You've already caught the embroidered ball, and you still say it's not my husband?

The scarred man and his gang were idle thugs and hooligans in the city.

After the dozen or so of them entered the store, they ordered a bowl of vegetarian noodles for five coins at half price!

...The atmosphere in the store immediately became stiff and stagnant.

It's obvious to anyone with eyes that the scarred man and his gang probably didn't come here for noodles, but rather to cause trouble!

really!

The scarred man and his gang took the seats near the door, sitting on the chairs with their legs crossed without any manners, and some even put their feet on the chairs.

They didn't eat noodles, but deliberately started laughing loudly. Some of them casually played with the vinegar bottle, salt shaker, and chopstick holder on the table, slamming them down on the table every now and then to make noise. The volume of their noise increased with each bang, making the other people's eardrums hurt...

The entire noodle shop was filled with noise and commotion!

Seeing this, the diners in the restaurant were all flustered and breathless. But they were just ordinary people, so how could they dare to speak out for justice?

They silently lowered their heads, quickly slurped up their noodles, put down their bowls and chopsticks, hurriedly got up to pay the bill, and quickly fled the noodle shop.

Many pedestrians on the street originally planned to go into the noodle shop to try it out, but after hearing the commotion inside and seeing a group of fierce-looking thugs blocking the door, who would dare to go in?

They avoided it at all costs and took a long detour.

In the short time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, the once packed noodle shop was completely empty of customers, leaving only this group of troublemakers.

Lu Qingqing stood by the stove, her body trembling and her face pale.

On what should have been an auspicious opening day, with a thriving business, this group of unruly scoundrels completely ruined it!

"Oh no, how could this happen... how could this be..." She was filled with anger, anxiety, and fear, and didn't know what to do.

After all, she was just a woman; how could she possibly handle something like this?

I was so anxious I almost cried!

"These bastards!"

Shen Jinglian had her back to Lu Qingqing, so her expression was not visible, but her chest was heaving violently, and she spoke slowly and deliberately.

If this were back when she was still the leader of White Lotus Mountain, she would have drawn her sword and killed this scum without hesitation!

She has always maintained that there is no need to be soft-hearted when dealing with bad people; it is not excessive to use methods even worse than those used by the bad people...

But today is the grand opening of Lu Qingqing's new store!

She didn't want Lu Qingqing to see her "not so good" side, so she kept gritting her teeth and restraining herself.

However, patience was still too difficult for her.

At this moment, the anger in her eyes was almost tangible... she was clearly on the verge of exploding!

In the shop.

A bowl of plain noodles sat quietly in the center of the table, already cold.

Seeing that the time was right, the scarred man brazenly picked up the soy sauce on the table, poured in half a bottle, and turned the whole bowl of noodles black.

"Madam Li, what is this? It's so salty it's killing me! Who are you trying to fool!" He shouted loudly without even touching his chopsticks, his voice rough.

They're clearly trying to make things difficult for me!

Hearing the sound from inside the stove, Lu Qingqing quickly wiped her eyes and hurried out.

"Sir, please calm down."

She saw the bowl of dark, unappetizing noodles and the half-empty bottle of soy sauce on the table, and still didn't know what was going on.

Yet he could only endure it and force a smile!

"I'll get you a fresh bowl..."

"A bowl?" the scarred man sneered.

Do you think you can get rid of him with just a bowl of noodles?

"Well... let's all have a bowl of beef noodles, it's free, just for good luck on the opening of the new store."

"Just for good luck?" The scarred man immediately raised an eyebrow and glared. "Does Madam Li mean we're having bad luck?"

"No, no, gentlemen, please calm down, that's not what I meant..."

"hehe."

The scarred man sneered, and the other thugs also wore mocking expressions.

"Madam Li, I won't keep you in suspense any longer. I'll be blunt: if you open a business in this area, you must abide by the local rules!"

"Rules? What rules?" Lu Qingqing asked, puzzled.

"This amount every month..." The scarred man picked up a chopstick from the chopstick holder and wrote a "+" on the table.

"Ten taels?"

Lu Qingqing's mouth dropped open in disbelief, and she found it utterly absurd.

Her shop's annual rent was only fifteen taels of silver, yet these thugs made her pay ten taels every month.

Her noodle shop follows a "people-friendly" and "low-profit, high-volume" approach, and her monthly profit may not even reach ten taels!

Isn't this blatant robbery?

But if we don't pay, these thugs will cause trouble, making it impossible for the noodle shop to operate normally...

That's absolutely disgusting!

Lu Qingqing finally realized that Lu Xuan's previous speculation was not without reason.

"Prime shop transfers" are indeed fraught with pitfalls.

The problem isn't the rent, nor the foot traffic, but these thugs!

The previous owner likely couldn't withstand the pressure and was forced to close down and transfer ownership.

"Gentlemen, this is a small shop, a small business, where would we get so much money..."

Snapped!

The scarred man slammed his hand on the table with a dull thud, and looked at Lu Qingqing with a cold smile. "Madam Li, if you want the noodle shop to continue operating, you'd better be sensible and do as I say."

Lu Qingqing's hands were trembling slightly!

This gang of thugs is truly arrogant, domineering, and lawless.

She asked for money as soon as she opened her shop, and she even demanded an exorbitant ten taels of silver per month!

How could I possibly give it to them!

But if she doesn't give it to her... what can she do?

Tell my husband Li Du afterwards, and let Li Du handle it.

Logically speaking, local thugs should be afraid of the police and usually wouldn't dare to provoke them easily.

But what was unusual was that these scarred men, knowing her identity and addressing her as Madam Li, still dared to cause trouble and extort money from her...

Does this indicate that these people have powerful backers? Are they not afraid of Li Du, a mere constable?

"Sister Lu, there's no need to waste any more words with them."

At that moment, a figure in white walked out of the kitchen with an expressionless face.

If you keep giving in, bad people won't appreciate it; they'll only take advantage of you!

She just couldn't take it anymore!

"Hey! This girl is quite pretty. Come on, pour me a cup of tea!" The scarred man's eyes lit up when he saw Shen Jinglian.

I never expected to see such a beautiful woman in the store; perfect opportunity to flirt with her!

Shen Jinglian walked to Lu Qingqing's side and gently reminded her, "Sister Lu, could you please step back a little?"

The next moment, she grabbed the bowl of dark, plain noodles from the table and turned it upside down on the scarred man's bald head.

The elixir of the soul, poured upon~

The scene fell silent instantly!

Everyone's eyes widened instantly, and they stood there stunned!

The scarred man looked as if he were wearing a wig, and thick, dark, salty soup flowed into his eyes, making them sting.

"You bitch, you're asking for it!!"

Enraged, he stood up, ready to unleash his fury—

boom!

A slap landed hard on his face.

They knocked out half of his teeth, which, along with blood, splattered into the air.

He was sent flying like a cannonball, crashing heavily onto the street with a loud thud.

Before the remaining thugs could react, they were all sent flying by Shen Jinglian's punches, one after another.

A "beautiful sight" appeared on the street—a dozen or so thugs lay on the ground, howling in pain, their teeth chattering everywhere.

"Ouch, that hurts like hell! My teeth, all my teeth are gone..."

"That woman is ruthless; she's definitely a trained fighter, with a heart of stone!"

"My ribs... my ribs are broken! I can't stand up!"

"Waaah, I'm going to report this to the authorities! I'm going to sue this noodle shop for assaulting a customer!"

……

Pedestrians on the street stopped and stared in disbelief at what they saw, exchanging bewildered glances.

In the shop.

Shen Jinglian withdrew her hand; her anger subsided slightly after hitting the person.

Behind her, Lu Qingqing was completely stunned, staring at her like a statue, her mind blank!

She didn't expect Shen Jinglian to suddenly make a move, and she never expected that her usually "gentle" Jinglian sister would be so... fierce!

In no time at all, they sent the troublemaking thugs flying like they were playing whack-a-mole or throwing trash!

"Surprised... Sister Jinglian?"

With her back to Lu Qingqing, Shen Jinglian trembled and immediately tensed up.

She quickly turned her head and, imitating Lu Xuan, put on a nonchalant smile and said, "Sister Lu, don't be afraid. They went too far. I... I couldn't stand by and watch, so I took action."

Lu Qingqing shook her head like a silly goose; that wasn't what puzzled her.

"Oh! Sister Lu wants to ask me how I can have such a strong grip, right?"

While maintaining a smile, Shen Jinglian racked her brains frantically.

Got it!

"It was...it was Lu Xuan who taught me a set of boxing techniques yesterday! He...he was afraid I would run into bad people, so he taught me how to defend myself."

"I didn't expect... it would come in handy so soon today, that's all, hehe."

So you're just trying to shift the blame onto Lu Xuan, huh?

"Oh dear, I'm so sorry to have startled you, Sister Lu... It's all those scumbags' fault..." Shen Jinglian gritted her teeth, wishing she could give the scarred man and his gang of scumbags another good beating.

"Um..." Lu Qingqing's mind was still a little confused.

Xiao Xuanzi taught Jinglian a set of boxing techniques for self-defense. Jinglian was a martial arts prodigy, and she mastered it in just one day. She then easily and effortlessly beat up more than a dozen strong men...

Is this correct? Is it reasonable?

Something felt off to her...

East Street is not far from the government office.

A short while later, Zhao Guang, the model constable, arrived with a group of constables...