“Ten yuan! How is that possible? You just run a dumpling stall, and you can make ten yuan a day? What nonsense.” Yang Meifeng didn’t believe it.

Not only did she not believe it, the other families didn’t either.

“Our factory manager’s daily wage isn’t even ten yuan, how can you, just a stall owner, make more than him?”

“Exactly, you’re obviously trying to scam us!”

“Don’t think you can fool us. We’re not stupid.”

“Who’s trying to scam you?” Li Shuping knocked on the table. “I prepare about a thousand dumplings a day. One bowl has fifteen dumplings. I sell a bowl for three mao (0.3 yuan), and the cost is about eight or nine yuan. You do the math — how much profit do I make in a day?”

“……”

How were they supposed to calculate?

Gu Zhenyuan took a pen and did the math on paper, then said, “If you prepare a thousand dumplings, that means about sixty-six bowls sold, which comes to twenty yuan. After subtracting the cost, the net profit is around eleven or twelve yuan.”

Li Shuping spread her hands with a look that said, “See for yourselves.”

“Who knows if you can really sell that many dumplings a day?” Mrs. Zhao muttered.

Li Shuping replied, “If you doubt, you can ask at Lihua Lane. At lunch and dinner times, there’s always a queue at my stall waiting to buy dumplings.”

“Is that so?” Yang Meifeng looked at her daughter.

Liu Qin scoffed, “I don’t know. Lin Jianshe and I don’t pass by the alley after work.”

Gu Zhenyuan said, “I can vouch for that. Li Shuping’s dumpling stall business is indeed very good. Every time I go, there’s a long queue. Selling sixty or seventy bowls a day is no problem.”

With Gu Zhenyuan’s testimony, no one had anything more to say.

Li Shuping took out the doctor’s note recommending one month’s rest for her injuries.

“The doctor advised me to rest for one month, which means I can’t run my stall or make money for a whole month. The lost wages are ten yuan a day, so for thirty days that’s three hundred yuan.”

The five families all gasped.

Three hundred plus six hundred ninety-five, just five yuan short of one thousand.

“That’s so much money, where could we possibly get it?”

“Exactly…”

“Big sister, can you lower it a bit?” Mrs. Peng asked Li Shuping.

“No.”

Who do you call big sister? You look way older than me.

Mrs. Peng: “…”

Tsk, really heartless, no room for negotiation at all, no wonder people say businessmen are all cunning.

Gu Zhenyuan assigned the compensation amounts based on responsibility.

The Liu family pays 105 yuan; the remaining 595 yuan is split evenly among the other five families, about 117.5 yuan each.

Yang Meifeng was unhappy. “Why does my family have to pay so much?”

“Because your family’s Liu Yong was the ringleader.”

“If it weren’t for your Liu Yong, none of us would have to pay anything, and my son wouldn’t have gone to jail.”

“What right do you have to say that? Honestly, all the money should come from your family.”

“Exactly…”

Under everyone’s attack, Yang Meifeng lost the argument.

“You must pay the above compensation within three days at the Public Security Bureau. Once fully paid, we will hand it over to Comrade Li Shuping.”

Having the Public Security Bureau collect the money can effectively prevent anyone from dodging the payment or bargaining with Li Shuping later.

Some still wanted to plead with Li Shuping later to reduce the amount, but hearing this instantly stopped them.

It was nearly 2 o’clock by the time they left the Public Security Bureau.

Li Shuping first took her daughter Lin Xiaoyu to a state-run restaurant for a meal.

The Liu family left the bureau dejectedly.

Yang Meifeng covered her face and cried, “We have to pay over a hundred yuan. Where can we find so much money?”

Lin Jianshe frowned, “Doesn’t my family already have 888 yuan as betrothal money for Qin Qin?”

How could they not find a hundred yuan?

Yang Meifeng twitched her mouth and rolled her eyes, “Qin Qin’s cousin is getting married. The betrothal money wasn’t enough, so he lent six hundred to Qin Qin’s uncle. Jianshe, do you have any money? If so, give mom two hundred to tide us over.”

Lin Jianshe felt uneasy, “Why don’t you ask your uncle to return it? Liu Yong’s matter is more urgent.”

Yang Meifeng said, “The betrothal money was already given to the bride’s family. How can I ask for it back?”

“I just got married to Qin Qin. Where would money come from?” His father gave a 200 yuan red envelope when he got off the bus, which Liu Qin kept, but he didn’t really want her to spend it.

“Then can you try to borrow two hundred from your dad?”

“Forget it, my dad still owes mom 390 yuan and owes my sister-in-law 100 yuan! His wages are already half a month in advance.” His dad was even poorer than him.

Yang Meifeng looked at her daughter, who nodded. It really was like that.

“Why does your dad still owe your mom and sister-in-law money?”

Lin Jianshe said, “My parents divorced. The family savings were split in half. Mom gave me a job but demanded I pay 800 yuan to get it, or she would cause trouble at the factory and get me fired. Dad gave his entire 100 yuan share to mom and still owes money on an IOU.”

“My sister-in-law was jealous of Qin Qin’s big betrothal money and argued with my dad. Dad promised to pay her 100 yuan as compensation, but he has no money now and owes her.”

Yang Meifeng’s mouth twitched. She wanted to get 200 yuan from Lin Yongnian, but he was even poorer than herself.

“How can your mom do that? She already gave you a job and still makes you pay for it? What kind of mother is that?”

Lin Jianshe said nothing but thought: Who’s to blame? It’s all because Liu Yong caused a scene at the wedding. If he hadn’t, his mom wouldn’t have gotten angry and fought with his dad, and they wouldn’t have divorced.

Yang Meifeng said, “And your sister-in-law, she’s so calculative. Her family didn’t ask for that much betrothal money originally, but now she’s jealous of Qin Qin’s. I think your dad shouldn’t have promised to pay her back.”

Lin Jianshe lowered his head silently, feeling annoyed.

“Jianshe, can you find a way to get mom two hundred yuan?” Yang Meifeng had over a thousand yuan on hand, but she wanted to save that for when Xiao Yong gets out and marries.

Since Xiaoyong has been to jail, it would definitely be harder to get a wife; they needed more betrothal money saved.

Lin Jianshe glanced at Liu Qin.

Seeing she didn’t speak, he said, “What can I do? If there’s really no money, just sell the ‘Three-turns-one-ring’ we gave Qin Qin.”

Those items could probably sell for at least 500 yuan.

Yang Meifeng: “…”

She actually had already sold them.

Yang Meifeng glanced sideways at her daughter, who stayed silent — clearly she had money but didn’t want to hand it over, though Yang Meifeng couldn’t demand it in front of her son-in-law.

“Ah…” she sighed sorrowfully, “Then mom will figure something out herself. Let’s see what we can sell from home.”

Lin Jianshe parted ways with his in-laws at the Public Security Bureau entrance, grabbed a quick bite with Liu Qin outside, then went to a state-run pharmacy to buy some medicine for his face before going home.

“I’m back. How did the Public Security Bureau handle it?” Lin Yongnian asked as soon as they returned.

Lin Jianshe sat wearily on a bench. “Jail, compensation. How long I have to stay depends on the court, but it’s probably unavoidable. Besides my mom’s case, there are more than ten other theft cases.”

Then Lin Jianshe suddenly sat up straight. “Dad, guess how much my mother and the others have to pay altogether?”

Lin Yongnian frowned, thinking for a moment, “At most two or three hundred?”

“Nine hundred ninety-five!”

“How much!” Zhang Jiao came out of the bedroom holding Junjun.