Linxia

Chapter 179, Heavy Rain

The heat continued for the next few days.

The Fang family had an ice jar, which was cool and refreshing. It spread in the alley and people often came to sit there. At first, there were only one or two people, but Fang's mother and Tian Xuan were very welcoming. When they came, they would invite them to sit down, make sesame bean tea, and give them snacks and fruits.

Later, too many people came, and even with the Ice Mirror, they could no longer feel the coolness. It might be because they thought Fang's mother and Tian Xuan were easy to talk to, or it might be because they thought that others were taking advantage and they were at a loss if they didn't. The law cannot hold everyone responsible, and the people who came later would not leave either. They were so tactless that Fang's mother finally couldn't help but lose her temper and drove them away.

When she got so angry, these people became scared and started to apologize.

So later, Fang's mother only invited people who were close to the Fang family to come, such as Su Xiaoqing, Sister Guihua, Sha Xiaoyun, and Grandma Qiu.

That day, early in the morning, Su Xiaoqing, Sister Guihua, and Sha Xiaoyun came over and talked with Fang's mother and Tian Xuan, while doing some needlework.

Fang Lin had his breakfast and did not go out. The store did not need him to be there all the time. He could just walk around when he had time. He was teasing Guaiguai and Huahua.

By the way, since the weather turned hot, these two guys found that their home was cooler, so they changed their previous habit of "not going home until dinner time" and no longer went out for a stroll.

Fang's mother said, "The weather is getting hotter and hotter. I heard that there are porters at the dock who are getting sunburned every day these days."

"The city is different from our village. There are more trees and grass, so it's hotter." Su Xiaoqing said.

Sha Xiaoyun also said: "My son Youzi is at the dock. He heard from the businessmen that there is another severe drought in the north this year. Many places in Qin and Lu have no harvest..."

"The north suffered a disaster last year, but we managed to get through it thanks to the reserve warehouses and charity warehouses, and the court increased taxes on us to provide support. But it's the same this year, and I'm afraid there will be many people fleeing famine in the north," said Sister Osmanthus.

After hearing this, everyone sighed, and perhaps they felt a little melancholy when they thought of the flood that happened in the past and came to the city.

However, these melancholy feelings came and went quickly. After a while, they were talking about the wedding banquet of Sister Guihua and Qian Wenyan a few days ago, and about Qiao Xu, Wang Fusheng, and Jiao Simao from Xiaohe Village who came to the city and went to the dock arranged by Fang Lin and rented a house in Shun Hutong.

As we were chatting, the sun gradually rose and the temperature began to rise. In the past, the pre-ordered ice would have been delivered at this time, but today, we waited and waited, and it was almost noon, but it still hadn't been delivered.

"I'm afraid something has happened. I'll go check it out."

Fang Lin reserved the ice through Xu Kuolao's friend, an ice cave owner named Xu San. He had never met the friend before, so it was not convenient for him to go to him directly. He thought that he hadn't been to Xu Kuolao's house for two days, so he might as well go over to see him.

……

Xu family.

Fang Lin came over and saw Xu San was also there, as if he had just arrived.

"Fang Zhenfu!"

"Boss Xu!" Fang Lin bowed back and greeted him.

Xu Kuo Lao had told him about Xu San, a man with a good business sense. When the winter ice industry was at its hottest in summer, he borrowed some money from Xu San, built an ice cellar, and became the owner of the cellar. He has made a lot of money in the past few years.

"Come on, Brother Fang and Brother Xu, take a seat. You came at the right time, just in time for lunch, so stay and have a drink together." Old Xu Kuo asked his wife to serve the dishes, and pulled Fang Lin and Xu San to sit down.

At the Xu family's side, the ice hasn't been delivered today and it's very stuffy.

"I came to Brother Xu's house to talk about Bing. Fang Zhenfu also came for Bing, right? I didn't send it today because of another reason. I went through a lot of trouble to deal with it, and I was just about to send someone to talk to him."

Xu San apologized repeatedly, drank three cups as punishment, and then said: "Brother Xu, Fang Zhenfu, you also know that ice cellars are very delicate and cannot withstand heat. If someone has bad intentions, the loss will be huge, so we will recruit people to watch over the ice cellar day and night. My ice cellar is no exception. The person I recruited is called Huang Da..."

Fang Lin and Xu Kuolao listened and nodded.

Xu Kuo always fought his way up from the bottom of society, and he knows the dark side of human nature and will do anything to achieve his goal.

Fang Lin has lived two lives as a human being and has some experience with this.

Some people will kick a dog when they pass by. This may sound a bit exaggerated, but there are all kinds of birds in a forest, and there is never a shortage of people like them, just like those who poison other people's fish ponds, chickens and ducks out of envy and jealousy.

"Nothing has happened to the ice cellar in the past few years, except this year." Xu San shook his head and said, "I am a cautious person. Not only did I find someone to guard the cellar, I also checked it myself every now and then. This morning, Huang Da and I walked around the area and found that the water flow at the drain was a bit large. I was immediately shocked..."

Xu Kuo was afraid that Fang Lin didn't understand the ice cave, so he explained to him: "There are drainage holes inside the ice cellar to drain the water from the melted ice. So the water in the drain is all melted ice. The more water there is, the more ice has melted."

Fang Lin nodded to show that he understood.

"That's right. Brother Xu is right. It's my fault for not explaining it clearly to Fang Zhenfu."

Xu San continued, "My ice cellar is not the best and its sealing cannot be compared with the official ice cellar, but it is not the worst either. I have been doing this business for a few years and have a general grasp of the water output. It is obviously abnormal to see such a large amount of water flowing out now."

"I asked Huang Da, but he didn't know the reason either. So, the two of us checked along the ice cellar again, and finally found a clue. It turned out that there was a hole in the sunny side. The hole was quite large, enough for a child to crawl back and forth, but it was covered by a pile of dry grass. If you don't look carefully, it's really not easy to find. What's worse is that the hole is located in the southwest corner. When the afternoon sun is setting in the west, it will shine directly on the hole, and a lot of hot air will be poured in..."

"How cruel!" Xu Kuolao listened and narrowed his eyes.

Fang Lin also nodded: "Such a big hole must not be caused by children playing, it must be someone deliberately destroying it."

"Really? This is going to kill me! Huang Da and I went down to move it away and saw that the ice at the back had basically melted. At that time, I was so angry that I almost fainted."

Xu San said with great sorrow: "To be honest with Brother Xu and Governor Fang, the cost of storing ice in the ice cave is extremely high. Not to mention the consumption over half a year, just the cost of hiring workers to harvest ice is a considerable expense. Now it's like this... Alas!"

"It's such a big deal, no wonder the ice wasn't delivered today." Fang Lin sympathized with Xu San, and at the same time realized that there was something fishy going on, but he didn't dare to ask.

Xu Kuo Lao and Xu San were relatively close, so he didn't have this concern. After thinking for a while, he asked, "Brother Xu, such a big hole must have made some noise when it was dug out. As the cellar keeper, didn't Huang Da hear anything? Didn't you ask?"

"Of course I asked, but Huang Da was very sure that he heard nothing. I was going to report it to the police, and Huang Da panicked and quickly explained that something happened at home the day before yesterday, so he went home. He was afraid that something might happen in the ice cellar without anyone watching, so he asked Qian Ermao to look after it."

Xu San sighed, "I was so angry that I stamped my feet. Who do you think Qian Ermao is? He is a lazy guy who gets drunk all day long. It doesn't make any difference whether he is in charge or not."

"I've heard of this guy." In the past, Fang Lin often went out drinking with Dong Zugao and had heard of Qian Ermao's reputation.

This guy is a drunkard and his family is poor. People ask him to run errands for free, just a pot of wine will do.

Obviously, Xu Kuo Lao had heard of Qian Ermao's reputation and shook his head: "That Huang Da is really confused. He could find anyone else, but he chose this guy." "Who said he wasn't? After I asked further, I found out that Huang Da was just looking for a bargain, so he went to Qian Ermao... Alas! Alas!" Xu San sighed repeatedly.

"We still have to report this matter to the police." Fang Lin said.

"Yes, I, Xu San, am a well-known figure in the city, and I have some connections in the government. After I reported it to the authorities, they came quickly and examined the hole. They determined that it was dug the day before yesterday."

Xu San said, "Huang Da and I went to the government office. The prefect also arrested Qian Ermao and asked about the case. Qian Ermao confessed that he was indeed guarding the ice cellar the day before yesterday and did not find anything unexpected. But this person was drunk and looked like a dead person. As long as there was not too much noise, he would not be found at all."

"Finally, the prefect basically confirmed that the hole was dug by Qian Ermao while he was guarding the ice cellar. As for whether Qian Ermao was involved in the conspiracy, it is unknown. I demanded that this man be thrown into jail. Regardless of whether he was involved or not, Qian Ermao could not escape responsibility. But Qian Ermao cried out for injustice, saying that he was only entrusted by Mr. Huang to guard for one night. Out of human feelings, he only asked for a pot of wine and confiscated any wages. Now he is asked to bear such a big responsibility. What kind of logic is this?"

Fang Lin nodded after listening. To be honest, Xu San was indeed wronged, but what Qian Ermao said did make some sense.

"Brother Xu, how was this matter finally handled?" asked Xu Kuo Lao.

"The prefect released Qian Ermao and told me not to worry. There is no evidence as to who did it, so it's not easy to detain anyone. You say, this, this..."

Xu San was helpless: "When I asked him about it, the prefect only said that he would give me an explanation in a few days, but isn't that just evading me? I don't know the morals of the government, and they just kept dragging it out and it's never resolved."

"To be honest, Brother Xu, I came here this time just to ask Brother Xu to help me use my connections to speed up the case." He asked for help.

"Like you, I have some connections in the yamen, but I can't change the prefect's mind." Xu Kuo always knew the relationship between Fang Lin and Prefect Pu, but how could a shrewd man like him push the blame on Fang Lin?
Fang Lin listened to this and suddenly smiled and said, "Boss Xu, please be patient. The prefect said to wait and see in a few days. Why not just wait and see?"

He said this because he understood Prefect Pu and knew that he was not the kind of person who would try to smooth things over.

"If my guess is correct, Xu Sanda doesn't need to use his connections so hastily. Within a few days, the case will be solved and the truth will be revealed." Fang Lin thought to himself.

After hearing what Fang Lin said, Xu Kuo Lao narrowed his eyes, as if he had thought of something: "That's the truth, Brother Xu, just wait and see!"

Monk Xu was completely confused, but since Fang Lin and Xu Kuo Lao said so, he had no other choice but to do this.

……

As Fang Lin expected, after a few days, the case finally came to a conclusion.

Prefect Pu sent people to arrest Huang Da.

"Did he do it?!" Xu San was shocked when he found out, because Huang Da had followed him for several years and nothing had happened in the ice cave, so he had never suspected this man.

Fang Lin and Xu Kuo Lao were not surprised. Qian Ermao was a fool. He would never dare to do such a wicked thing. He was also a drunkard. He would not care about anything when he was drunk. Isn't he the best person to take the blame? Huang Da chose Qian Ermao, and the accident happened on the night when Qian Ermao was guarding the ice cave. It can be said that Huang Da is highly suspected.

Prefect Pu also thought of this and deliberately let Huang Da go for a few days. As the saying goes, a thief is always guilty, and after doing such illegal things, he must be uneasy and unable to eat. A few days later, he was suddenly arrested. Huang Da thought that the matter was exposed, and he panicked and confessed his guilt.

This is the strategy of playing hard to get.

According to Huang Da's account, it turned out that Yang Balang, a wealthy Tibetan ice dealer in the city, colluded with Huang Da to set up this plan for thirty taels of silver. He originally wanted Qian Ermao to take the blame, but he never expected that Prefect Pu saw through his trick, and his cleverness backfired.

Yang Balang is a member of the Yang family and has some kinship with Yang Juren's Yang family. Because of the partnership for the Nanyang fleet, the Yang family found Fang Lin as a middleman. He did not intervene, but just acted as a go-between and let the Yang family and Xu San talk it over themselves.

In the end, Yang Balang and Xu San settled the matter privately, and they paid a large sum of money for the compensation.

Speaking of this matter, Fang Lin gained a favor from the Yang family. If the Yang family went too far in the accounts of the Nanyang merchant caravan in the future, they would naturally be in the wrong. Moreover, it goes without saying that Xu San was grateful and brought many gifts to express his gratitude.

……

The weather was still very hot, so Xu San couldn't make ice here.

Fang Lin knew that saltpeter could be used to make ice, but the ancients had discovered this long ago and there were records of it in the Tang Dynasty. There was naturally a reason why it was not used on a large scale and why ice cellars were still being built to store ice.

Saltpeter resources are relatively scarce and difficult to obtain on a large scale. The conversion rate is low and the ice production is low. It can only be produced for self-entertainment and in very small quantities.

The shares of the ice cave in the city had basically been decided long ago, so it was really hard to find them at the moment. It happened that day that Fang Lin, as the president of the Popular Fiction Guild, was endorsing a popular novel and met Fan Qihui. The other party waved his hand and directly gave him a part of Xia Bing's share without asking for any money.

——The Fan family has an ice cellar. Compared with a huge family like Fan, the amount of ice used by the Fang family is nothing. The share given to Fang Lin is not only enough for the Fang family’s own use, but also enough to support Mr. Xu Kuo.

……

People like the Fang family, who are rich or powerful and can enjoy the Bingjian, are not afraid of the hottest weather, but ordinary people suffer.

As the weather grew hotter, many people in the city suffered from heatstroke. The clinics were overcrowded, and factory workers and dock workers all stopped working.

That evening, at the Fang family.

As the family was having dinner, Fang's mother said, "What a horrible weather! Not a drop of rain has fallen in all these days."

"We have plenty of water here, so we don't have drought. But it's so hot! We can't even go to the dock. I don't know when we can resume work?" Father Fang sighed.

These two days, he could only stay at home. He didn't feel hot, but he felt bored when he was idle.

"We have ice at home, so it's okay. Other families are suffering." Tian Xuan said as her belly got bigger and bigger.

Fang Lin looked outside and suddenly said, "The wind is blowing."

The wind was indeed blowing.

Woohoo!
The wind started to blow, getting stronger and stronger, shaking the orange tree at the door, making it twist back and forth, and its leaves rolling like waves.

Not long afterward.

Rumble!
Thunder rumbled, lightning flashed like silver snakes, tearing the sky apart, and soon heavy rain poured down like a torrential rain.

……

(End of this chapter)