They've all separated, so what does it matter to me if they get poorer and poorer?

Chapter 241 Uneasy and kind-hearted
Xu Zhichun: "."

He knows quite a lot, but the more I listen, the more greasy he seems.

Xu Zhichun took two steps back. “I have never taken the initiative to cause trouble for the Zeng family. However, I am not afraid of the Zeng family causing trouble. If you have too much money and don’t know what to do with it, why not donate it to the county for charity? I have already settled with the Zeng family. As long as the Zeng family can keep to themselves, it will be a blessing for both of us.”

"Madam Xu—"

"Spring Equinox, help me stop him."

"Oh."

Young Master Qi wanted to chase after Xu Zhichun, but Chunfen was like a mountain, blocking his way. He couldn't get past her, and after glancing at Chunfen in surprise, he could only watch helplessly as Xu Zhichun left.

Xu Zhichun scolded the driver to make way, and then left with Yang Xiaoan and Chunfen.

Young Master Qi watched the oxcart leave, smiled, and instead of being angry, he became even more interested.

"That's interesting, hehe."

He seemed to suddenly realize why a friend of his didn't love delicate young women in their late teens but preferred young widows.

Young widows are indeed charming; look at her alluring and coquettish appearance—how can a naive young girl compare?
Xu Zhichun was disgusted. Fortunately, Chunfen didn't know anything, and Yang Xiaoan wasn't a talkative person. She gave her a few words of advice to avoid any complications, and she believed that the two of them could keep their mouths shut.

The next day, Xu Zhichun planned to go to the market to see if there were any suitable cattle for sale. If so, he would buy them as soon as possible. He also thought about buying the lock and sending it to Zhang Quan and the others.

The trading venue for large livestock such as cattle, mules, and donkeys was not in the city, but in a field near the dock in the west of the city.

Yang Xiaoan was still driving the carriage, carrying Chunfen, and he happened to be going out with Zeng Xiaoyan and the others, parting ways outside the city.

Large livestock are hard to sell. Some owners bring their livestock to sell because of family misfortunes, while others are middlemen who bring their livestock from other places.

The middlemen often temporarily kept their livestock here and lived in the vicinity.

Although Xu Zhichun and his group arrived early, they were able to inspect the goods.

As winter approaches, it's the off-season for livestock trading. Xu Zhichun took a short walk around but couldn't find anything that really caught his eye.

Just as Xu Zhichun was about to leave, he suddenly noticed that a large crowd had quickly gathered not far ahead, making a noisy commotion, and he could vaguely hear people shouting and arguing.

Yang Xiaoan and Chunfen couldn't help but crane their necks to look in that direction, and Xu Zhichun couldn't help but feel curious as well, "Let's go take a look too."

"Good good!"

The two of them agreed without prior arrangement.

As the three approached, they saw through the gaps in the crowd that a man who looked like a manager was loudly beating a worker sitting on the ground, ordering him to get out!

The guy was almost in tears. His leg was injured, and he couldn't even stand up. Xu Zhichun and the others could even see bloodstains on the ground, which was shocking.

One of the dockworkers couldn't help but plead for the man: "Manager Zhang, Xiaoman's leg seems to be badly injured, and his arm and shoulder are also injured. Should we take him to the clinic?"

The foreman sneered, "Whose fault is it that he's injured? It's his own fault for being blind! I bet he's not unable to stand up, he's just pretending to try and extort money from us. Hmph, dream on! What can escape my eyes? You can deliver whatever you want, it has nothing to do with the warehouse. If you delay the work, you can forget about getting paid today."

He then yelled at the guy, "What are you pretending for? Get out of here right now! You're fired, you'd better crawl out of here if you have to."

The young man, in pain, panic, and feeling wronged, couldn't help but cry: "I can't walk, I really can't move, Manager Zhang, please, Manager Zhang, have someone take me to the clinic!"

"Ha, take you to the clinic? You're really putting on airs. You were so clumsy that you knocked over the cargo box and damaged a whole box of goods. I've already been more than generous by not asking you for compensation, and you still dare to make demands?"

"I didn't crash, it was clearly—"

"Shut up, you still dare to talk back?" The waiter didn't dare to say a word, only wiping away tears in pain.

"Pah, what a despicable scoundrel. Keep pretending, keep pretending, and get out of here!"

The man lowered his head, wiping away tears as he cried incessantly.

He wanted to leave, to go to the clinic, because it really hurt so much, and he was terrified his leg would break. He was only fifteen; he didn't want to be a cripple for the rest of his life.

But he really couldn't walk, he couldn't even stand up.

The man was filled with fear, pain, and grievance, but no matter how afraid, pained, or aggrieved he was, all he could ask was the manager in front of him. He pleaded pitifully, but all he got in return was the manager's impatient scolding and coercion.

Xu Zhichun heard it clearly. Of course, the manager couldn't have failed to see that the shop assistant couldn't move on his own. His scolding and reprimands were probably meant to force the shop assistant to admit his mistake and take responsibility himself. Only then would he be willing to have someone take him to the clinic.

Unfortunately, the young man was terrified and in pain, and couldn't understand what the manager meant. So he didn't take the initiative to admit his mistake and take responsibility, and the stalemate continued.

Xu Zhichun couldn't help but glance at the young waiter, feeling a pang of sympathy. She hesitated whether to offer a word of advice, when she heard Yang Xiaoan beside her whisper, "Sister-in-law Zhichun, I... I've seen clearly, this waiter looks like... it's Xiaoman."

"Xiaoman? You know her?"

“Yes, I know him,” Yang Xiaoan said, a little puzzled by Xu Zhichun’s words, but without thinking too much about it, he quickly replied, “He is the eldest grandson of the village head, the eldest son of Brother Minghai and Sister-in-law Liu.”

"what!"

Xu Zhichun knew that the village head's eldest grandson worked as a shop assistant in the city, but she wasn't one to pry and didn't ask any questions. She never expected it to be such a coincidence today.

"Let's help him out and get to the clinic quickly."

"Ah."

Xu Zhichun led Yang Xiaoan and Chunfen to squeeze inside.

"Excuse me, please make way, a family member is here! Please make way."

"Xiaoman!"

"Xiaoman!"

When Liang Xiaoman heard someone call her name, she quickly looked up, paused for a moment, and then her eyes lit up: "Uncle Xiao'an? Aunt Chunfen?"

He looked at Xu Zhichun, then hesitated, feeling that Xu seemed familiar, but he didn't recognize him.

Xu Zhichun said, "I am Mingxuan's sister-in-law. You can call me Aunt Zhichun. We will take you to the clinic now."

"Yes, thank you, Aunt Zhichun." Liang Xiaoman felt a sharp pain, but seeing a familiar face made her feel like she had found her pillar of support. She forced herself to hold on and burst into tears again.

Yang Xiaoan and Xu Zhichun tried to help him up, but the manager refused, sneering, "Trying to leave? Resolve this first! This kid's got no eyes—"

"We'll compensate you, but how much silver do you want?"

"You—what?"

"We will pay."

"Heh, twenty taels, are you going to pay me back now?"

Xu Zhichun decisively pulled out a twenty-tael silver note. "Twenty taels, right? Please give me a receipt to show that you have received the silver, and this matter is settled. Is that too much to ask?"