Baozi Xishi's Struggle

Chapter 222 I want to negotiate with you

The county magistrate stroked his beard complacently, thinking, "It seems that the master's words are really effective. Sincerity is the key to success. Xiao Si has been working harder these days. We should continue to eat vegetarian food."

Lu Lang, who had been practicing boxing and kicking in the yard after getting up early, was warm all over from the practice, but suddenly he shivered and sneezed.

He looked at a tree in the yard whose leaves had begun to turn yellow, and thought to himself, "It's a little chilly this morning. It really is late autumn."

The Shen family's Fengnian Restaurant opened early in the morning as usual.

There were steaming hot buns, and guests were crowded together drinking soy milk and eating buns. A few burning oil candles as thick as children's arms filled the room with warmth.

People come and go, and it seems like business is booming.

Today is the third day that Zheng Sanniang and Xiao Zhuzi have been hiding from home, and it is also the last day given by the owner of the gambling house for debt repayment.

If Li Changgen has not paid off his gambling debts after today, the family of three will have to sleep on the streets. Right now, Li Changgen must be extremely anxious.

Shen Yu was doing his work while thinking about Zheng Sanniang's family affairs.

They waited patiently until noon. Just after the busy lunch period with heavy customer flow, Shen Yu and the others took turns to eat lunch. Just as they were about to take a break, Mrs. Liu came running over in a hurry.

When Shen Yu saw her come in, his heart tightened and he quickly looked behind her. Mrs. Liu waved her hand to indicate that there was no one around, and then she pulled Shen Yu towards the small door of the shop.

Seeing this, Jiang and Li also stood up and followed.

Zhou Dalang and Qixi stayed in the shop, taking care of the business.

Mrs. Liu followed Shen Yu into the backyard. When she saw Mrs. Li and Mrs. Jiang come over and close the small door of the shop, she gloated, "The owner of the gambling house sent someone over."

"The man who came was tall and strong, and he brought two men with him. The three of them blocked Li Changgen's family of three in the yard."

"We are forcing Li Changgen to either pay the money, hand over the person, or move out."

Mrs. Liu thought of the scars on Zheng Sanniang's body and said bitterly, "Li Changgen is kneeling on the ground, his parents are scolding him, it would be better if we could beat him up."

"I see that Li Changgen can't go out either. He has been busy looking for Sanniang these past two days and doesn't follow me, so I came here to discuss this with you guys."

"Let's see if we can go there with Sanniang now and ask Li Changgen for a divorce."

Shen Yu had been thinking about this matter since he got up in the morning. He had already considered all the possibilities, so he was not in a hurry at the moment.

She smiled slightly and shook her head gently: "We have to wait a little longer. Now the trouble has just started, and Li Changgen has not been forced to leave home with his parents."

"Let's wait until the debt collectors start to chase people out onto the street, and then we'll go over there."

"I thought that Li Changgen's parents are old now, and they must value the house more than their daughter-in-law. Maybe their grandson won't be as good as their house. By then, will they agree to it more readily?"

After hearing what Mrs. Liu said, Mrs. Li wanted to ask Zheng Sanniang to go together. But after listening to what Shen Yu said, the three of them seemed to be thinking about something.

After a while, Jiang smiled and said, "Let's do as Miss Yuzhi said. Anyway, it's Li Changgen's family that's in a hurry. We'll just watch and see."

Shen Yu added: "We can't take Xiao Zhuzi with us. If they snatch the child away on the spot, Zheng Sanniang will be captured by his family again."

"Xiao Zhuzi, just stay at home and let Yutao take care of him. Wait a minute, Qixi and I will go over with Sister Zheng. Mother and Aunt Jiang don't need to go."

"If this thing doesn't work out, just say it was my idea. I ran into Sister Zheng on the street, who was in a panic and had nowhere to go. I felt sorry for her and her son, so I secretly found an inn and hid them there."

"My mother had no idea what I did, and it had nothing to do with the store."

Li was anxious when she heard this: "How can you do such a big thing on your own, you are just a little girl, what if he blames you? Otherwise, just say that I hid it."

Shen Yu shook his head: "I'm just taking precautions. If something goes wrong, we can't let our shop suffer."

"However, with Li Changgen's character, he won't do that. As long as he has the money, everything will be fine."

"Besides, if something happens, I can't let my whole family be involved. Then you can save me."

Shen Yu finally told a joke, but no one laughed.

Zheng Sanniang had been listening behind the door for a long time, and she heard every word Shen Yu said.

She had tears in her eyes, but she didn't have the courage to walk out or say that she wanted to go by herself. She just twisted the corner of her clothes timidly and nervously.

At this time, the small door of the shop opened, and Lu Lang and Qi Xi walked in.

Qixi said: "Miss Shen, my young master is here."

The people in the yard saluted Lu Lang one after another, and Lu Lang nodded with a gentle smile.

He asked Shen Yu, "I heard that you were in the backyard, discussing when to go over there. I wanted to follow you, so I came over to listen."

Shen Yu's original intention was to involve as few people as possible. He didn't want Lu Lang to go, and even if Qi Xi went, he would not reveal his identity.

She just opened her mouth and said, "No need to trouble Mr. Lu..."

Before he could finish his words, Li patted his arm lightly.

Li turned around, smiled, squatted down and bowed to thank him, "Thank you very much, Mr. Lu. Yuzhi didn't let me and Sister Jiang go with her. She wanted to go alone. We were worried. Now that Mr. Lu is going with us, we feel relieved."

Jiang also bowed and thanked him, and asked Lu Lang to take good care of Miss Yuzhi.

Shen Yu was helpless. You guys are really good at taking advantage of the situation and pushing me out.

Lu Lang looked at Shen Yu with an innocent face, as if to say, look, everyone asked me to take care of you and follow you.

Shen Yu had no choice but to say, "Then I'll trouble you, Master Lu."

Having said that, he repeated to Lu Lang the speech they had just discussed.

Lu Lang said indifferently: "It doesn't matter, he doesn't dare to blame you. If Miss Shen wants to say that it was done by one person, then just say so."

Shen Yu was puzzled. How could he be so sure that Li Changgen would agree readily and stop pestering him?

But seeing that Lu Lang looked confident, he could only keep his doubts to himself.

Although Mrs. Liu had never met the son of the county magistrate, she had heard from Mrs. Li that the son of the county magistrate and the chief constable went to Mrs. Hu's house to investigate a case, and she knew that the Shen family had some friendship with them.

Ordinary people didn't dare to ask any questions casually, they just stood aside with their heads slightly lowered.

When she saw that the son of the county magistrate was also going to go with them, she felt relieved. There was no way this would be impossible. Sanniang had met a noble person today.

After they finished discussing, Mrs. Liu stepped forward respectfully, bowed, and said, "Mr. Lu, I'll have to trouble you with the matter of Sanniang's divorce. I'll go back and listen to what's going on. If there's anything, I'll come back and report it to you."