Chapter 92: Black Sesame Filling
Jinle Square, a shop with a decades-long history, has always been a place frequently visited by local noblewomen and young ladies, with a daily customer flow that could be described as endless. But recently, their shop has seen a dramatic decrease in customers. Especially today, not to mention the regulars, there isn’t even a single casual customer.
The shopkeeper frowned, opened a bottle and sniffed it, then said to the assistant next to him, "Has our master perfumer not come up with a better new product yet?"
"The master perfumers have already tried their best. Over the years, they’ve exhausted all possible formulas for various grooming products, whatever could have been thought of has been thought of."
"It seems we should find some young perfumers. Although the master perfumers are good at their craft, and benefit from their experience, they don’t have the innovative minds of the young. Where is Chen Fugui?" The shopkeeper asked again, "Why haven’t I seen him today?"
"The assistant shopkeeper hasn’t come to the shop, he must have been delayed by something!" The assistant speculated, "I am not quite sure either."
Crying and shouting came from outside, sharp voices mentioning Jinle Square and such.
The shopkeeper went out and saw two people, battered and bloody, lying at the doorstep, crying and shouting, and when they saw him come out, they cried even more miserably.
"Who are you, and why are you causing trouble at our doorstep?"
"Wah... everyone, come and judge this. Clearly, it was Jinle Square who hired us, a couple, to stir up trouble at Taoyao Square. Now we are being sued by Taoyao Square, and after getting spanked at the government office, they just turned their backs on us. My leg can’t walk... my back, it’s also ruined... especially my bum, not a single piece of good flesh... oh, it hurts... it’s killing me..."
"Shopkeeper, Chen Fugui applied poor-quality cosmetics on me, and my face ended up like this. He also gave me a face cream from Taoyao Square and asked me to throw dirt on Taoyao Square. But the people at Taoyao Square were meticulous, so not only did we fail to throw dirt, but we also got spanked. Now Taoyao Square wants us to compensate for their losses, but we’re just a miserable couple, where would we get silver from? Shopkeeper, you have to take responsibility!"
More and more people heard the cries and gathered around.
The shopkeeper hadn’t seen so many people gather at their shop door in several days. But at this moment, he would rather have none.
"Where is Chen Fugui? Immediately bring Chen Fugui here." The shopkeeper angrily shouted.
"I will go find him immediately."
Chen Fugui caused trouble but wasn’t at the scene, leaving the shopkeeper of Jinle Square to bear the responsibility.
He told the couple, "Chen Fugui hired you to harm people, and you did such unscrupulous things for money. How dare you cause trouble for our Jinle Square? Chen Fugui’s actions are his alone, and have nothing to do with Jinle Square. Jinle Square is always open and honest, and would never engage in backstabbing."
"Everyone, has our Jinle Square ever harmed anyone? It is visible to everyone. Jinle Square can win and lose gracefully. However, Chen Fugui is indeed our assistant steward. From today, the assistant steward has nothing to do with Jinle Square. We will find him and send him to Taoyao Square to apologize."
The extortionist couple turned their heads towards the corner.
The person standing there just now had already left, presumably very satisfied with their performance.
Suddenly, they felt a sense of relief after the ordeal.
The young boy was so good-looking, yet his methods were so vicious.
Earlier, he followed the government officers and had us escorted to the government office. The matter was so straightforward that it didn’t require the County Magistrate’s trial; the steward directly sentenced us, and the government officers had us spanked.
The boy watched as we were spanked and told the government officers that since he sent us to the government office and now that the spanking was done, it wouldn’t be proper to let us leave bloody and dirty the government office’s floor, saying he would take us away.
Yes, he did take us away. He got a few beggars to carry us to Jinle Square and said if we didn’t finish this scene, our legs would never walk again.
He will never forget the ruthlessness in those eyes. Even if that boy said he would kill him, he would believe it.
On the day Taoyao Square opened, the customers almost broke down the threshold.
Although there was some unpleasantness earlier, not only did it not affect their business, it also attracted more curious customers, making business even better than expected.
Su Yaoguang looked out the door a few times.
Zhang Zhaodi said, "Are you worried about Wang Shu?"
"Why has he been gone so long?" Su Yaoguang looked again, "He’s always been timid and honest, I shouldn’t have let him handle this."
"He’s a grown man, and with government officers with him, are you afraid he’d be bullied?" Zhang Zhaodi said, "Don’t be so tense. Look, isn’t he back already?"
Following Zhang Zhaodi’s gaze, Su Yaoguang saw Zhou Wangshu walking over with large strides. She went up to him, inspecting him: "Why have you been gone so long? Are you okay?"
"I waited until they were spanked before coming back. Each one received thirty blows, after which they couldn’t walk and had to be carried out."
"Serves them right."
"Is Jinle Square just going to let it go like this?" Zhang Yingdi asked beside, "Their actions are so disgraceful. If they’ve done it once, they’ll do it again. Are we just going to accept this dumb loss?"
"Today’s our grand opening, let’s not worry about those people for now. Wait until we finish what’s at hand," Su Yaoguang said, "Wang Shu, go help Uncle."
Zhou Wangshu looked at Wang Huanzhi, who nodded at him.
Zhang Zhaodi knew Zhou Wangshu didn’t know these people yet and began to introduce them.
The others had already met Zhou Wangshu earlier, but he didn’t know who they were. After a quick mutual introduction to get familiar with faces, everyone went back to their respective tasks.
There were too many customers today, so they had no time for chit-chat. They could chat later in the evening when they would tally the day’s takings after sending off the customers.
"Yaoguang..." Chun E excitedly ran in from outside. "Something major has happened!"
Su Yaoguang got a headache hearing the words ’something major’. But seeing Chun E’s expression, it shouldn’t be bad news.
"Sister Chun’e, what’s the good news you have to share with me?"
"It’s not my good news, it’s yours." Chun E said, "The two people who caused trouble at your place earlier are now crying and shouting at Jinle Square again. Everyone in town knows about the good deeds Jinle Square has done. I heard the shopkeeper is looking for that Chen Fugui, planning to bring him to you to apologize! They haven’t come over yet, probably because Chen Fugui is hiding and they haven’t found the culprit."
"Those two got thirty lashes and can still go cause trouble at Jinle Square?" Su Yaoguang was surprised.
"Exactly. People like them surely want some compensation!" Chun E said with a pout, "But hitting the right spot, they helped spread the word about your Taoyao Square, letting more people know about the feud. It’s like climbing up using Jinle Square’s shoulders. Everyone knows the cosmetics at your Taoyao Square are so good that even an old establishment like Jinle Square is wary, proving it’s good stuff."