Chapter 3 Chapter 3 (Revised) False Encounter with the Storm

As for Mr. Sun mentioned by Mrs. Hua, he was the eldest son of the second branch of the Sun family, a notorious ruffian. Last year, he committed a crime and killed someone. The victim reported him to the yamen, and the yamen was crowded with people during the trial. In the end, a servant was found to take the blame, and Mr. Sun was released after only two days in prison. However, the servant was implicated and lost his life.

This incident caused a lot of uproar. Even storytellers in teahouses wrote books about it. However, the rumors outside could not affect the reputation of the Sun family. Mr. Sun became more and more rampant after that. He was a frequent visitor to brothels and later he would rape any girl he liked, even those who were already married. He had so many concubines in his house that he could not count them on one hand, not to mention the number of prostitutes and actresses he kept.

Xu was a person who got angry easily. When she heard that she was talking about the Sun family, her face couldn't help twitching and her fists were clenched tightly.

Seeing that Madam Xu's face had visibly darkened, Mrs. Hua waved her hand and said, "The rumors outside are all fabricated nonsense. Mr. Sun is a very good man. Your sister can only enjoy happiness with him."

If it wasn't for the fact that this pious old woman was protected by the Sun family, Xu would have probably spitted out. She was watching the trial in the yamen last year, and this old woman dared to close her eyes and talk nonsense like this.

"The incident that happened last year had nothing to do with our master. It was just one of our subordinates using our master's name to cause trouble. You know, when subordinates get into trouble, how can a master have the time to keep an eye on them?"

Hua Pozi was the best at this kind of job. Using both kindness and force, no decent family would budge. If the mother couldn't be persuaded, she would go to the father. If the father couldn't be persuaded, she would threaten them, demanding either agreement or death. She could always force people to comply under the force of a stick. If they didn't want their entire family to be ruined, they would just agree to her terms.

There was a hint of threat in Hua Pozi's words. "Besides, when they are very important, Mr. Sun is a very nice person, but if you really offend him, he will have a bad temper."

Mrs. Xu laughed, "You are too kind, old man. We are from a humble family, and it is really not appropriate for us to marry into the Sun family. As I said before, Sanniang is young, and we are reluctant to let her go. Her elder and second brothers are not married yet, so how can we marry her off first? A girl's family is a guest, and my family is not in such a state of want. We must stay for a few more years. If Mr. Sun wants to propose marriage again by then, it won't be too late to discuss it."

Hua Pozi knew that Xu was the head of the family and that it was impossible to persuade Xu. She thought that it was impossible to reach an agreement with her by talking to her nicely. She was too lazy to put on a good face and her words were full of sarcasm.

"Your family owns two restaurants, and you're considered well-off in Pingjiang Prefecture. But what good is a little wealth? What good is having relatives who are officials in Beijing? You're nowhere near the Sun family. Mr. Sun is showing his favor by taking a liking to your sister, but you're really ungrateful. You're the one who suffers."

"What's the point of being at a disadvantage? You've already said it. Those people are far beyond the reach of our small family." Xu lowered her head to look at the account book and never looked up again. She felt bad in her heart. No matter what, the grudge was bound to be formed.

"In that case, you'd better take care of yourselves." She had inquired about it a long time ago. The Zhen family was usually ruled by Xu. Since she couldn't persuade Xu, there was no need for her to waste her breath, let alone come to the Zhen family again and again to beg for peace. She wanted the Zhen family to understand the pros and cons. Naturally, there would be a time for her to come and ask for help. Hua Pozi sneered, waved her sleeves and was about to leave.

Madam Xu was worried. After the past two times, this old woman Hua would not be so kind next time. If she couldn't persuade her, she would naturally resort to some tricks.

The family sat together for dinner in the evening, but no one wanted to pick up their chopsticks.

Xu had been unhappy ever since Mrs. Hua left. Now, when the family was talking behind closed doors, she began to curse, "You black-hearted, vicious woman, but you're talking about the Sun family. Such rotten-hearted old bastards, why didn't they just choke to death in the toilet? That black-hearted, filthy bastard from the Sun family, with all the stinking lawsuits on his hands, dares to propose marriage."

Grandma Zhen just came back and didn't know what happened. She pulled Dalang to ask, but Dalang didn't care about his grandmother and slammed the table in anger.

"There was a girl born in the back street. The old woman Hua persuaded the Sun family to take her away as a concubine. After only a few days in the Sun family, she disappeared during the Spring Festival. The straw mat was thrown away somewhere and no one knew where it was. The family went to look for her but couldn't find her body. When they went to the Sun family to ask for an explanation, they were beaten out with sticks. The next time the old woman Hua comes, she will be kicked out."

"This old woman works for the Sun family. It will be difficult to get rid of her next time she comes. If we really hurt her, she will probably find a reason to do something weird right away." Xu shook her head.

Xu had a loud voice, and the Zhen family's grandmother was able to piece together the general situation from just a few words. She loved to join in the fun. She was the first one to know that the Sun family's master was in trouble last year. Now that she knew that the Sun family had set their sights on Baozhu, she was so angry that she was gasping for breath.

Baozhu was afraid that Grandma Zhen would get hurt from being angry, so she tried to calm her down and comfort her.

The Sun family was certainly not to be trifled with. The family was still thinking of a solution that night. The next day, trouble arrived. The two restaurants were completely deserted, with only a bunch of scoundrels sitting around without food or drink from morning until afternoon. Anyone who tried to enter was harassed and barred. Zhen's father was helpless, but he couldn't act rashly.

By mid-afternoon, the two restaurants had no choice but to close, politely sending their guests away and locking their doors. This went on for several days straight, and the Zhen family was truly annoyed.

Baozhu asked Zhen's father to tell the accountant of the first restaurant and the waiters of the second restaurant that the shops should be closed for a few days and the wages would be paid at half of their salary for the time being. They would discuss it later when they reopened.

A notice was posted at the door, saying that no business had been done in the past few days. The store had been closed for three days in a row, and even the neighbors came to ask about it. Baozhu also asked the family not to say too much to outsiders. She asked Zhen's father to go out and just tell others that the store was being renovated, and didn't reveal anything else.

But this is not a long-term solution. The old lady Hua didn't come, but the accountant from the first restaurant and the waiter from the second restaurant came first. It is not easy to support a family now, so the two of them want to quit their jobs and find another way to make a living.

Zhen Shide also understood, sighed and said a few words to keep them, but the two were determined to leave, so Zhen's father had no choice but to pay off their monthly wages and politely send them away.

Keeping the door closed all the time is not a solution. Once the restaurant is opened, it seems like someone is watching it. As soon as the door is opened, a group of thugs rush in, crowding the restaurant and glaring at the customers who want to come in.

I just closed the door.

To open a shop in this city, one must have a few frequent patrons. Zhen's father went to them with generous gifts, but even those with whom he had a good relationship, such as Uncle Dong's former classmates, shook their heads and refused to respond. They only secretly reminded his family that they had offended the Sun family. Most of the families with whom he had a shallow relationship were unwilling to even open the door, let alone see him.

Baorong gritted his teeth in anger when he learned about this. "Everyone smiled when accepting gifts during the New Year, patting their chests and saying that if anything happened, just go find me. But when something really happened, they were scared as if they were grandsons. Some people still have a lot of money on credit. Anyway, the business is broken, and they don't need to take care of it in the future. Tomorrow I will go from house to house to collect the money."

Suzhou is a land of fish and rice, and is a prosperous place. Those officials often receive filial piety from their subordinates, and they are all rich.

It's easy to avoid the King of Hell, but hard to deal with the devil. Business owners often have to deal with these people. Anyone with a little power is always asking for bribes, using nice words to say these small amounts of money are nothing, but in reality, they want to pocket every penny. These people often eat with greasy mouths, and when they pay, their feet are even more greasy. They are afraid of offending others and dare not ask for money too much. Now, the two restaurants still have 70 or 80 strings of money on their books that they haven't collected.

The Sun family's situation is like being hung by the neck in the water. If the rope is cut, they will drown, and if the rope is not cut, they will be strangled.

It was all thanks to that flowery old woman. The thief had drawn the Sun family's attention to the Zhen family. The Sun family was a wealthy and powerful family that could not be offended. If they were offended, the whole family from top to bottom would have a bad ending. But the whole family would rather die than let Baozhu fall into the fire pit.

"We as a family would rather be hanged in front of the Sun family's door than accept this awful thing." Xu finally slammed the table and said.

Baozhu kept frowning, and no one knew what she was thinking. After the others finished talking, she finally spoke.

"Whether they're dead or alive, Mother doesn't think it's bad luck. The Sun family is too aggressive, but they're too powerful. We can't afford to offend them. Since we can't afford to offend them, we can only put on a big show."

…

We won't go into details about what the family discussed, but let's just say that the next evening, Mrs. Hua knocked on the door to the backyard and came in, followed by two ruffians who sat down on the stool without waiting for the Zhen family to let them.

Xu came out of the kitchen slowly. Seeing that it was Hua Po, she smiled and asked A Zhong to pour tea.

Mrs. Hua was certain the Zhen family would give in. The Zhen family lived well. Besides the two restaurants, they had a shop collecting rent and a large house east of the city. They were considered quite respectable in Gusu.

But so what? Even if they were from such a family, they still had to be humble in front of her. Thinking of this, she felt a little happy.

Ah Zhong poured tea, but she pretended not to take it. She just looked at Xu and asked,

"I asked Madam Xu earlier. I wonder if your family has figured it out these days. The Sun family is indeed a good family. Mr. Sun is a trustworthy man and a perfect match for your sister."

Xu cursed in her heart as she listened. It would have been better if she didn't drink the tea. She took the tea from A Zhong's hand and took a sip. She even wanted to pair it with Baozhu. That grandson was so disgusting that he would be disgusting even if he was paired with a dog.

"Sanniang hasn't even reached the age of marriage yet, she's really too young. Why don't you go and talk to the Sun family and ask them to wait for two years?"

Xu repeated this over and over again. Mrs. Hua frowned and sneered, "You're not young anymore. The Sun family is powerful. If your family could say no to the Sun family, I wouldn't dare come here and say this today."

He behaves like a complete villain, bullying the weak and fearing the strong, which makes people feel sick.

Zhen's father came in from outside. Anyway, the shop was closed and business had stopped, so he and Dalang went to collect all the usable vegetables in the shop, such as salted fish and bacon.

As soon as I entered the room, I saw that Mrs. Hua's face was not in a good mood.

"The shopkeeper is back? I happened to be congratulating your family!"

Zhen Shide shook his head. "My distant cousin just sent me a letter saying that my uncle has passed away. I don't know where to get the joy from. You should go back. There are many things going on at home today. I am afraid that I can't entertain you well enough—"

Hua Pozi interrupted Zhen's father and raised her voice a little.

"Shopkeeper Zhen, let's not talk about the distant past. Your eldest son is of marriageable age, and your second son is also about to take the exam. If you don't think about yourself, you should at least think about the two young men at home. The Sun family can make your family a superior family, but they can also make your family unable to rise above it. What kind of family is that? Even your brother-in-law, an official in Bianjing, would have to carry their shoes when he saw them."

Hua Pozi was brimming with confidence. She was incredibly experienced. Even if the restaurant business faltered, with two sons to care for, the Zhen family would eventually bow their heads. She winked at the thugs standing nearby, and they both stepped forward, their massive figures standing before Zhen Shide. A more timid individual would have buckled at the knees by now, but Zhen's father remained stern.

The atmosphere was tense for a moment. Baozhu listened for a while before lifting the door curtain and bringing in a cup of fragrant tea.

Baozhu said affectionately as she handed the tea to Hua Pozi, "My parents are really short-sighted. Why didn't you tell me about this, Auntie? How could such a wealthy family like the Sun family actually take a fancy to me?"

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