“Jianshe, are you okay?” Liu Qin looked down at her husband with concern after seeing that she couldn’t stop Lin Xiaoyu and the others.

Lin Jianshe took a while to recover. He lifted his shirt, revealing a large bruise on his stomach.

Liu Qin said, “Oh no, it’s all bruised.”

“Damn,” Lin Jianshe cursed under his breath.

That damn little bastard hit hard despite Lin Jianshe being pretty thin.

“Do you want to go to the hospital?” Liu Qin asked.

Lin Jianshe lowered his shirt and shook his head. This injury wasn’t serious enough for a hospital visit. “I’ll just apply some medicated wine when I get home tonight.”

Hearing that, Liu Qin relaxed a bit but started complaining about Lin Xiaoyu again. “You really have a good little sister. She doesn’t even recognize me as her sister-in-law, and yet she just watched you get beaten. That thug obviously knows her, and she didn’t even stop him.”

“That thug is so protective of your sister. Maybe she’s secretly dating him,” Liu Qin added.

Lin Jianshe was very angry, his face darkening.

Liu Qin’s suspicion made sense — that thug probably was Lin Xiaoyu’s secret boyfriend. Who knows how their mom lets her behave?

A girl should have some shame, but at such a young age, she’s sneaking around with a little hoodlum.

“This time I wasn’t prepared. Next time if I see that punk again, I’ll teach him a real lesson.”

And Lin Xiaoyu, that deadbeat girl — he’d find a time to teach her one too.

…

Liu Yong didn’t get up until half past twelve noon.

After waking, he immediately waited to eat lunch.

After lunch, his mom went to work, his dad went out to play chess, and he went out to hang with his gang.

Liu Yong walked to a half-collapsed house, kicked open the barely hanging door, and went inside.

“Brother Hu,” Liu Yong greeted a young man sitting at a table playing cards, wearing bell-bottom pants and sporting a center-part hairstyle.

“Yo, Yongzi’s here.”

“Six, Rat, Yang…” Liu Yong greeted the other guys one by one.

The man called Brother Hu threw his cards on a stone table. “Damn it, it’s no fun if we don’t bet money. I’m done.”

Six put down his cards. “Brother Hu, where can we get some cash? Just staying here playing cards all day is boring.”

Yang said, “I don’t even have money for cigarettes. My parents just tell me to go find odd jobs, but they don’t give me a cent.”

Working odd jobs is humiliating. He’d rather not.

Rat: “Same here.”

“You think I don’t want to get some cash? But where? Steal again? Didn’t we almost get caught last time?”

These guys mostly did petty theft.

Last time, they sneaked into a yard but were spotted by police on patrol.

Luckily, that house had a doggy door; otherwise, Rat who climbed in first would’ve been caught.

They ran several streets before losing the cops.

Because of that, they planned to lay low for a while until the heat died down.

“Let’s go steal some chickens or ducks in the countryside and sell them,” Rat suggested.

Yang: “Too many dogs out there. You haven’t even touched a chicken before the dogs bark and chase you for miles. Harder to shake than the cops.”

Six: “Then where else can we get money? Rob the school? Those students are poorer than us.”

Listening to his brothers’ plans, Liu Yong’s eyes lit up suddenly.

“Brother Hu, I know where to get money.”

“Where?”

All eyes were on Liu Yong, and he loved the attention.

“Pear Blossom Alley.”

Brother Hu frowned. “Pear Blossom Alley’s full of big courtyards. Even on weekdays, there are always old folks and kids around. Not easy to pull anything there.”

Liu Yong said, “We’re not going to steal money!”

“Not steal? Then what?”

“My sister’s mother-in-law has a dumpling stall at the mouth of Pear Blossom Alley.”

“That’s the old lady who slapped you at your wedding?” Six interrupted.

Everyone laughed.

Liu Yong: “…”

Can’t we not mention that?

“Go on,” Brother Hu gestured to continue.

Liu Yong: “People running stalls have money. We can…”

“That old lady’s timid. We scare her a bit, and she’ll hand over the money.”

“That’s your second sister’s mother-in-law, and you want to mess with her?” Yang asked.

Liu Yong snorted. “That old lady slapped me, so I haven’t gotten revenge yet. This is my chance.”

“And she’s already divorced, moved out with her daughter. If anything happens, no one will stand up for her.”

No one to defend her — perfect.

Brother Hu’s eyes glinted sharply. “Alright, let’s do it your way. We’ll go to Pear Blossom Alley and get some money from that old lady.”

After lunch, Li Shuping cooked a bowl of dumplings for herself, sitting and wrapping dumplings while chatting with Zhou Cuilan.

Just then, a few young men who looked like small-time thugs walked up to her stall.

“Old lady, cook five bowls of dumplings.”

Someone kicked the tricycle — it was Liu Yong.

Li Shuping’s face darkened. “If you want to eat dumplings, just eat. Don’t kick my cart. If you break it, you can’t pay for it. If your feet itch, go chop them off.”

“You…”

Liu Yong was about to lose his temper, but Brother Hu patted his shoulder behind him, reminding him they were here on business.

“See, this is our big brother, Brother Hu,” Liu Yong said, pointing behind him with his thumb. “I brought him here to your crappy stall because he respects you. So make good dumplings for us.”

Li Shuping sneered, “Chive and egg, or fennel and egg?”

“I want fennel and egg.”

“I want chive.”

“Me too…”

“Two bowls fennel and egg, three bowls chive and egg. Thirty cents per bowl, five bowls one yuan fifty. Pay first, then I cook. Who’s paying?”

The five exchanged looks, all embarrassed.

Liu Yong said, “You cook first, we’ll pay later.”

Thirty cents a bowl, five bowls is one yuan fifty — that old lady sure knows how to make money.

“That won’t do. Pay first, then dumplings.”

Li Shuping leisurely wrapped dumplings, the savory aroma filling the air, making the guys secretly swallow hard.

“What? Afraid we can’t pay after eating?” Brother Hu put his hands on his hips and raised his chin, acting tough.

Li Shuping laughed. “I bet you five combined don’t even have fifty cents on you.”

…

Liu Yong and the others turned red with embarrassment.