activa-t Chapter 89 Persuasion
Chapter 89 Persuasion
With Zhongmei's cunning mind, she naturally couldn't have imagined so many intricate details involving vested interests.
Hearing Li Chong speak frankly and express his trust in her, the young girl's heart was immediately touched.
Although Zhong Mei is capable of killing and dares to fight and kill, she is still a girl at heart.
She didn't think killing was a big deal because she grew up surrounded by thieves and was influenced by them from a young age.
However, when it comes to interpersonal relationships and worldly wisdom, she is still quite naive.
Therefore, Zhongmei easily believed Li Chong's words, and a warm feeling rose in her heart.
Of course, although she was somewhat reassured, Zhongmei still wouldn't let it go.
With her back to Li Chong, she muttered, "Who knows if you're telling the truth or not? You might just be trying to trick me into going back to serve you."
That's what she said, but Zhong Mei stopped bringing up Li Chong's identity, clearly indicating that she no longer cared much about the matter.
Li Chong naturally received this signal and immediately stepped forward, continuing, "You serve me? Heaven have mercy, when have I ever asked you to serve me in the yamen? Doing chores like sweeping and cleaning, is that what you call serving?"
Zhongmei smiled and retorted forcefully, "Otherwise what? If I hadn't needed you back then, I wouldn't have bothered with you at all."
In fact, she knew in her heart that Li Chong had already treated her very well.
Whose maid not only has no worries about food and drink, but also only needs to be responsible for chores like sweeping and cleaning every day?
If it were anyone else, not to mention serving the master in bed, they wouldn't be able to sleep peacefully at night. They would have to sleep in the master's outer room, always alert and ready to serve.
That kind of trouble is not as comfortable as Li Chong's place, and the treatment is also inferior.
It was Li Chong's actions that made Zhong Mei realize he was different from others and gave her initial trust in him, which led to what happened next.
"Hehe." Li Chong naturally didn't believe her insincere words and stepped forward to stand shoulder to shoulder with Zhong Mei.
"I got this position by chance, not to exploit the people. I still want to do some practical things for them. Now that you know my weaknesses, we're in this together. Can you help me?"
"Hmph." Zhongmei twitched her nose. "Who's the grasshopper? You're the grasshopper."
"You want my help? Help you with what?"
Li Chong suppressed his guilt about deceiving others and said, "It's about your two uncles. Mr. Jia is easy to talk to; he can see the situation clearly. But your Uncle Hu is not so easy to talk to. I need you to help me persuade him."
"If I bring this up with him, we'll probably still end up arguing. He's stubborn and won't be willing to be subordinate to me."
"But if he turns against me, where can he go? Will he settle down to be a farmer? Knowing him as you do, do you think he'll be content with that? But if he goes to other places to become a bandit, other county officials aren't as easy to talk to as I am. If things get out of hand and attract the army, then everything will be over."
Zhong Mei's expression turned serious, and a hint of worry appeared in his eyes.
She knew Hu Changyong's temper. Indeed, if Li Chong asked them to work under him, Hu Changyong would definitely argue with Li Chong.
After listening to Li Chong's analysis, Zhong Mei clearly realized that, at least in Yanggu County now, there was no place for bandits to hide.
As for leaving for distant lands, Zhong Mei was naturally reluctant.
After a long silence, Zhongmei asked, "Are you serious? You really going to return the village to us?"
Li Chong corrected her, "It's not 'you,' it's 'they.' You have to come back to the yamen with me. After all, that village will be full of strong men from now on, and it's not good for a woman like you to stay there for long. Besides, they'll need you to keep in touch and exchange things with them in the future, since they'll only trust you."
"If I weren't sincerely committed to pushing this forward, why would I have entrusted Mr. Jia with handling the aftermath and cleaning up any potential troubles? It's precisely because I had already planned this out that I'm demonstrating my sincerity first. What do you think?"
After thinking for a long time, Zhong Mei finally nodded.
She turned to face Li Chong, her eyes grave. "I believe you. I'll help you persuade them. From now on, I'll work for you. But if I find out you're lying to me, I'll take you with me even if it means death!"
Hearing Zhong Mei's words, Li Chong felt a chill run down his spine, recalling the scene where Zhong Mei had killed Deng Meng with her bare hands.
It was a tiny little figure, but his clothes were stained with blood; that was truly a blood-stained robe.
Although Zhongmei is naive and inexperienced, he is resilient and not someone who can be easily deceived.
However, he then gave a helpless, bitter smile.
Having traveled through time and lived for over twenty years including his previous life, this was the first time he had heard a woman say that she was willing to live and die with him.
The result was quite unexpected and truly laughable.
Reaching out to pat Zhongmei's head, Li Chong laughed and said, "You'd better hurry up and persuade your stubborn third uncle. Look, the person has already been found."
Zhong Mei was taken aback. Following the direction Li Chong indicated, he looked and saw a burly man staring at them with an unfriendly expression, his eyes fixed on Li Chong's hand.
It was Hu Changyong.
Following his gaze, Li Chong looked down, chuckled, raised his hand, and shrugged.
Zhong Mei blushed, turned around, and jogged away, saying, "Wait for my news."
Seeing the two of them walk together, Li Chong smiled slightly, turned around and said, "Erlang, come here for a moment."
Wu Song stepped forward from the crowd: "What are your orders, sir?"
With a wave, Li Chong led Wu Song for a stroll along the ridge of the field.
On the other side, Zhong Mei and Hu Changyong met up.
"Third Uncle, when did you arrive? You didn't even say so."
"Hmph." Hu Changyong snorted coldly and turned to leave. "If I had given you a heads-up, how would I have seen you two like this? If that kid hadn't seen me, would you have crawled into his arms?"
Zhong Mei, both embarrassed and angry, said, "Third Uncle, don't talk nonsense! I... he..."
Hu Changyong shook his head: "Forget it, forget it, I can't be bothered with it anymore. Tell me, what did that kid say to you? He said he'd let us go back once we got out of the mountain, is that true?"
Zhong Mei was taken aback upon hearing this, but then felt much more at ease. It seemed that what Li Chong said was true, and he had already spoken to Hu Changyong about it.
However, it was clear that Hu Changyong was unaware of the inside story.
She took a few steps forward to catch up with Hu Changyong: "Third Uncle, he did promise to return the village to us, but..."
Then, Zhong Mei explained Li Chong's arrangements to Hu Changyong in detail, naturally including many compliments.
As Zhong Mei continued her story, Hu Changyong became increasingly silent, and his steps slowed down.
"Third Uncle!" Zhong Mei was anxious and stepped forward, saying, "You don't need to worry about me. He wouldn't dare to do anything to me. I've been staying at the yamen for many days now. If I want to leave, he can't stop me."
"However, it's really inconvenient for you to be in the mountains, and that guy surnamed Zhu is unreliable. You might as well just listen to his arrangements. If anything unexpected happens, I guarantee he'll be in deep trouble!"
After saying that, Zhong Mei carefully looked at the silent Hu Changyong, waiting for his reply.