Wang Xiao E, who had also witnessed the scene, stared with her mouth agape. She thought to herself that she should never provoke this calamity again. He was too skilled a fighter; her entire family couldn't defeat him!
"Do you know who we are? You hit us. Do you know the consequences?" the thug who was first sent flying by Zhang Liunian, seeing his five brothers also fail to match Zhang Liunian, was both shocked and resentful.
"I only know that I am your father," Zhang Liunian said with a wicked smile, then walked towards the thug.
Severely injured, the thug felt discomfort all over his body. He had no strength left to confront Zhang Liunian. He let out a yell, "Let's go," and shamefully led his downed brothers away.
Seeing the thugs leave, someone in the crowd cheered and applauded.
These thugs came to collect money every day, and everyone present disliked them.
Now that someone capable of teaching them a lesson had appeared, everyone was overjoyed.
"Thank you, benefactor." The woman, seeing Zhang Liunian deal with the thugs for her, approached him with her son to express her gratitude.
Zhang Liunian waved his hand, "It was nothing. It's the same as before; I'll take all your vegetables. Here's the money."
Zhang Liunian handed over five yuan. This time, the woman did not accept it because Zhang Liunian had saved her son. "Many of the vegetables have spoiled. Take them if you want them; consider it my thanks."
"That won't do. You rely on these vegetables to feed your child. I can't just take them for free."
Zhang Liunian would not take advantage of such a poor woman. He then turned and asked Du Ziteng to help him pack the vegetables, and without further ado, pushed the money into the woman's hand.
"You really don't need to. We can never repay your kindness to my son and me..."
"Take it! I'm leaving now." Zhang Liunian left before she could finish speaking.
Du Ziteng looked at the mother and son, thinking how wonderful it would have been if he had met someone like Zhang Liunian when he was a child with his father.
Perhaps they, father and son...
After a long silence, he suddenly smiled in relief and thought to himself that perhaps following Zhang Liunian was the most correct decision he had ever made.
Leaving the market, Zhang Liunian went to the construction site to collect money.
When he arrived, Zhang Wenjun and his son were nowhere to be seen. Zhang Liunian asked Grandpa Tang, "Where are my uncle and his son?"
Grandpa Tang smiled and took out money, saying, "They sold out and went home."
Seeing Grandpa Tang's smiling face, Zhang Liunian asked, "Why are you still so happy?"
Someone came to compete with him for business, no, compete with him for business, yet Grandpa Tang was smiling so broadly.
Grandpa Tang, seeing him ask, smiled even wider. "You don't know, but he sold out and even sold his goods cheaper than us. However, all the workers who ate his food said his cooking didn't have half the flavor of yours, and they all said they wouldn't buy from him again tomorrow.
What's more, when someone said his cooking was unpalatable, he argued with them and almost came to blows.
After this incident, if they still come to the construction site, they won't take much of our business."
It was precisely because of this that he was happy!
Zhang Liunian's uncle was too much. They argued with the workers when their food was called unpalatable, even nearly coming to blows. This effectively ruined their business.
There were only so many people at the construction site. Word would spread, and before tomorrow, the entire construction site would know that Zhang Liunian's uncle shamelessly tried to steal his nephew's business and even got into a physical altercation with the workers. Who would buy from them now?
Zhang Liunian never expected his uncle to cause such a stir. He had brought it upon himself.
Now, without anyone else lifting a finger, he would be unable to continue his business here.
"Moreover, I also revealed your relationship to everyone. I believe after this, no one will come to buy their food."
After speaking, Grandpa Tang recalled the crayfish that Zhang Liunian's uncle had mentioned. He had never known what Zhang Liunian sold, and only today learned that it was called crayfish.
But these crayfish were nothing like what he had heard. Feeling suspicious, he wanted to ask, but thinking it might be a trade secret, he felt it would be too awkward, so he decided not to ask.
"Grandpa Tang, your move was brilliant. To show my gratitude, I'll bring you some braised pork this afternoon."
Hearing Zhang Liunian mention braised pork, Grandpa Tang's mouth involuntarily watered. The taste of the braised pork was still fresh in his memory; it was truly fragrant.
"Your braised pork is exceptional. This old man won't refuse such a treat."
"You've helped me a lot. It's just a small token of my appreciation."
After their chat, Zhang Liunian returned to the village with a large sum of money.
"Little brother-in-law, give us a ride?"
Not long after leaving the county town, Zhang Liunian heard Wu Gudi's voice again. He turned and saw Wu Gudi walking along the road with her younger brother.
Upon seeing Zhang Liunian returning to the village in a tractor, she immediately blocked the tractor's path.
Zhang Qian, who was driving the tractor, quickly stopped the vehicle and glared at her angrily.
"Auntie, what if you were hit by running out like that?" Zhang Qian was not one to tolerate such behavior. He was truly scared by Wu Gudi's reckless dash in front of the tractor.
Seeing the tractor stop, Wu Gudi immediately got on with her brother and said nonchalantly, "Would you have stopped if I hadn't blocked you?"
"How do you know I wouldn't have stopped?" Zhang Qian glared at Wu Gudi with blazing eyes.
Wu Gudi pouted, "Alright, alright, let's hurry back to the village!"
"..." Zhang Qian was choked with anger and looked at Zhang Liunian, "Brother Liunian?"
What should they do now?
Zhang Liunian glanced at Wu Gudi and her brother, then nodded at Zhang Qian, "Let's talk about it when we get back to the village!"
Seeing this, Zhang Qian had no choice but to start the tractor.
"My in-laws will be back this afternoon. Little brother-in-law, you better be prepared," Wu Gudi said from the tractor, looking at her brother-in-law with a gloating smile.
Zhang Liunian's heart skipped a beat upon hearing this, and he then looked at Wu Gudi strangely, "How did you know?"
His parents were in Nancheng and were returning to the countryside. How did Wu Gudi know?
Wu Gudi hesitated, then said, "You should think about what you'll do when your in-laws return. Being a self-employed businessman is a very shameful thing."
His in-laws doted on Zhang Liuxing so much. If they found out Zhang Liunian was self-employed, they would surely be angry.
"Is this news reliable?" What Zhang Liunian cared about most was whether this news was true.
"Are you scared?" Wu Gudi asked with a smug and expectant look.
It seemed the news might be true, or she wouldn't be so happy and eager to see him get into trouble.
"What is there to be scared of? My parents have always paid no attention to me, and they won't bother with me this time either." Zhang Liunian spoke the truth.
"This time is different. They heard about what you're doing and are coming back specifically to deal with you. Your good days are finally coming to an end," Wu Gudi said, unable to wait to see her in-laws return and discipline her brother-in-law.