IHOEAYSTTTIW Chapter 21

“This is the restaurant, this is the eatery, this is Mingpin Residence, this is the land deed.” The ruffian-looking man gave a rough introduction and slapped the pen and land deed into Yun Qi’s arms. “Finished looking? Sign, give the silver.”

Yun Qi crumpled the pen, which was out of ink and had ruffled feathers, with the land deed and threw it back.

Just as the men were about to get angry, they heard Lin Yan sigh softly, “It’s really good, but unfortunately, we don’t have enough money.”

Seeing that there was still a chance to make a deal, the two men reluctantly suppressed their anger and held up four fingers. “The owner of this shop owes our brothers money, and we won’t ask for too much. Four hundred taels, just four hundred taels will be enough.”

Four hundred taels for a shop in Central Street, even the smallest shop, was a worthwhile deal.

Lin Yan was very tempted and already wanted to take out the money, but Yun Qi still retained a trace of caution and whispered, “Big Brother, I’m afraid this…”

The price was too attractive. If these two men didn’t look like bad people, Lin Yan would have already signed the contract. He reluctantly suppressed his restless heart and made a new request: “Four hundred taels is not a small amount of money. We still have to go to the store to take a look.”

These two men looked unreliable, but the shop was indeed as they said, in a prime location, with thriving surrounding businesses, a spacious and bright shop, and very lively…

Seeing the potential customer base, Lin Yan’s eyes lit up.

The customer base was debt collectors, and Lin Yan’s vision went dark.

Yun Qi was afraid that Lin Yan didn’t understand the situation in Great Zhou, so he tugged at Lin Yan’s sleeve and whispered, “Big Brother, this kind of shop is the most troublesome, so we still need to be cautious…”

“I understand, I understand, I’m just watching the excitement.” Lin Yan temporarily put aside those messy thoughts. He just wanted to watch the drama now.

The ruffian stuffed the land deed into Lin Yan’s arms and urged, “Hey, have you finished looking? Sign it.”

“Wait a minute, wait a minute.” Lin Yan returned the land deed and pulled Yun Qi into the crowd watching the excitement.

A fair-skinned Ge’er held an account book and stood timidly at the entrance of the shop. The woman in front of him, holding a chubby boy, was chattering endlessly, “How did I raise such an ungrateful thing like you? Look at your younger brother, he’s so skinny. Your father only has this one heir in his lifetime, are you willing to watch him wander the streets?”

The Ge’er shrank back, the long earrings on his ears swayed. He was clearly terrified, but he still pretended to be calm and didn’t retreat half a step: “This shop cannot be sold, this shop is my mother’s dowry.”

“Who said anything about selling the shop? I’m saying…” The woman put on a smiling face, took the Ge’er’s hand, and made a helpless, reluctant look. “As a Ge’er, you naturally have to think about the family’s incense.”

“Cheng Xiucai can’t achieve anything in literature or martial arts, and is famous far and wide for being a freeloader. He hasn’t passed the imperial examinations in over a decade, and he’s still spending his wife’s money to keep women outside.” A tall man squeezed into the crowd. The onlookers were pushed and shoved, and Lin Yan stumbled and fell into Yun Qi’s arms.

The man picked up the woman’s child like a chick and looked him up and down with disgust. “Oh, this is the incense that Cheng Xiucai has been looking forward to. Why didn’t I see you bring him over when Cheng Xiucai was alive? Now that he’s dead, you bring him over to recognize his father?”

The woman panicked and snatched her child back, checking him frantically for a long time, confirming that he hadn’t even scratched his skin before continuing to argue with the man, “Gu Laizi, what does our family’s business have to do with you?”

The man surnamed Gu blocked the Ge’er behind him and scanned the woman and the debt-collecting ruffians one by one. “My mother and Aunt Zheng are sworn sisters. Cheng Que is my younger brother…”

“Good for you.” The woman didn’t dare to do anything to the man, so she turned her anger on the Ge’er. “I hired so many teachers to teach you the rules for Ge’ers. And what do you do? You’re still hooking up with people…”

The man surnamed Gu was not someone to be trifled with, and the debt collectors were not in the mood to watch the child get beaten. The leader waved his hand, and the people behind him immediately surrounded the woman. The formation looked intimidating, but the words spoken by the leader were still polite, “Cheng’s family, we’ve been waiting for a long time. Have you gathered the silver?”

“Don’t worry, gentlemen, I’m just…” The woman gave a dry laugh, and suddenly grabbed Cheng Que from behind the man, dragging and pulling him into the crowd, “Hey, look, is this Ge’er worth the price?”

The leader shook his fan, as if examining a commodity, and criticized, “A Ge’er, where…”

“Look at this face, look at this skin.” The woman was like a madam in a brothel, lifting Cheng Que’s hair to allow people to see more clearly the small mole on Cheng Que’s brow. “This mole is a sign of good fertility.”

“Now that there are refugees everywhere, you can buy a person in the Southern Lands for two dou of rice at most, but you…”

“It’s not like that.” The woman flicked Cheng Que’s earring and pinched his wrist, lifting up his sleeve to reveal his fair and jade-like hand. “Those refugees are bought home to be servants at best. This Ge’er was raised delicately, knowledgeable and reasonable, proficient in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. He has the potential to be a courtesan.”

The man didn’t care about avoiding suspicion, pulled Cheng Que behind him, pointed at the woman’s nose, and angrily scolded, “Cheng Laotou just died, and you want to sell people?”

“Then what do you say we should do?” The woman threw her handkerchief and began to fake cry. “We are orphans and widows, and my husband is useless. We owe a mountain of debt. If we sell the shop, we won’t even have a place to stay… Why is my life so miserable…”

“Alright, alright.” The debt collector interrupted the woman’s wailing and reached out to pull Cheng Que. “Our master sees that you are pitiful orphans and widows, so he doesn’t want your shop, but I have to take the person away now.”

The woman immediately smiled and bowed repeatedly. “It should be, it should be.”

The ruffian who finally squeezed to Lin Yan’s side, heard that the debt was settled, cursed something unlucky, turned to find his master, and didn’t mention selling the shop anymore.

“Get out of here, nobody is allowed to touch him.” The man surnamed Gu stood in front of Cheng Que and the ruffians, making a stance to fight.

“Gu Laizi, what does our family’s business have to do with you?” The woman pushed several times but couldn’t push the man away, so she could only wipe her sweat, glared at Cheng Que fiercely, turned to the ruffians and bowed, “Gentlemen, don’t mind him, just take the person away.”

Cheng Que turned sideways and Get out from behind the man, walked to the ruffians, and bowed respectfully, his voice a little choked up. “If I go with you, then the shop…”

“As long as you are obedient, we won’t make things difficult for you.” The leader waved his hand to the people behind him, and the people behind him immediately brought over the IOU and the drafted indenture. “Once you sign the indenture, your father’s IOU will naturally be useless.”

Cheng Que nodded, avoided the man’s hand reaching for him, and gave a solemn salute, his voice a little choked up, “Brother Gu, although Father gave the shop to Second Mother, Second Mother doesn’t understand the accounts, and these things probably need someone to help. Please, for my mother’s sake, help her out a lot…”

“Help her out, my ass.” The man snatched the indenture, tore it to shreds without even looking at it, and threw it on the faces of the ruffians. “How much money does Cheng Laotou owe you? I’ll pay it.”

“Oh, Young Master Gu is generous. Cheng Laotou owes our master four hundred taels.” The leader’s anger turned to laughter, and he shook the IOU in front of the man surnamed Gu, saying word by word, “For these four hundred taels of silver, does the young master plan to pay with banknotes or cash?”

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