It was the second watch; pink hearts needed doubling up. The activity ends tonight; anyone with pink hearts, toss them in now.
***...***
Lian Manman was startled. She recognized him—the man being dragged by the carriage was He Laoliu from West Village, the brother of Lady He. He Laoliu had so notoriety around here. Although a peasant, he would indulge in all vices from eating, drinking, to gambling. What on earth could he have done this ti? And what were those people planning to do with him in the village?
The onlookers were also asking each other about what had happened.
"...Don’t know what’s going on. Seems like He Laoliu got snatched up while he was drinking at the tavern in town."
"Looks like it’s serious. Among that group, there seems to be soone in official attire."
It seed that no one had a clue what was happening, so Lian Manman turned around and went back inside the shop to tell Lady Zhang.
It was the busiest ti for business, and Lady Zhang, after hearing Lian Manman speak, couldn’t spare much attention.
"...It was just a matter of ti with his unruly ways! Sothing big was bound to happen!" Lady Zhang only said that much before she got busy with lifting the lids and picking out stead buns.
Being "unruly" was local slang around Thirty Mile Camp, roughly aning soone who was not upright in character, did not abide by rules, nor adhere to the law.
The shop was busy when Lian Shouxin hastily entered.
"Father, why aren’t you supervising the construction? What brings you back?" asked Lady Zhang as she saw Lian Shouxin arrive.
Lian Shouxin’s expression was grim. Following behind him was a boy, wearing a worn cotton jacket covered in snot, unmistakably Liulang.
"Didn’t you just see soone escorting Liulang’s uncle away? They were heading to our place," said Lian Shouxin.
"To our place? For what?" Lady Zhang was taken aback and beca anxious.
"It’s about the grape wine they sold last year. Trouble struck. Buyers ca with a governnt officer, captured He Laoliu, and then took him to fetch my second brother," Lian Shouxin stomped his foot in frustration.
"Grape wine, how did it cause trouble?" Lady Zhang asked quickly.
"Father sent Si Lang up the mountain to find second brother and let Liulang co to find . This child, Liulang, can’t speak very clearly. But the buyers have co knocking... I ca to inform you, and now I must go back ho to see what’s happening."
Without waiting for Lady Zhang or the others to respond, Lian Shouxin hurried off with Liulang back to the old house.
"Manman, there’s nothing wrong with the wine we sold, right?" Lady Zhang, touching her chest anxiously, asked Lian Manman.
"Mother, rest assured. Our wine is definitely fine," Lian Manman said.
Lady Zhang, seeing the confidence in Lian Manman’s deanor, felt slightly relieved.
"...Stealing our winemaking thod and clumsily copying it, how could they not run into trouble? Now that their wine is problematic, surely those buyers would co knocking. The trouble they’ve stirred up isn’t small, and they even brought a governnt officer, didn’t they? Oh dear, that, that, does it an they might be arrested and sent to jail?"
Lian Manman shook her head; she didn’t understand the current legal system and didn’t know what would happen.
"Mother, you look after the shop. I’m going to head ho to check," Lian Manman told Lady Zhang.
"Alright, you go. If there’s any news, co back and tell ," Lady Zhang said.
"Mm."
Lian Manman agreed and left the shop for the old house.
From quite a distance, Lian Manman saw a large carriage and a few horses parked at the gate of the Lian Family’s ho, with many villagers gathered not far off, discussing animatedly, saying that the Lian Family had gotten into a lawsuit. When Lian Manman arrived, these people cast sympathetic gazes at her.
Most tenant farrs were timid and avoided trouble, even circulating a saying: better to die wronged than entangle with the law. For the word "official" had two mouths; getting involved with an official lawsuit often did not just an ruin but could lead to the destruction of the entire family.
Although it was Lian Shouyi from the Lian Family who had got into legal trouble, Lian Shouxin, who had left to establish his own household, might not be able to avoid implication. In fact, as the Shouxin Family’s recent days had been flourishing, they could likely beco the target of extortion by the governnt officers.
Lian Manman was well aware of the ssage conveyed by everyone’s looks; she could only walk calmly through the crowd and into the gates of the Lian Family’s ho.
In the center of the courtyard were several large wine jars in disarray, with one jar’s opening broken in half, and reddish-brown wine spilled out, forming a small puddle on the ground.
Lian Manman approached, dipped her fingertip in the liquid, and without even tasting it, by rely slling it under her nose, she could tell that the wine had turned sour.
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