Chapter 79 Direct Business War

"Hey, that's not right, he was right here just now!"

Shi Qiushui dragged her father back to the bathroom door in a rage, only to find the spot where the mysterious man had stood moments before was completely empty. Not even a hair was left, let alone a person. Pulling at her pigtails, she muttered in confusion, "That man was standing right here?"

Afraid that Shi Yue wouldn't believe her, she hurriedly said, "Dad, I really did see a strange man standing here just now, and Xixi saw him too!"

Li Xi: "Yes, Uncle Shi, I saw it too!"

Shi Qiushui gestured, "Right here! That man is wrapped up so tightly, sneaking around behind a telephone pole. How strange!"

Shi Yue frowned. He knew that Shi Qiu Shui and Li Xi would definitely not joke about such things. As for why the man was gone now, it was very likely that Shi Qiu Shui and Li Xi's excessive movements accidentally startled him, causing him to escape.

Thinking of this, Shi Yue's expression became serious. Although he didn't know what that man did, just by listening to Shi Qiu Shui and Li Xi's description, he felt that the man was not a good person.

He thought for a moment and said, "Well, I think that person is strange, too, but I can't find him right now. So, I'll go back to the courtyard and tell your Grandma Ma about this. Have her tell the neighborhood office tomorrow."

"Xiaoshi, what are you talking about? What do you want me to tell the neighborhood committee tomorrow?"

Speak of the devil, and here he comes. Shi Yue was just saying that he was going back to look for Ma Yulan when he saw Ma Yulan and the old man walking towards him from outside, shoulder to shoulder.

Shi Yue: "Hey, Aunt Ma, why are you back from outside? I was just looking for you."

Ma Yulan: "Hey, I just went for a walk with your Uncle Niu and just got back. What's wrong? I just heard you say that you wanted me to go to the neighborhood office. What's wrong? Why did you ask me to go to the neighborhood office? What happened?"

Shi Yue: "Well, there really is something going on."

He pointed at the two little girls and said, "Just now, our Xiaoqiu said that she and Xixi saw a strange person at the bathroom door. They said it was a man, wrapped up tightly, wearing sunglasses and a mask, hiding behind this telephone pole. When I heard this, I hurriedly grabbed my weapon and rushed out, but the person was gone."

Ma Yulan's expression turned bad when she heard this. She said, "Fuck, hiding outside the toilet in the middle of the night, is he some pervert trying to peek?"

"What? There's a pervert peeping outside the toilet? Holy shit, who the hell is so shameless? Old Ma, tell me, which bastard is so shameless that he actually dares to do such a thing in our alley?!" Li Xiuying, who had just come out of the toilet, overheard what Ma Yulan said and immediately exploded. She grabbed Ma Yulan's arm and said, "Old Ma, tell me, who is that bastard? Don't worry about anything else, just tell me his name, or I'll beat his head off! He's a good person, why does he do such a shameless thing!"

Before Ma Yulan could figure out what was going on, she heard the even more confused Li Xiuying yelling angrily.

She frowned and said, "Old Li, don't be anxious. We still don't know what's going on."

Li Xiuying's face was full of indignation: "Then Old Ma, tell me, what's going on?"

Ma Yulan pressed her forehead, feeling a severe headache. She tugged at Shi Yue's arm and said, "Well, Xiao Shi, talk to Lao Li."

Shi Yue: "Uh, Aunt Li, what happened? Just now..."

He laboriously repeated the story again. Li Xiuying listened and said without a second thought, "Pervert! This man must be a pervert! Who would come out wrapped up so tightly in the middle of the night? He must be a pervert!"

Li Xiuying was certain that the strange man was a pervert who came to peek, and without waiting for Ma Yulan to explain, she started to make a fuss: "Old Ma, you are the manager of our courtyard, and you are also one of the few people in our alley who has a say in the street office. You can't just ignore the pervert who came to peek in the alley. If you don't, you will be sorry for all of us who have supported you and cooperated with your work!"

Seeing that Li Xiuying's words were getting more and more outrageous, Ma Yulan was helpless. She nodded and said, "I will take care of it. Old Li, please stop making a fuss. I will definitely take care of this matter."

Li Xiuying: "You're in charge, right? Then hurry up and get everyone to help catch him! Didn't the two girls just see that pervert standing right here? He can't get far in just a few moments. Hurry up and get everyone to help catch him!"

She looked at Ma Yulan and said, "Old Ma, let me tell you, if we don't catch this peeping pervert, no one in our alley will be able to go to the toilet in peace!"

After Li Xiuying shouted like this, all the people near the entrance of the alley gathered around. They only heard half of Li Xiuying's words and could no longer sit still.

"There's a pervert peeping in our alley? Where is he? Where?!"

"Damn it! Someone actually peeped! How shameless! Someone like that must be caught!"

"Yes, we must catch him. If we don't catch him, who would dare to go to the toilet again?"

Everyone was furious and wanted to grab weapons and arrest people immediately. Ma Yulan tried to calm everyone down: "No, well, don't get excited, listen to me, it's not like that, the matter is..."

Unfortunately, her voice was drowned out by everyone's excited discussions and no one noticed her explanation.

At this time, Li Xiuying shouted at the top of her voice: "I asked, someone saw that pervert nearby just now. He must not have gone far by now. Everyone, grab your tools and search, we will definitely find that pervert!"

She shouted, "That pervert, wearing long sleeves and long pants, a hat, sunglasses, and a mask, don't let him go if you see him!"

"good!"

Everyone grabbed their weapons and took action.

This stunned the two children, Ma Yulan, Shi Yue, Shi Qiushui and Li Xi.

Li Xiuying picked up a brick from the roadside, weighed it in her hand and looked at the intersections on both sides of the alley, as if she was hesitating where to start.

She thought for a moment, then waved and said, "Everyone, follow me!"

Li Xiuying took big strides and headed straight towards the men's restroom.

She said, "Let's check the men's room first to see if the pervert is hiding there. If not, let's go to the alley on the right!"

Everyone followed Li Xiuying's footsteps and walked towards the men's restroom. Shi Yue, Shi Qiu Shui and others also chose to follow.

When Li Xiuying reached the men's restroom door, she shouted, "Is anyone inside? We're going in. If anyone's in there, please let me know!"

After she shouted, she waited for a few seconds, but heard no sound from inside, so she walked in with everyone.

As soon as Li Xiuying walked in, she saw a man clinging to the wall between the men's and women's restrooms. The man had his back to the door and was kicking his legs as if he was trying to climb up and flip over.

Because the top of the wall between the men's and women's restrooms is not sealed, leaving only half of it exposed. If you climb up, you can flip over from the men's restroom.

Li Xiuying immediately yelled, "Hey! What are you doing?"

The man climbing the wall was frightened when he heard the sound. He didn't dare to look back, but just kicked his legs harder.

Seeing this, Li Xiuying strode forward angrily, grabbed the man's back and pulled him down from the wall. She threw the man to the ground and glared at him. Just as she was about to speak, she saw a hat, sunglasses and a mask fall out of the man's pocket.

She cried out, "Ah! It's you! Pervert!"

Without waiting for the person in front of her to react, Li Xiuying shouted loudly outside: "Lao Ma, Shi Yue, come quickly, the pervert is here, I caught the pervert!"

“Here I come!”

Upon hearing Li Xiuying's words, the few people at the end of the team quickly rushed inside. Shi Qiu Shui, relying on his small size, slipped in through the gaps in the crowd like a loach and soon came to the front of the crowd.

Shi Qiushui's large, distinct black and white eyes looked at the man being pinned to the ground by Li Xiuying, and he covered his mouth and exclaimed, "Yes! It's him!"

She shouted, "Dad, this is the man Li Xi and I just saw!"

Although she didn't see the strange man's face just now, the clothes on the man in front of her, as well as the colors and styles of the hat, mask and sunglasses scattered on the ground, all matched the strange man she had seen just now.

Shi Yue also came to the front of the crowd at this time. Seeing the strange man on the ground, he cautiously did not say anything, but asked Li Xi: "Xixi, do you think this man is the one you and Xiaoqiu saw just now?"

Li Xi looked at the man on the ground and nodded: "Yes, Uncle Shi, that's him."

Shi Qiushui pursed her lips and muttered unhappily, "I already said it was him, why don't you believe me, Dad?"

But after muttering, she asked, "Dad, what should we do now?"

The person has been caught, but what should we do with him?

In the final analysis, Shi Qiu Shui just felt that this man was suspicious, but they didn't know whether he had done anything bad or not.

Shi Yue patted the little girl on the head, pulled her behind him, and said, "Wait a minute, I'll ask."

Li Xiuying, who was standing next to the father and daughter and heard their conversation clearly, was unhappy. She glanced at Shi Yue and said, "Why are you asking? This man is justified in peeping? Just beat him up and then throw him to the police station!"

As she spoke, she raised the brick in her hand and rushed over, apparently wanting to teach the man in front of her a lesson.

"Hey, Aunt Li, stop it, don't do it—"

Shi Yue quickly reached out and grabbed Li Xiuying. Regardless of anything else, he couldn't let Li Xiuying do it because of the brick in her hand.

The man in front of her would definitely have a bloody head if the brick hit her hard. Actually, it didn't matter whether he was injured or not, but if something really happened to him, Li Xiuying would definitely be in trouble.

Shi Yue: "Aunt Li, please wait, don't do anything yet. Let me ask what's going on. We can talk about it after we find out what's going on. Otherwise, it will be bad if we misunderstand someone."

He whispered, "Even if you really want to do it, put the brick down first. If someone breaks it, you'll be responsible for it, right? It's not worth it to waste the rest of your life on someone like that."

"Hmm—you're right." Li Xiuying thought about it and realized that this was the case. She decisively threw the brick aside and said, "Shi Yue, go ahead and ask."

"Ahem." Shi Yue walked forward slowly, cleared his throat, and then spoke to the man on the ground: "What are you doing? Why are you wandering around outside our alley in strange clothes in the middle of the night? And why did you climb over the wall in our toilet? Are you trying to peek at people in our alley using the toilet?"

The man on the ground had been frightened by Li Xiuying's brick. When he heard Shi Yue's question, he kept waving his hands: "No, no, I didn't mean to peek at you guys going to the toilet, I didn't..."

Shi Yue said coldly: "Then what are you doing here?"

Man on the ground: "I, I, I came to..."

Ma Yulan: "Tell me, what on earth are you doing here?"

Li Xiuying: "Humph, I think he's just a pervert who comes here to peek at people using the restroom!"

"No, no, I'm really not a pervert who peeks at people using the toilet..."

Li Xiuying rolled her eyes: "Which pervert would admit that he is a pervert?"

She said, "Since you said you weren't here to peek at people using the restroom, then what are you here for?"

"I……"

The man stammered and couldn't explain himself. He regretted it so much now.

If he had known that when he was discovered by those two little girls, he should have just run away instead of hiding in the bathroom! Or if he had rushed out when the people outside were yelling for him instead of thinking that if he took off his mask and sunglasses, they wouldn't recognize him! Or if he had just said someone was there when the people outside were yelling for him to come in!

The man was extremely upset. He had so many opportunities to escape, but he missed them all.

Just as he was regretting his decision, a surprised voice suddenly rang out from the crowd: "Li Si, are you Li Si? Why are you here?"

Shi Yue turned around in surprise. The person who spoke was none other than Yang Zhiqiang.

How did Yang Zhiqiang know this strange man?

Everyone present looked at Yang Zhiqiang with surprise. Those who were familiar with Yang Zhiqiang didn't think too much about it, but those who were not familiar with Yang Zhiqiang had already begun to suspect whether he was in cahoots with the man on the ground.

Sensing those unfriendly glances, Yang Zhiqiang quickly said in a cold voice, "Li Si, what are you doing here? What's your intention? Are you trying to cause me trouble? Not only did you and your boss cause me trouble at the store, but you also came to my house? Do you really think I, Yang Zhiqiang, am easy to bully?"

When everyone heard this, they immediately understood that these two were not accomplices, but rather had a grudge against each other.

Everyone withdrew their suspicious eyes and replaced them with gossipy eyes. Tsk tsk, what grudge does Yang Zhiqiang have with Li Si in front of him?

Ma Yulan: "Ahem, well, Zhiqiang, do you know this person? What's your relationship with him?"

Well, don't get me wrong, she doesn't want to gossip. She just wants to investigate the identity of this person for the safety of the residents in the alley.

That's all, absolutely not, I have no intention of gossiping at all!

Facing everyone's curious gazes, Yang Zhiqiang simply explained, "This Li Si is a clerk in the same shop as mine. Because his shop is close to mine, I have some minor frictions with his boss and him."

His words were subtle. Actually, his shop was right across from Li Si's. Since both businesses were selling electrical appliances, conflicts were common. Furthermore, his shop had been open for a long time, had accumulated repeat customers, and was doing relatively well. The owner of the shop across the street was jealous and resorted to underhanded tactics. Although he was able to neutralize the other side's tactics, he and the other side still disliked each other.

Ma Yulan: "Oh—I see."

She understood that colleagues are enemies, let alone those who are close to each other.

Not only Ma Yulan understood this principle, but everyone present also understood it.

Shi Yue glanced at the man on the ground, then at Yang Zhiqiang, pursed his lips and said nothing. Li Xiuying, however, couldn't hold back her words and asked, "Well, Zhiqiang, please ask him carefully. I don't think this guy looks like he's holding back a fart."

At this moment, she didn't think that Li Si came here to peek at people using the toilet. She only suspected that Li Si was targeting Yang Zhiqiang.

Yang Zhiqiang's face tightened and he looked at Li Si coldly.

Li Si and his boss had done countless disgusting things in the past to sabotage their own business. They'd tell customers that the items in his shop were refurbished secondhand junk and broke the moment they were plugged in; they'd deliberately block the door; they'd ask people to pretend to be customers, then ask the staff questions all morning and then never buy anything...

They can use all these tricks, so what else can't they do?

So maybe he came here today just to target me.

Thinking of this, Yang Zhiqiang's face turned even darker. He stared at Li Si and asked, "What on earth are you doing here today?"

Li Xiuying weighed the brick in her hand and said, "Tell me quickly, or I'll hit you with the brick!"

Shi Yue: ???

No, didn’t Li Xiuying just throw away the brick? When did she pick it up again?

Shi Qiu Shui: Hehe, she knows the answer to this question.

She saw it clearly just now. When Uncle Yang was glaring at Li Si and talking, Grandma Li quietly reached out and picked up the brick.

Don't say that Li Xiuying picked up the brick, but it was still useful. Li Si saw Li Xiuying's action and said tremblingly: "No, Auntie, please put the brick down. I said, I said it's not enough."

If it were someone else, he might not be afraid, but Li Xiuying was different. He saw it clearly just now. If he hadn't been stopped by the man named Shi Yue, Li Xiuying would have beaten him with a brick!

He didn't want to be beaten, so he quickly said, "I came here today to puncture your tire, Boss Yang."

Yang Zhiqiang: ???

He frowned and said, "What the hell? Punctured what? Tire? Why did you puncture my tire?"

He thought of all kinds of sinister schemes, even the possibility that Li Si came to steal his financial seal, but he never thought that Li Si came to puncture his tires.

He finally understood that when people are speechless, they really want to laugh, because he really wanted to laugh at this moment.

Seeing that Yang Zhiqiang didn't believe him, Li Si blurted out his boss's order: "It was the boss of our store who ordered me to sabotage you and prevent your store from operating normally. I didn't dare do anything else but puncture your tires. I thought that by puncturing your tires, you wouldn't be able to ride your bike to the store for inspection, which would also be considered sabotage for you, so I came to puncture your tires. Didn't your tires get punctured before? That was me! I thought a single puncture would be enough, but you changed your tires the next day and went to the store for inspection as usual, so I came again today."

Shi Yue glanced at Li Si with a puzzled look and asked, "What's the point of just puncturing the tire? He can still go by car, right?"

Li Si: "Ah?"

Yang Zhiqiang said with a complicated expression: "Yes, I can also take the bus, take a taxi, walk, and even if I don't ride a motorcycle, I can still go to the store."

"Ah!" Li Si slapped his forehead in frustration: "I actually forgot!"

Shi Qiu Shui squinted his eyes and looked down on Li Si a little.

This guy is so stupid, even dumber than a child. Children know that there are many ways to travel besides riding a motorcycle.

Oh, that's not right. Shi Qiushui suddenly thought of something. She glared at Li Si and asked angrily, "In our courtyard, besides Uncle Yang's motorcycle tire being punctured, everyone else's bicycle tires were also punctured. Did you do that too?"

Li Xiuying also thought of this. She quickly stepped in front of Li Si, grabbed Li Si's collar and asked, "Yes, did you puncture my bicycle tire too?"

Li Si said tremblingly: "Ah, yes, I stabbed it, I..."

“Snap—”

Li Xiuying swung her arm and slapped Li Si in the face. "Fuck you, you bastard, you're so naughty! You punctured Yang Zhiqiang's tires, so what? What do you mean by puncturing our tires? Who in our courtyard provoked you to do this?!"

Li Si was slapped hard, his face flushed red, and he said aggrievedly, "I, I was afraid that if I punctured Boss Yang's tire alone, he would immediately realize that someone was targeting him, so..."

“Snap—”

It was another solid slap, but this time it was not given by Li Xiuying, but by Gao Cuifen.

Gao Cuifen had just returned home and was about to lie down when she heard someone say that the boy who punctured the tire had been found, and she immediately rushed out.

Even though her old man made a small fortune because of the punctured tire, her family's tire was also punctured, so she still hated that guy very much.

She slapped Li Si across the face. "So you punctured the tires of everyone in our yard, too? How could you be so wicked? You didn't let anyone in our yard go unpunished. You even punctured the tires of the bicycles that the kids were riding. You're truly so wicked!"

Li Xiuying and Gao Cuifen didn't hold back. After two slaps, Li Si's face was already swollen and he hissed in pain.

Gao Cuifen didn't feel sorry for him. She raised her hand and said, "No, since you've already admitted that you punctured the tire, then you have to pay us! Pay for the tire replacement, and that, ...

Shi Qiushui reminded quietly: "Grandma Gao, this is compensation for mental damage."

Gao Cuifen: "Yes, mental damages! I'm telling you, I've become attached to our old tires. You punctured them and I had to replace them. I'm devastated and traumatized. My spirit has been severely damaged. If you don't compensate me, I won't let you go today!"

Li Si: "Compensate, I will compensate, I will compensate!"

He looked at Gao Cuifen pleadingly and said, "Auntie, tell me how much you want to pay, and I'll give it to you."

Just don't do it again.

Gao Cuifen's eyes flashed, and she said, "Pay me fifty! I spent twenty just on replacing the tire, and the remaining thirty is for mental damage!"

She was asking for an exorbitant price. Her husband had replaced the tires himself, so it certainly didn't cost him that much.

However, no one present exposed this fact, because everyone had a puncture and wanted to ask for higher compensation.

Li Si also knew that Gao Cuifen was asking for an exorbitant price, but there was nothing he could do. He didn't want to be beaten, so he had to pay the money obediently.

He took out a stack of money from his pocket and counted it tremblingly: "Auntie, please wait, I will count the money."

"Why are you counting? Just give it to me!" Gao Cuifen snatched the money from his hand, nodded in her hand, and said, "Well, okay, this is quite a lot of money, enough to compensate the people in their compound."

She counted out a fifty-dollar bill and stuffed it into her pocket, then turned around and took out another fifty-dollar bill and gave it to Li Xiuying. She stuffed the remaining money into Ma Yulan's pocket and said, "Old Ma, please share it with everyone. Everyone's tires have been punctured, and this can't be in vain."

"Yeah, okay." Ma Yulan cooperated tacitly. She quickly ordered out several fifty-yuan bills, put one in her pocket, gave one to Da Liu, gave one to Guo Pozi's family, and gave one to Shi Yue.

Shi Yue whispered, "Auntie Ma, my tire isn't punctured, is it?"

Ma Yulan tutted and said, "Just take it if I tell you to!"

Shi Yue: "Yeah! Okay!"

He happily put the money into his pocket. It would be a waste not to take the compensation from the bad guys!

After Ma Yulan divided it all, she gave the rest to Yang Zhiqiang.

Yang Zhiqiang's motorcycle is different from their bicycles, and the price of replacing tires is more expensive, so they gave him all the remaining money.

Although Li Si was furious after seeing Yang Zhiqiang put the remaining money into his own pocket, the current situation did not allow him to ask for the money back.

Thinking that his boss would reimburse the expenses, Li Si finally swallowed his anger.

He smiled ingratiatingly at everyone and said, "Well, can you let me go now?"