Chef Hua
Chapter 311: Episode 179 Compensation Money Comes_2

Chapter 311: Episode 179 Compensation Money Comes_2

He mimicked Huang Popi’s tone and mannerisms, and at the end, he slapped the guy’s forehead hard, "What? Dared to do but now don’t dare to own up?"

"I..." Huang Pingfa found himself at a loss for words, mumbling for quite a while in a low voice still trying to argue, "That was just drunken talk, drunken talk! I had a couple too many and boasted a bit, how can you take it seriously?"

Great Saint didn’t bother with him and turned to Hua Xiaomai, "This Huang Pingfa, his family doesn’t own a single piece of land. I knew it. Anyone who actually tills the field knows the hard work involved, so who would just go and burn down someone else’s cabbage patch? He has said those words not just once to the folks in the village, lots of people have heard him! On the second day of the lunar month, I already knew it was his doing. Since he wanders about all day, it took some effort to find him; that’s why I didn’t come to tell you right away. I thought I’d bring him straight to you to save you the worry. Now you can deal with him as you see fit!"

The onlookers gathered at the door also started to shout out, one saying, "Lady boss, this scoundrel burned down your vegetable patch? You absolutely can’t let him off easy, send him to the Government," another said, "See the what Government? For such a trivial matter, the Government may not even bother. I think, it’s best to just make him pay compensation," in no time, it became noisy, with loud and incessant clamor.

Hua Xiaomai had no intention of sending Huang Pingfa to see the Government officials. Some patrons were right, not to mention whether the Government would even care about this matter, even if they did, at most he’d be beaten with bamboo strips. She would gain nothing from it. Instead of that, it would be better to get the compensation in cash, that would be the real deal.

Huang Pingfa was crouching on the ground, trembling like an autumn cicada in the wind, desperately gesturing to Hua Xiaomai, "Madam Hua, I really didn’t do it on purpose, truly, believe me just this once!"

Hua Xiaomai already had a plan in mind, and she smiled coldly, "I don’t care whether you did it intentionally or not, I’m only asking you, was it you who ruined my vegetable patch?"

"Yes..." Knowing he couldn’t escape, Huang Pingfa hung his head and admitted, "but it really was an accident..."

"Since you did it, let’s settle the account," Hua Xiaomai didn’t listen to his excuses, and counting on her fingers she said methodically, "You can go ask Zheng Yakuai, those two acres of my land are among the best in the village, one acre can produce two thousand pounds of cabbage. You burned half an acre, that’s a thousand pounds wasted, isn’t that right? I won’t dupe you, currently the market price for cabbage is two wen per pound, all together that’s twenty taels, hand it over!" With that, she held out her hand flat, right in front of him.

"Twenty taels..." Huang Pingfa gasped for air, "Where am I supposed to find that much money for you? If I had it, I wouldn’t be so eager to work at your Sauce Garden..."

He suddenly found inspiration in his own words, his mind racing with hope, "How about this? I’ll work in your Sauce Garden and use my wages to pay you back, this way..."

"Pah!" Hua Xiaomai smirked and spat out at him, "Your calculations are too clever! Letting you into my Sauce Garden and even providing you two meals a day, and if later I want to get rid of you, it might not be so easy, won’t it? I’m putting it down here and now, don’t even think about stepping a foot into my Zhenwei Garden for the rest of your life, even if you want to buy sauce, I won’t sell it to you!... So, are you going to pay or not?"

"But I really don’t have any!" Huang Pingfa reached into his empty pockets, a face so wretched and wrinkled, even more so than salted pickles, and started to shamelessly suggest, "Or you see how much I’m worth, you could cut my flesh and sell it..."

As soon as these words were spoken, the surrounding "shameless" cries went up, with Chun Xi and La Mei seizing the chaos to pounce and land a couple of punches on his back.

Hua Xiaomai had made up her mind early in the morning that she would not let this scoundrel off the hook, and glaring at him, she said, "I’ll give you two choices to pick from. First, pay back the money swiftly, and we settle things right here and now. Second, if you really can’t come up with the cash, that’s also fine. I’ll just take you to see Grandpa Liu, and make sure you won’t have a place to stand in Fire Knife Village!"

Without personal experience, one could probably never understand the deep connection between peasant families and their land. Just a few acres sustain an entire family’s livelihood; burning someone’s fields is tantamount to breaking their rice bowl. While it may not be as sinister as defiling an ancestor’s grave, it’s not far off. Even if Grandpa Liu would rather not get involved, I’m afraid he wouldn’t have a choice in the matter. And for the one who caused such a debacle, being chased out of the village is almost the only outcome.

Huang Pingfa really got scared, swallowed dryly, and pleaded, "How about... you give me three months’ time, and I’ll come up with the money?"

"Done!" Hua Xiaomai agreed promptly, "And don’t say I’m pushing you to a dead end; I will give you three months. Great Saint, bother you to write up a promissory note for me. Have him press his thumbprint on it. After three months, if he’s willing to pay, we’ll be square," she said.

Many in the restaurant were regulars who had become familiar with Hua Xiaomai. Knowing the ins and outs of today’s incident, they quickly volunteered, saying, "Why bother that brother to do it himself? I’ll do it!" They took paper and pen from the counter, rolled up their sleeves, and wrote everything down clearly, then forced Huang Pingfa’s hand to stamp his thumbprint on it.

"Don’t even think about running," Hua Xiaomai took the promissory note, waved it in front of Huang Pingfa, and said with a light laugh, "You should know what my husband does for a living. He would find you even if you ran to the ends of the earth."

"I won’t run, I won’t run!" Huang Pingfa nodded fervently and looked up at Sun Great Saint, "May I go now?"

With a wave of his hand from Sun Great Saint, the man immediately scrambled to his feet and took off as if he was fleeing for his life, without a trace to be seen.

Hua Xiaomai felt a great relief, indescribably at ease. She earnestly thanked Sun Great Saint, specially prepared two fine dishes for him to dine on in the restaurant, and in high spirits, also gave a 20 percent discount to all the customers in the restaurant for that afternoon’s meals.

By afternoon, the diners in the restaurant had left one after another, and the once bustling hall quieted down in a moment.

Chun Xi and La Mei were still not over the episode that transpired at noon and had nothing better to do, so they gossiped at the side, chattering away, "That’s why I say, heaven has eyes! That Huang Popi, if he hadn’t had a few too many, how could he have blabbered about the sordid thing he did? Clearly, that liquor, truly is nothing good!"

"Exactly!" La Mei nodded repeatedly and then nudged Zhou Yunyun with a smirk, "You should hurry home and seriously talk to your drunken father, tell him to stop drinking so much, otherwise, one day, he will gamble away his very life!"

Zhou Yunyun’s face blushed upon hearing this, bit her lip hard, and hung her head without making a sound.

Hua Xiaomai felt somewhat uncomfortable seeing her like that and let out a silent sigh, then changed the subject, "Enough, stop gossiping for now. While we have a moment, I have something I want to discuss with you."

(To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it with a recommendation ticket or monthly ticket at Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please go to m.qidian.com to read.)