Chapter 31 - 2#

The old man selling vegetables spoke first: “Hey! You’ve had enough!”

The ruffian retorted: “Old geezer, it’s none of your business!”

“Get lost, get lost, don’t look for trouble here!”

“We’re teaching the sugar cake seller a lesson, it’s none of your business, don’t meddle in other people’s affairs!”

Yanzhi tightened the whip at his waist, and just as he was about to speak, he heard Sugar Cake barking and hurriedly looked back.

Two other ruffians were holding long bamboo poles as thick as wrists and were heavily swinging them down toward Sugar Cake. Sugar Cake was tied under the tree and couldn’t escape, so he could only bark while circling the tree trunk.

“What are you doing? Get away!”

Yanzhi shouted, rushed forward, pushed the two people away, and saved Sugar Cake.

Sugar Cake had been hit twice; Yanzhi frantically helped him untie the rope, and his own back was also hit once.

“Ah!”

Yanzhi lunged forward, his whole body falling forward, directly kneeling down.

He didn’t think they would actually dare to hit him.

The old man widened his eyes in disbelief, grabbed some rotten cabbage leaves from his stall and threw them: “Hey! You’ve gone too far! Get out of here, or I’ll report it to the officials!”

Uncle Liu, the butcher, slammed his cleaver onto the chopping board: “Bullying a ten-something-year-old kid, have you no shame?!”

The tofu lady and the fruit granny, not caring about their fear of dogs, hurriedly went forward to help Yanzhi up: “How is it? Little Yan, are you okay?”

“I’m fine…” Yanzhi shook his head, enduring the pain on his back, and untied the rope holding Sugar Cake.

The ruffians wouldn’t give up. While Yanzhi was untying the rope, they shouted at him again.

“Sugar cake seller, you won’t let my brother buy sugar cake, right? Come over and kneel down to apologize to my brother, then respectfully offer the sugar cake. Also, give us this dog, and then this matter will be settled.”

Yanzhi ignored them, only lowering his head to unfasten Sugar Cake’s collar.

Seeing him not speaking, several ruffians became anxious: “I’m talking to you! Did you hear me?”

“Get over here!”

“You’re not coming, right? Then no one can buy anything!”

With a loud “clang,” a ruffian reached out and pushed over the restacked steamers.

This time, the old man couldn’t stop them.

The good steamers and good sugar cakes all fell to the ground, covered in dust.

Yanzhi turned back, meeting their arrogant faces.

“Get over here!”

In the next instant, Yanzhi let go of Sugar Cake: “Sugar Cake, go!”

Sugar Cake had been hit by them and was already on the verge of exploding. Now, receiving Yanzhi’s command, he rushed out with a “whoosh.”

Yanzhi looked at the dirty brown sugar cakes on the ground, becoming more and more furious, more and more angry. He simply picked up the weight the old man used for weighing vegetables and also rushed forward.

The weight was made of bronze, very heavy, and could cause a bruise if it hit someone.

Yanzhi used his whip to hook the weight, swung the whip, and directly threw it out.

“Come! Come on!”

Sugar Cake pinned the leader of the ruffians to the ground and bit his leg with a “crunch.”

The leader of the ruffians clutched his bleeding leg, rolling on the ground in pain.

Yanzhi tugged at the fur on the back of Sugar Cake’s neck and pointed down the street: “Sugar Cake, there’s more in front, chase! Don’t let a single one go!”

At his command, Sugar Cake rushed out like an arrow from a bow, pouncing on them one by one, biting each of them once as a mark.

Yanzhi chased after the ruffians on the ground, not caring who they were, just using the weight to hit them hard.

“I told you to get out! You didn’t get out!”

“Did I tell you that if you dared to come here again, I’d let the dog bite you to death?!”

“How dare you hit my dog and push my sugar cakes to the ground! You’re so hateful! I’ll beat you to death, beat you to death!”

Yanzhi shouted while hitting, and while hitting, he couldn’t help but cry out, tears falling.

“Bullying me! Bullying me! You bullied me a few days ago, why do you always bully me?”

“Speak, why do you always bully me? Do I look so easy to bully?”

“Speak! Why? Why!”

Yanzhi beat several ruffians until they were rolling on the ground crying in pain, unable even to speak.

Uncle Liu, the butcher, feared Yanzhi would lose out, so he had already grabbed his cleaver and rushed to the front line. Seeing this scene, he suddenly didn’t know what to do.

Yanzhi didn’t seem to need anyone’s help.

Just then, Chu Yu arrived from Sweetwater Alley, carrying a bamboo basket.

“Little Yan, I’ve brought you some food…”

Chu Yu saw the scene before him, froze on the spot, and the basket in his hand fell to the ground.

“Ah…”

Yanzhi’s face was crying like a pear blossom in the rain, but his hands were hitting like a violent storm.

The louder he cried, the harder he hit.

“Why are you bullying me again? This is already the third time!”

“I just want to sell sugar cakes properly, what did I do wrong? You have to bully me like this?”

“I told you to get out, why didn’t you get out? Get out!”

Several ruffians said repeatedly: “We’ll get out, we’ll get out… we’re leaving now…”

“No! You can’t leave!”

Yanzhi rushed forward again, blocking their way.

“Come with me to the officials! Go! You come with me to the officials! I want to let the village head, the town mayor, and all the people in the town come and see who is right and who is wrong. You can’t leave!”

Chu Yu came to his senses and couldn’t help but laugh.

One moment he was telling them to get out, and the next moment he wasn’t letting them leave.

Those ruffians must be scared to death by Yanzhi.

“Go! We’re going to the officials! I want to ask the town mayor to his face, why can ruffians like you bully others? Why can’t I sell sugar cakes here?”

Chu Yu waited for Yanzhi to hit them for a while longer before quickly running forward, hugging Yanzhi from behind and pulling him away.

“Alright, alright. Little Yan, it’s me. If you hit them anymore, you’ll really kill them, and then you’ll have to go to jail.”

Yanzhi burst into loud sobs, turned around, and threw himself into his arms: “Waaa… A-Yu, I’m so scared… they kept threatening me, they even hit Sugar Cake, and they pushed over the sugar cakes we made…”

Several ruffians struggled to get up from the ground, crying with their heads in their hands.

They were also very scared!

“Oh, okay, okay, don’t cry anymore, don’t cry anymore, I’m here.”

Chu Yu patted Yanzhi’s back, coaxing him like a child.

He then looked at the ruffians: “Chen Wu, Yang Liu, you’ve had your day, haven’t you? How about it? Is it a public or private settlement? Do you want to see the officials?”

The originally arrogant ruffians were now completely terrified of Yanzhi and waved their hands repeatedly: “No, no… private settlement, private settlement…”

Upon hearing “private settlement,” Yanzhi immediately turned his head and reached out his hand to them.

“What?”

“Money!”

Yanzhi shouted, making them shiver.

“You pushed over my steamer; there were eighteen sugar cakes in it, three copper coins for each sugar cake, fifty-four copper coins!”

“The steamer fell to the ground and needs to be repaired; that will be twenty copper coins!”

“You also hit my dog! The dog’s medical fees will be twenty copper coins!”

“Total is ninety-four copper coins, I’ll count it as one mace of silver, bring it over!”

Several ruffians lay on the ground, looking at each other, none wanting to take out the money.

“No… no money…”

Chu Yu grabbed Yanzhi’s hand and raised the whip with the weight: “If you have no money, then let each of us hit you ninety-four times! Each person gets ninety-four hits!”

The pain in their bodies reminded them that Chu Yu wasn’t joking, and Yanzhi really would hit people.

Several ruffians clustered together, emptied their sleeves, felt their waistbands, and finally each took off their shoes and poured out copper coins from inside. Scattered around, they collected ninety copper coins for them.

“Truly, there’s no more… look…”

Chu Yu took the whip from Yanzhi’s hand and gave each of them a lash.

“I’m telling you, don’t even think about finding an opportunity for revenge. The dog we raise has now tasted blood and meat; if you dare come here again, it won’t be as simple as just one bite!”

“Yes, yes, yes…”

“Get lost!”

Several ruffians ran away in a panic.

A pile of copper coins was left on the ground. Yanzhi, feeling they were dirty, turned his head away and just walked back to the stall, silently picking up the steamers and sugar cakes from the ground.

Although Chu Yu was greedy for money, he was also very disgusted. He first borrowed half a bucket of water from the pork stall and splashed it on, washing the copper coins before picking them up.

He counted out ten copper coins for each of the stallholders who had helped Yanzhi just now.

Firstly, it was to thank them for speaking up for Yanzhi and standing up for him.

Secondly, it was to ask them to be witnesses; if the ruffians came back to harass them in the future, things would be clear.

Several stallholders were also a bit embarrassed, saying they hadn’t helped much and had watched Yanzhi get hit.

Chu Yu forced the money on them and finally picked up the bamboo basket and walked to Yanzhi’s side.

Yanzhi sat on a small stool, holding the dusty brown sugar cakes in both hands. While shedding tears, he patted off the dust.

Sugar Cake seemed to feel his sadness and also obediently curled up at his feet to accompany him.

Chu Yu reached out and took the cake from his hand: “Can’t sell them anymore.”

“But they can still be eaten…”

“Can’t be eaten either; what if you get diarrhea?”

“It’s all wasted.”

“It’s okay; once we get back, we’ll peel off the skin and steam them again.”

Yanzhi lowered his head and gave a muffled response: “Mhm…”

“Don’t be sad.” Chu Yu sat down beside him. “I made a new pastry at home; I promised you’d be the first to eat it.”

“Thank you…” Yanzhi nodded and took the small bamboo basket he handed over.

Opening the basket, there were two bowls of rice and dishes inside, and also several pastries of different shapes.

Yanzhi picked up a small orange skewer coated in sugar; Chu Yu explained: “This is Tanghulu (candied fruit). The oranges here are too sour, so I thought about whether I could neutralize it.”

Yanzhi then picked up a small yellow pastry; Chu Yu added: “This is a cake. I steamed it; I guess it’s similar to an egg cake.”

Yanzhi picked up another…

This time, before Yanzhi could pick up anything, Chu Yu hurriedly pressed his face.

“How did your forehead get a bruise?”

Yanzhi looked up but couldn’t see it: “I don’t know.”

“You couldn’t have hit yourself with that weight, could you?”

“I don’t know.”

“Honestly, how can you not know anything?” Chu Yu stood up. “Wait here, I’ll go find the old doctor for some ointment.”

“Okay.”

On the street that had returned to peace and tranquility.

Chu Yu sat in front of Yanzhi, scooped some ointment with his finger, and applied it to his forehead.

Tears were still on Yanzhi’s face as he held the cake in both hands, taking a bite and then sniffing.

Taking a bite, and sniffing again.

He was always like this; once he started crying, he couldn’t stop, and he couldn’t control it himself.

He was in pain! He was hungry! He was so wronged!

So he had to cry while eating, while having the medicine applied.

“There.” Chu Yu withdrew his hand. “Anywhere else hurt?”

Yanzhi shook his head: “No more.”

“Didn’t they say your back was hit once?”

“That’ll have to wait until we get home…”

Just then, the sound of a horsewhip crack came from the end of the street.

Yanzhi instinctively looked up and followed the sound.

He saw two officials riding tall horses walking down the middle of the street.

They held up silk imperial edicts, and as they walked, they shouted—

“The Emperor has appointed an Empress; the inner palace has a master! The world has a master!”

“This is hereby proclaimed to all under heaven!”