"You want to keep the shop open?" Jiang Yongqiang raised an eyebrow at the rosy-cheeked little girl.

Lin Weiming took out two taels of silver from his pocket. It was money he had worked hard to earn in the past few days, but in order to get rid of these plagues and not delay his business, he reluctantly took it out.

"Young man, our family runs a small business and it's not easy to make a living. We didn't know the Jiang family had their eyes on this shop, otherwise we wouldn't have dared to compete with you. Please accept this money as our offer to treat you to tea. We beg you to be lenient and let us go."

They had only recently moved from the village to the county town and had no real connections, so they couldn't afford to go against a local power like the Jiang family.

Lin Weiming would rather bow his head than not send these people away.

Men, after all, can bend and stretch.

Jiang Yongqiang, however, did not think so. His eyes swept over the two taels of silver, but did not linger for long. He held a bowl of freshly poured hot soy milk in his hand and slowly took two sips.

He turned to look at Lin Wanyue, who had just spoken. The fair-skinned little girl was incredibly cute and a rare beauty.

She's still young now, but she'll definitely be a beautiful young woman in a few years.

"Is this your daughter?" Jiang Yongqiang asked.

"?" Although Lin Weiming didn't understand what he meant, he still answered truthfully, "Yes, this is my youngest daughter."

"Oh, then it's easy if you want to keep the shop open. Just give this girl to me, let her be my child bride, and you'll become my father-in-law. Of course, you can keep the shop open for as long as you want. Besides, my Jiang family will protect you, and no one will dare to bully you." Jiang Yongqiang smiled smugly.

Lin Weiming: "!!!"

"Get lost!" Lin Weiming's face immediately changed, and he cursed angrily, "My daughter is only four years old, you beast!"

He wants to take a four-year-old girl home as a child bride!

What kind of beast is this?

"You dare to curse me? You're asking for death!" Jiang Yongqiang's smile vanished, and his face turned icy.

The underlings following behind him were originally waiting to eat roasted sweet potato noodles, and some of them had already poured themselves soy milk. Now, hearing their boss Jiang Yongqiang's cold voice, they all stood behind him.

The person pouring the soy milk pushed the bucket aside and smashed the bowl in their hand on the ground.

The underlings arrogantly said to Lin Weiming, "You old bastard, don't be so stubborn! It's an honor for your daughter that our boss has taken a liking to her. Even if she's only three or four years old, or even if your wife is pregnant and our boss takes a liking to her, the baby would have to be sent to our boss right away!"

"How dare you insult our boss? You've got a death wish, you old codger!" The underlings rubbed their fists together, rolled up their sleeves, and were ready to fight.

"Get out, all of you get out of here!" Lin Weiming picked up a fire poker from behind him and was about to drive all of them out.

Liu Junlan stood behind him, holding Lin Wanyue in one arm and picking up a stick with the other, ready to strike at the group of thugs at any moment.

Both groups were on high alert. Those who had originally planned to wait to eat roasted sweet potato noodles quickly scattered like birds and beasts, and no one dared to stay in the same place for fear of being caught in the crossfire.

They ran away, but not far. They peeked out from within the area where they could still watch the melons and looked this way.

Jiang Yongqiang had never been insulted like this before. He waved his hand at his underlings behind him, and the thugs picked up everything in sight, from tables and chairs to pots and pans, and turned them into weapons.

This group of thugs was numerous, but they were all a motley crew. Lin Weiming was furious with them, so he grabbed a stick and started hitting them on the head.

These thugs weren't good with fists, but they were quick with their tongues when it came to insults: "Your little girl will just have to get married when she grows up. She'd be better off as our boss's child bride. You wouldn't have to spend your family's money, and our boss would protect your shop. You're clearly sparrows flying up to the branches, about to become phoenixes, but you, as her father, are blind. When your daughter grows up, she'll hate you to death!"

"Then why don't you send your own sister or daughter to him as a child bride!" Liu Junlan spat out a mouthful of saliva.

"You think I don't want to?" The thug who spoke even looked regretful: "If my sister could catch your eye, I'd be happy to have her as a child bride, or even as a concubine or maid."

"Become a concubine? Why don't you castrate yourself and send yourself to be a concubine? With a brother like you, your sister is truly pitiful. My child is being raised well, so she doesn't have to suffer as a child bride. Anyone who dares to come near me, I'll kill them!" Liu Junlan held a baby in one arm and a stick in the other, and could beat anyone who tried to approach her until they were running away in terror.

Lin Weiming was a martial artist and knew the weaknesses of the human body. He used the fire poker to strike their joints and acupoints, quickly knocking all the thugs Jiang Yongqiang had brought to the ground. They cried out in pain, curled up on the ground, unable to stand up.

Lin Weiming held a stick in his hand and glared angrily at Jiang Yongqiang.

Jiang Yongqiang dodged backward: "You dare to hit me... my dad will absolutely not let you get away with this. You just wait, your family will forget about doing business, you won't even be able to survive in this county!"

After saying that, he disappeared in a flash, leaving behind a bunch of his underlings.

"Your boss is gone, why aren't you getting out of here?" Lin Weiming kicked the thug closest to him.

The thug, clutching his aching body, struggled to escape.

…

Although the Jiang family's thugs escaped, the Lin family's business was also ruined.

No one knows when the Jiang family will come to retaliate, and it would be bad if they were caught in the crossfire.

Although delicious food can be tempting, offending the Jiang family could mean never being able to eat anything for the rest of your life.

They can still be patient.

"Boss Lin..." However, a neighbor kindly reminded him, "Your family has offended the Jiang family now. You should leave this shop and leave this county as soon as possible, or you'll be in danger."

"Does the Jiang family have such great power?" Lin Weiming asked, frowning.

As Liu Junlan helped Lin Wanyue clean up the things they had smashed, she heard her neighbor's reminder and couldn't help but say, "Is there nowhere to seek justice in broad daylight? They run a pawn shop, and we run a breakfast shop. What does it have to do with them? If they dare to send anyone here again, I'll report them to the authorities."

"Sigh..." The neighbor shook his head with a wry smile and said, "If the Jiang family were afraid of officials, how could their business have grown so large?"

After saying this, the neighbor didn't dare to say anything more and went back to doing business.

Lin Weiming fell into deep thought. He never thought that the county magistrate was a benevolent official who cared for the people, and he had a grudge against him last time. If he reported it to the authorities, the magistrate would be even less likely to side with him...