Chapter 87: Seeking Help

Chapter 87 Seeking Help

Zai Zai and Niu Niu had been sitting beside Su He the whole time, and Niu Niu didn’t even beg to go play with Ji Liangchuan anymore.

Just now, seeing their mother nearly come to blows with that man, even getting the police involved, the two kids were a little worried about Su He.

Not that they were afraid their mother would be bullied—after all, they had seen Su He’s skills—but they were concerned that business wasn’t picking up today and worried she might get discouraged.

Su He told them repeatedly to go play with Ji Liangchuan, but the kids wouldn’t budge.

When she offered to take them there, they still refused.

The market was full of people coming and going. After the earlier incident, Su He slowly started getting some customers, but it still couldn’t compare to the previous two times.

Just then, a young man made a beeline for Su He’s stall and greeted her with a smile. “Why did you move over here?

I went to your old stall, and the person there told me you weren’t coming today and had them set up instead. I thought you were from the same family.

When I saw they lowered the price, I got wary and bought one. Tasted like garbage.”

Su He looked at him and immediately recognized who he was.

He was the first person to buy her fried dough, and afterward, he always bought at least five at a time, so she remembered him well.

“They came early and took my old spot. We’re not from the same family,” Su He replied with a smile.

Seeing that she wasn’t angry despite someone ripping off her recipe, occupying her spot, and even passing off as her stall, the young man couldn’t help but be impressed by Su He.

This woman clearly had a mindset and insight beyond the ordinary.

“I’ll take ten,” the young man said with a grin.

“You got it.”

Su He cheerfully packed the fried dough into a bag and handed it to him, then said, “That’ll be three yuan.”

After paying, the young man immediately took out a piece and took a bite. After tasting it, he smiled at Su He and said, “Now this hits the spot! Don’t worry, your customers will find their way back before long. The stuff they’re selling over there isn’t worth feeding to dogs.”

Su He was amused by his words. “Well, I’ll take that as a good omen.”

Not long after the young man left, just as he had predicted, many of her previous customers began finding their way back to her stall.

Her new location wasn’t hard to find—anyone looking for her could spot her after a quick lap around the market.

“Oh, I’ve been searching all over for you!” an elderly woman exclaimed as soon as she saw Su He, pulling her grandson along.

“Heh, I lost my usual spot today,” Su He replied with a chuckle.

“Of course not! That stall now has someone selling the same thing as you, but it’s terrible. My grandson’s been counting the days to eat your fried dough. I bought the wrong one earlier, and he pitched a fit.”

The old woman had searched everywhere for Su He, thinking she hadn’t set up today.

Her grandson had kept fussing, so she had no choice but to keep looking—until she finally found her.

“Give me two, please,” the old woman said.

After Su He handed her the packed fried dough, the woman added, “That’s why yours costs more. Theirs is a few cents cheaper, but it’s tiny and tastes awful. A lot of people have already realized that stall isn’t the same as before. More will come looking for you soon.”

“Thank you. If you see anyone searching for my stall, mind sending them my way?”

After cheerfully seeing off the old woman and her grandson, Aunt Niu couldn't help but gloat, "I told you so. What's the point of them snatching the stall? Nobody would buy their lousy food."

"Exactly. Whatever we do, we've got to maintain both quality and quantity."

Unsurprisingly, Su He's business started booming.

More and more people came looking for her fried dough cakes, and Su He started frying batches in the pan again.

At that moment, Ji Liangchuan showed up as well.

"Aunt Su, Zai Zai, Niu Niu!" he exclaimed.

"Liangchuan." Su He was a bit busy and answered distractedly before continuing to fry the dough cakes.

"Why did you move here? I'm so glad I found you," Ji Liangchuan said cheerfully to Zai Zai and Niu Niu.

"Mom's stall was taken, so we had to move here," Niu Niu said glumly.

"And someone even came to our stall deliberately to cause trouble for Mom. They were just taken away by the police," Zai Zai added.

"Huh? Why didn't you go see my grandma? She could have helped with something like this," Ji Liangchuan frowned.

"He's already been arrested by the police. Thankfully, Mom was quick-thinking, or she would have been bullied."

Niu Niu was furious—why were people always trying to bully Mom when she was so kind?

"Come on, let's go find my grandma and ask her to get someone to give them what for," Ji Liangchuan said, grabbing the kids' hands to leave.

Su He was now busy with a flood of customers, and the noise of the market made it hard to hear what the kids were saying.

Seeing them about to leave, she shouted over the noise, "Liangchuan, take your siblings to your grandma's bookstore. Don't wander off."

"Got it, Aunt Su. We're just going to see my grandma," Ji Liangchuan replied before quickly disappearing with Zai Zai and Niu Niu.

With Ji Liangchuan leading them, Su He felt a bit more at ease and focused on her business.

But what she didn't know was that Ji Liangchuan had taken Zai Zai and Niu Niu back to his grandma's bookstore and gave an exaggerated account of how someone had harassed Su He at her stall.

After explaining the whole situation, Ji Liangchuan said to his grandma, "Grandma, that guy's a real piece of work. Poor Aunt Su. You have to ask Uncle to give them what for."

Ji Liangchuan's mother had married into the influential Ji family in the capital, so their own family background was nothing to sneeze at.

Though Ms. Zhou only ran a bookstore in town, her sons held pretty important jobs around town.

She had always admired Su He. Even though Su He hadn't come to her for help, now that she knew about the situation, she was set on helping out.

After all, her grandson Chuan might need Su He's care in the future.

So she smiled at Zai Zai and Niu Niu and said, "Don't you fret, Grandma'll see your mom gets what's coming to her. You kids stay put and play here. Grandma won't be long."

With that, Ms. Zhou went to find her son at the police station.

Zhou Liqun was going through paperwork in his office when his mother dropped in unexpectedly.

Zhou Liqun was Ms. Zhou's youngest son, only 26 and unmarried.

Thanks to his achievements and family connections, he had recently been promoted to the town's deputy police chief.

Truth be told, given the Zhou family's influence, even the police chief had to show him respect.

The moment he saw his mother, Zhou Liqun immediately jumped up to greet her, "To what do I owe this visit?"