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Mwah.
As a result,
Both physical evidence and witness evidence were present.
Those involved in the harvesting and cutting were all sentenced to death.
The others had to wait for further interrogation and sentencing.
This was the largest and most serious case since the beginning of the year in Shuo Zhou City. Things had developed to this point, and the criminals were involved.
Li Yue could no longer intervene. She simply shifted the focus from the criminals to the children who had been harmed.
There were about a hundred children who were rescued. Most of them were around ten years old, and most of them were boys.
Only a few of them were successfully picked up by their original families under the notice of the authorities. The rest either didn't want to go home.
Either they couldn't go back to their original families, or they were abandoned long ago.
Originally, the remaining children were arranged to go to the Salesian Bureau in Shuo Zhou City. However, the Salesian Bureau itself was not large.
In Shuo Zhou City, the authorities did not have much say. Whether it was money or clothes, all kinds of resources were very tight. Occasionally, people would donate money and things.
It was barely enough to ensure that the children in the Salesian Bureau had enough to eat.
Now there was a bunch of children.
The Salesian Bureau was a little short of food.
The hair on the head of the official in charge of the Salesian Bureau had decreased a little.
He almost scratched himself bald on the spot.
The Li family had operated in Shuo Zhou for many years.
They would naturally donate money and things to the Salesian Bureau during the New Year.
Li Yue opened a soap shop and made a small fortune.
Under the guidance of Uncle Fu.
She had originally planned to donate some money, but when she went to the Ci Youths Bureau and saw that the children, big and small, were still trying their best to give their survival resources to the younger children despite the lack of food and clothing, she had a new idea.
She wanted to hire those older children to work.
According to the rules, the children in the Salesian Bureau would usually stay until they were fourteen years old before leaving. However, in order to reduce the burden of the Salesian Bureau, these children would usually take the initiative to leave the Salesian Bureau when they were in their early teens to find their own way.
In modern times, ten-year-old children were usually still in primary school and couldn't do much. However, in most commoner families here, they had already started to support their family's livelihood.
Children with adult family members were better off as they had some backing behind them.
Most of the children in the Bureau of Love were alone and had no one to rely on. If they were lucky enough to be accepted as an apprentice in a shop, or to be a manservant in a large family, they would at least have a way to survive.
However, if one were to encounter a bad person and be beaten up and robbed of their money, that would be one thing. If one was unlucky, one would be tricked into a brothel or a brothel, or be taken advantage of, or even be abused, quietly rotting in the mud. This was nothing new.
After Li Yue had this idea, she first went to communicate with Uncle Fu. The old man didn't say anything to discourage her and let Li Yue do whatever she wanted.
With Uncle Fu's encouragement and support, Li Yue didn't use the Li family's money. She spent all the money she had earned from the soap business and simply renovated a gambling house that had been abandoned due to internal strife in Long Dragon City. The interior was built to look like a modern student dormitory, and she also prepared many pots and pans.
Just the renovation of the gambling house took a month. After two months, Li Yue looked at the new dormitory building and the monthly increase in the security fees. Only then did she have the courage to go to the Salesian Bureau to find the director.
The director of the Salesian Bureau was a thin middle-aged man. When he heard that someone was willing to take in a large number of children, he was quite overjoyed. When Li Yue appeared, his face was full of unconcealable disappointment.
It wasn't that Li Yue didn't look like she didn't have the financial resources to take in children, but that she was too young and looked like a jade doll. The director of the Salesian Bureau only thought that she was a pampered baby of a rich family who came to have fun out of boredom. However, he was worried that he couldn't afford to offend Li Yue, so he could only force himself to be alert and entertain her.
Li Yue seriously described her plan to the director. She explained it in detail, but the other party only listened perfunctorily. Li Yue had no choice but to promise to donate some money to the Salesian Bureau. With Tie Chuanjia's silent threat as support, she dragged the director to the dormitory building.
With the real thing in front of him, the director immediately put away his perfunctory attitude. He looked at the clean and tidy dormitory building and said to Li Yue after a long while, "Young Master, you are very kind and kind.
"Young Master is talented and kind. If you become an official, you will definitely become a famous minister."
"Thank you for thinking so highly of me. This commoner is very useless. I only want to earn a little money to support my elders. I don't dare to have wishful thinking."
The director of the Salesian Bureau repeatedly sighed. After thinking for a while, he didn't say anything else and tactfully agreed to Li Yue's proposal.
Since the other party agreed, the rest of the matter was relatively simple.
Li Yue found a few young people from the Long Dragon to help her. They were all good-looking and didn't have the temperament of a hooligan.
Before she left, she looked around the few young people in black. Then she glanced at Tie Chuanjia, who had a murderous look in his eyes, and Hoodlum, who almost had the words "Stay away from me" written on his face. She didn't feel like she was going to take in children. Instead, she felt like a gang leader who was going to cause trouble.
Wait, it seemed like she was indeed a gang leader who didn't have any power?
Li Yue squeezed the handle of the fan in her hand and looked at her "little brothers" with a headache. She couldn't recruit any more female gang members for the time being. She could only go to the kitchen and bring out the auntie who was in charge of cooking.
The auntie in the gang was big and burly. She looked even scarier than Tie Chuanjia. Li Yue didn't have time to regret. She took the group of people to the carriage and went directly to the Salesian Bureau.
At this time, the children in the Salesian Bureau were playing in the courtyard. When they saw a stranger coming, they cautiously huddled together.
Li Yue casually glanced in their direction. A few of the children hurriedly hid behind the older children as if she was a man-eating monster. Li Yue couldn't help but twitch the corner of her mouth.
Because the director had informed the other adults in the Salesian Bureau in advance, although they were curious, they didn't stop Li Yue and the others. On the contrary, they helped Li Yue gather the children in the Salesian Bureau who met her requirements in the courtyard.
Li Yue looked at the dozens of children of different heights. Some were obviously underage, and some were even disabled. Li Yue frowned.
The director next to her smiled and rubbed his hands. He seemed to be waiting for Li Yue to ask questions. Li Yue didn't want to argue with the old fox. She looked around and spoke loudly to the children in the courtyard.
"As you can see, I am the owner of Long Dragon Shop. I came to the Salesian Bureau because I have discussed with the director before. I want to accept some of you as apprentices in our shop.
Now that all the suitable people are here, I will first tell you the benefits of the shop. Then you can decide whether you want to work in our shop. "
At first, Li Yue was a little flustered. However, when she talked about the benefits of the shop, she became calmer and calmer.
In front of about a hundred people, she explained the conditions she listed one by one, including that she would sign in the Salesian Bureau in front of everyone, and that she would give all the children who came to be apprentices an opportunity to exchange their jobs for accommodation, food, and other details.
At first, the children were also full of doubts. When the director of the Ci You Bureau spoke out to testify, an older child was the first to stand up and press the red handprint. The rest of the children looked at each other, and then one by one, they followed suit.
More and more children were willing to be apprentices in Long Dragon Shop, and the children who stood there stood out even more.
Li Yue slowly walked to the side of a crippled child with a broken arm and whispered, "Brother, why are you here?
"You don't want to be an apprentice?"
"… You … It's you!"
The child remembered his previous life as a thief. He looked around nervously and found that no one was paying attention to him. He bit his lip and lined up behind the other children with an unreadable expression. He was ready to press his red handprint.
With such a handicapped child standing up, the rest of the children didn't have to worry about anything.
In just four hours, Li Yue took in more than half of the children in the Salesian Bureau.
The Salesian Bureau was not close to the dormitory. Although the weather had turned warm, they could still feel the cool wind after walking for a long time.
When they came, Li Yue and the gang members drove three carriages. In order to pick up the children, the carriages went back and forth five or six times.
When the children arrived at the destination, many of them exclaimed when they saw the bright and tidy dormitory.
Their excitement lasted until night. Many children couldn't even sleep. When they changed into new clothes the next day, they felt that they were back to reality.
At first, the children worked honestly in the soap shop as helpers or went to the Changlong Gang Headquarters to clean. They did all the work that they could.
Seeing that there were more people, Li Yue hurriedly opened a dessert shop. Not only did she sell the commonly seen preserves and pastries, but she also sold cakes and bread that could only be found in modern times. Because of the live promotion of the cute children this time, the business was even more popular than the soap shop.
What Li Yue didn't expect was that the children, who got along well with each other, would quarrel over who could work in the dessert shop. They quarreled and became really angry. It turned into two groups of children fighting.
On one side were the children who grew up in the Salesian Bureau, and on the other side were the children left over from the big case at the beginning of the year. If the gang members guarding the dormitory didn't see that the situation was bad and directly reported to Li Yue, and Li Yue asked Tie Chuanjia to forcibly suppress the two groups of children, there might have been a bloody case in the dormitory.
Looking at the two groups of children whose faces were bruised and swollen, as well as the young men who were leading the two groups, Li Yue was furious to the extreme. Not only was there no fluctuation in her heart, she even felt like laughing.
She knew that there were conflicts between these children, but she didn't expect the tipping point to be so complicated.
In the first three months, the children worked in the dessert shop, the soap shop, and the gang's main hall. Later, according to the evaluation of the old staff in the shop, they would make detailed and fixed arrangements for them. There was nothing to be unhappy about.
The two groups of children knelt on the ground and didn't say anything. Li Yue knew that they were still angry, so she didn't say much. She slowly inspected each dormitory with Hoodlum to check the hygiene. When they walked to the roof, Hoodlum looked at the children below and asked Li Yue in confusion:
"Most of them are not sincerely grateful to you. Why do you still help them?"
"I didn't want them to be grateful from the beginning.
I just … wanted to give them more choices. "
A trace of doubt appeared on Hoodlum's face. Li Yue held her forehead and asked him a question that seemed to be unrelated to the current topic:
"Hey, Hoodlum, if you didn't have your mother by your side in the beginning, where would you be?"
The young man thought for a moment and replied, "I should be in the belly of a jackal."
"I don't want to ask this … Forget it, it's about the same.
Well, if I didn't meet Uncle Li, I should be learning some bullshit skills to please men in the brothel. Then in a few years … I will become a person who 'a pair of jade arms for thousands of people to use as pillows and a pair of red lips for thousands of people to taste'. "
"But, you are very good to them, but they are not good to you."
"I'm not as good to them as you think. I hired child labor and didn't pay them. If it was in my hometown, I would be arrested and sent to prison.
Even here, they don't owe me anything.
I'm just doing what I can to make investments that won't cost me anything. "
Hoodlum shook his head, his eyes full of disapproval: "They still owe you."
"Just … investments … There will always be a little loss, but it's only in the early stage. Later on, I will get back the capital and interest!
Forget it, let's not talk about this topic for now. Say, they still have the energy to fight and cause trouble. Is it because they have too little work and are too idle? "
The young man nodded silently. Li Yue held her chin and thought for a while. Suddenly, she thought of a good idea and hurriedly pulled the young man downstairs.
In the courtyard of the dormitory building, the group of children didn't dare to cause trouble in front of Tie Chuanjia's eyes. They all knelt quietly. When they heard the noise and looked up, they saw that their nominal boss, who was actually the same age as them, had a warm smile on his face. Their hearts all skipped a beat.
Li Yue didn't criticize the children. She simply announced to them that from today onwards, every child would have cultural and physical education classes.
When the children heard this, they were a little confused. However, when they practiced the horse stance, learned how to write, and memorized the initiation books, it only took a few days for them to change from curious fighter jets to dispirited sick chickens.
What if the children kept asking for trouble?
It must be because there was too little homework!
What if they still dared to cause trouble?
Double the amount of homework!
Since then, not a single child dared to cause trouble in the dormitory building.
Li Yue was a little proud of herself for calmly resolving the disputes between her subordinates. However, she didn't have the guts to mention it in front of Li Xunhuan. She was afraid that Tanhua Lang would give her the same treatment. She could only secretly brag to her friends. She even wrote a letter to Yuan Suiyun, who was far away in the Guannei Pass.
Yuan Suiyun, who was holding the letter, sat in the study room and laughed for a while. Soon after, she conceived the idea of establishing her own power. She put it into action that year.
They agreed to spend the Lantern Festival together before leaving Shuo Zhou City. However, the day before the Lantern Festival, Lu Xiaofeng was packed up and taken away by his master.
Before leaving, the master and disciple went to the school according to Li Yue's instructions and solemnly said goodbye to the old teacher.
It was noon when they arrived, the weather was still cold and the ground was frozen. All the students were huddled around the stove in the classroom to keep warm. Bored, Li Yue looked out of the window and finally saw Lu Xiaofeng and his disciple's figures.
This was the first time Li Yue saw Lu Xiaofeng's master. The other party's long hair was casually tied behind his head, and his beard covered most of his face. His clothes were simple and plain, and there was a wine gourd hanging from his waist. He had an unruly air about him.
Were it not for the fact that the other party's clothes were not patched, that there were no bags hanging on them, and that he did not have a stick type weapon like the Dog Beating Stick on him, Li Yue would have almost linked Lu Xiaofeng's Shifu to the legendary and renowned Beggar Clan member.
Perhaps because Li Yue's gaze was too focused, or perhaps because Lu Xiaofeng's master's martial arts were outstanding, Li Yue didn't look for long before the other party keenly stared at the classroom window and happened to meet Li Yue's gaze.
Realizing that the person staring at him was his disciple's good friend, Lu Xiaofeng's master winked at Li Yue. The smile in his eyes diluted his Jianghu aura and brought out some intelligence and craftiness. At first glance, one could tell that he was a romantic and elegant man who flirted with girls everywhere when he was young. He must have provoked many girls.
Although she complained, Li Yue was sluggish for a moment. In a flash, she understood where her friend learned his bad habit of winking. Unfortunately, Lu Xiaofeng was born with a baby face. When he did this, he didn't have the roguishness of a mature man like his master. Instead, it made people want to pull down his pants and slap his butt a few times.
The master and disciple stayed in the classroom for a while and then left. Before leaving, Lu Xiaofeng gloomily waved goodbye to Li Yue and Zhu Ting.
The old teacher had said everything he wanted to say. None of his proud students went to Shuozhou Academy to study, so he was in a bad mood. Even in the afternoon class, he was somewhat listless. After school, he didn't repeatedly remind his students like he used to. Instead, he waved his hand and told them to go home.
Li Yue didn't care much about Lu Xiaofeng's departure. Everyone had their own aspirations and couldn't be forced. Even if they were separated, there would be a time when they would meet again.
In addition, she still had a lot of things to do in the Long Dragon, so she didn't have the mood to be sad. Zhu Ting, who was addicted to counting machines, was also the same.
Therefore, after school, the two of them went straight to the workshop to check the Long Dragon Lantern made by Zhu Ting. After checking the details, Tie Chuanjia drove the carriage and directly sent the Long Dragon Lantern directly to the courtyard of the Changlong Gang Headquarters.
Although the dragon had always been a symbol of the royal family, in this day and age, unless you openly wore a five-clawed dragon robe on the streets, or decorated your house with five-clawed dragon ornaments, and declared that you wanted to rebel and ascend to the throne, it wasn't a big deal to occasionally decorate your house with a dragon pattern. The common people might be a little fussy and didn't use the word "dragon" in their name. The martial arts world and the imperial court had always minded their own business, so there were many gangs that used the dragon as their name.
The founder of the Long Dragon was more or less a martial artist, so it wasn't strange to use the word "dragon". Li Yue didn't intend to change it. She even used the C-type jade pig dragon that was unearthed in the future as a blueprint to make the Long Dragon gang's logo.
The Long Dragon Lantern was also made according to this image. The dragon's four limbs were covered by auspicious clouds, and only a few scales and claws were exposed. Even if someone wanted to say that the dragon didn't look like a dragon or that the dragon pattern was out of bounds, it would be very difficult to find a flaw in the Long Dragon.
In the current dynasty, the Spring Lantern Festival was a five-day holiday, so the Long Dragon Lantern naturally had to be hung for at least five days.
Li Yue let the gang members light it up that night. After testing the effect, she didn't let the gang members extinguish the lantern. Instead, she simply arranged for the gang members to take turns to guard the lantern.
Everything had a good start, so Li Yue followed Tie Chuanjia home to sleep with peace of mind. When a ray of light appeared on the horizon, she decisively got out of bed, washed up, and prepared to leave for the Changlong Gang Headquarters.
Tanhua Lang was drunk yesterday, so when Li Yue finished her breakfast, he was still in a deep sleep. Tie Chuanjia was naturally able to free himself to go with Li Yue.
The road was crowded with pedestrians, so it wasn't easy to drive a horse carriage. Li Yue simply walked with Tie Chuanjia to the west side of the city.
During the Spring Lantern Festival, not only did they have to light lanterns, they also had to eat Yuanxiao, guess riddles, and perform lion dances.
The first two were absolutely no problem. Li Yue had already prepared the lantern a long time ago, and it attracted a lot of people's attention last night.
The Lantern Festival was also cooked in several large pots. The noodles were top-notch glutinous rice noodles. They were delicate, white, fragrant, and sticky. They were very good at suppressing hunger. Not only was it enough for the Long Dragon gang members to eat, but they could also bring it back home to share with their friends and family.
As for the riddles and lion dance, it was a bit difficult for the people on the list.
Before, the gang was in a mess. The original lion dance team had already dispersed. After Li Yue took over the Long Dragon gang, she didn't have time to organize people to train. She had no choice but to invite a lion dance team from outside to perform at the entrance of the headquarters, hoping for a good sign.
The lion dance team was found by Uncle Fu. Uncle Fu couldn't be more reliable. Therefore, the lion dance performance not only received loud cheers from the gang members, but also attracted many residents in the west side of the city to come and watch. The relationship between the Long Dragon gang members and their neighbors eased a lot because of this.
As for the riddles, there were many people in the Long Dragon who couldn't read. They were illiterate. Not to mention that they were proficient in literature, they were also lacking in common sense.
Li Yue came up with a few simple riddles, but not many people could guess them. The ruffians didn't feel embarrassed. They only felt that the new gang leader was making things difficult for them. Li Yue had no choice but to choose the simplest one, throwing the dice. She let them decide what they would get based on the size of the dice.
In the end, Li Yue didn't expect that just by throwing the dice, the gang members would also divide into small groups to compete with each other. They said harsh words and booed each other. They were secretly preparing to cheat.
When a gang member threw six sixes in a row and wanted to show off to the others and ask the new gang leader for a reward, Tie Chuanjia, who had been silent all this time, rolled up his sleeves and walked to the middle of the gang.
Tie Chuanjia snatched the bamboo tube from the ruffian's hand and threw three dice into it. When he shook the dice, he didn't have any dazzling skills. But when he put down the bamboo tube and moved away, there were only six dice left on the table. The total number was 21.