Royal Gold Medal County Magistrate

"Any more evidence?"

Li Yu's expression gradually turned serious.

Fang Chenyu pointed not far away and said, "That Mao Dan is the most suspicious one."

"Do you remember when our classmates asked the teacher why there were no female classmates in our school, what did the teacher say?"

"The teacher said our school doesn't enroll female students."

Fang Chenyu clapped his hands: "That's right! Our school doesn't enroll girls, and you've seen the news encouraging women to go to school in the newspaper, right?"

"Uh... I've seen it, but what does that prove?"

"It proves that women don't study and don't like to study. That Mao Dan is always holding a broken notebook, using a twig to gesture on it without even using ink. That just shows she's pretending! Pretending to study hard, setting an example for us. If we weren't here, would she read? I dare say, this was all designed by my dad and uncle to make us study," Fang Chenyu said triumphantly.

"Hmm... that makes sense! I really didn't think of that if you hadn't said it," Li Yu said in shock, but then he thought it didn't quite add up. "But I really don't see the Zhou family acting like they're pretending. Could it be a problem with the newspaper?"

Fang Chenyu waved his hand and said, "Absolutely impossible! Think about it, my dad and uncle must have hired the best actors. It's normal that you can't tell. The newspaper is even less likely to lie."

"We just cheated a little money, and you can't even say we did it on purpose, and we got beaten up like this! That's a newspaper, think about it."

"If the newspaper lies, wouldn't that be like deceiving everyone in the world? What kind of crime is that? It wouldn't be wrong to be chopped into mincemeat."

"The newspaper is run by my dad and uncle together. Would they allow such a thing to happen? Absolutely not!"

After speaking, Fang Chenyu sighed and muttered, "You say, putting us in this broken place to act, how much time will it waste? My studies are falling behind... How am I going to catch up later?"

Do you even have room to fall behind?

Li Yu glanced at him: "Alright, even if what you said is true, we still have to work. If you're idle like this every day, when will they come to pick us up?"

Fang Chenyu waved his small hand confidently: "Don't worry!"

"Aren't we being punished because we cheated people? Now what are they doing? They're cheating us! When the people who are coming to pick us up arrive, I'll go straight up and expose their scam. Would Dad and Uncle still have the nerve to leave us here?"

"Ugh..." Li Yu pinched his chin, looking thoughtful. He turned his head to look at Mao Dan, who was squatting on the ground not far away, nibbling on a potato, and said hesitantly, "Mao Dan is so timid, I still don't believe she's acting."

"Why not just ask the honest Mao Dan? She doesn't seem like she would lie."

Fang Chenyu said, "Okay, when she goes back to the house, we'll follow her and see how I expose this little liar. She's already lying at such a young age, she deserves a beating!"

Li Yu didn't say anything, leaning against the tree and pondering silently.

Fang Chenyu picked up the potato on the ground and chewed it with a look of disgust.

More than ten minutes later, Mao Dan and Zhou Fugui had finished eating and rested.

Mao Dan tidied up the dishes and chopsticks, and carrying the small basket, walked towards Fang Chenyu again, seeing that the bowl on the ground was empty.

Tilting her head, she picked up the empty bowl on the ground and immediately hurried home, as if afraid of being discovered by Fang Chenyu.

Looking at Mao Dan's back, Fang Chenyu smiled slyly and gestured towards Mao Dan's back with his mouth: "She's going back, she's going back."

Li Yu sighed softly: "I know, even if she's an actor, don't go too far with your words. Look how scared you made her. Is it fun to bully people?"

Fang Chenyu said unhappily: "Who wants to bully her? Giving us potatoes to eat, their family must be secretly eating meat! That's what you call bullying. You'll know later."

The two walked towards the thatched hut.

.....

At this moment, Mao Dan had already neatly washed the dishes and chopsticks, and her small body was once again lying on the wooden table in the corner of the house, using a small wooden stick to gesture at the book.

Fang Chenyu and Li Yu pushed the door open and entered.

Mao Dan turned her head vigilantly, and when she saw that it was Fang Chenyu, she immediately lay down, her muscles tensing up, pretending to be reading seriously.

Li Yu was about to step forward to ask a question, but Fang Chenyu reached out and stopped him, approaching Mao Dan alone.

Feeling someone approaching, Mao Dan's ears visibly turned red, and she hurriedly stretched out her left arm shyly to cover the old book on the table.

Fang Chenyu leaned close to her ear and said gloomily, "Mao Dan, I'm going to ask you a question."

"Why is your family so poor!"

Mao Dan shuddered in fright, lowered her head in inferiority, and whispered, "Ah? ... My... my family is just poor..."

"Tsk tsk, you're acting so well," Fang Chenyu raised his head. "Mao Dan, it's so ugly that your family is so poor. There are no poor people like your family outside. Do you know that if you continue to pretend to be poor, you'll be disgracing our Da Jing."

"Do you believe that after I return to the capital, I'll report you to the authorities and have you, your dad, and your grandpa all arrested and thrown into jail?"

Li Yu frowned, wanting to stop him, but ultimately held back.

He also wanted to see if she was really acting.

Mao Dan raised her head, her eyes wide with fear: "I'm not pretending... Why arrest my dad and my grandpa, Brother Fang, don't report to the authorities...."

Scared? Good to know you're scared!

Fang Chenyu was secretly happy: "Still saying you're not pretending? It's okay if you don't want me to report to the authorities. I'll ask you, where did you and your family live before?"

Mao Dan's heart was full of confusion, and she said nervously, "I've always lived here, I haven't been to other places."

"What about your mother and your grandmother?"

"They died..."

"How did they die, and what did your dad do before?"

Mao Dan's two small hands were full of sweat, and her eyes were wet: "Grandma died early. My dad gambled when he was young. The family had no money, and my mother died of illness... Later, Grandpa also fell ill, so my dad stopped gambling and came back to farm..."

She's made up quite a story!

Fang Chenyu smacked his lips: "Okay! Fine! Then I'll ask you again, what are you doing looking at that one book every day?"

Mao Dan very sensitively pulled the old book on the table to the corner: "My dad bought it for me... I want to learn to read, so when I grow up, I can go to a girls' school..."

Afraid that Fang Chenyu wouldn't believe her, Mao Dan got up and walked to the wooden cabinet in the house, rummaging through the bottom to find a small wooden box.

Opening the box, there were two old newspapers with brittle edges, but they were folded neatly, looking like they had been carefully preserved.

Mao Dan carefully placed it on the table, took it out, and spread it out.

"My dad bought this. It says on the outside that there's news about the girls' school recruiting students..."

Fang Chenyu glanced at it and sneered, "You're even treasuring this broken newspaper. I'd think it's dirty even to paste it on the wall!"