Behind a stilt wooden house, Lu Ming found Erika and her two little ones who were having fun.
The three little ones were playing with several Mitai girls.
Mrs. Liu, a mixed-race Mitai woman who is a Zhongzhou manager, served as their tour guide, taking them to appreciate the sea view and the unique Mitai folk customs here.
When they arrived here, several Mitai girls aged seven or eight were playing a traditional coconut shell game. Mrs. Liu called them over to talk to "Madam" and her friends.
After several Yatai girls learned that Erika was the wife of the island owner, they seemed to know everything despite their young age. They surrounded Erika and acted like mistresses. They were extremely obedient and even brought all kinds of fun things for Erika to see, each of them trying to win her favor.
In their eyes, people from Central China have a high status, let alone the wife of the island owner.
When Lu Ming found them, Erika was a little at a loss, because the girls were looking at her with their big eyes, waiting for her to judge whose coconut shell was the most beautiful. If she chose the best one, the other girls would definitely be sad, and they would be really sad. They would probably be in sorrow for a while.
Erika understands this feeling better than anyone else.
Fortunately, Lu Ming came over, and Mrs. Liu shouted at the top of her lungs, and the little girls bowed to Lu Ming obediently. After Lu Ming waved his hand, the girls, who had been frightened for a long time, immediately ran away and disappeared.
Not to mention the little girls, even Mrs. Liu didn't dare to breathe. After bowing deeply, she didn't dare to straighten her waist and kept it slightly bent.
Lu Ming looked at the three little ones. Actually, they can’t be called three little ones. In fact, Papada is the age to go to college. She is two years older than Erika and Chen Xiaoya, and she is seventeen this year.
Moreover, compared to her actual age, Papada is obviously very precocious. She looks like an extremely beautiful and sexy Mitai mixed-race girl. Her beauty is more aggressive. She has a slightly open oval face, fair skin, a high nose bridge, deep black eyes, and three-dimensional facial features. Her long dark brown hair is like a waterfall, with a few strands blown by the wind on her cheeks, making her look more blurred and sexy. She wears big metal earrings, a nose stud and a tongue stud, a kind of wild and charming beauty, and a tight snow-white shirt. You can faintly see the colorful beautiful tattoo under her snow-white neck. There is also a red rose tattoo next to her snow-white collarbone, on the huge explosion-like mountain peak. She wears light white jeans and canvas shoes underneath, and only the soft ankle is faintly exposed with a thin, exquisite and charming black ring-shaped anklet tattoo, but you can imagine that she must have beautiful tattoos on her lower body.
The Mitai people also have a tradition of tattooing.
Seeing her, Lu Ming inexplicably thought of Kim Mi-yeon. However, Kim Mi-yeon is now a well-known gymnastics star in Donghae. Although she has not removed her tattoos, she has tried her best to cover them up. Sometimes he wonders if he has killed her personality.
This place is very close to Hanzhou. I originally wanted to go to Hanzhou to see Xiao Meizhen when I have some free time.
However, compared to Kim Mi-yeon, who was just a naive little girl at that time, this Papada is obviously much more mature. The hard life she experienced since childhood also made her understand a lot about the warmth and coldness of life early on.
"Master!" Erika came to Lu Ming happily. She was wearing snow-white casual clothes and was extremely beautiful. Every time Lu Ming saw Erika, he felt that he was afraid that she would get tired even if he walked, and he should hold her in his arms and dote on her. At this time, he smiled and said, "Is our island beautiful?"
"Yeah!" Erika nodded her head vigorously.
"Hello, uncle!" The crisp voice came from Chen Xiaoya. She bowed politely. She was a very pretty and quiet girl, obviously the type of child that other people's families would like to have. Everyone would want to have such an outstanding daughter.
But Erika will not give people this feeling, because this beautiful girl who makes the world lose its color seems like she should not exist in this world. Looking at her will only make people marvel at the wonder of the Creator, but will not think that there can be another Erika.
"Uncle..." It seemed that Papada didn't know how to address her best friend's husband. After hearing Chen Xiaoya's address, she also called him "Uncle".
Lu Ming nodded to her, looked at his watch and said, "Let's go eat!"
"Have you finished your business? Didn't you kill anyone this time?" Erika asked curiously.
Lu Ming stumbled and almost fell. How did he give this little girl the impression that he could kill people just because he was talking about serious matters? Moreover, it was obvious that in the little girl's eyes, killing people was a normal thing and not a sin. Was it because she thought that those she killed were all bad guys
After staying in the Northern Territory for a long time, this little guy's thinking has become out of touch with the normal and peaceful society.
This won’t do!
Lu Ming coughed and said, "What's the point of killing or not killing? Killing is always bad!"
"Hmm!" Erika nodded her head. "I heard from Mrs. Liu that some people wanted to bully the people on the island. They were all really bad guys, so I thought you were going to execute them again..."
Over there, Chen Xiaoya and Papada's expressions became more and more strange.
Lu Ming smiled bitterly. Erika didn’t have so much to say to him before. She always followed him quietly, her little face full of happiness.
Maybe some friends are here today, so I’m quite excited and talking more.
Fortunately, she talked a little more, because she realized that her little head had been badly damaged in the chaotic and deformed land of the Northern Territory.
It’s also because if they follow me, they will hear those dark things no matter what. Who says I’m a big devil
"Let's not talk about this anymore! Let's go eat!" Lu Ming gently pulled up her tender little hand. Erika's face turned slightly red, and she calmed down.
Lu Ming sighed inwardly. It seemed that as long as the Santoro Business School was not out of control, Erika should be allowed to go up and down as long as she could. This way, she could recuperate slowly. The trauma in her heart would heal slowly and her thinking would return to normal values.
…
The second-floor annex building next to the "Manager's Building" houses a restaurant, billiard room, chess and card room, and other leisure and entertainment facilities open only to Zhongzhou residents.
The restaurant's private room has a rich variety of dishes on the table, including fried, stir-fried, and deep-fried dishes, all of which are Central Asian dishes. The combination of meat, fish, vegetables, etc. is also very good.
"Uncle, do you have any plans for the afternoon?" The question was asked by Chen Xiaoya.
Erika never asked these questions and always waited for Lu Ming to tell her what to do today.
Lu Ming smiled and said, "Nothing to do. I'll spend the afternoon with Erika and you guys on the island. We'll go back to Ferman around four or five o'clock."
Erika's little face was a little happy, "Okay!"
Just then, someone knocked on the door of the private room, and Liu Dachui's voice said, "Boss?"
After Lu Ming responded, he hurried in and whispered a few words to Lu Ming.
Lu Ming was helpless, and said to Erika and the others: "You guys can have fun by yourselves, I have something to deal with." He looked at his watch and said to Liu Dachui: "Let's have a hearing on their dispute at one o'clock in the afternoon at Palm Tree Square."
When Liu Dachui heard the name Palm Tree Plaza, he was startled at first, then he knew where it was and nodded, "Okay, I'll let them know."
"Uncle, are you going to be a judge and sentence the Mitai people?" Chen Xiaoya asked curiously. Her ancestors had lived here for generations and she had a certain understanding of the tribal living conditions of the Mitai people on the island.
Lu Ming smiled and said, "Yes, this island has just applied to establish a city. I am the mayor and I also have to be a judge. It's okay, you guys can have fun."
Chen Xiaoya was even more curious, "Uncle, what's the dispute?"
After all, she was born into a wealthy family and was a real rich girl. She was not afraid of life. Although she knew that her grandfather seemed to rely on Uncle Zhang, it had no effect on her.
Erika is actually a little thoughtful and naturally curious, but she never asks too much about her husband's affairs.
As for Papada, she just ate quietly and didn't say anything.
She was completely different from the lively and outgoing person she was when Lu Ming was not around.
Lu Ming said to Chen Xiaoya, "They are two neighbors. One of the families had money stolen. It happened last month. But just now, the plaintiff who lost the money caught the defendant who was spending money in the store and said that the money the defendant took was stolen from her family because there was a mark on it that she recognized."
Chen Xiaoya exclaimed, "Then according to reason, uncle, should we not be able to win this case?"
Lu Ming nodded. "According to the imperial law, this case cannot be brought to court. The judge simply ruled that the case was invalid due to insufficient evidence. In this month, who knows who stole the lost money? It's not surprising that it ended up in the hands of the neighbor. In addition, it is possible that the plaintiff lost the money and someone else picked it up."
Chen Xiaoya listened and nodded repeatedly.
Lu Ming said: "But, we can't judge like this here, because there are no prosecutors or lawyers. In fact, all the pressure is placed on the judge, including investigating the case thoroughly, which naturally becomes the judge's responsibility. Otherwise, it will become a mud judge judging a mud case. This is the custom of the Mitai island tribe. We can only follow the local customs for the time being."
Chen Xiaoya nodded in admiration: "Uncle, you are right."
"Let's eat!" Lu Ming made a gesture.
…
The so-called Palmetto Square is an open space near the town with several tall green palm trees growing nearby.
Many local residents came to watch the fun, and several security guards maintained order. They drew a circle, and the area inside the white circle was the trial area.
Anutin was also a member of the security team. He was wearing a green military uniform and looked very tough. Many of his friends and relatives who knew him were very surprised.
There was a small table in front of Lu Ming, and he was sitting on a wooden chair.
The plaintiff and the defendant are both women in their thirties. One of the women had bloodstains on her face. It was the defendant, Cha Chati, who was beaten by the plaintiff, Ping Sanna.
Pingsanna was talking about what happened that night when the thief broke into the house. She said that she saw the thief's shadow running to the next door, and judging from his figure, it was Chachati.
Then, she kept staring at Chachati, and whenever Chachati spent money, she would follow and watch.
Today, I finally caught Cha Cha picking up the money she lost, because it had her special mark on it.
On the table in front of Lu Ming was a one-yuan bill. Lu Ming picked it up and saw a black oil stain, which was the mark that Ping Sanna mentioned.
"Chachati, tell me, how did you get this money? Was it change from shopping? Was it the salary from your husband? Or somewhere else?"
After Lu Ming finished speaking, Gao Taihe, who was sitting slightly behind Lu Ming, translated it.
Cha Cha Ti looked a little uneasy. He squatted on the ground and whispered something.
Gao Taihe couldn't hear clearly at all.
Pingsanna, who was squatting on the other side, immediately started talking excitedly. You didn't need to understand the Mi Thai language to know that she was definitely saying that Chachati was guilty.
Pingsanna even wanted to get up and get some tea, but in the end she didn't dare to break the rules.
Many Mitai tribes have the custom of squatting and answering in front of the manor owner. This is especially true if the manor owner is resolving a dispute, deciding a case, or the victim is the defendant.
Lu Ming looked at Ping Sanna, "You said you saw a thief running into Chachati's house that night. It was Chachati. Why didn't you and your husband chase him in? You couldn't break in. It was normal to knock on the door from outside. The neighbors should have been disturbed by you. So, was there any witness that night?"
Pingsanna had a bitter face and spoke incoherently.
According to Gao Taihe's translation, the general meaning is, in reply to the master, according to the customs of our Mitai people, in the manor, whether it is a rubber plantation, palm oil plantation, coconut plantation, poppy plantation, etc., after the shining star time, no one is allowed to shout outside, so the slaves did not dare to make a noise, and the next day, they felt that there was no evidence, so they did not report it to the security team. The slaves could only keep an eye on this thief every day, and today they finally caught her tail.
Lu Ming nodded. The "Master", "Little Slave" and so on translated by Gao Taihe were words from Central China with roughly the same meaning. But in fact, the respectful titles used by the Mitai people for the manor owner and their humble self-proclaimed titles in front of the manor owner should be more exaggerated than the "Master" and "Little Slave" in Central China.
As for the Twinkling Star Hour, it is actually the time to light the lamps at night. According to the ancient tradition of the Mitai people, as long as it is dark and the lamps need to be lit, the serfs are not allowed to go out. It is equivalent to an automatic curfew. Until now, it has been basically passed down. The serfs and workers in the manor try not to go out after dark, and they will not make noise late at night. According to tradition, that is a serious crime.
For the ruling class of the Mitai people, such a tradition is naturally a low-cost way to maintain social stability.
It just made the serfs and workers lose a little bit of freedom. You just get used to it. If you have never had it, you won't think it's wrong. If someone wants to fight for this freedom, they will be attacked by most serfs and workers. After all, it feels like no good person would go out at night. And if someone walks around in the settlement in the dark night, or even quarrels or fights, then this world is too dangerous.
After writing a few notes in the notebook, Lu Ming said, "Okay, let's adjourn for half an hour."