Chapter 370 I'll beat you to death!
Cheng Wanwan forcefully shook off Lao Wu's hand.
He finally understood that all that talk about huanghuali wood and refunds was just an illusion.
This woman has clearly come to seek justice for Gou Dan.
"You resort to violence right in front of me. It seems your brokerage firm has no intention of resolving this matter properly," Cheng Wanwan said coldly. "Then, let's see you at the government office."
"Sister-in-law, please don't leave yet." The shopkeeper hurriedly stopped her. "Let's talk it over peacefully. There's no need to make a big fuss."
If this matter escalates to the authorities, the owner will definitely be summoned, and he, as the manager, will inevitably be scolded. If the matter becomes more serious, the owner might replace him with a different manager, and he cannot afford the consequences.
“I’ll give you two choices,” Cheng Wanwan said with a faint smile. “First, replace all the furniture in the yard with huanghuali wood. Second, report it to the authorities and let them try this case.”
The shopkeeper's expression froze on his face.
He didn't want to choose either the first or the second path.
"You did this on purpose!" Old Wu roared, pointing at Cheng Wanwan's nose. "There's no yellow pear wood at all. You're deliberately trying to cause trouble and extort money from me!"
Gou Dan lowered his head and said, "I heard my master say with my own ears that the furniture in that courtyard is all made of huanghuali wood, otherwise this aunt would not have bought it."
"You dare to make up lies? I'll beat you to death!"
Old Wu tried to rush over, but the shopkeeper stopped him, shouting sternly, "What's all this commotion? Haven't you made a scene big enough already?"
By this time, a large crowd of onlookers had gathered at the entrance of the brokerage firm, pointing and commenting on it.
There's only one real estate agency in Huzhou City, and the staff there are all arrogant and disdainful. Many people have long harbored resentment towards the agency, and they stand at the entrance, discussing various things.
The shopkeeper was really furious. Old Wu had caused the trouble himself, and he let the pawnshop clean up the mess. If the matter got out of hand, he, the shopkeeper, would be in trouble.
He kicked Lao Wu in the knee: "No matter what, apologize first!"
Old Wu retorted, "I did nothing wrong, why should I apologize? This woman is clearly trying to extort money..."
Cheng Wanwan took two steps closer to Old Wu and said softly, "That's right, I'm deliberately trying to extort money. What can you do about it? Your shopkeeper is concerned about his reputation and doesn't want to see the authorities, so in the end, you'll be the one to pay the compensation. Tsk tsk, a whole yard of pear wood furniture, how much silver is that? Can you afford to pay for it?"
Old Wu’s eyes widened, wishing he could strangle Cheng Wanwan’s neck.
Cheng Wanwan took a step back and smiled, "I'm a kind person, so I won't make things difficult for your brokerage. Just compensate me with eight taels of silver and apologize to the child next to me, and we'll call it even."
Old Wu cracked his knuckles.
The others in the room also understood the charade and offered their advice.
"That silver originally belonged to Goudan, you insisted on taking it, otherwise this wouldn't have happened."
"If the bad reputation of the brokerage gets out, business will be affected these next few days. Old Wu, you can't be so greedy."
"Don't take money that isn't yours, or you'll be forced to return it with interest sooner or later."
It was clearly seven taels and eight hundred coins, but now, eight taels of silver have to be spit out, resulting in a loss of two hundred coins in one transaction.
Old Wu was so angry he felt like vomiting blood.
The shopkeeper was so angry he felt like vomiting blood. It turned out that Old Wu had embezzled his apprentice's commission from selling houses, which had caused all this trouble.
He kicked Old Wu in the butt: "Give me the money! Apologize! Or don't come back!"
Old Wu's heart was bleeding, but he couldn't refuse. He couldn't lose this job that earned him money just for eight taels of silver.
He threw the money bag away, gritting his teeth, and said, "It's all here."
Cheng Wanwan weighed it in her hand, opened it to count the money, and said coldly, "We're still short two hundred coins."
Old Wu was furious. He rummaged through his pockets and finally managed to scrape together two hundred coins. After paying the money, he turned and left.
"Is there something else you've forgotten?" Lu Yingxue remained silent for a while before finally finding an opportunity to speak. "You still need to apologize to Gou Dan. Only after Gou Dan forgives you will this matter truly be over."
The shopkeeper gave them a cold look: "Apologize right now!"
Old Wu gave in, lowered his head and spoke in a low voice: "I was wrong. I'm sorry."
Gou Dan pursed his lips: "Master has been guiding me for three months, and I have learned a lot. Thank you, Master, for being willing to teach me. From today onwards, we are no longer master and disciple. I hope Master will have a better and better future."
He bowed slightly, his eyes red-rimmed.
Although I have been doing odd jobs here for three months, the one hundred cents every month is real, and the calls of "Master" are also real. It ended just like that.
Cheng Wanwan took Goudan's hand and said, "Let's go."
After the two men left, everyone in the pawnshop breathed a sigh of relief. Business people are most afraid of being harassed in the street. If their bad reputation gets out, it will greatly affect their earnings.
Once outside, Cheng Wanwan handed the money bag to Gou Dan: "Take it, give your father a decent funeral."
"No, I can't accept it." Goudan refused repeatedly, "Aunt has helped me so much, I can't repay you."
Cheng Wanwan took his hand and said earnestly, "After the funeral, find a new place to live, take this money, and do some small business. You can make a living. If it's hard to make a living in the city, then buy a few acres of land in the village. You won't starve. Okay, stop arguing with your aunt. Go back now."
Gou Dan's tears suddenly fell. He clutched the money and choked out, "Thank you, Auntie, thank you..."
He took out one tael of silver and two hundred copper coins to return to Cheng Wanwan, then turned and ran away.
“This child…” Lu Yingxue sighed, “Mother is dead, father is dead, how are the three siblings going to survive…”
"Everyone has their own way of living." Cheng Wanwan stopped thinking about it.
She had done all she could; what would become of the three siblings in the future was entirely up to them.
When we got back to the inn, it was already noon. We ate something casually there.
It was late afternoon when Cheng Zhao and Shen Zheng returned. Even Cheng Zhao, who doesn't drink, was a little tipsy.
Qian Hui, who went to the banquet as a pageboy, also got drunk and became quite unsteady.
Ah Fu was taking care of three people all by himself, and he was sweating profusely from exhaustion.
Cheng Wanwan hurried over to help: "Why are you so drunk?"
"Too many people came to toast Cousin Cheng." Ah Fu supported Shen Zheng and said helplessly, "The prefect praised Cousin Cheng's talent in public, and this caused a big stir. Everyone thought it was a hint that Cousin Cheng had won the first place in the case, and they lined up to toast. Cousin Cheng was persuaded to drink one glass, and the rest was covered by our young master..."
Shen Zheng's face flushed from drinking, and he was still talking drunkenly: "One more... one more drink, and I won't be afraid anymore... I'm not drunk, not drunk, let me go, I can still drink..."
Cheng Wanwan asked Lu Yingxue to get three bowls of hangover soup from the inn's kitchen. After giving the three of them the soup, she quickly helped them back to their room to rest.
The drunkest one was Shen Zheng. Cheng Wanwan asked Ah Fu to watch over him from the side to prevent him from vomiting suddenly and suffocating, otherwise he could lose his life if he wasn't careful.
The night passed without incident.
The next day was the day for the provincial examination to have its results announced, and those whose names were on the list would be the students.
Yu Zhan became a student with a score of 45th. If he hadn't sat in the toilet, his ranking might have been higher.
But Cheng Wanwan felt that ranking a little lower was actually a good thing; being too outstanding would attract jealousy and bring unnecessary trouble.
The day after that, the results of the imperial examination, which everyone was most looking forward to, were announced, and the streets suddenly became lively.
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