Lin Shoufeng was also somewhat frightened, pulling Su Nianyuan tighter into his arms. If the registrar intended to punish them, he would make a break for it immediately.
After all, Registrar Lin’s scrawny frame couldn’t possibly outrun him anyway.
Su Nianyuan flashed a smile at Lin Wenbin and then opened both of her hands toward him.
Lin Wenbin: *What kind of move is this?*
After a moment’s hesitation, Lin Wenbin reached out and scooped her over. Lin Shoufeng was reluctant to let go, but after Su Nianyuan kicked him twice, he grudgingly loosened his grip.
Even so, his eyes remained locked on them like a fierce tiger.
It was Lin Wenbin’s first time holding a little girl. She felt soft, and a sweet fragrance emanated from her. Her clothes couldn’t be considered very clean, but she looked as though she had been carefully and tenderly raised.
Wrapping her arms around Lin Wenbin’s neck, Su Nianyuan spoke in a babyish, milky tone, “Uncle Lin, don’t be angry. I had a dream last night, and in the dream, an immortal grandpa told A-Yuan that Magistrate Zhou Qiyuan is my godfather. As long as he takes me as his goddaughter, he is bound to achieve great success and fortune in the future.”
“An immortal grandpa? Little girl, are you joking with me?”
Lin Wenbin frowned, feeling that this little girl was spouting nonsense.
Su Nianyuan wasn’t flustered in the slightest. Looking directly into Lin Wenbin’s eyes, she suddenly asked, “Uncle Lin, do you also feel that Magistrate Zhou’s approach is wrong?”
Lin Wenbin fell silent.
Of course it was wrong. How could the county magistrate disregard those commoners? If he thought it was right, he wouldn’t have been using his own hard-earned marriage savings to buy grain.
Su Nianyuan let out a soft laugh. “Do you know what the consequences of the magistrate acting this way will be?”
“What consequences could there possibly be?”
Lin Wenbin retorted, and Lin Shoufeng was equally baffled.
Aside from people dying, what other consequences could there be? Hadn’t the magistrate been doing things this way for the past five years? It was just that this time the natural disaster happened to be the most severe.
Su Nianyuan, however, raised a small finger and shook it.
“No, if Magistrate Zhou ignores this situation this time, he will face an utter, catastrophic disaster.”
Her finger pointed up toward the heavens.
Lin Wenbin swallowed hard. *Could it really be that serious?*