The sky collapsed, and in the blink of an eye, I found myself transported to Nanluoguxiang.

In the dead of night, Li Kaixin got up from the kang (a heated brick bed), covered his face, left the courtyard, and went to Zhao Zhengping's place.

In the past ten days, the secret realm has accumulated more than 5,000 catties of chicken and duck eggs, and there are also more than 1,000 chickens, ducks and rabbits ready for market.

Now, the amount of food we feed them is 50% more than before.

I had considered selling some of them on the black market in Inner Mongolia, but the prices there were ridiculously low, and there was no guarantee that anyone would buy them, so I gave up on the idea.

In Zhao Zhengping's courtyard house.

Zhao Zhengping, Zhao Zhengqiang, Zhao Zhengliang, and Zhao Yu sat together, as if waiting for something.

Zhao Yu, with a hint of anxiety on his face, spoke first: "Uncle Zhengping, shouldn't Brother Zhou be here today?"

"Xiaoyu, be patient. It's only just past midnight," Zhao Zhengping replied calmly.

Actually, he was also anxious. They had run out of stock five days ago, and many buyers were already urging them to hurry up.

If the goods don't arrive soon, he feels like the buyers might eat him alive.

The four of them sat for a while longer before Zhao Zhengping couldn't help but suggest, "Why don't you all go and get some sleep? I'll stay here and keep watch by myself."

"No, no," Zhao Zhengqiang immediately interjected, "How can we let you guard it alone? We can't do that kind of thing."

"Yeah! It's just one night. We didn't sleep for several nights while we were selling goods," Zhao Zhengliang chimed in.

Zhao Yu didn't say anything, but simply nodded twice.

"Alright then!" Zhao Zhengping didn't insist anymore since everyone had said so. He was mainly worried that if Brother Zhou didn't come today, everyone would feel resentful.

Suddenly, a rhythmic knocking sound rang out.

Zhao Zhengping and the others exchanged glances and excitedly stood up in unison.

Zhao Yu was the fastest; he ran to the door in a few steps and opened it.

Standing outside the door was Li Kaixin, who was wearing a mask, with a cart full of chickens, ducks and rabbits behind him as usual.

"Oh! Brother Zhou, you're finally back!" Zhao Zhengping hurried over, his smile barely concealed. "We've been thinking about you these past few days!"

"Brother, you're missing my goods, aren't you!" Li Kaixin glanced at Zhao Yu, who was holding a rabbit in one hand and a chicken in the other, his face full of excitement.

Zhao Zhengping followed Li Kaixin's gaze and his face immediately darkened. He went up and kicked Zhao Yu in the butt.

Zhao Yu stumbled, but after regaining his balance, he turned to look at the person who had kicked him, his eyes full of resentment: "Uncle Zhengping, why did you kick me?"

"What are you talking about? Can't you be a little more composed? Brother Zhou is still here!" Zhao Zhengping glared at him irritably.

Zhao Yu realized what was happening, chuckled awkwardly, and put down the chickens and ducks he was holding.

Seeing this, Li Kaixin tried to smooth things over: "Alright, bro, let's get down to business!"

"Alright!" Zhao Zhengping smiled again. "Brother Zhou, please rest in the courtyard first. Leave the rest to us."

After speaking, he gestured with his eyes to Zhao Yu and the other two.

Seeing his posture, Li Kaixin knew that this man's stubborn pride had kicked in again.

Without further ado, he went straight into the courtyard.

What none of them noticed was that Zhao Wu was lying in the shadows not far away, staring intently at them.

Once everyone was inside, he was filled with excitement. He crouched down and ran in another direction, secretly thinking: "Let's see if you can still sell it after I call the people here!"

Li Kaixin entered the courtyard and sat on the stone bench, looking helpless.

The four men worked for half an hour in front of the cart before they could move all the goods into the yard.

"Brother Zhou, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting. Shall we settle the score first?"

Zhao Zhengping wiped his sweat, walked over with a smile, and handed over the black cloth bag. "You brought three hundred this time, and these are eight small yellow croakers. Please check if they're correct?"

Li Kaixin took it, glanced at it, and casually put it in his pocket: "Brother, if there's nothing else, I'll be going now."

"Wait, Brother Zhou!" Zhao Zhengping hurriedly called out to him, rubbing his hands as he was about to speak again.

Suddenly, there was another burst of urgent banging on the gate.

"Coming, coming, stop knocking!"

Zhao Zhengping thought it was a regular customer, so he winked at Zhao Yu and then said to Li Kaixin, "Brother Zhou, I'd like to..."

Before he could finish speaking, an even louder commotion came from the doorway.

Zhao Zhengping's temper flared up instantly. He turned and yelled towards the door, "Can't you just shut up for a minute? Can't you see we're having serious business?"

But after yelling, he realized something was wrong; his nephew was being held at knifepoint.

Zhao Wu, looking smug, stood there, using his position to intimidate others, and said, "Oh! Uncle Zhengping, it's only been a few days, and your temper has grown quite a bit!"

"Zhao Wu, what exactly do you want? Make them put down their knives! Haven't we learned our lesson yet?" Zhao Zhengping's face was ashen, thinking it was just another group of thugs brought by Zhao Wu.

Li Kaixin sat on the stone bench, turned his head and glanced at it indifferently before looking away.

Zhao Wu's expression turned cold upon hearing this: "Uncle Zhengping, don't you understand the situation?"

He then put on a fawning expression and said to those behind him, "Sixth Brother, look at them, not only are they stealing your business, but they're also so arrogant. They should be taught a lesson."

"Are you teaching me how to do things?" The man glanced at him sideways.

"No, no! That's not what I meant." Zhao Wu hurriedly waved his hands, cold sweat pouring down his face.

Li Kaixin was somewhat surprised to hear that familiar voice, but he still didn't move, wanting to see what he would do next.

Zhao Zhengping finally realized what was happening and pointed at Zhao Wu, yelling, "Zhao Wu, you bastard, you actually teamed up with outsiders to mess with us!"

"What do you mean 'outsider'? I want to join, and how have you treated me?" Zhao Wu's eyes blazed with hatred. "Since I can't earn it, then you won't have it easy either!"

"You, you..." Zhao Zhengping pointed at him, unable to speak.

"Brother, don't get excited, don't get excited!" The man walked up with a smile. "I just came to take a look today, that's all."

Zhao Zhengping composed himself and looked at the other party: "Who exactly are you? Can you release my nephew first?"

"No problem!" Seeing that the person in front of him posed no threat, the man winked at his henchman.

The henchman understood, loosened his grip, and pushed Zhao Yu out.

After being released, Zhao Yu clutched his neck and gasped for breath, his legs trembling uncontrollably.

Seeing that the man had been released, Zhao Zhengping breathed a slight sigh of relief and asked, "Brother, just tell me what you want today? If I have offended you in any way, just say so, and we will definitely compensate you."

He wasn't naive enough to think these people were just there to take a look.

"Brother, he's a straightforward guy!"

The man's smile deepened. "Let me introduce myself. I'm Hu Laoliu from the black market. Everyone in the underworld calls me Brother Liu. I'm here because this young man next to me told me that your business here is doing quite well."

He paused, glanced at the cart, and said, "Just as I expected!"

Zhao Zhengliang and Zhao Zhengqiang, who were standing nearby, were terrified when they heard the word "black market".

They knew all too well that these people in the black market were capable of killing.