I am about to die of old age, and I have awakened the character of longevity.

Chapter 41: Suppress

I was just worrying about money... and now the money is here.

Xie An carefully stroked these familiar large silver ingots, feeling extremely happy in his heart.

The money is his own, so the person who came outside to claim to be the deputy deacon should be Li Shaoyun, the eldest son of the Li family.

After the New Year's Eve dinner, Xie An saw Li Shaoyun and Zhang Biao go out together and have a small gathering at Feiyun Restaurant. He also heard their conversation when they left the restaurant. And now, with this silver money...

After a little speculation, the results are as follows:

Li Shaoyun was simply trying to prepare for the provincial martial arts examination three years later, so he approached Zhang Biao to smooth things over and get him a position as a nominal deputy deacon at the Tiger and Wolf Sect. He was trying to borrow the martial arts training resources of the White Feather Hall to help him pass the provincial examination.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Biao died.

Zhang Biao's position was also replaced by himself. After many twists and turns, Li Shaoyun became his younger brother...

Li Shaoyun, you were so mean and difficult before. You stabbed me hard and even conspired with Zhang Biao to have Li He arrest He Chunli and torture him severely, trying to force him to confess.

Little did you know that the new deacon was me. You also became my little brother.

This is life.

Xie An couldn't help but sigh at the cruel fate.

The sharp-eyed Liang Zhi saw Xie An's smile and felt that Xie An also liked money, not as upright as he had claimed before. It would be much easier to get along with him in the future.

Thinking of this, Liang Zhi breathed a sigh of relief. He was most afraid of encountering pedantic, brainless, and righteous people; such people were the most difficult to get along with and communicate with.

"Sir Steward, the man is the eldest son of the Li family in Wuqiao Town. He has passed the martial arts exam and is not far from entering the bronze skin realm. He is a man worth cultivating. Moreover, the Li family is wealthy, so they will inevitably continue to honor you in the future."

Xie An acknowledged Liang Zhi's flattery and nodded slightly, "I'll take the money. I'll leave him, just find him something to do."

Liang Zhidao: "Should we arrange it as usual, or give him some preferential treatment?"

Xie An recalled Li Ru's previous oppression and embarrassment of him, so he followed suit and said, "This man is young, and I'm afraid he has a boastful mind and is too ambitious. If you treat him preferentially right after he arrives, it will be difficult to discipline him in the future. You have to suppress him first, and assign him some heavy work."

After saying this, Xie An was very happy.

When he redeemed himself, Li Ru and Li Shaoyun also adopted a strategy of suppressing him. If it were just this matter, Xie An could have ignored it because of Madam Li's kindness.

However, Xie An heard the conversation between Li Shaoyun and Zhang Biao outside Feiyun Restaurant. When his apprentice He Chunli's butt was beaten, Li Shaoyun also helped.

If Xie An had not been strong enough to kill Zhang Biao in time, He Chunli would have lost his life if Zhang Biao had continued to instigate Li He to cause trouble.

He Chunli is a good disciple who takes care of me in my old age and sees me to the end of my life.

This is what really bothered Xie An.

Now, Xie An felt that it was too light to use his own method to put pressure on Li Shaoyun. If it weren't for Mrs. Li's kindness, Xie An would have sent Li Shaoyun to his death long ago.

Liang Zhi opened his mouth wide in disbelief.

You took someone's money, but not only didn't you treat them well... you even squeezed them?
Although Xie An's logic was self-consistent, Liang Zhi still found it illogical. It seemed that the new steward was afraid of having a personal grudge against the young master of the Li Mansion.

"Yes. I'll arrange it right away. If he's dissatisfied and feels repulsive..."

Xie An said indifferently: "Then deal with him according to the sect rules, no need to show mercy."

"My subordinates know."

Liang Zhi didn't dare say anything more and bowed and left the living room.

Moreover, Liang Zhi had made up his mind: if the deacon said to suppress Li Shao by three points, he should suppress Li Shao by seven points, which is the way for subordinates to handle things.

After Liang Zhi left, Xie An showed a happy smile on his face.

However, Xie An did not dwell on this matter too much, just treating it as a spice for after-dinner conversation. Whether it was Li Ru's suppression and embarrassment in the past, or his own punishment of Li Shao today, it was not the most important thing for Xie An.

He would not waste his energy on these trivial matters. The most urgent task was to improve his strength as quickly as possible. This was the most important thing.

"With this money, I can prepare for martial arts training with peace of mind for the next period of time." Xie An cleared away his distracting thoughts, sat down cross-legged, and began to practice liver-stimulating health exercises.

Outside the yard.

Li Shaoyun, dressed in brocade clothes, stood upright in the snow, quietly waiting for the new deacon to summon him, feeling uneasy.

Initially, he hadn't intended to give the new deacon a full 180 taels of silver; he'd only wanted to give him 50 or 60 taels as a token of appreciation. However, after inquiring with his disciples, he learned that the new deacon was ruthless and tough, difficult to get along with. Within the first morning, he had already subdued Zhang Biao's former rebellious subordinates.

This made Li Shaoyun feel guilty. He felt that fifty or sixty taels of silver might not please the new deacon, so he gritted his teeth and gave away the one hundred and eighty taels given by his parents.

Li Shaoyun even sighed, "Fortunately, my father was wise enough to give Old Xie a severe blow a few days ago. This just paid for the gift I gave him today."

Just then, the sound of footsteps was heard.

It was Liang Zhi who walked out of the yard. Li Shaoyun hurried forward and bowed, showing a flattering smile on his face, "Mr. Liang, when will the new deacon see me?"

When Li Shaoyun went to Zhang Biao to smooth things over, he had met Liang Zhi before and had dealt with him before. When he gave him the gift just now, Li Shaoyun also slipped some small change to Liang Zhi.

At that time, Liang Zhi still had a smile on his face.

At this moment, Liang Zhi's expression immediately turned cold. "The deacon is busy with official duties and has no time to see you."

Li Shaoyun was shocked.

You took one hundred and eighty taels of silver from me, but you still don't want to meet me?

This……

Li Shaoyun was secretly dissatisfied, but he didn't dare to show his displeasure. He lowered his posture and pleaded, "Mr. Liang, please help me to talk about it again..."

Liang Zhi didn't wait for Li Shaoyun to finish speaking before returning the small change he had received to Li Shaoyun. "Master Li, I'm sorry, I can't help you with this."

Liang Zhi thought that if the new deacon was very happy after accepting Li Shaoyun's money and gave him preferential treatment, then it would be okay for him to accept a small amount of money. But now the trend was clearly not right, and Liang Zhi dared not accept it even if he was short of money.

Li Shaoyun took the change and was stunned.

"Well, you can follow Xiao Liuzi to clean the black market and help move things. Wait for a while to see if the deacon has any new arrangements for you." After leaving a word, Liang Zhi turned and left.

Li Shaoyun hurriedly chased after him and asked, "Mr. Liang, please enlighten me. Is the gift I gave you too light?"

Liang Zhi suddenly stopped and was stunned for a moment. He probably didn't expect Li Shaoyun to think in this direction.

He also thought that the new deacon was obviously a money-hungry person. If he could hint to Li Shaoyun to give the deacon more money, the new deacon would undoubtedly praise him for his ability to do things.

Liang Zhi, who had worked under a reckless man like Zhang Biao for five years, was naturally familiar with guessing his superiors' intentions.

Thinking of this, Liang Zhi turned around and looked at Li Shaoyun, his eyes as if he was looking at a fat sheep.

Li Shaoyun had no idea what Liang Zhi was thinking, and thought he was right. He offered another helping of silver and said humbly, "I'm new here and don't know the rules here. I also don't know the preferences of the new deacon. I'd appreciate any guidance, Mr. Liang."

Liang Zhi raised his hand to refuse the silver, "You can try. But I didn't say anything, I just figured it out on my own."

Li Shaoyun was overjoyed, convinced that what he thought was right, "Thank you, Mr. Liang, for your guidance."

"Ah."

Liang Zhi nodded and left, but he felt sorry for Li Shaoyun. He knew that the new deacon was trying to put pressure on Li Shaoyun, not because the money was too little, but because he was afraid of a personal grudge.

Even if Li Shaoyun gave more silver, it would be useless.

But what does that matter?

I gave such a hint only for my own future.

"Eh."

Li Shaoyun looked at Liang Zhiyuan's back, then looked at the magnificent courtyard, feeling a surge of emotion. "Looks like I have to go back and ask my father to prepare more money for the gift..."

(End of this chapter)