Chapter 127: Compensation, Aunt Bing Wants to Start a Business

Chapter 127: Compensation – Aunt Bing’s Business Venture

"By my command, each piece of clothing must be compensated with one guan," Lord Bing's voice was cold and unyielding.

One of the yamen officers behind Cong Lin abruptly looked up at Lord Bing, astonished.

"Your Lordship might not realize, but coarse cloth costs only a dozen wen at most. The county school uniforms are made of coarse fabric—one piece costs no more than a hundred wen," the officer explained, with hands clasped, thinking Lord Bing was unaware of the price of coarse cloth.

"Does procurement and production not require labor costs? Moreover, these were personally supervised by me. Is my standing not worth that much?" Lord Bing retorted.

It was absolutely worth it. As the inventor of airplanes and artificial rainmakers, his very existence was worth his weight in gold. But that wasn’t how this worked.

The officer wanted to say more, but Cong Lin shook his head slightly, and the man fell silent.

But Lord Bing wasn’t finished. "Those who refuse to compensate shall be arrested and imprisoned immediately. If their families fail to pay for meals, they’ll go hungry."

Cong Lin marched out with twenty to thirty yamen officers to carry out the order. The officer who had spoken earlier said, "His Lordship has always been like a father to the people. Why the sudden harshness today? Just have them return the uniforms."

Cong Lin’s expression darkened. "If His Lordship were lenient back then, he wouldn’t have executed Zhao Weihai when the grain merchants of Ji County raised prices during the drought. Then the entire county’s grain prices would have skyrocketed, the people unable to afford food, selling their children, even eating their own children."

Back then, Lord Bing’s swift execution of Zhao Weihai had stirred waves among officials, but it won him the hearts of tens of thousands of commoners.

The officer wasn’t an ungrateful man—his family was just ordinary commoners. If Lord Bing hadn’t decisively killed Zhao Weihai to deter grain merchants from raising prices, he didn’t know if his elderly parents and young children would have survived.

The officer flushed red. "Chief Cong, you know that’s not what I meant. I—"

"Enough. Just follow His Lordship’s orders. You think you’re cleverer than him? If so, why haven’t you invented airplanes or made artificial rain?"

The officer fell silent, shoulders sagging.

A fellow officer nudged him. "You ought to know better. Though Chief Cong is usually mild-tempered, you’re aware he worships Lord Bing like a god. To question Lord Bing is to question his faith—of course he’d be angry."

"I just thought His Lordship always cared for the people, even lowering himself to toast merchants for their sake. Why the sudden change?"

The colleague sighed. "He cares for the people, sure, but he won’t coddle scoundrels."

The officers split up, with three assigned to each village. Coincidentally, Chief Cong was responsible for Zhao Cheng’s village.

As Lord Bing had predicted, the moment they heard each uniform required a guan in compensation, the villagers started making excuses.

Following Lord Bing’s orders, Cong Lin wasted no words. With a wave of his hand, he declared, "By His Lordship’s command, those who refuse to pay the fine shall be arrested and imprisoned."

Zhao Cheng’s mother, seeing her husband about to be taken away, rushed inside and threw the two uniforms—which she had been too busy to alter—at Cong Lin.

"Here, take them—they’re untouched. They’re exactly as those three wretched girls brought them home. If they’re dirty or torn, go settle it with them, not my husband." Her words carried not a shred of maternal affection, only blame shifted onto her daughters.

Cong Lin glanced at the list in his hand. "Your household had four students at the county school. There’s also Zhao Cheng—his uniform hasn’t been returned either."

Zhao’s mother froze. "Even the boys’ uniforms have to be returned?"

Cong Lin stared at her. She didn’t seem to be pretending—he was genuinely at a loss for words.

"What’s so special about boys?"

Zhao’s mother hurried out to find Zhao Cheng, finally locating him and making him strip off his uniform.

"Here, all four pieces. Take them back."

Jungle refused to accept it, "Orders from the magistrate: only compensation will be accepted."

Zhao's father was taken away, and his mother wailed in desperation from behind, "Four guan! Where would our family get that much money? This'll ruin us!"

Jungle ignored her, "Oh, and don’t forget to come to the yamen to pay for meals. If you don’t pay, there’ll be no food in jail. If they starve to death, we can’t help it, but we’ll notify the family to claim the body."

Zhao’s father scoffed, "I haven’t done anything wrong. I don’t believe they’d dare to actually starve me to death."

Many shared this thought—getting arrested was one thing, but refusing to compensate for the uniforms or pay for jail meals.

And then they truly got nothing to eat.

Those who paid for meals were taken outside the cell at mealtime, watched by yamen officers to finish eating before being locked up again. Those who didn’t pay were left to starve.

People can last a week without food, but the hunger is unbearable. Coupled with the oppressive jail environment, most cracked under the strain and begged the officers to send word for their families to pay for meals.

In the end, most gave in and paid the compensation. Some families with many daughters—seven or eight—had only sent them to school so their sons could avoid tuition. These truly couldn’t afford it and paid part of the compensation first, agreeing to repay the rest in annual installments, clearly recorded in black and white.

Soon, it was Nan Jinping’s birthday. Things were different now, and so had Bing Wengu’s status. Since he valued Nan Jinping, both the Nan and Bing families now treated her with great importance.

On her birthday, the two families rented out the fanciest restaurant in Ji County to celebrate.

The Nan family had recently earned a good deal of money. With good harvests and no taxes, commoners had spare cash to buy affordable snacks.

Coincidentally, the Nan family’s tofu, tofu sheets, bean curd, and pickled bean curds cost only a few coins, tasted great, and were praised by the emperor himself—so they were flying off the shelves.

Their soybean oil, with no beany flavor and cheap as chips, also sold well.

The Nan family’s prosperity was all thanks to Nan Jinping. So for her birthday, every family member prepared gifts.

Miao Shi and Nan’s father gave new clothes handmade by Miao Shi. Since Nan Jinping now wore silk bestowed by the emperor, Miao Shi went all out, spending tens of guan on the fabric alone.

Gu Shi and Nan’s eldest brother gifted a gold hairpin inlaid with jade, worth a good ten guan.

As Bing Wengu grew more accomplished and Nan Jinping made her own money writing storybooks, Gu Shi valued her more. She even had the children prepare gifts—some drew paintings, others wrote blessings, and the girls stitched pouches and hankies.

Nan Erlang, still working for the family unlike his elder brother, could only afford a little keepsake—a pair of ceramic dolls worth one guan.

Nan Sanlang went to a temple to seek a pair of lucky charms for Nan Jinping and Bing Wengu.

Nan Xiaomei gifted a stitched tapestry depicting mandarin ducks playing in water.

From the Bing family, Bing’s father and Liang Shi made clothes for Nan Jinping. Aunt Bing, unable to afford the expensive outerwear, sewed intimate wear instead.

Wan Niang and Yaoniang made socks and shoes respectively.

Bing Erlang and He Shi also gave shoes. Bing Silang, managing the colored glaze workshop, had earned well and, uninterested in romance, opted for practicality—a pure gold dog statue.

Bing Wulang presented copied Buddhist sutras by hand, while Bing Sanniang surprisingly gifted a dagger.

Lastly, Bing Wengu took his turn, and everyone watched eagerly.

He pulled out a wooden case, opening it to reveal an airplane model—less a toy and more a precise model.

"It's a perfect scaled-down replica of a real airplane. Look, this is the engine built with LEGO bricks—this is exactly what a real airplane engine looks like," Bing Wengu explained his ingenious creation to Nan Jinping.

Nan Jinping's eyes sparkled with excitement. Airplanes held a special meaning for both of them—they symbolized hope for the common people. As for Nan Jinping himself, he was crazy about airplanes.

"Wen Gu, I love this LEGO set so much. Thank you," Nan Jinping said, touched. "Thank you for your thoughtfulness, for crafting this with your own hands for me."

Gazing at Bing Wengu's good looks and surrounded by family, Nan Jinping felt his heart melt. This was the first time his entire family had gathered to celebrate his birthday in such a big way. He had never experienced such treatment before—this feeling was truly wonderful.

After Nan Jinping's birthday, Aunt Bing came to see Bing Wengu. Having been in Ji County for so long, Bing Wengu had been constantly busy and never taken a break. Yesterday, for Nan Jinping's birthday, he made sure to take two days off—one to spend with Nan Jinping and the other to take him out for fun.

"Eldest Sister," Bing Wengu opened the door and stepped aside, inviting Aunt Bing inside.

"Eldest Sister is here—here, have a snack," Nan Jinping handed Aunt Bing a fruit platter.

"Thank you," Aunt Bing sat down. "Da Lang, I’ll keep it quick. Now that both children are studying at the county school, and everyone in the family is either running businesses or in school, I’m left alone and quite bored. So, I was thinking of starting a small business. I just don’t know if it might cause any trouble for you."

"It won’t," Nan Jinping handed Aunt Bing tea. "Eldest Sister, you might not know this since you’ve been at home, but Da Lang has implemented many policies encouraging women to get out there and work, supporting themselves. If you’re willing to start a business, it would actually be a way of supporting your husband."

"Really?" Aunt Bing looked at Bing Wengu in pleasant surprise, and he nodded in confirmation.

Nan Jinping added, "Eldest Sister, don’t worry about it. Do whatever you want. With Wen Gu here in Ji County, nobody’s gonna mess with you."

"I know. Da Lang is the local magistrate now—who would dare cause trouble for his sister?" Aunt Bing hesitated. "But I’m worried that as a divorced woman, running a business alone might invite gossip and side-eyes."

"If a couple is compatible, they stay together; if not, they part ways. What’s there to gossip about?" Bing Wengu said firmly.

Nan Jinping chimed in, "Not long ago, a couple came to the yamen. The husband’s family was abusing the wife, so Wen Gu granted them a divorce, even helped the woman secure custody of a child, who took her surname. That woman now works at Wen Gu’s experimental base and is even a project leader."

Aunt Bing had always been afraid of the gossip and side-eyes—that was why she had stayed home while the rest of the Bing family went out to work.

But yesterday’s birthday banquet had given her courage. She had seen firsthand how much the people adored Bing Wengu.

"Eldest Sister, what kind of business do you want to start?" Bing Wengu asked.

"Grilled sticks," Aunt Bing replied earnestly. "I don’t have much money, and this requires little capital. I can just set up a street cart and start selling."

Bing Wengu thought for a moment. "Eldest Sister, I actually have a few ideas for easy, cheap bites you could try."

Aunt Bing beamed. "Da Lang, your ideas are always good."

"As long as you trust me," Bing Wengu continued. "These snacks include rice noodles, spicy hot pot, sour and spicy noodles, and rice vermicelli. You could also prepare frozen wontons and dumplings—just boil them when customers come. And alongside skewer snacks, you could sell hot soy milk on the side."