Chapter 22 Debt Collection
To avoid Zhao Yuzhi's questioning, Zhou Chengli dared not go back. However, no matter how much he tried to escape, he could not avoid the gambling den sending people to collect the debt.
"Zhou Xiucai! Half a month has passed now. When are you going to redeem that cripple Zhao? Our gambling den won't keep him around for nothing!"
"Why are you coming to the academy? Didn't you say you'd give me a month?" Zhou Chengli was afraid his classmates at the academy would find out about his dealings with the gambling den, so he questioned the people from the gambling den without any politeness.
"Heh! Scholars are really something else, they act like big shots when they owe money! I've been in the gambling den for so many years, and I've never seen anyone so arrogant!" The leader got angry after hearing Zhou Chengli's words.
"Sixth Brother, in our gambling den, there are no scholars or no scholars, only gamblers and debtors. This Scholar Zhou dares to talk to you like that, we might as well teach him a lesson!"
"This is the academy! You can't mess around here! If you touch me, the teachers of the academy will not let you off!" Zhou Chengli then realized that the people opposite him were thugs from the gambling den, and he broke out in a cold sweat.
"Hmph! Paying back debts is a matter of course. So what if we beat you up? Then everyone in the academy will know that you owe money to the gambling den. What reputation will you have left?" The man known as Sixth Brother was a tough nut to crack and was not afraid of Zhou Chengli's threats.
"It's only been half a month! Where am I supposed to scrape together fifty taels for you? Don't push your luck!" Zhou Chengli's threats failed, and he was caught red-handed. He began to regret signing the IOU in a moment of impulsiveness.
"We don't care about that. Fifty taels in half a month, not a penny less. Otherwise, it's another matter whether you, Zhou Xiucai, can take the exam. But as I told you before, I respect scholars the most. Let me show you the way. Look over there. As long as you can win her over, what is fifty taels?"
Zhou Chengli looked in the direction the thug known as Sixth Brother was pointing, and saw his stepmother, Wei, serving meals to the students at the academy, including many of his familiar classmates.
“My father has already divorced her, so she certainly won’t lend me any money now!” Zhou Chengli’s words were filled with resentment.
"Of course I know she and your father are divorced, but her two children still bear the surname Zhou, and you are still their older brother. If you build a good relationship with them, even if she doesn't want to lend the money, you can get her children to plead for it, right?"
Cao Liulang glanced at him disdainfully. If he hadn't taken a liking to his stepmother, he really wouldn't have bothered to say so much to this poor scholar.
Whether Zhou Chengli listened or not, Cao Liulang looked at Song Yushu's back with eyes full of determination.
Nowadays, everyone in town knows that Song Yushu's braised dishes and Dongpo pork are the most delicious. Even the owner of their gambling den sends someone to buy them every two or three days. It's a pity that they listened to Zhao the Cripple and smashed his stall back then, otherwise he would have already gone to curry favor with him.
As for divorce and having children, so what? With his skills in making braised pork and Dongpo pork, he'll never have to worry about money again. Not to mention, this woman is beautiful and has a hot figure; marrying her would be a stroke of luck for him.
The underlings behind him had long since realized that their sixth brother had taken a liking to Song Yushu. They didn't think there was anything wrong with it, after all, what family would be willing to marry their young daughter to thugs like them? Not to mention that the person their sixth brother had his eye on was also so good at making money.
Song Yushu couldn't help but shiver. She glanced around and felt someone was watching her, but she didn't see anyone and assumed it was just her imagination.
These past few days, she's been delivering meals to the academy, earning a few taels of silver per trip—a very good income. If she continues delivering for a few more days, she'll have enough money to renovate the restaurant.
After cleaning up the dishes and returning home, Wei's mother and Zhou Chengzhu had already finished eating.
"Are you able to manage things at the academy? Why don't you let Chengzhu come with you? Anyway, there aren't many people coming to the stall at noon, I can manage by myself," Mother Wei said, feeling sorry for her as she carried so much food over to sell by herself.
"It's okay, I can handle it. We sold out today, and the students at the academy really liked it."
"By the way, a restaurant manager came over today and said he wants to order fifty portions of Dongpo pork from us. Are you busy delivering the food to the academy?" Although Mother Wei felt that business should be booming, she was also worried about exhausting her daughter.
"It's alright, Mother. Go back and ask if my two sisters-in-law can spare some time so I can pay them wages every day." These days, the Wei family is the only people she can trust.
“Your second brother and your father can keep an eye on things at home, so it should be fine. But since we’re family, we don’t need to give them too much. Just give them my wages!” Mother Wei thought that she could earn fifty coins a day by helping sell food. If her two daughters-in-law came over, it wouldn’t be good if her daughters suffered losses.
“Mother, if it weren’t for you, how could I have managed so much work? As long as my eldest sister-in-law and second sister-in-law work hard, I can’t let them down. Of course, I don’t want to wrong you either. If there’s too much work in the future, I’ll give you a raise,” Song Yushu said, not wanting to cause any conflict between her mother and her two sisters-in-law.
"You're so good at talking. Fine, I won't get involved anymore," Mother Wei realized that Song Yushu was doing it for her own good, so she stopped trying to persuade him.
Song Yushu is now taking on more orders, and she has to get up at 2 a.m. to prepare food. Fortunately, the pot she ordered after renting the place is big enough to cook a lot of braised meat and Dongpo pork at once.
The eldest and second sisters-in-law of the Wei family arrived before dawn the next day and helped Song Yushu prepare more food without taking a break.
Making sour plum drink doesn't require much skill. Song Yushu taught Zhou Chengzhu how to do it, and with Wei's mother watching over it from time to time, they were able to make a big pot.
"Alright, let's set up the stall!"
Song Yushu broke out in a sweat early in the morning. After wiping away the sweat and changing his clothes, he went to deliver goods with Sister-in-law Wei, while Sister-in-law Wei, Mother Wei, and Zhou Chengzhu went to set up a stall.
Renting oxcarts all the time isn't a solution. More and more people will be ordering goods from them in the future, and she also needs to deliver meals to the academy. Song Yushu now has some ideas in mind as she looks at the oxcarts.
Seeing how skillfully Song Yushu chatted with the restaurant owners, Sister-in-law Wei was quite impressed. She hadn't expected her once fiery sister-in-law to be so successful. It seemed their decision to come and help was the right one.
During this trip, Song Yushu signed cooperation agreements with two restaurants. Both restaurants ordered braised pork and Dongpo pork, but the prices they offered were lower than what she sold at her stall.
After leaving the restaurant, she took Sister-in-law Wei to help out at the stall.
Although Wei Ersao was used to farm work, she was slower at cutting meat. After Song Yushu arrived, he took over her work and told her to go back and prepare the ingredients.
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