It is undoubtedly very difficult to get money back from a greedy person.

Jing Zhe knew this too, and from what Boss Gou said, he could tell that once the money was in his pocket, he wasn't going to take it out again.

However, he wasn't angry; on the contrary, he was very happy.

"Is that old dog trying to steal my money?"

"..."

Hearing Jing Zhe call him "old dog" again, Boss Gou was furious: "Your money? How can you prove it's your money? Let me tell you, if it's on me, it's my money!"

Jing Zhe smiled and said to himself, "Now that the IOUs are gone, Zhou Family Cloth Shop no longer owes you any money. As for the rest..."

As he spoke, Jing Zhe took a step forward.

Boss Gou felt a strange pressure and subconsciously tried to back away, but he didn't succeed because Jing Zhe grabbed his wrist holding the money.

"what you do?"

Jing Zhe didn't speak. The only response he received was Jing Zhe's hand, which suddenly tightened its grip like an iron clamp. The force and ruthlessness of the grip made Boss Gou panic in pain.

Jing Zhe's grip continued to tighten. Boss Gou never expected that such a thin-looking young man would have such great strength in his hands.

His hand felt like it was about to break; it was completely bloodless. He could no longer hold on, and his fist, which was gripping the silver note, loosened.

Jing Zhe took the silver note back.

"You, you, you—"

Jing Zhe's outrageous move left everyone, including Boss Gou, speechless and stammering.

After a long while, Boss Gou finally came to his senses: "You...you're planning to use force?"

Jing Zhe shook his head and said seriously, "It's not 'preparing,' it's 'already hard'!"

"..."

Such honesty left Boss Gou speechless.

"Since you're going to use force, then don't blame us!"

It should be noted that Boss Gou had nearly twenty men behind him, so he was naturally not afraid of Jing Zhe: "Gentlemen, since he dared to rob us of our silver, why can't we take it back? Besides, the Zhou family cloth shop already owes us four thousand five hundred taels, and they still want to refuse to pay? Let's rob them back together!"

"good!"

Everyone immediately perked up and, along with Boss Gou, swarmed towards Jing Zhe.

However, they were quick to advance and even quicker to retreat.

Jing Zhe didn't need to exert much effort to deal with these ordinary people; he kicked them all back with just a few punches and kicks.

"..."

A group of people were lying haphazardly on the ground, their minds a little dazed.

Before they arrived, the Zhou family cloth shop owed them a total of 4,500 taels of silver. However, some of them had IOUs while others did not, so the 4,500 taels became 2,200 taels.

But now, he had no money left, because the three thousand taels of silver that Jing Zhe had just taken out had been snatched back by him…

Goodness, this round trip is practically a charity event, clearing up all the debts owed to Zhou's Cloth Shop.

Everyone looked at Jing Zhe, on the verge of tears.

...

"Governor Yu has arrived!"

By this time, the area outside Zhou's cloth shop was already crowded with people.

Someone shouted, and a passage was cleared through the crowd, allowing Yu Li to enter with four or five soldiers.

It turned out that Yu Li had been leading his soldiers in the newspaper office, maintaining order while watching the play. He noticed Zhou Ziqiong leaving in a hurry, and then Jing Zhe followed her out.

He had a better idea of ​​what to do. Since there was nothing going on at Wenxiangju and the newspaper office, he brought a few soldiers with him.

Upon seeing Yu Li arrive, Boss Gou and the others wept with joy.

Boss Gou originally wanted to stand up, but after thinking about it, he lay down again. Afraid that the ground was cold, he deliberately lay back and pressed himself against another person to feel more comfortable.

"What happened?"

Yu Li entered the room and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Jing Zhe and Zhou Ziqiong were safe and sound. But when he looked at Boss Gou and the others lying on the ground, he frowned and asked in a deep voice.

"Governor Yu, you must stand up for us!"

So, Boss Gou and the other small business owners started talking, tears streaming down their faces, accusing Jing Zhe of not only robbing them but also assaulting them.

"What happened?"

When Yu Li entered, Jing Zhe gave him a wink, and Yu Li understood without revealing Jing Zhe's identity.

"Governor Yu, these people are talking nonsense. There are a dozen or twenty of them. How could I possibly rob them of their money? They deliberately blocked the door of the Zhou family's cloth shop to sabotage their business!"

"..."

Boss Gou was stunned, as were the small business owners below and behind him: This guy is shameless!

"He's spouting nonsense!"

"He even hit us!"

"He stole our money!"

"He... he's really shameless!"

"..."

After a moment of stunned silence, these people began to speak in a fit of rage.

"Shut up!"

Yu Li glanced at them and said coldly, "Whom do I listen to when you say this? One person's opinion is enough!"

"Governor Yu, let me speak!"

Boss Gou quickly stood up: "Governor Yu, the Zhou family cloth shop owes us a total of 4,500 taels of silver, but they only gave us 3,000 taels. In the end, they also robbed us of the silver notes and beat us up!"

"Are you done talking?"

"That's all."

Where's the IOU?

"IOU..."

Boss Gou was stunned for a moment, then pointed at Jing Zhe and said fiercely, "He tore up all the IOUs!"

"He took on almost twenty of you by himself?"

"Yes, it hurt a lot!"

"..."

Yu Li squinted at Boss Gou for a while, then asked with a sneer, "Do you think I'm stupid? If he dared to rob you, why would he give you three thousand taels of silver? Wouldn't that be redundant? Besides, you can't produce an IOU, so how do you know if Zhou's cloth shop really owes you money or if it's just a pretense? And he can beat so many of you by himself, are you all idiots?"

"..."

Boss Gou nodded, then immediately shook his head.

"Governor Yu, everything I said is true!"

Yu Li ignored him and instead looked at Zhou Ziqiong: "Miss Zhou, does the Zhou family's cloth shop owe them any money?"

"No... I don't owe..."

Zhou Ziqiong rarely lies, but she lied twice since recognizing Jing Zhe, and her earlobes turned bright red afterward.

So... lying feels so exciting!

Although she felt guilty, Zhou Ziqiong glanced at Jing Zhe and felt relieved: even if she was lying, it was him who made her lie...

Hmm, thinking about it that way makes me feel much more relaxed.

"you--"

Boss Gou was stunned.

Yu Li's gaze turned even colder as he looked at them: "I know why you can't produce IOUs now, because Zhou Family Cloth Shop doesn't owe you any money at all! You're still making up stories here, trying to deceive me? Guards, take them all back and question them thoroughly!"

"Governor Yu, I've been wronged..."

No matter how much these people shouted, they were eventually taken away by the soldiers. Yu Li nodded to Jing Zhe and went out as well.

————