Daming: Internship also counts as work experience

Chapter 55 So that’s it
Gao Yuntian was a tall man, about 5 feet 4 inches tall, with a pale face and a stiff body. Old Zheng asked nervously, "Who is it?"

Jia Chuan blinked, reacted, and asked, "What about the female ghost?"

Gao Yuntian nodded heavily.

"The sun is right overhead, and she just came to the county government office like that?"

The tail end of Jia Chuan's voice broke, not because he was scared, but because of the high clouds and weather.

"Did she float here or...possess someone and introduce herself to you?" Jia Chuan asked again.

Gao Yuntian recognized Jia Chuan's tone and said anxiously, "Why would I lie to you? I just finished interrogating the man who wanted to kill you, and I wanted to talk to you, but I had to report to the county magistrate first, so I went to the front yamen, and who knew, who knew I saw Chen Si walking in front, and that female ghost following behind..."

"Is it possible that Chen Si brought someone to the yamen?" Jia Chuan asked patiently.

Gao Yuntian thought about it and turned to leave, but he paused, turned back to Jia Chuan and said, "Why don't you go and ask? If you can't see it, and Chen Si also said that he didn't bring anyone into the yamen, then you will believe what I say, right?"

Jia Chuan shook his head and left the yard.

Not long after, Jia Chuan returned. He entered the yard, looked at Old Zheng, and asked, "How many days until the Beginning of Autumn?"

Gao Yuntian was still nervous. He thought Jia Chuan would have the same expression as him when he came back, but he didn't expect Jia Chuan to ask such an irrelevant question. Could it be that the appearance of ghosts was related to the solar terms?
Although Old Zheng was also puzzled, he still answered: "Seven more days."

Jia Chuan nodded, sat on a small stool in the courtyard and said, "I can still have a few days of leisure."

Gao Yuntian was anxious and asked, "What do you mean? Was it brought by Chen Si or... No, it can't be this similar!"

"You already know it looks like a ghost, so why didn't you just go up and ask? Even if you were scared at the time, you could at least see that she was walking on two legs, right? Let me ask you, how do you know that what you saw that night was a female ghost? And not a woman?"

"She, she was wearing red clothes and her face was covered in blood!"

"So that's a female ghost? They had a wedding the day before, and a funeral the next day... but you should have used your brain a little, especially afterward, when you calmed down. Didn't you really think about it? Was it a face covered in blood, or bruises, or maybe the wounds hadn't scabbed over yet? Okay, even if you couldn't figure it out then, you now know that the cousin had assaulted the deceased on the wedding night, and you also know there were a lot of people outside the door at the time. Did you ever imagine that someone went in to stop them and got beaten too?"

Gao Yuntian was stunned.

Jia Chuan added, "A woman was beaten, and her cousin hit her directly in the face without any scruples. Who could it be?"

"Ah? You mean, that woman is, is my cousin's wife?"

"What else could it be? She wasn't wearing a red dress that night. It's all just your imagination. You just made it up. But she did have scars on her face. She was beaten by that cousin the night before. That night, she was feeling sorry and secretly went to pay tribute to the deceased under the cover of night. When she cried, she always made some noise. Your people heard it and bullied you into going to see it. You left quickly in a daze and happened to run into her leaving. If your cousin knew about this, she would definitely get beaten again. So when she saw you fainted, she quickly hid."

Gao Yuntian took a deep breath, then a long sigh, and said, "I was wondering why I was the only one who saw it."

"How dare you say that? Anyone would have overthinking this, but today, with the sun shining brightly, you're so frightened. If I tell anyone about this, won't they laugh at me?"

Gao Yuntian waved his hand and said generously, "Whoever wants to spread it can spread it. As long as everyone understands it, I will feel relieved."

"Why don't you ask your cousin what she's doing here?"

"What can she do? She must be trying to clear things up for her family. Who did she contact?"

"Chief Clerk."

"Oh, it's hard for her. I don't know how many ways she had to go through before she finally found the chief clerk. If I were her, I wouldn't care and just use the money to live a good life with the child..."

"You are anxious to interrogate the person who wants to kill me today. Regarding the Dongxi Village case..."

"The county magistrate is more anxious about this case than I am. You are leaving, and he will definitely try the case thoroughly before you go, so that you can speak well of him when you meet the emperor."

"I'm not the Kitchen God!"

Old Zheng laughed and said, "You are more useful to the county magistrate than the Kitchen God right now."

Jia Chuan snorted, then smiled bitterly and said, "To be honest, I don't know if County Magistrate Cui is a good official or not... My knowledge is limited. If one day I find that the county magistrates in other places are not as good as him, I will regret not speaking well of him."

Old Zheng said sternly, "If you can help, then do so. Although the county magistrate has not achieved much, he hasn't been harsh on the people. It's normal for officials to consider the pros and cons first. I'm not saying he's a good official, I just think... there are many who are worse than him."

Gao Yuntian also said: "Although my uncle has a good relationship with him and they visit each other frequently, and of course, he gives him a lot of money, he also takes good care of me."

"By the way, how is the child?" Jia Chuan asked, changing the subject.

Gao Yuntian said, "He was taken to the clinic last night, and Liu Qi found a place for him and his mother to stay. I think everything is settled, so I let him take a day off today. I wonder how the child is doing."

"How much money did he leave? I have to give it to him. How can I let him pay for it first..."

"By the time you remembered, the daylily would have gone cold. I had already given it to him." Jia Chuan said 'Oh' and then asked, "You have interrogated the people who wanted to kill me, but have you found out who was behind it?"

"Don't try to change your mind. How many dan of rice do I earn a month? You have to pay me back..."

"Ah, from today until I leave, you must sleep with me every day. I'll leave the banknotes and silver in the room for you to take. Tell me quickly, have you found anything?"

Gao Yuntian pursed his lips and said, "You guessed right again. He just said that someone from the underworld came to see him and gave him five taels of silver first. It was silver, not banknotes. He said that after killing you, he would give him another five taels..."

"Only ten taels in total?" Jia Chuan asked in disbelief.

Old Zheng said, "Not bad. If ordinary people use it sparingly, it's enough for a family of five to spend for a year. You're not some bandit leader. Taking your head will get you promoted and rich."

Gao Yuntian nodded in agreement, then said worriedly, "I'm worried about the next few days. This time, they didn't know their limits and found someone with mediocre skills. Now that they know you'll have someone to look after you, they'll naturally send more people..."

"Do you think they won't give up until they achieve their goal?" Jia Chuan asked.

"Of course..." Gao Yuntian said, then thought for a moment and asked, "Perhaps they will give up when they see the difficulty?"

Jia Chuan shrugged and said, "That depends on who is uncomfortable with my life, and to what extent. I don't think they think I can do anything to them, they're just... angry. Since there's still five taels of silver to be taken afterward, can that person tell me when and where he can get it after killing me?"

"You keep saying my brain isn't at home, but yours can be out there too! I wanted to take advantage of you being alone, but do you actually know when you're alone? Isn't that a possibility? How could they agree on a time and place in advance? So, the man who paid the silver followed him, and when he ran, the man ran even faster than him. What was he waiting for if he didn't leave the city? But don't worry, I've ordered someone to draw a portrait of him as he said, and when the time comes, I'll send out the arrest warrant..."

"Please take me home, I'm really sleepy." Jia Chuan stood up and said.

"Wait for me a moment!"

……

Gao Yuntian went to Cui Youzhi to report the interrogation and said that Jia Chuan wanted to go back and rest.

Cui Youzhi understood very well. Anyone who had just been to the gates of hell would need to rest. He blamed himself for not considering it carefully enough. He immediately ordered Gao Yuntian to bring a few more people to escort Jia Chuan back to the house. He also instructed that when the soup was ready, he would send it to him. Gao Yuntian must watch Jia Chuan drink it.

Gao Yuntian just wanted to leave quickly. He nodded to everything Cui Youzhi said. When he finished speaking, Gao Yuntian frowned and asked, "Are you sure that the people in the kitchen are trustworthy?"

Cui Youzhi's expression suddenly changed. He turned around and praised Gao Yuntian, "You're very thoughtful. I won't give you the soup for now. You should explain it to Jia Chuan. As for the assassination in the street, we're not ignoring it. You've also tried him. I'll have people search the whole city for him, but if they can't find him, you should explain it to Jia Chuan and don't let him feel resentful."

"He is not that kind of person, don't worry, County Master."

……

Gao Yuntian found five constables to escort Jia Chuan back to the house. After sending him to the gate, the five of them returned to the yamen.

Dong Yuanyuan opened the door. When she saw Gao Yuntian, she was surprised and exclaimed, "He's so tall!" Then she turned to ask Jia Chuan, "Why didn't Brother Shunzi come back?"

"Don't you care about your father? Has any stranger knocked on the door today?" Jia Chuan asked as he entered.

"How do you know?" Dong Yuanyuan asked as she closed the door with her eyes wide open.

"Did someone really come here? Did you open the door?" Gao Yuntian asked nervously.

"It's open. Of course I have to open it when someone knocks. They asked if Big Brother had come back yet, and I said no. I invited them inside to wait, but they said no, and to come back later."

"You even invited them in?" Gao Yuntian changed his tone.

Dong Yuanyuan pouted and said, "Dad said we should be polite."

"How many people are there? When did they come?" Jia Chuan asked.

"Three people, came this morning, what's wrong? Aren't they good people?"

Dong Yuanyuan looked at the expressions of the two and actually thought of this possibility.

Shunzi took Dong Yuanyuan to the county government office several times, and even to Old Zheng's courtyard, but she never saw Gao Yuntian. Originally, Dong Yuanyuan was afraid of the people in the county government office. She had seen with her own eyes that the government officials beat and kicked street vendors. Her mother also told her not to offend the people in the county government office, even the gatekeepers, to stay away from them.

But these days, because of Shunzi, and because she saw the three men in the yard wearing the work uniforms of the yamen every day, she was not only no longer afraid of the people in the yamen, but even had a tendency to be more familiar with them. In addition, she was straightforward and had no ulterior motives, so Old Zheng liked her very much.

　There is still one chapter left. I will try my best to write two chapters a day, with each chapter containing 3,000 words. I had a splitting headache yesterday and I feel dizzy today. It would be difficult to persist without some firm willpower.

　　Anyway, thank you! Big hug!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)