The Delicate Darling with Her Rough Man

Even though she knew they were all forced into this with no other choice, it wasn’t something anyone could interfere with.

He Qingqing quickly averted her gaze.

’I can’t even take care of myself, and I still haven’t figured out how to get Grandmother’s medicine. And here I am, my sympathy overflowing, actually thinking about feeling sorry for others.’

’I should feel sorry for myself first!’

There were three vendors who had been caught. Their pants were covered in patches, and the straw-woven shoes they wore were so worn they had holes, revealing their toes.

Two of the men were in their forties and one was in his fifties. All three were crying as they pleaded with the officials.

At their age, they had elders to care for and children to raise; they were the pillars of their families.

Times were tough now, and their families were short on everything. If they weren’t so desperately poor, who would take such a huge risk for just a few yuan?

The men hadn’t done anything truly illegal. The grain they had was saved mouthful by mouthful by their families. The eggs in their baskets were laid by their own hens—eggs their families couldn’t bear to eat. The price offered at the procurement station was too low, so they risked bringing them to the black market, all for a mere two-fen difference per egg.

The vegetables, too, were all grown on their own private plots.

They weren’t stealing or robbing anyone, just trying to scrape together a couple of yuan to help support their families.

The three men begged the officials, tears streaming down their faces.

The officials were in a difficult position as well. The nature of the incident had already been classified, and even if they sympathized with these men, they couldn’t show favoritism.

Lu Yuanbin took a couple of steps before noticing Leng Yuan hadn’t followed. When he turned back, he saw Brother Leng staring at the vendors.

He couldn’t help but remind him, "Brother Leng, we can’t get involved in this. Let’s go!"

They had seen this sort of thing too many times; they were completely powerless to help.

Leng Yuan patted Lu Yuanbin on the shoulder and told him to go on ahead.

He turned and walked into the room.

The officials recognized Leng Yuan. Some time ago, a speeding car had hit one of their colleagues, who had fainted on the spot and started bleeding.

Everyone had panicked at the time.

It was Leng Yuan who had stepped forward, pressed a few acupoints to wake the man, and then stabilized the wound to temporarily stop the bleeding.

Because of this, the officials held Leng Yuan in very high regard.

Leng Yuan got straight to the point. "The items these men are selling are just food. The prices are only a few fen higher than the procurement station, which can’t be considered profiteering. According to the regulations, their actions don’t actually violate the official statutes."

"Besides, with so many people watching, if word gets out that the punishment for this is so severe, no one will dare to report such things even if they see them in the future."

"I believe this matter can be handled based on the actual circumstances. After all, it’s just half a basket of eggs and ten-odd pounds of grain they saved up at home. It doesn’t constitute such a serious offense."

Hearing Leng Yuan’s words, the official felt he had a point. "We’ll need to discuss this."

After speaking, the official went to report the situation to his captain. A few of them discussed it for a while before the official came back out.

"Based on what Mr. Leng said, your actions indeed do not count as a violation of the regulations."

In truth, they had just received a call from their superiors. As long as it wasn’t excessive and didn’t violate any core principles, people from the countryside were permitted to sell a few eggs or a handful of vegetables.

It didn’t qualify as a serious offense.

The vendors immediately began to weep with joy. With trembling hands, they started stuffing their vegetables into the hands of Leng Yuan and the officials.

"Thank you, thank you, we’re so grateful to you all."

They were particularly grateful toward Leng Yuan.

They had seen it clearly: the matter had already been settled, but it was Leng Yuan who came over and said his piece, causing the officials to change their decision.

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