After settling things with their “coworkers,” Ye Qingyun and Wang Tiezhu sneaked toward Hongyan Commune while carefully avoiding attention.
Perhaps because it happened to be the commune’s monthly market day, both of them felt far more eyes than usual landing on them.
Ye Qingyun still carried the basket she used as camouflage. Since it was market day, inspections were noticeably more relaxed.
Master and disciple blended into the bustling crowd, and before long, several people came over to inquire.
One man wanted to inspect the goods.
Wang Tiezhu simply said, “Let’s talk somewhere else.”
The man immediately turned and left, but not before giving the pair a meaningful look.
Moments later, he returned with two men wearing armbands, who hurried over and demanded to inspect the basket.
Ye Qingyun exchanged a glance with her master, both of them sneering inwardly.
She calmly lifted the cloth covering the basket.
It was completely empty.
There wasn’t a single thing inside.
The excitement on the inspectors’ faces instantly turned to disappointment.
They shot the informant a vicious glare.
Embarrassed and furious, the man shouted at the pair,
“Are you crazy?! If there’s nothing inside, why bother covering it? And why tell me to come somewhere private?”
Neither master nor disciple replied.
They simply stared at him with wide, innocent eyes.
The informant ended up looking like the fool as he jumped around in anger.
The two inspectors offered a few routine words about being careful before leaving in frustration.
Once they were out of earshot, Ye Qingyun whispered,
“Something feels off about today’s market.”
Wang Tiezhu nodded.
He had sensed it too.
“Same as always. Find somewhere to wait.”
With that, the seemingly half-blind old man swept his gaze across the crowd and took the initiative.
Ye Qingyun found an inconspicuous spot and waited.
The two worked together seamlessly.
With so many people around today, it didn’t take long to sell all of their stone frogs.
Because undercover inspections were everywhere, nobody dared haggle.
Every customer paid in cash.
They didn’t receive a single coupon.
Eighteen jin of stone frogs earned them 45 yuan.
Money in hand, Ye Qingyun asked eagerly,
“Should we go check out the black market?”
One look from Wang Tiezhu told him exactly what she was thinking.
With a snort, he pointed toward several plainclothes inspectors wandering through the market.
Today was definitely not a good day to visit the black market.
Ye Qingyun shrugged with a sigh.
“Then shall we head home?”
“No.”
Wang Tiezhu had shopping to do.
They weren’t planning to catch any more stone frogs for the time being, and who knew when they’d visit the commune again?
If he didn’t seize today’s opportunity, there was no guarantee his stingy disciple would be willing to spend money next time.
So the pair headed toward the supply and marketing cooperative.
Wang Tiezhu wanted to buy fabric.
Unwilling to part with her last fabric coupon, Ye Qingyun offered to spend a little extra so he could choose a ready-made outfit that didn’t require coupons instead.
The old man happily bought himself a new set of clothes.
Then he wanted to visit the state-run barbershop.
Ye Qingyun immediately dragged him back.
“I’ll cut your hair when we get home. Do you know how poor we are right now? A haircut? That’s a luxury!”
After thoroughly lecturing her master, she hauled him toward the butcher’s stall.
Grinding his teeth, Wang Tiezhu grumbled,
“Meat, meat, meat! All you think about is eating meat! By the time you’re done buying meat, I’d already have had my haircut!”
“Then don’t eat any.”
Ye Qingyun shot back.
The old man instantly fell silent.
Of course he was going to eat.
They had earned that money together.
Some of that meat belonged to him.
The pair wandered from one stall to another.
Although they kept saying they should head home early, they spent a full two hours shopping without leaving town.
It was absolute torture…
…for the people following behind them.
The three tails barely dared blink, afraid the old man and the young woman would suddenly disappear.
Finally!
Loaded down with bags of purchases and wearing exhausted expressions from their shopping spree, the master and disciple leisurely walked out of Hongyan Commune.
The three men following them immediately brightened.
They quietly trailed after them.
Once they left the main road, the surroundings became noticeably quieter.
Carrying their purchases, the pair crossed the river and entered the forest path leading back to Qiling Village Production Brigade.
The sky had been bright and clear.
Then a cloud drifted over the sun, dimming the woods.
A mountain breeze rustled the leaves.
Mixed with the sound of the wind came hurried footsteps, growing closer and closer.
Three figures suddenly leaped out, blocking their path.
A burly middle-aged bald man.
A thin, vicious-looking teenager.
And a lanky young man with long hair and bell-bottom pants.
Coincidentally…
The bald man looked exactly like the fellow who had reported them to the inspectors earlier.
Ye Qingyun and Wang Tiezhu exchanged a glance.
Then they looked back at the three men.
A strange excitement gleamed in both of their eyes.
With a metallic flash, the long-haired youth flicked open a folding knife.
The sharp blade pointed directly at Ye Qingyun, who looked like the greater threat.
To his surprise…
The woman being threatened suddenly lit up with excitement.
Ye Qingyun grabbed her master’s sleeve.
“A knife! A knife!”
It was exactly the kind of knife she’d been wanting!
Wang Tiezhu gave her a calm look, signaling her to wait and see what these three oddballs intended to do first.
Right.
First, they should find out what these “robbers” actually wanted.
Following them for over two hours…
Their patience was impressive.
“What do you want?”
Ye Qingyun asked curiously.
Wu Tiedao had expected the village father and daughter to scream for help the moment the three of them appeared.
Instead, seeing her reaction, his eyes narrowed beneath his long hair into an unreadable expression.
“Heh, Brother Dao… we didn’t run into two idiots, did we?”
The bald man sneered.
The teenager coldly replied,
“Yeah. Two idiots still managed to make a fool out of you.”
“Hey!”
The bald man glared at him.
“They’re the ones with something wrong in their heads! They said they’d be back in three days, then never showed up. Businessmen should keep their word. These two have zero integrity. They’ll never make it in business.”
So…
These three had been keeping an eye on them ever since that very first trip to sell stone frogs.
Ye Qingyun looked as though she’d just discovered a whole new world.
She asked curiously again,
“Long Hair, what exactly are you trying to do? Rob us?”
If her expression hadn’t looked so utterly sincere…
Wu Tiedao would have thought she was mocking them on purpose.
The murderous atmosphere they’d worked so hard to create had been completely ruined by this woman.
Wu Tiedao coughed heavily twice, warning his companions to take things seriously.
Just because their opponents were an old man and a woman didn’t mean they should lower their guard.
There was definitely something off about this woman’s reaction.
He spoke coldly,
“I’ve never seen either of you before. New around here? Don’t you know the rules of Hongyan Commune? How dare you do private business on our territory?”
The bald man immediately roared,
“Hand over all the money you’ve made from selling these last three times to Brother Dao!”
Wu Tiedao tilted his chin toward the teenager.
The boy stepped forward, his vicious eyes slowly sweeping over Ye Qingyun from head to toe.
“So… are you handing it over yourselves?”
“Or should I search you?”
Ye Qingyun raised a hand.
“Wait.”
Quickly sorting through everything they’d just said, she finally reached a conclusion.
“So… you’re the local gang around Hongyan Commune?”
All three raised their eyebrows in surprise.
But…
That description wasn’t exactly wrong.
Since none of them denied it, Ye Qingyun took that as confirmation.
She continued,
“So anyone doing business privately in Hongyan Commune has to pay you protection money. If they don’t, they’re breaking the rules, and you’ll teach them a lesson until they learn. Is that right?”
The bald man couldn’t help cursing.
“So you do know! Then hurry up and hand over the money!”
Ye Qingyun tilted her head.
“According to your rules… how much do I have to pay?”
The teenager, who had been about to search her, paused and held up two fingers.
“Twenty percent.”
“Oh.”
Ye Qingyun nodded in understanding.
Then she calmly set down everything she was carrying, spread her hands, and said,
“Then I don’t have any.”
Wu Tiedao exploded.
“Damn it!”
This woman is seriously asking for a beating!