in spring

Chapter 24 Bully
Mr. Hu's master and servant had been walking for a few minutes. Chun Ying chased them out, but they were nowhere to be seen. Recalling the last time they left, they walked in the south direction, so she ran along the back street until she reached the intersection. , and turned to the outer street.There were already many more pedestrians on the road than before, but the master and servant were still nowhere to be seen in the crowd.

Chunying stood where she was, looking at the sachet in her hand, feeling a little distressed.Why don't you give it to Mr. Hu next time you see him?But this piece of jade seems to be quite expensive. The needle and thread on the top of the sachet is embroidered with a vase, with a few ears of rice inserted in it, and a small bird next to it, probably a quail. Think about the content in the brochure of Mama Lu’s embroidery. , which should mean "every year is safe".The half-used sachet is still in use, and it is obviously home-made embroidery, maybe it was a gift from a relative?Once lost, the owner must be very anxious.Who knows when we will see him again?And she didn't know where the "Master Xu" he had befriended with lived.

After hesitating for a moment, Chunying still decided to catch up. She asked the clerks in the nearby shops, and only after she got to the third store did she find out that two men who fit her description were heading towards Ximian Street. One of them walked a bit unsteadily, and the other A boy who looked like a servant said he would help him to rest in a shop on West Street.Chunying thanked the guy, then hurriedly chased after him.

As soon as she reached the intersection of West Street, she saw Mr. Hu, his master and his servant, sitting on a small tea stand from a distance, as if they were resting their feet. She breathed a sigh of relief, and hurriedly ran over with a smile and said, "Mr. Hu, you Put things down..." Before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by a loud noise from the front, and he was shocked.

A dozen tall and burly men surrounded the small tea stand viciously, overturned a few tables and stools on the stand, and drove most of the customers away.A fat and strong man in a dark red satin shirt walked over slowly and arrogantly. Immediately, a servant lifted up his sleeve and wiped a chair, put it behind his buttocks, and respectfully invited the man to sit down.The man straightened his sleeves, sat down, and crossed his legs.

The owner of the small tea stall was trembling with anger, and the teapot in his hand trembled. His wife hurriedly took the pot and leaned against him.

Chunying felt that they looked familiar, and after a closer look, wasn't it the couple Hongyu and Nandeng?She remembered that they set up a stall on Yibei Street, right?Haven't seen you for a few months and changed places again?Could it be that the perverted Second Young Master made another move?
"Second Young Master, let's go..." These words startled Chunying again, but fortunately she immediately remembered that there was indeed a Hu "Second Young Master" by her side, and it was Mo Han who persuaded the master to leave Said.The two of them, the master and the servant, were sitting by the side of the booth, when those people rushed in, they were not affected, but judging from their posture, if there is any trouble, it is better to leave early to avoid accidental injury.

Mr. Hu rubbed his temples, his face turned blue, he nodded his head when he heard the words, then stood up with Mo Han's support, met Chun Ying face to face, and was taken aback: "Are... what's wrong?" Mo Han also noticed He said, "Huh? Girl from the Lu family, why are you here?"

She's already here, okay?Chunying pursed her mouth, and handed over the sachet: "Mr. Hu forgot this at my house, and I finally caught up with it." Mr. Hu hurriedly checked his waist, and seeing that he had lost something, he quickly took it The sachet said: "Thank you, little girl, if I lose it, I will die of heartache." Mo Han blushed, bowed his head and persuaded: "Let's go, if we fight..."

Before he finished speaking, there was another loud noise in the tea stall. The attendant next to the man in red kicked over the tea stove, and the large copper teapot was left on the ground, and the boiling water was spilled all over the floor, which scalded his feet instead. , the pain made him hold his feet and howl loudly.

"What are you arguing about?!" The man in red yelled loudly, and someone dragged the servant down. Without batting an eyelid, he stared at Nan Deng and sneered, "Wang Fa? You actually asked me if I knew Wang Fa?" ? Hahaha——" The laughter stopped abruptly, "I tell you! The team leader in Shuntian Mansion is my brother, and Mr. Fu Yin once ate wine with me at the same table! You don't even ask, who am I, Niuhuo? , saying that I don’t know the law of the king? Humph, hum...you are the one who doesn’t obey the rules!”

Nan Deng said angrily: "Why didn't I obey the rules?! This place is not yours, so why should I be filial to the silver?! I made all the tables and chairs here, and I bought the pots, bowls of rice and noodles with money." , I do business in peace, and I don’t hinder anyone, but your people come to eat free food every day, disturbing my peace, and now I have the face to charge for safety fees?! Let me tell you, I don’t have a penny It will come out!" He yelled until the veins on his neck exploded, his eyes turned ferocious, Hongyu was close to him, tears of fear flashed in his eyes, but he didn't dare to say a word.

Niu Huo sneered and said: "You are so loud... Who do you think you are? What kind of place do you think this is? At the foot of the imperial city, is it you who set up a stall if you want?! Then why don't you go to Zhengyangmen Street Go up to the dead body?! If everyone is like you, wouldn’t it be a mess?! These streets are all my territory. I work so hard for the safety of everyone. You go to other places Ask at the stall, who didn't obediently hand over the money for safety? Good intentions are not rewarded! If you don't want to pay, get out of here!" As soon as the words fell, a dozen or so big men took a step forward behind them, and there was a lot of anger. "If you don't pay me, I'll beat you up."

Nan Deng stared at him stubbornly, his face was flushed red, he turned around and was about to steal the guy, Hong Yu hurriedly stopped him, rushed to the front of Niu Huo and knelt down, and said: "Uncle Niu, it's not that we don't want to pay, it's just... 20 taels a year is really too much, enough to rent a decent store for a year, how can we have so much money for our small business? I beg you to hold your hands high until we earn money..."

"When you have earned enough money and run away, who am I going to find?! Don't play tricks on me!" Niu Huo glanced disdainfully at the rotten tables and stools all over the floor, as well as the still steaming snacks scattered around, and caught sight of the side of the stall out of the corner of his eyes. There was also Chunying and the three of them not being scared away, so they glared at them: "What are you looking at?! Little bastard, do you want to meddle in your own business?!"

Mr. Hu frowned when he heard the words, and Mo Han immediately yelled: "Our second young master is not feeling well, so he will take a rest here, don't swear at others! This is at the foot of the imperial city, how much do you think you have? If you dare to speak obscenities, beware of flashing your tongue!"

Although the bulls and tigers are used to running rampant, they also know that there are many nobles in the capital, and he can't afford to offend them. Seeing that Mr. Hu is dressed gorgeously, even though he only brings a servant, he is also a bit rich. There is really no background, but it is very troublesome.Distraughtly, he stared at Chunying who was beside him, and Chunying hurriedly shrank behind Mr. Hu, pretending to be with their master and servant.The bull and tiger resentfully withdrew their eyes, looked at Nandeng and his wife, and suddenly became angry: "Today is the last day, if you still can't pay the money before dark, you can get out of here! Otherwise my People hit it once!" After saying that, he turned around and left, and the ten or so followers disappeared with a whoosh.

Hongyu fell to the ground in a daze, but Nandeng roared angrily, looking at the small tea stand he had set up with his own hands, his eyes were full of woes, and he felt that the anger in his heart was about to burst out, he couldn't bear to beat those people up. Even if he was beaten to death by being surrounded by them, it would be better than being oppressed and out of breath now.

"Sister Hongyu..." Chunying called out cautiously, Hongyu turned her head still tear-stained, as if she hadn't recognized her yet.Chunying looked left and right, then leaned over and helped Hongyu up: "You forgot? I'm Chun'er. We met you last time when you were at Mrs. Zhou's house."

Hongyu remembered, forced a smile and said, "So it's a little girl from the Lu family, why are you here..."

"I just pass by occasionally." Chunying looked at Nan Deng a few times, "Are you all right?" She helped a bench up again.

"Don't worry about it..." Nan Deng said suddenly, "I can't take out the 20 taels of silver, sooner or later I will be smashed again..." Hongyu's eyes turned red, she covered her face and squatted down to cry.

Chunying was not persuading, nor was it not persuading, so he could only comfort him: "Brother Nandeng, don't be discouraged, there is always hope in life, you can't set up a stall here, then go elsewhere. The capital is so big, isn't that bull? Is the tiger really able to control everything? He is not a member of the government. As the saying goes, there is no place to keep people here, but there are places to keep people, right?"

Nan Deng laughed at himself: "We have moved six or seven places, and we have never stayed in one place for two months. As long as the news spreads, someone will always come looking for us. Do you think we haven't inquired about it? If someone else runs a shop, it’s only ten taels of safety expenses a year, but when it comes to our small tea stall, it doubles immediately, what else do I not understand?"

Hongyu cried: "He can't treat you like this... After all, you grew up together since childhood. You really persuaded him with those words for him. How could he treat you like this?"

"He always has that temperament, and he doesn't allow others to disobey a little bit, not to mention that I am the person next to him." Nan Deng slowly set up a stool and sat on it, "It's just me worrying about it. The concubine is born, and there is a son in the mansion. If the nonsense continues, something will happen sooner or later. If I don’t say those things, he will suffer, and I will not be able to escape. Although life is difficult today, it is not a dead end. Let’s... leave Let's go to the capital."

Hongyu was taken aback for a moment, then cried even louder.

Chunying bit her lip, remembering that time when she cried in front of the house and begged her father to let her see her mother, and remembered that Hongyu's mother was seriously ill and hadn't recovered so far. If she left like this, she might not know what happened to her mother. Unable to know, my heart felt a little sour.

Hu Gongzi and Mo Han stayed aside for a long time, and felt sorry for them when they saw this, Hu Gongzi asked: "If the virtuous couple pays the 20 taels, they can stay. I am willing to help." Mo Han ate for a while Startled, she quickly turned to look at him.Mr. Hu said indifferently: "It's okay, Mo Han, I can still afford 20 taels."

"Thank you, Young Master Gao Yi first." Nan Deng got up expressionlessly and bowed to him, "but please forgive me for not accepting it."

This time Mr. Hu and Mo Han were both surprised, and the latter hurriedly asked: "Why?! Our second young master has good intentions!"

After hearing the three familiar words, Nan Deng paused for a moment before saying: "Although the young master is kind, but our husband and wife have never met the young master, how can we collect so much money for nothing? Please give up this idea."

Mr. Hu didn't say anything, but Mo Han was not happy: "You are kind enough to help you, but you are still pushing back and forth, who do you think you are?!"

Nan Deng silently packed up the items on the ground without saying a word.Hongyu wiped away her tears, and then blessed Mr. Hu: "My husband didn't mean to contradict you, so please forgive him. It's just this money... Ruoxiao's couple took it today, and it's the first time. There was a second time, in the future, I always thought that someone would give me money, and I would never be able to stand upright again." After finishing speaking, she followed her husband to pack up her things.

Mr. Hu was stunned for a while, then stopped Mo Han, who was still angry, and said to Nan Deng and his wife: "So I didn't think twice, what if I don't give money, but borrow it? I'm not a cruel creditor, both of you You can pay back the money slowly, and you can also pay the interest, so you won't take advantage of it, will you?"

Hongyu's eyes lit up, and she looked at her husband, but Nan Deng shook his head slowly: "This is because others deliberately made things difficult for us. Even if we pay the money, they will come up with other ways to force us to leave. I'm afraid we won't even pay back the principal. No. Thank you, my lord, for your kindness, but..."

"I said, why are you all so annoying?!" Chunying couldn't help interjecting, "Didn't Sister Hongyu just say that 20 taels is enough to rent a store for a year? Why don't you just find another place in the city—Second Young Master No matter how domineering you are, you can’t manage it so far—when the time comes to rent a decent store, Mr. Hu’s money will be considered as a share, and it is usually run by Brother Nandeng and Sister Hongyu. I remember that your business was very good during the Lantern Festival. Wait for the future After earning money, Mr. Hu can get back the money and share dividends, and Brother Nandeng and Sister Hongyu don’t have to be chased away, isn’t it great?”

She looked around and saw that they were all looking at her in surprise, but their eyes were shining with joy, so she raised her eyebrows with some satisfaction: "What's the idea?"

(End of this chapter)