Chapter 50
Gu Xinxin pursed her lips: "I still want to do this business myself."
Lawyer He nodded and said, "This is easy to do. If I can help you with it, I'll need ten taels of silver. What do you think?"
Gu Xinxin nodded quickly. Ten taels of silver was no big deal. Gu Daniu could earn that much in just two or three days.
She then asked, "Can you get that shopkeeper Qian to stop bothering my family?"
He Song shook his head: "With this one recipe, I can make him stop asking you for it. But I can't say for sure what will happen in the future."
After all, the only recipe that Shopkeeper Qian used to bite back was this one, and the only recipe that Gu Xinxin used to do business was this one, so it was the same thing.
If Gu Xinxin wants to do other business in the future and Manager Qian still wants her, that’s another matter. He can’t take care of Xinxin for her whole life for just ten taels of silver, right?
Gu Xinxin pursed her lips and smiled, "Then I'll trouble you, Attorney He. What should we do next?"
"I'll go with you to Dafeng Town." Lawyer He said as he cleared the table. He put the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone back into the table's center, then covered it with oil paper to prevent it from getting wet in the rain. He then placed a stool on the table to pressure it down. Then he came out from the back and asked, "How long does it take to get from the county seat to your town? Also, you're responsible for food and lodging during this time, understand?"
Gu Xinxin nodded quickly.
Gu Daniu fell behind and reached out to tug at Gu Xinxin's sleeve: "Didn't you say you wanted to sue me from the beginning?"
Gu Xinxin was now somewhat patient. "If someone could mediate and the matter was settled, we wouldn't have to go to court. After all, going to court is time-consuming, costly, and laborious, and ten taels of silver might not be enough to resolve it. Now, someone has taken this silver and helped us mediate, so we don't have to go to court."
As for out-of-court mediation, since Shopkeeper Qian hasn't reported the matter to the police yet and the matter hasn't gotten out of hand, Lawyer He can mediate and there's naturally no need to go to the government office again.
After a pause, Gu Xinxin continued, "For Attorney He to be a lawyer, he must have some skills and connections. You should just listen to him when the time comes."
Gu Daniu frowned: "What if the mediation is not successful?"
"Then you don't have to pay so much." Gu Xinxin said. It seems that there is a minimum limit for lawyer fees?
She hurried a few steps to catch up with Attorney He: "Attorney He, if Shopkeeper Qian insists on going down this path..."
"Then come before the judge. I'll write a complaint for you, but the lawsuit won't cost that much. It'll cost twenty taels of silver. I guarantee you'll win. If you don't, I won't take your money." Lawyer He knew what Gu Xinxin wanted to ask and agreed casually, "Don't worry. Our county magistrate is fair and won't just listen to one side's nonsense. As long as you're the first to start this business and it's yours, then Manager Qian won't be able to do anything to you unless he can provide evidence."
Gu Xinxin nodded quickly and urged Gu Daniu to find an inn - after all, it was almost dark, and they couldn't travel after dark and let Lawyer He suffer.
After staying in the county town for one night, the next morning, as soon as the city gate opened, Gu Daniu hurriedly drove Gu Xinxin and Lawyer He to the town.
After lunch, they went to the town and had another meal at a restaurant in the town. After asking about the dim sum shop owned by Shopkeeper Qian, Lawyer He went there to buy some dim sum - the focus was on the small fried dough twists sold in the shop.
Then he got on the bullock cart and said, "Let's go and see your family's unique snacks."
Along the way, I heard the father and daughter talking about honey twisted dough sticks. The name sounded delicious, but I had no idea what the secret recipe was, and why the owner of the dim sum shop had to go to such great lengths to snatch it from them.
While driving the cart, Gu Daniu was calculating in his mind - it cost half a tael of silver to stay in the inn, more than eight hundred copper coins for breakfast and lunch combined, and another four hundred copper coins for snacks... Two taels of silver were almost gone.
This matter has not yet started.
He was quite anxious. After all, the fried dough twist business was his now. This matter was for Xiao Mahua, so it was his and he was the one who paid for it. It would be impossible to rely on Gu Xinxin, this Pi Xiu, who only spent money but did not earn any. He was very anxious.
Gu Xinxin was quite at ease. If ten taels of silver could solve the problem without having to see the officials, then ten taels of silver was indeed not too much. Besides, it wasn't her money.
How can I explain this? It depends on how you calculate it. If you only calculate it, then the family has done nothing wrong. It's just that the small fried dough twist business is doing well and it caught the attention of the shopkeeper Qian. So, they hired a lawyer and spent money. No matter how you calculate it, they are losing money.
But if this incident could let everyone, including Shopkeeper Qian, know that their family was not to be trifled with, it would save them a lot of trouble later on. Gu Daniu was also lucky. He had only been doing business in the streets and alleys until now, without a fixed stall, so he hadn't gotten into trouble.
For example, a gangster would collect protection money and sample fried dough twists for free. After eating the fried dough twists, he would say he had a stomachache, or he would pull out a hair from you while you were eating.
This kind of thing is not uncommon in the catering industry.
If Lawyer He can deal with Shopkeeper Qian, then these little thugs will be no problem.
In this way, the ten taels of silver were well spent. After all, the gangster would definitely not ask for only ten taels of silver for protection money.
When doing business, you have to take a long-term view. In Gu Xinxin's opinion, ten taels of silver to buy stability is relatively cheap.
The group quickly arrived at Xiaokaner Village. As soon as they entered the village, Second Aunt came hurriedly: "Xinxin is back? Did your father tell you about the matter with Shopkeeper Qian? The day before yesterday, Shopkeeper Qian brought people and said that you stole the secret recipe from their shop..."
Gu Xinxin smiled and said, "My father told me, Second Aunt, this is Lawyer He. My father and I specially invited him back from the county town. He specializes in helping people write lawsuits."
Second Aunt, who had never even been to the county town, let alone seeing a lawyer, couldn't help but take a step back after hearing what Gu Xinxin said. She felt very uncomfortable. "Well, well, I wish the lawyer well."
He Song waved his hand: "Let's go check out your little fried dough twist first."
Gu Xinxin quickly led people back and made some small fried dough twists for He Song on the spot. The hot fried dough twists tasted unique, a little different from the cold ones, but both were delicious.
He Song smiled and said, "No wonder Shopkeeper Qian insisted on having your secret recipe. It really tastes delicious. Have you ever thought about starting a business together?"
Gu Daniu's face immediately showed a look of vigilance, but Gu Xinxin quickly asked, "What does Attorney He mean?"
"How many people are there in your town? If we sell these small twisted dough sticks in the town, we can only earn that much every day. But if we take them to the county town, the income will definitely double." He Song said. If a secret recipe that every dim sum shop wants to own is coveted by it, then this dim sum must be very delicious.
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