Chapter 27 The short man listened to what he said about a book…
The short man became interested when he heard him speak so seriously, as if he wasn't joking: "What are you talking about? Are these steamed buns made by immortals?"
Li Lao Er smiled憨厚ly: "The man who sells steamed buns is indeed as beautiful as a fairy, but he's a man."
"A man? You bought his steamed buns just because of his face?" The short man looked disappointed, shook his head, and prepared to go to work, but was stopped by Li Lao Er.
"I'm in a hurry to get to work!"
Li Lao Er reluctantly gave him a steamed bun, saying, "Try it, it's only three coins!"
The short man readily accepted the free steamed buns, and was immediately amazed by their flavor before he could even savor them.
He hadn't had enough after finishing one, and seeing Li Lao Er's mouth watered him, but he was too embarrassed to ask for some directly. He chuckled and said, "Lao Er, your buns are really good. Why don't you tell me where you bought them? I'll treat you to meat buns tomorrow too."
Li Lao Er chewed and swallowed the bun: "Just walk straight along East Street, and on your left there are two places with wooden buckets. One of the men there is extremely handsome; you'll know it as soon as you see him."
"By the way, don't go now, you definitely won't be able to buy any. When I went to buy some, it was packed with people, their business was booming!"
The short man was a little embarrassed that his thoughts had been exposed: "I wasn't planning on going now."
Zhu Mingyue, who was the subject of the heated discussion between the two, was sweating profusely and feeling dizzy from the busyness.
Fortunately, Xie Pei's partner was quite reliable; he kept his money transparently and was still able to help him out.
Looking at the empty wooden bucket, Zhu Mingyue calmly took a breath and shouted with all her might, "Everyone, don't wait any longer, today's buns are all sold out!"
"How come they're all sold out so quickly?"
“I bought a few to take home for my family to try, and they all said they tasted good. They even said I was stingy and only bought so few. I rushed here to buy more, but now there aren’t any left. I’m going to get scolded when I get home.”
"Who says otherwise? I should have bought more."
This... there's nothing he can do! Seeing so many people lining up to buy his steamed buns but not being able to, he's more heartbroken than anyone else. Who wouldn't want to earn more money if they could? But he can only doubling his energy at most.
Zhu Mingyue was both amused and exasperated. She showed them each bucket one by one, and only then did the crowd reluctantly disperse.
At the grain store, Zhu Mingyue waited at the door for Xie Pei. He had made a fortune of nearly three hundred coins today. In addition to buying flour, he also asked Xie Pei to buy some rice before he went in.
The things he used to despise before coming here are now incredibly tempting to him. So, the first thing he thought of after arriving here was a pot of steaming white, fragrant rice.
Xie Pei had been inside for a while and hadn't come out yet. Zhu Mingyue sat on the steps, listlessly watching people come and go.
A hunched gray figure stood out in the crowd because of his sleazy and furtive behavior. Zhu Mingyue's gaze was drawn to him, and she followed his movements.
The man walked closer and closer to the woman dressed as a wealthy person, and after looking around, he reached for the purse at her waist.
Just as Zhu Mingyue was about to shout a warning, a burly man approached from the front, grabbed her child by the collar, and yelled in a gruff voice, "You little brat! What are you doing!"
The man, feeling guilty, thought he was being insulted and instinctively pulled his hand back, shrank his neck, and tried to run away.
In the instant she turned her head, Zhu Mingyue finally saw the person's face clearly.
Wait a minute! Why does this person look so familiar?
Big yellow teeth! That human trafficker who kidnapped him twice!
Zhu Mingyue superimposed the image of the man with yellow teeth in her memory onto the person in front of her, confirming that the two were indeed the same person.
Zhu Mingyue picked up the carrying pole and prepared to follow, but after taking a few steps, she paused, spent a few seconds reassessing her fighting ability, and then turned and went into the grain store.
Xie Pei was buying soy sauce when Zhu Mingyue said that after a long day, they should treat each other to a good meal and that she would make him braised pork. He didn't know how to make braised pork, but he understood that the rich, dark sauce she mentioned might require soy sauce, so he stopped by the grain store to buy some.
"Sir, here is four ounces of soy sauce, please take it."
Xie Pei was holding flour in his left hand and reaching for soy sauce with his right. Just as he took it, Zhu Mingyue, who had rushed over to find him, grabbed his arm.
Panting, Zhu Mingyue led him aside and asked, "Xie Pei, do you still remember your brother... Xie Hong, who spent four bushels of rice to buy me?"
Xie Pei nodded slightly to indicate that he remembered.
"Now there's a chance to get the rice back. Are you willing to take it?"
Xie Pei frowned: "You want me to get it back?"
The words were too blunt. Zhu Mingyue rubbed her forehead and said awkwardly, "He got these four bushels of rice by selling me. He shouldn't have been given the rice in the first place. He's a human trafficker."
Xie Pei looked down and saw the carrying pole tightly gripping his hand, then asked again, "You want me to help you beat him up?"
"No, not exactly," Zhu Mingyue said shyly, blushing. "Four bushels of rice are enough for us to eat for a while. Of course, if you want to beat him up while you're at it, I won't stop you."
Xie Pei concluded: "So you not only want me to take the rice back, but you also want me to beat him up."
Zhu Mingyue: ...Just knowing is enough, is it necessary to be so blunt?
Considering that he would need to use the other party's fighting power to help him get revenge later, he tried his best to refrain from speaking up against Xie Pei.
He watched Big Yellow Teeth go into that long alley. He remembered the alley; it ended at a mud wall. He was certain that Big Yellow Teeth was still in the alley.
He led Xie Pei into the alley, and not far away they saw a man cursing as he stepped into the courtyard and slammed his hands shut.
The two exchanged a glance, and Zhu Mingyue nodded. He went straight ahead. The door was ajar, only a fist's width away, and unlocked from the inside. Zhu Mingyue took a deep breath, pushed it open, and stepped inside.
Relying on Xie Pei's support, he was very arrogant and kicked open the door to enter the main room.
"Who the hell dares to come into my house!" Big Yellow Teeth cursed, his face darkening. He looked outside and almost dropped his jaw in shock!
"Why is it you?"
Zhu Mingyue tilted her head, feigning innocence: "Am I surprising you?"
"What are you doing here? Do you think I sold it to you for too low a price last time, and you want to offer yourself up for another sale?"
“That’s true,” Big Yellow Teeth said, his eyes scanning Zhu Mingyue from head to toe with a blatant look. “It’s such a waste to have sold her to that poor slut when she was so alluring.”
"Brother is short of money right now, so let you enjoy some of the greatest pleasures of life today, and then I'll find you a rich family."
Zhu Mingyue felt nauseous after hearing his obscene words and wanted to do everything she could to shut his foul mouth.
A chipped, cheap teapot flew out of his hand and hit Big Yellow Teeth squarely on the head, followed by the crisp sound of his skull colliding with a hard object.
Big Yellow Tooth was hit so hard he saw stars, and a warm trickle flowed down his hair, making him feel itchy. He shakily touched his forehead and found his hand stained with bright red blood.
Big Yellow Teeth's eyes turned red, and he said fiercely, "You slut, how dare you hit me?"
Zhu Mingyue never expected that his first real fight would result in drawing blood. Having always been a law-abiding and obedient child, he was still a little flustered at this moment.
But he quickly calmed down. This is not a society governed by the rule of law. In this day and age, no one cares about human trafficking. If he beats up a scumbag, what will happen to him?
Zhu Mingyue puffed out her chest and cursed back just as fiercely: "Fuck your grandpa, so what if I hit you! You just deserve a beating!"
Big Yellow Teeth was completely enraged. He never expected that a weakling who had been sold twice by him would dare to provoke him. He immediately pounced on him like a mad gorilla, baring his teeth and claws.
Zhu Mingyue was not tall, nor was she as strong as the man opposite her. She could launch a sneak attack when he was off guard, but she would never dare to confront him head-on.
But he was not afraid at all, because he had helpers.
Zhu Mingyue: "Xie Pei! Go!"
Seeing the big yellow-toothed man's fist coming straight at his face, he dodged it with a quick movement, his voice finally turning urgent: "Xie Pei! Xie Pei?"
Big Yellow Teeth chuckled and said, "What are you yelling about? Who do you expect to save you?"
Zhu Mingyue turned around and panicked instantly. Where was Xie Pei?! They were supposed to fight over rice and beat someone up together, so why was there no one behind him?!
He met the fierce-looking black face with big yellow teeth, forced a smile, and his previous arrogance was gone: "I was just shouting."
The next second he took off running. "A gentleman takes revenge even after ten years," he muttered to himself as he ran, trying to make amends for his shameful behavior.
Unfortunately, the door was inexplicably locked shut, leaving him with nowhere to hide. A gust of wind swept past, and the fist drew ever closer to his face.
Zhu Mingyue had nowhere to escape, so she closed her eyes and silently mourned for the beautiful face she was about to lose.
Thump—
A dull thud echoed in his ears, but the expected fist didn't land on his face. Zhu Mingyue quietly opened his eyes a crack, and there was a different person in front of him, tall and thin.
It's Xie Pei!
"Where did you go just now?" Zhu Mingyue felt a sense of relief, as if she had escaped a disaster. She was both relieved and fearful.
Xie Pei replied frankly, "I went to the kitchen to get rice."
Zhu Mingyue followed his gaze and saw three bags of rice neatly stacked against the wall.
"Didn't we agree on this beforehand? Why did you act alone? What if something happens?" Zhu Mingyue complained, silently correcting herself in her heart, "What if something happens to me?"
Xie Pei asked in confusion, "An agreement? When was it agreed upon?"
Zhu Mingyue: ...
He sensed that Xie Pei had smiled secretly as he said this, though the smile was fleeting.
Xie Pei did it on purpose, Zhu Mingyue thought angrily. He was absolutely certain that Xie Pei did it on purpose!
Big Yellow Teeth collapsed to the ground, with a carrying pole lying across his side.
Zhu Mingyue checked his breathing and found he was still alive. So she immediately launched a fierce attack on the man on the ground, using both her hands and feet. If she couldn't hit Xie Pei, she couldn't hit this scumbag to vent her anger.
After a beating, Zhu Mingyue was exhausted and leaned against the door to catch her breath.
He glanced at Big Yellow Teeth, whose face he had beaten into a pig's head, and turned to ask, "He probably won't report it to the authorities, will he?"
Xie Pei shook his head: "No, the government won't interfere."
Zhu Mingyue: "Shall we just leave?"
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