Chapter 88: The Zhou Family’s Assistance

Chapter 88: The Zhou Family's Help

"Your nephew's best friend's mom got bullied. So, are you gonna help or what?" Ms. Zhou said sternly.

Zhou Liqun got a headache just trying to follow the convoluted explanation.

"My nephew? You mean Chuan?" Zhou Liqun asked.

"Yes, Chuan has two good friends in the countryside. I even took him to visit their home last week. Didn’t you know about this?"

Hearing his mother's words, Zhou Liqun nodded along.

"Let me tell you, here’s what happened..."

Ms. Zhou went on for five minutes explaining the whole situation to her youngest son before Zhou Liqun finally understood.

"So, the person who caused trouble for that Ms. Su is now at the police station?" Zhou Liqun asked.

"What 'Ms. Su'? She has a name—Su He."

Ms. Zhou rolled her eyes at her son’s bluntness and added, "Quit being such a jerk to women. Look at you—still unmarried at your age, driving me and your sister crazy.

Do you know why she sent Chuan here? It’s to nag you about settling down and having kids!

You always said you’d focus on your career first, but now you’re deputy chief. Isn’t it time to settle down? Every girl we introduce to you, you’re never satisfied..."

Though she had come to ask her son for help, Ms. Zhou couldn’t help but nag him about marriage again.

Zhou Liqun felt another headache coming on as soon as his mother started lecturing him. He immediately raised his hands in surrender and said, "Alright, alright. I’ll go handle this right now. I’m heading out, Mom."

With that, he bolted from his office to the police station.

About an hour after Zai Zai and the others left, they came back—with Ms. Zhou in tow.

"What are you doing here?" Su He asked, pleasantly surprised.

"You really should’ve come to me if you were in trouble. I only found out because the kids told me," Ms. Zhou scolded, giving Su He a look.

It had been nearly a week since she last saw Su He, and now, Su He looked drop-dead gorgeous.

Before, Ms. Zhou had only noticed Su He’s fair complexion, but her face had been rounder, hiding her features.

Now, however, Su He’s delicate features were more pronounced, and her captivating eyes nearly knocked Ms. Zhou's socks off.

"You’ve slimmed down a lot," Ms. Zhou remarked.

This was something Su He heard from almost everyone who hadn’t seen her in a few days, so she was used to it by now.

"Yes, carrying extra weight isn't healthy. But I didn’t deliberately try to lose weight," she added.

While Su He was chatting with Ms. Zhou, a rush of customers at her stall left her no time to continue the conversation.

Seeing how busy she was, Ms. Zhou left her to it and took the kids to look around elsewhere.

"Hey girl, you set up shop here now?" a woman said while Su He was occupied.

"Yes," Su He replied with a smile.

"Oh, the folks who took over your old spot just got hauled off by the cops. Their pancakes were downright terrible—at first everyone thought it was you, but then they realized it wasn’t."

After gossiping with Su He, the woman added, "Gimme four of those fried cakes."

Su He handed them to her before asking, "They were arrested by the police? Why?"

"Not sure. I just caught some of the commotion over there. Word was they were messin’ up the market, something about malicious competition. I was thinkin’ maybe you had somethin’ to do with it, girl?"

The woman gave Su He a gossipy look.

Su He immediately replied with a smile, "Me? Nah, no connections. Besides, they must have done somethin’ to get themselves arrested."

"True, bet they got busted ’cause their fried cakes were awful. Wasted a few dimes—I took one bite and couldn’t stomach more. Can’t hold a candle to what I whip up at home."

The woman grumbled, and Su He didn’t know whether to laugh or sigh.

Soon, Su He’s fried dough cakes were cleaned out, completely gone.

Latecomers walked away empty-handed when they saw there was nothing left.

"Gone already? Oh, serves those jerks right for stealing your spot—heard they were arrested by the police." Aunt Niu had overheard Su He’s conversation with the woman earlier.

"Right. Gotta keep it honest in this business," Su He replied while packing up.

She wasn’t worried about others stealing her business. Her flour was top-shelf—none of that gritty stuff common in this era.

Good luck finding anyone else dumb enough to waste fine flour on fried dough these days.

Even if her business had been taken today, after trying their version once, customers wouldn’t return to them.

Bet Ji Liangchuan’s grandma had a hand in this. She owed her big time.

After packing everything up and noticing Zai Zai and Niu Niu hadn’t returned, Su He said to Aunt Niu, "Auntie, mind keepin’ an eye on my stuff? I’ll go look for the kids.

If they come back before I do, tell ’em to stay put and wait here for me."

With that, Su He headed toward Ms. Zhou’s bookstore.

As soon as she reached the entrance, she saw the three kids messing around at the tables outside.

"Zai Zai, Niu Niu, Liangchuan," Su He called.

"Mom!"

"Aunt Su!"

All three spun around when they heard her voice and called out to her.

"Mom, did you sell everything?" Niu Niu rushed over and hugged Su He’s leg.

"All sold," Su He replied, ruffling her daughter’s hair with a smile.

At that moment, Ms. Zhou, who had been talking with her younger son inside, spotted Su He and immediately pulled Zhou Liqun out to greet her.

Zhou Liqun was also curious about the person his fussy mom wouldn’t shut up about, so he followed.

The moment he saw Su He, his eyes lit up.

Plain and simple—

Su He was just his type!

To a man like Zhou Liqun, Su He wasn't fat at all—she was just right.

Her face was drop-dead gorgeous, with fair skin and sparkling eyes that made you like her instantly.

When the two approached Su He, Ms. Zhou asked with a smile, "Su He, have you sold out?"

Su He turned her face slightly toward Zhou Liqun while looking at Ms. Zhou, allowing him an even clearer view of her features.

"Yes, all sold out. I heard the police hauled away the troublemaking stall—thank you," Su He replied with a grateful smile.

Her smile was sincere and gentle, so captivating Zhou Liqun was hooked.

"Ahh, don't mention it. If you ever run into any trouble in town, just come to me. And our Chuan may need your help in the future too, so don’t hesitate," Ms. Zhou said warmly, then added, "This is my youngest son, Zhou Liqun. He’s currently the deputy chief of the town’s police station. If you can’t find me, you can always go to him."

Su He was surprised—she never expected Ms. Zhou's son to be the deputy police chief.

Then she turned her gaze to Zhou Liqun, hiding her surprise as she smiled and said, "Hello, I’m Su He. Thank you for your help with this matter."