Chapter 31

"Master Lin, Liu Tong has come to apologize to you!" Liu Tong knelt on the ground, looked up at Lin Yiming, and said with a face full of regret, "It was Liu Tong's poor judgment that led to being deceived by my subordinates, causing Master Lin to suffer a loss. I am truly sorry!"

As Liu Tong spoke, he reached into his waist and pulled out four pieces of paper, holding them up to Lin Yiming. "Liu Tong has already investigated everything. For Master Lin's loss, our trading house is willing to offer triple compensation. Here are three food coupons. Additionally, the medical expenses for the villagers will also be covered by our trading house. Here is one hundred taels of silver. Please accept it."

While speaking, Liu Tong inwardly cursed, "This is the first time I've knelt to anyone other than my father. My kneeling isn't so easily accepted. I'll make you pay for this soon!"

Liu Tong actually came to apologize on his own initiative!

Lin Yiming glanced at the silver and food coupons in Liu Tong's hand and sneered inwardly. He had underestimated Liu Tong. This man was decisive, knowing when to act. He came to apologize immediately and offered triple compensation, pushing all the responsibility onto his subordinates. It seemed very sincere. However, Lin Yiming could sense that Liu Tong was not convinced and was filled with resentment.

However, he still needed to accept the money. Although the Appraisal Alliance had promised to help him, he wasn't very familiar with them. Now that Liu Tong had come to apologize sincerely, the terms were not bad. If he continued to make a fuss, he might not get any better results.

Thinking this, Lin Yiming took the silver and food coupons, looked down at Liu Tong, and said, "Alright, since that's the case, let's put this matter to rest."

"Master Lin is truly magnanimous!" Liu Tong stood up after Lin Yiming took the silver, bowed to Lin Yiming, and said gratefully, "Thank you for your understanding. I will take my leave now. If you have time in the future, I hope you can join me for a gathering. We can consider this a truce. How about tonight? I'll treat you, and you can choose the place?"

"Tonight is out of the question; I still need to take care of the elders in the village." Lin Yiming waved his hand and directly refused. They had already had a falling out, so why bother with such empty words? Eating with Liu Tong? He couldn't stomach it with such a shameless person.

"Since that's the case, I won't disturb you further. I'll take my leave now." Liu Tong stood up, turned around, and a flash of hatred crossed his eyes.

Lin Yiming smiled but said nothing, watching Liu Tong leave. He then turned to look at the elders, including Old Qin. He bowed to them and said sincerely, "Thank you, elders. Without your help, I don't know how this would have been resolved."

"Yiming, don't be so formal. We are all part of the Appraisal Alliance and should help each other."

"That's right, Yiming. We didn't do much; we just called in some help."

As the elders spoke, they saw Lin Yiming reaching into his chest, apparently to take out money. Old Qin immediately waved his hand, signaling Lin Yiming to stop.

"That's enough, Yiming. I know it's the rule of the Appraisal Alliance, but we are all family here. Taking money would be too formal. How about this: instead of money, why don't you agree to a condition or an opportunity? In the future, if the Appraisal Alliance needs to appraise treasures, we will come to your village and ask for your help. Please don't refuse, okay?"

Hearing this, Lin Yiming hesitated for a moment and then nodded in agreement. No matter what, the Appraisal Alliance had helped him, and he couldn't refuse.

Seeing Lin Yiming agree, Old Qin's face lit up with a smile. The Appraisal Alliance in Maple Bridge Town was still too weak, with only him as a senior appraiser. As the president, he sometimes needed to report to the city's Appraisal Alliance or handle other matters. When he was away, they needed a senior appraiser to step in.

However, thinking of Liu Tong's clear state of mind when he left, Old Qin's gaze towards Lin Yiming became more concerned.

"Yiming, although Liu Tong came to apologize, I can see that he wasn't sincere. He might cause you trouble in the future. Be careful in the coming days. If you have any problems, come to the Appraisal Alliance for help."

"Thank you for the warning, Old Qin. I will be cautious." Lin Yiming bowed to the elders again and then left the Appraisal Alliance, returning to the clinic.

As soon as he entered the clinic, he immediately noticed that everyone's eyes were on him.

Amidst the expectant gazes, Lin Yiming's face broke into a bright smile. He raised his hand, holding the silver and food coupons, and shouted to everyone, "Uncles and aunts, the trading house has compensated us. Not just compensation, but triple compensation! What I'm holding are the food coupons they gave us!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the clinic erupted in cheers.

One by one, the elderly farmers, ignoring their injuries, stood up. They didn't care about the pain, and their bodies seemed to become more agile. They quickly surrounded Lin Yiming.

"Yiming, did we hear correctly? They really compensated us? And triple compensation?"

"Yiming, quickly, let us see the food coupons. Are they real?"

The elderly farmers, excited, surrounded Lin Yiming, talking all at once.

Feeling their joy, Lin Yiming's smile grew wider. He scanned the crowd and found the respected Uncle Chen, handing him the food coupons and silver.

"Here are the food coupons, Uncle Chen. Take a look; they are definitely real."

Uncle Chen took the food coupons with trembling hands, looked down, and his weathered face, full of wrinkles, suddenly lit up with a vibrant smile.

"Official seal, these food coupons have the official seal. No one dares to forge the official seal. These food coupons are real, really real. They have triple compensated us!"

Uncle Chen's hands trembled even more from excitement, and his voice was filled with tremors.

As soon as he finished speaking, the clinic erupted in even louder cheers.

"It's real, we finally have food. We can eat our fill!"

"That's right, the children won't go hungry anymore, and they won't have to eat only two meals a day."

"With food, we can pay the rent this year as usual, and we can continue to rent the land from Mr. Liu. Next year, with water, our harvest will be better. Our village will get better and better!"

"All of this is because of Brother Ming!"

"That's right, without Brother Ming, we wouldn't know what to do. Brother Ming has really grown up!"

The elderly farmers cheered, all looking at Lin Yiming.

Feeling their gazes, Lin Yiming, despite his two lives, felt a bit embarrassed. Fortunately, Uncle Chen's words soon relieved his awkwardness.

"Yiming, why is there money here too?" Uncle Chen took out the silver note under the food coupons and looked at Lin Yiming, puzzled.

"This is the compensation they gave us. They said it's for the medical expenses. They only paid money for beating us up, which is too lenient for them!" Lin Yiming looked at the bruise on Uncle Chen's face, and his fists clenched involuntarily. Beating someone and just paying money—this was the mindset of the rich.

"One hundred taels of silver, that's a lot!" Uncle Chen looked at the silver note in his hand, disbelieving, and after a while, he said, "Getting beaten once and getting one hundred taels of silver, if that's the case, I'll let them beat me again next time."

Uncle Chen's words drew a burst of laughter.

Hearing the laughter and seeing the smiles on everyone's faces, Lin Yiming felt even more uncomfortable. It was clear that Uncle Chen and the others were truly happy, happy because they had received one hundred taels of silver.

With one hundred taels of silver, the village could do so much. But if he had a choice, he would rather not have this money and make Liu Tong and his people pay the price.

After a long time, when everyone had laughed enough, Uncle Chen waved his hand, his face becoming serious. He said solemnly to everyone, "We should exchange these three food coupons for one. We need food for ourselves and to pay the rent. Even with water in the village now, the delay will still result in a reduced harvest.

This year is the end of the lease. If the rent is insufficient, Mr. Liu won't continue to rent the land to us. We'll keep the remaining two food coupons. After all, they are issued by the government, so we don't have to worry about not being able to redeem them in the future. As for the silver note..."

At this point, Uncle Chen dragged out his words, his eyes full of smiles as he looked at Lin Yiming. "This silver note should be given to Yiming. Does anyone have any objections?"

"Right, give it to Yiming. Without Yiming, we wouldn't even have the food coupons, let alone the silver. We have no objections to giving the silver note to Yiming!"

Uncle Chen's words were immediately met with agreement from everyone.

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