Chapter 143 City Streets 43

Chapter 143: City Life in the Prefecture, Part 43

One moment, everything was fine; the next, an argument erupted, catching even Liu Guyu off guard.

These three men were all tall and burly, speaking impulsively, and they looked genuinely intimidating.

Liu Guyu initially tried to reason with them, rubbing his temples as he explained, "Gentlemen, this dessert is made with fresh milk and fruit, the finest glutinous rice for the outer skin, and tender tea leaves for the green tea flavor. Each box offers a variety of tastes…"

Though called Snow Skin Soft Cheese, Liu Guyu had crafted it in the style of modern snowskin mochi—matcha, taro paste, salted egg yolk with pork floss, seasonal fruit… Each box contained four fist-sized pieces, meticulously prepared with quality ingredients, resulting in delicate and beautiful treats.

Before he could finish, the man at the front lunged forward, shoving Liu Guyu in the shoulder.

"What's good or expensive about it? We don't understand all that fancy talk! For all we know, you're trying to con us! Outside, they sell for just five *wen* each! And they call it Snow Skin Soft Cheese too!"

The man was tall and strong, and his shove was forceful, sending Liu Guyu staggering back several steps.

Zhang Yun quickly stepped in front of Liu Guyu to shield him, while Tao Yu supported Liu Guyu, exclaiming urgently, "Why did you push him?! If you think it’s too expensive, then don't buy it! Nobody's forcing you!"

But the man refused to back down, grumbling, "Who said I'm not buying? I am! Others sell for five *wen*, so eight would only be forty *wen*! I'm giving you fifty *wen*, which is more than enough!"

With that, he slammed the money onto the table, grabbed the carefully packaged Snow Skin Soft Cheese, and made to leave!

The selling price was one hundred twenty *wen*, yet he'd only paid fifty *wen* and was trying to walk off with the goods. That was simply unacceptable!

Zhang Yun, ignoring the three men who were taller and stronger than him, rushed forward, attempting to snatch the oil-paper box from the man's hand.

"No! You can't leave! You haven't paid enough!"

Seeing her husband charge forward, Tao Yu also cried out anxiously:

"What kind of ruffians are you?! How dare you cause trouble here! What 'others sell'? Our products are unique in the entire prefecture! Even if others are selling imitations, what does the price of fakes have to do with us?!"

The men exchanged glances, seemingly sensing something was amiss, and whispered among themselves.

"Brother, they sound like they're telling the truth."

"Could that woman have lied to us?"

"Impossible! That woman said it was exactly the same as here, and that the shop owner here taught her! He must be the one tricking us!"

…

As the three were talking, Zhang Yun tried to seize the opportunity to grab the box from the man’s hand. But the man reacted quickly, thinking Zhang Yun was trying to snatch his money pouch, and shoved him again in a panic.

This shove was delivered with full force, sending Zhang Yun sprawling backward and knocking over two tables and chairs in the process.

Bamboo tables and chairs toppled inside the shop, and the stall frame at the entrance also overturned, sending pastries, candies, and crispy cakes scattering all over the floor.

Zhang Yun fell backward, crashing into Tao Yu and Liu Guyu, dragging them down with him. Fortunately, the accounting counter was behind them, and the cabinet broke their fall, preventing them from hitting the ground completely.

But Liu Guyu had sprained his right foot, and a sharp, piercing pain immediately shot through his ankle.

Zhang Yun had fallen even harder, landing squarely on the ground with his lower back hitting the corner of a table. But the small bamboo table couldn’t support his weight, collapsing under him, its surface and legs shattering into pieces.

Seeing they’d caused trouble, the three men immediately tried to leave, but when they turned around, they found a crowd gathered outside, all watching the commotion—men and women, young and old, including some as tall and strong as them. The crowd was packed, blocking the path.

Liu Guyu tentatively put weight on his toes, and the pain he’d suppressed instantly flared up again. But he gritted his teeth, quickly pulled two strings of copper coins from the money box in the accounting counter, and stepped outside.

He wasn't one to suffer in silence. They'd tried to dine and dash, trashed the shop, and even injured people inside. Did they think they could just walk away after all that?

Not a chance!

Liu Guyu stepped out, jingling the copper coins in his hand and shouting, "These people tried to dine and dash at my shop! Neighbors, if any of you are strong enough to help me tie them up, this money is yours to split!"

Two strings of copper coins looked to be about two hundred *wen*. Even if five people stepped up, each could get forty copper coins!

The onlookers, who were just watching, grew interested. Several tall, sturdy men stepped out from the crowd, rolling up their sleeves as they advanced toward the three men.

These three were local troublemakers, without proper jobs, idle most of the time. They often targeted stalls and small eateries run by women, young men, or the elderly, dining without payment, precisely because they thought these people easy to bully.

This tactic had always worked before. Ordinary folks dared not report to the authorities, preferring to pay up to avoid trouble. Who’d have thought they’d hit a snag here today!

Immediately, five tall men emerged from the crowd, surrounded them, and subdued them in no time.

Others wanted to step in and help, but the five men, worried the money wouldn’t be enough to split, repeatedly said, "No need! No need! We’ve got them!"

Liu Guyu took a deep breath, limped forward, and looked down at the three troublemakers pinned to the ground.

"Who sent you?"

He’d thought some restaurant had deliberately sent people to cause trouble!

One of the troublemakers, pressed to the ground, craned his neck to look at Liu Guyu and retorted, "What? We… we just came to eat! If you won’t sell, then don’t! Why're you holding us?!"

"Someone outside is selling Snow Skin Soft Cheese too! They said it’s exactly the same as what’s in your eatery! If it’s the same, why are you selling it so expensive!"

He was playing the victim now!

The Snow Skin Soft Cheese Liu Guyu had packaged for them—they’d seen it clearly. It obviously wasn’t something that could be bought for five *wen*. These ruffians were playing dumb, and seeing the eatery owner was a young man, they thought they could take advantage of the situation.

Liu Guyu stared at them for a moment. They looked genuinely foolish, not like they’d been sent to cause trouble.

Some people in the crowd recognized them too, discussing among themselves:

"I know them! They’re those troublemakers living on West Street!"

"I recognize them too! I remember them going to Old Man Liu’s noodle stall some time ago, eating without paying!"

"Exactly! Old Man Liu is over sixty, and he fell ill from anger right after!"

…

"Yu Lang, bring some hemp ropes."

Liu Guyu called out to Tao Yu, then turned back to the men, thought for a moment, and asked, "Someone outside is selling this too?"

"Is it a woman in her forties? About this tall? Round face, fair skin… oh, and she has a mole here?"

He was describing Chen Qiaoyun. After listening, the man actually nodded and said, "That’s her! She was just hawking at Hongqiao Market! Quite a few people were buying from her!"

Tao Yu had just helped Zhang Yun sit down on a chair. Angrily, she brought some hemp ropes thicker than a finger and walked over, scolding:

"That must be someone who stole the recipe! They should compare what they’re selling with what we’re selling! Thinking they can get such good stuff for five *wen*! Wishful thinking!"

Liu Guyu glanced back at Zhang Yun, who was sitting on the chair clutching his lower back, and asked with concern, "How bad is the injury?"

Zhang Yun was in too much pain to straighten up, but he waved his hand and said, "It’s fine, boss, I’m alright! What about you? I see you’re limping—did you hurt your foot?"

Liu Guyu also shook his head and said, "It’s nothing, just a sprain."

He then turned to Tao Yu and told him to go fetch a doctor first.

"Fellas, could you give us a hand and help tie up these guys?"

Liu Guyu looked at the five men who'd stepped in and handed them the rope. Having just earned forty copper coins in such a short time, the five men were all smiles. They quickly took the rope from Liu Guyu.

"Don't worry, Boss Liu! We're here! We'll make sure these three troublemakers don't get away!"

"Exactly! They won't get away! We should... report them! Yes! Boss Liu, should we report them? I can run and get the authorities for you!"

"Hey, hey, you need to tie them like this! Tie this one's left foot to that one's right foot, bind their hands and feet together... Hey, this looks good!"

The three thugs never expected to have bitten off more than they could chew today. Tied together in a row by the five helpful men, they began yelling and complaining.

"R-report to the authorities?! There's no need for that!"

"Hey! We admit we were wrong! We won't dare do it again! Please don't report us!"

"Yeah, yeah! How about we give you the remaining seventy *wen*!"

Liu Guyu found this amusing.

"Seventy *wen*?"

The three men, tied together like a string of candied hawthorns, lay on the ground. Liu Guyu stood over them and said:

"You injured someone from my shop. The cost of medical treatment and medicine alone will be more than seventy *wen*. You also broke tables, chairs, bowls, and plates in the shop. And now you think seventy *wen* will make things right? You've got to be kidding."

With that, he untied the straw string holding the coins together, counted out the payment for the men who had helped, and even gave an extra ten coins to the man who had suggested reporting to the authorities. He said to him, "Then I'll trouble you, brother, to make a trip to report this to the authorities."

Money talks. The man happily accepted the coins and patted his chest, saying, "Leave it to me! I'm fast. I'll go report it right now!"

The other four men looked disappointed. One of them muttered, "Why didn't I think of suggesting to report them earlier?"

Seeing that Liu Guyu had actually sent someone to report them, the three thugs panicked and began begging for mercy, but were quickly given a couple kicks by the men who were feeling regretful.

"You should have thought of that earlier!"

"Yeah, why didn't you think about someone reporting you when you were bullying others?"

One of them even said to Liu Guyu, "Don't worry, Boss Liu, we'll definitely keep an eye on them for you. We'll wait here until the authorities arrive!"

This did put Liu Guyu more at ease. He brought out several bamboo chairs and invited them to sit and rest. Seeing Liu Guyu walking slowly and limping, the four men hurried over to take the chairs, saving him the trouble.

Liu Guyu also sat down to rest. Shortly after, Qin Banban and Fang Liuyin arrived.

Banban, with a medical bag slung over her shoulder, rushed over, her hair disheveled from the wind.

"Brother Liu! Are you okay?"

Fang Liuyin also arrived quickly and asked urgently, "Where are you hurt?"

His right foot was in a lot of pain, and Liu Guyu didn't want to get up again, but he waved his hand and said, "Please check on Accountant Zhang first. He injured his back."

Although his own foot hurt, a back injury was clearly more serious, especially seeing Zhang Yun in so much pain that he couldn't straighten up, yet still pale but waving his hand saying, "I'm fine!"

Liu Guyu was really worried that Zhang Yun might be seriously injured. If there were any hidden injuries, it would be troublesome. He quickly urged Fang Liuyin to go inside and check on Zhang Yun.

Of the three people in the shop, Tao Yu was the luckiest, having escaped unharmed. Worried about his husband, he had run all the way to the clinic, sweating profusely even in the cold weather. Now, he also hurriedly went to check on Zhang Yun.

It was complete chaos, and it was at this moment that Qin Rongshi returned. As soon as he arrived, he saw a crowd gathered in front of his eatery, with three thugs lying at the entrance, alternately begging for mercy and cursing.

Liu Guyu was sitting on a chair by the door, frowning as he bent down to rub his foot. Banban, who should have been at the clinic, was squatting beside him, also lifting his trouser leg to examine the injury.

Qin Rongshi immediately frowned and quickly approached, asking, "What happened?"

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Author's note: My neck is really uncomfortable; I might take a day off tomorrow... just maybe. If I feel better tomorrow, I'll continue writing.

Also, everyone must protect their bones; this is really unpleasant.