Chapter 521: Chapter 521: Buying the Fugui Building
Squad Leader Zhu, due to dereliction of duty, was ordered to stay at home for self-reflection, but upon hearing from his former subordinates that Luo Wu was going to be promoted to squad leader soon, he couldn’t help but rush to the county government office, hoping to seek an audience with County Magistrate Xu. However, as soon as he arrived, he saw Luo Wu.
Seeing one’s nemesis, his eyes reddened with anger. That thief Luo Wu even had a smile on his face, clearly mocking him.
Squad Leader Zhu was furious, pointing at Luo Wu and accusing: "You ungrateful cur, I took such good care of you in the past, yet you stab me in the back and steal my position as squad leader, robbing me of my livelihood, do you have no conscience?!"
Upon hearing this, Luo Wu looked around and saw someone dressed as a Government Official quickly ducking behind a pillar in the corridor. Only then did he turn his gaze back and greeted Squad Leader Zhu with a fist and palm salute: "Uncle Zhu."
"Don’t call me Uncle, with abilities like yours, I cannot afford your respect," Squad Leader Zhu pointed at the document in Luo Wu’s hand and angrily asked: "What is this?"
It very much resembled the appointment document he received when he was promoted to squad leader.
That scroll is still offered in the ancestral hall back in his home village; he sees it once a year and could not have mistaken it.
Luo Wu said, "This is the document appointing me as squad leader, sealed by the Prefecture Government Office."
"You really became a squad leader? And it was appointed by high officials from the Prefecture Government Office?" Squad Leader Zhu almost went mad with rage, throwing caution to the wind as he lunged over and punched Luo Wu in the face.
Luo Wu did not dodge, taking Squad Leader Zhu’s punch. However, when Zhu attempted to strike him again, Luo Wu swiftly sidestepped.
"Stop! Zhu, you’ve really grown bold, daring to assault a squad leader in the county government office." County Captain Jiang was livid upon seeing Squad Leader Zhu hitting Luo Wu as he stepped out: "Are you challenging the government office’s decision?"
Squad Leader Zhu roared: "I am not convinced. That Luo kid has been in the office for just a few months and now he’s a squad leader, what capabilities does he have for this position?"
"What capabilities does he have for this position?" County Captain Jiang laughed: "He dared to attack the Water Bandit Village and made great contributions. That’s how he justifies becoming the squad leader."
On the night they eradicated the river bandits, the force led by Jiang Qi captured the leader of a bandit village, and Luo Wu was of great help. He even took a knife for Jiang Qi, or the situation for Jiang could have been grim.
After hearing this, Squad Leader Zhu deeply regretted not participating in the bandit suppression raid but said at the moment: "I am not afraid to fight bandits either. It’s just that the officials didn’t send me."
County Captain Jiang laughed sarcastically: "Are you blaming this official now? It seems I have been too nice to you; I should not have confined you to your house but should have thrown you into prison right away!"
Squad Leader Zhu was ordered to guard Zou Mansion but failed his duty, letting Zou Mansion catch fire and Zou Hai escape, not to mention he was corrupted... Zou Youlian did not manage Government Officials, so why would any Government Official help him in secret? It was all because of Squad Leader Zhu.
County Captain Jiang, known for being decisive and swift, seeing Squad Leader Zhu making a scene, immediately turned to County Magistrate Xu and said: "Your Honor, the evidence against Squad Leader Zhu and his accomplices has almost been compiled. I will take them to prison first, and we can proCEED after Your Honor is available for a review."
County Magistrate Xu nodded: "The Government Official affairs are under Lord Jiang’s jurisdiction. If Lord Jiang wants to arrest someone, do it, since we have got evidence anyway."
Junior Minister Ming had just left today, and County Magistrate Xu had intended to sort through the affairs of the county office before dealing with those engorged Government Officials and clerks, but Squad Leader Zhu had come charging in.
Fine, then let’s oblige him.
As soon as County Captain Jiang got the word from County Magistrate Xu, he immediately ordered the Government Officials to seize Squad Leader Zhu.
Luo Wu did not treat Squad Leader Zhu with courtesy; after knocking Zhu down with two moves and twisting his arm in a lock, Luo Wu kicked his knee, making Zhu kneel, then pointed to a pillar in the distance and ordered, "Wang Guangzhu is over there, arrest him!"
Wang Guangzhu was a Government Official who formerly followed Squad Leader Zhu. He had passed a lot of information for Zhu to the Zou family and took advantage of Squad Leader Zhu and Zou Youlian’s fame to commit misdeeds in the village. He was on the list to be dealt with among the Government Officials and clerks.
Terrified, Wang Guangzhu hastily turned to run, but where could he possibly escape? He was caught before he even made it out of the county government office gate and was dragged into the county prison.
Due to this incident, the previously planned cleanup of the unclean Government Officials and clerks at the county government was accelerated. County Captain Jiang immediately dispatched Jiang Qi with personnel from the Military Office to arrest all the clerks and Government Officials who were confined to their homes and throw them into the prison at the county government.
Besides the arrest of the Government Officials and clerks within the county government, Jiang Qi also divided his forces and went to various Si Li Squares in the towns, arresting those clerks whose hands were not clean.
Clerk Lv and Clerk Zhang from the Si Li Square in Qingfu Town were arrested by Luo Wu, leading the Government Officials. The two screamed their innocence while being arrested.
But Luo Wu paid them no heed and directly ordered the Government Officials to escort them to the county government.
The townspeople all came to watch the excitement, knowing Luo Wu is Ms. Chu’s son, grabbing him to ask, "Young man from the Luo Family, what’s wrong with these two clerks? Why were they arrested?"
The small vendors in the town who heard this sneered, "Humph, why were they arrested? With all the money they’ve pocketed for themselves, it’s long overdue for them to be arrested."
They, who had stalls in the town, were all extorted by the two clerks at one time or another.
Luo Wu told the onlookers the reason why Clerks Lv and Zhang were arrested and then said to Old Kong, "Tomorrow the county government will send new clerks here, Uncle Kong, just welcome them when the time comes, no need to worry about the document work in the Si Li Square being left undone."
Old Kong nodded and exchanged a few words with Luo Wu, and Luo Wu, eager to leave, bid his farewell to return to the village.
He rode a fast horse and got home in less than half an hour.
After getting home, he discussed with Father Luo and Ms. Chu about wanting to buy a house and a shop in the county city.
Ms. Chu understood his intentions, the kid was thinking about if he could marry Sister Xiu in the future and take her to live in the county city.
Considering Luo Wu’s recent performance, she agreed, "Alright, the family has saved up a few months of dividends, which should be enough to buy a house and a shop."
Luo Wu was delighted and thanked his parents before sharing the news of his promotion to squad leader.
Luo Huiniang was ecstatic: "Brother, you’ve become a squad leader? Ha, doesn’t that make me the sister of a squad leader? Now I can strut around in the government office."
Whack, Ms. Chu gave Luo Huiniang a knock on the head, scolding, "You girl with no filter on your mouth, such words should not be carelessly spoken, don’t bring trouble to your brother."
Luo Huiniang knew she had misspoken and hurriedly apologized, "I was wrong, I won’t talk nonsense anymore."
Luo Wu laughed and said to her, "Just don’t say it outside. I’m going to visit Uncle Dashan first, to relay County Magistrate Xu’s words to Third Grandpa."
Having said that, he eagerly got up and went to Gu Jinli’s house.
"I’m going too," Luo Huiniang followed as well, intending to play with Xiao Yu.
Upon arriving at Gu Jinli’s house, Luo Wu relayed the situation.
Third Grandpa exclaimed with joy, "This is indeed good fortune, such opportunities don’t come every year."
Third Grandpa got up right away and went out the door to notify several families.
Qi Kangle was coincidentally at Gu Jinli’s house and, after hesitating a moment upon hearing Luo Wu’s words, said to Gu Jinli, "Xiao Yu, do you think the Fugui Building in town is expensive? Do you want to run a restaurant? How about we partner up and buy the Fugui Building?"