Old Man Su was not about to let these thugs off easily. Although they looked young, they still had to take responsibility for their actions.

"Either pay three taels of silver as compensation, or you come with me to see the magistrate. We're a legitimate business, we've already paid for our stall, and we're in the right no matter where we go."

Old Su held his head high and chest out, knowing that while he didn't cause trouble, he wasn't afraid of it either.

Su Laosan, who was standing nearby, also hit the thug with a stool.

“We’ve already paid the stall fees, you’re dreaming if you think you can get protection money from us again.”

Su Muyao's eyes sparkled; she was so happy to have such a united family.

Before I transmigrated here, I had crammed on those novels.

I remember the book was full of awful family members, but I never imagined that all my family members would be so wonderful.

If we only know how to tolerate things, we might not even be able to continue setting up a stall here in the future.

After all, people are greedy; if you give in this time, they will be even more greedy next time.

Upon hearing this, the thugs immediately begged for mercy, saying, "Sir, please don't send us over. We'll give you all our money."

The thug covered his head and took out the little silver he had on him.

Actually, she was somewhat instigated by someone else, namely the restaurant diagonally across the street.

Because of Old Man Su and his group setting up a stall here, they have taken away a lot of business from the restaurants. Many people like to go to the restaurants to order a couple of dishes and have a drink.

Now, because of the appearance of this braised meat vendor, people who used to like to go to the shop to have a drink and eat a couple of snacks have basically stopped going.

To put it bluntly, this small town only has so much business. If these customers go to your place and don't go to other places, naturally the shopkeeper will be anxious.

Most importantly, the other party confidently asserted that two country bumpkins wouldn't dare to lay a hand on anyone; they would be at the mercy of the other party.

He also gave them a little over one tael of silver, saying it was for his tea.

Anyway, the restaurant paid them money, so they figured it was just a favor. Besides, the vendors were indeed from the countryside, so they probably wouldn't dare to mess with them.

Most importantly, the stall owner's business seems pretty good, so he can also get some protection money from them later. It's a win-win situation, so why not?

Who would have thought these people were so strong?

As they were still thinking of a solution, Old Man Su said to his son beside him, "Third son, if they are unwilling to pay, then let them go to court! Don't block our way and delay our business."

The Su family's sons nodded and went to pull up the thugs who were lying on the ground, howling.

"No, no, no need, we'll pay for it. Just pay, sir. After you've paid the compensation, can you let us go?"

"Stop talking nonsense and get on with it. Don't delay our business."

The thugs rummaged through their pockets, but in the end they still couldn't scrape together three taels of silver; they were almost short.

The gang leader felt he had suffered a huge loss today. If the restaurant owner hadn't encouraged him, he wouldn't have so openly brought a few brothers to smash up the place.

Not only did they fail to get any money, they also lost all their savings.

He even got beaten up, so of course he couldn't just swallow his anger.

He approached Old Man Su, bowed, and said, "Grandpa, this is all we have, we really can't afford it anymore. But if we reveal who instigated it, you can forget about the rest."

This surprised the Su family. They had always been polite to every customer they met when doing business in town and had never had a quarrel with them.

"Confess and take us to this place, and we'll take the rest of the money and won't let you see the officials again."

"Sir, this is Fu Lai Inn. The innkeeper there tricked us, saying we were easy to bully, and told us to come and make some money. We were blinded by greed for money."

One of the henchmen stepped forward and said, "My name is Er Gou. I have no parents and we live hand to mouth. So when I heard about a way to make money, I was bewitched."

Old Su looked at the messy benches scattered haphazardly. They had brought some benches and tables specifically so that some guests could eat here.

Old Su wasn't in a hurry. Looking at the mess on the ground, he said to the thugs, "Clean this up completely. Don't let it interfere with our business."

"Stop collecting protection money. Can't any able-bodied person find some work to support themselves?"

The group nodded repeatedly, afraid of angering the old man and getting beaten up.

After all, it's pointless to hit them; you can't exactly report them to the authorities and end up in jail if you fail to get justice.

After the ground was completely cleaned up, the thugs led Old Man Su and his two sons menacingly toward the place the thugs had mentioned.

Only Boss Su, the dullard, remained at the stall, guarding it.

Upon arriving at the restaurant, I found that there weren't many customers, and almost all the staff were busy with their own tasks.

The old shopkeeper had originally been watching the show, but seeing that the thugs had failed, he couldn't help but sigh, "They're really useless."

But soon he saw these thugs leading a few people from the stall toward him, so he quickly hid in the private room.

The private rooms on the second floor had a clear view of everything on the first floor. They saw this group of people come into the shop and tell the waiter they wanted to see the manager.

"Esteemed guests, if you wish to eat, please wait a little while. Our manager is not here at the moment, but you can tell me if you need anything."

The one who spoke was one of the more astute waiters in the shop. He had already instructed himself to send these people away when his boss hid on the second floor.

Old Man Su plopped down on the bench. "You don't need to give me these empty words. Just tell your manager that if he doesn't offer any compensation today, we'll have no choice but to report it to the authorities."

I'd like to ask him what he did to offend him? That he'd send someone to sabotage our business.

Hearing this, the young waiter on the first floor couldn't help but feel worried for his boss.

But he still stubbornly insisted that his manager was not there.

"Alright, since he's not here, let's just declare the goods and let the magistrate judge this for us."

After saying this, he waved his hand and was about to walk towards the door, but the shopkeeper on the second floor couldn't sit still.

If this matter goes to the authorities, I will not only lose my job as manager, but I'm also afraid I'll get a beating.

Their restaurant was originally a branch, and he was the manager, receiving a share of the profits each month, but this share depended on the restaurant's performance.

But if he were to be flogged by the authorities, his master would surely want to remove him from his position as manager to save face.

Everyone knows that the magistrate has always been a fair and benevolent official who loves the people and cannot tolerate any wrongdoing.

Someone like me, who bribed someone to vandalize another person's stall, would probably get a severe beating.

This matter might not even be resolved with money, so of course I can't let these peasants go to the county government to file a complaint against me.

He quickly called out to those below, "Is someone looking for me?"

Old Man Su's lips curled up slightly. Su Muyao, of course, also saw this scene. She never expected that her grandfather was actually a black sesame seed filling.