Chapter 24

Lin Yiming originally came to the town with the villagers to return the grain they had been cheated into buying. However, when he returned from the auction house, he found the injured group and, in a fit of rage, led everyone to the Minong Grain Store.

A group of more than ten people, with a horse-drawn carriage, was hard to go unnoticed. A few clerks standing at the entrance of the store soon noticed them.

"Look, those country bumpkins are back again."

"Country bumpkins are just country bumpkins. What's the point of cheating them if they come back? What can they do?"

"Since we don't have any business today, let's have some fun with them."

The clerks laughed at each other and slowly walked out of the store. When this group of villagers had just run over to the store earlier, they said the store had cheated them and demanded a grain exchange.

The clerks remembered these villagers. When they came to buy grain, the young master of the store said these villagers looked inexperienced and could be easily deceived with chaff and stones.

They had cheated people like this before and easily deceived this group of inexperienced villagers.

As expected, these villagers came back, but what could they do? They were beaten up, and who knew that not long after, these villagers came back again.

It seemed they hadn't been beaten hard enough. This time, they needed to teach them a good lesson.

A few clerks from the auction house, holding sticks, walked straight to the carriages. They beat the carriages with their sticks and cursed, "You country bumpkins, did you not learn your lesson after being beaten? We told you not to come and cause trouble, but you didn't listen. It seems we didn't beat you enough, didn't we?"

Chen Bo, with a fiery temper, heard the store clerks' words, and his already gray beard stood up. He pointed at the clerks and shouted, "Who is causing trouble? Clearly, you cheated us with chaff, pretending it was grain. Why would we come all the way here otherwise? Fellow villagers, let's all judge this."

Chen Bo was so angry that he almost burst his lungs. He pointed at the clerks and loudly told the surrounding onlookers, "We came to their store to buy grain. The grain they gave us looked good on the surface, but inside, it was all chaff and stones. We came here to exchange the grain, and the seal hadn't even been broken. But they tore the seal in front of us and said we had put it there ourselves.

Is there such a thing as bullying people like this? When we didn't let them break the seal, they beat us and said we were trying to cheat them. Heaven and earth, we may be poor, but we wouldn't do such despicable things. This is too much, they are lawless. Is there any justice in this world? Is there any law?"

The Minong Grain Store was on a bustling street, and Chen Bo's shout immediately attracted many onlookers. Listening to Chen Bo's words, people began to discuss.

"Is this true? The Minong Grain Store is really cheating people."

"Yes, selling fake grain and then beating people. This is too much."

"You are too gullible. Just because the old farmer said so, you believed him? Maybe they are so poor that they want to cheat for grain."

"That's true, but they shouldn't beat people. No matter what, the store people beating people is wrong."

The onlookers were discussing, and most of them were condemning the store.

Hearing the condemnation, the clerks' faces turned green. If the country bumpkins continued to speak, the store's reputation would be affected. When the boss found out, they would be in trouble.

A thin, sharp-faced clerk's eyes darted around, looking at the villagers' patched clothes, and came up with an idea: "Don't listen to their nonsense."

The clerk pointed at the villagers' clothes and shouted, "Look at how ragged they are. Do you think they have money to buy our grain? It's clear they are frauds."

"That's true."

"Yes, just by looking at them, you can tell they are from a very poor village. How could they have money to buy grain?"

"Exactly, we rarely hear of villagers buying grain."

"That's right. The Minong Grain Store has been around for years with a good reputation. We've never heard of them cheating people."

The onlookers, hearing the clerk's words, also realized that the clerk was right. The villagers were likely frauds.

The other clerks, hearing their companion's words, praised his quick thinking. One sentence had turned the situation around. They also joined in.

"They say we cheated them. But which eye did they see it with? What evidence do you have? The seal? Don't think we can't tell. We recognize our own seals. That's not our seal; they tore it off and replaced it with chaff."

The store clerk sneered and shouted, "A bunch of farmers, you are so poor that you would come up with such a scheme to cheat for money."

Lin Yiming stood in the crowd, his handsome face showing anger. These store people were clearly being unreasonable and stirring up trouble. As merchants, their tongues were so smooth that they could turn white into black.

The old farmers from the village were honest and never played tricks. How could they match these cunning merchants in debate?

Fortunately, he had become an appraiser. Otherwise, this matter would have been troublesome.

Seeing that even the onlookers were being misled by the Minong Grain Store and condemning the old farmers, and the old farmers were jumping around in anger but couldn't argue back, Lin Yiming walked out with a cold face.

"Who says we can't afford grain?" Lin Yiming walked to the center of the crowd, showing the appraiser's jade pendant at his waist, and said sternly, "I am a Great Appraiser. The money for the grain was provided by me. As for those seals, it's not up to you to decide who put them on. With my appraisal, I can determine that the seals were clearly put on by you!"

"Great Appraiser!" The store clerks and a few thugs were suddenly stunned, even freezing in place. The words they were about to say were retracted.

They didn't know what a Great Appraiser was, but they knew their young master was an appraiser. This person was in the same profession as their young master, which made them nervous. This was someone on the same level as their young master.

The onlookers, seeing the change in the store people's expressions, were surprised.

"What's going on? What is this appraiser? He seems very powerful."

"I don't know either. Does anyone know what an appraiser is? Why did the store people seem so afraid when the kid said he was an appraiser?"