Republic of China, 1928: Starting from a Wonton Shop

Seeing that no one believed him, the man with the pointed mouth and monkey-like face did not panic. Instead, he started to act like a rogue.

"Hey! You guys are all in cahoots, aren't you? Teaming up to bully an honest man like me?" He rolled on the ground even more wildly. "This is outrageous! You made me sick and won't admit it! You even tried to hit me! Where are the police? I'm calling the police!"

His outburst made those who had initially wanted to speak up for Li Chunsheng hesitate. After all, it's better to avoid trouble, and nobody wants to get into trouble if the police are called.

He could tell that this person wasn't simply trying to dine and dash; if he wanted to get something for nothing, he would have made a scene and run away once he got what he wanted.

But this person refused to leave and kept saying he wanted to ruin his reputation. It was clear that he was acting under someone's orders to cause trouble!

They must be rivals in the same industry, envious of his booming business!

"Ya Ya, go wait in the back." Li Chunsheng shielded Ya Ya, whose face was pale with fright, behind him and casually picked up the rolling pin from the cutting board.

Although he is a civilized person who has received nine years of compulsory education, these days, sometimes reasoning doesn't work, and violence has to be used.

"What? You want to fight?" Seeing Li Chunsheng with a weapon, the man became even more excited than before, shouting at the top of his lungs, "Come quick! The heartless boss is going to kill us to silence us! Everyone, be the judge!"

Just when the situation reached a stalemate.

A crisp sound suddenly came from the outer edge of the crowd; it was the sound of an iron ball spinning and colliding in the palm of someone's hand.

"Who dares to cause trouble on my turf?"

Ma San swaggered over, followed by his two henchmen with their hats askew, carrying the money bags they had just collected.

When Li Chunsheng saw that it was Ma San, he loosened his grip on the rolling pin slightly.

"Third Master," Li Chunsheng cupped his hands in greeting, "I'm sorry you had to witness this. I've run into someone looking for trouble."

The man rolling on the ground stopped wailing abruptly when he saw Ma San. He lived in this area, how could he not recognize Ma San?

Ma San ignored Li Chunsheng, squinted his eyes, and slowly walked up to the man.

He didn't say anything, just stared down at it from his high position, the iron ball in his hand spinning rapidly, the "crackling" sound particularly jarring in front of the quiet stall.

"stomachache?"

"Third...Third Master," the man stammered, "it really...it really hurts! This noodle..."

"Does it really hurt?" Ma San suddenly raised his right foot and stomped on the man's hand that was clutching his stomach!

"ah!!!"

A piercing scream rang out; this time, the pain was real.

"Since your stomach hurts, don't hold it in. Let me treat it for you!"

Ma San stomped his right foot hard, causing the man to roll his eyes in pain.

Those around were terrified and dared not breathe.

Ma San bent down, grabbed the man by the collar, leaned close to the man's face, looked closely, and suddenly laughed.

"I knew it looked familiar."

Ma San turned and looked towards the outer edge of the crowd, towards the west entrance of Qianmen Street. "Isn't that the waiter from Wang Mazi's Old Wang Noodle Shop? What's his name again? Er Laizi?"

Upon hearing this, everyone suddenly realized what was going on!

"I knew this guy looked familiar! Last time I went to Old Wang's for noodles, this was the guy who served me the bowl!"

"So you're from Old Wang's Noodle Shop! You're here to sabotage Manager Li's business because you see it's doing well, aren't you?"

"How shameless! Can't others cook well too?"

Those who had just doubted Li Chunsheng were now filled with righteous indignation, pointing and whispering about that scoundrel.

When Ma San exposed his true colors on the spot, Er Laizi was so scared that his soul almost left his body. He was a spineless person to begin with, and now that Ma San was staring at him with murderous eyes, how could he dare to put on a brave face?

"Third Master, spare me! Third Master, spare me!" Er Laizi, ignoring the pain in his hands, kept begging for mercy. "It wasn't my idea to come! It was our manager who said Li's business had stolen his business, so he gave me a silver dollar and told me to come and annoy him! I'll never dare to do it again!"

"Snapped!"

Ma San slapped Er Laizi hard across the face, causing half of his face to swell up instantly.

"Weren't you quite the actor just now?"

Ma San pointed to the half-bowl of noodles left on the table. "These noodles can't be wasted. Here, eat them all! Not a drop of broth left! If you leave even a drop, I'll chop off one of your fingers!"

Erlaizi looked at the bowl of noodles that had gone cold, and then at Ma San's expression, which didn't seem like he was joking. He quickly got up, picked up the bowl, and started shoveling the noodles into his mouth.

He was genuinely afraid that Ma San would chop off his hand!

After Erlaizi licked the bottom of the bowl clean, Ma San kicked him in the butt.

"Get out! Go back and tell Wang Mazi that this Li's stall is now under my protection, Ma San's! I think he's got a death wish!"

"Yes, yes, yes! I'll leave right now! I'll leave right now!"

Erlaizi, as if granted a pardon, scrambled out of the crowd, drawing laughter from those around him.

The whole incident was quelled by Ma San in no time.

Li Chunsheng was filled with emotion as he watched this scene.

This was the survival rule of the Republic of China: you had no right to speak, you had to have a fist, or a friend with a strong fist.

He put down the rolling pin, ladled out a bowl of freshly cooked, steaming hot chicken broth ramen, added a thick slice of pork belly, and placed it in front of Ma San.

"Third Master, thank you." Li Chunsheng didn't waste any more pleasantries. "This bowl of noodles is on you."

Ma San didn't stand on ceremony, took the bowl, and sat down on the stool.

"Manager Li, you're a straightforward man!" Ma San blew on the hot noodles, picked up a large mouthful of noodles, and said, "That Wang Mazi is a petty person. His noodles are like pig swill. He only bullies you law-abiding citizens. After what happened today, he probably won't dare to do it openly again."

"Thanks to Third Master." Li Chunsheng also served two bowls of noodles to Ma San's two henchmen.

Ma San took a sip of noodles and squinted his eyes in satisfaction.

"Don't flatter me. I, Ma San, am a rough man and don't understand any grand principles. But I keep my word. What's that saying again? 'A promise made is a promise kept.'"

A promise once made is a promise kept.

"Hey! That's right! That's exactly what I meant! Third Master, I said I'd protect you, and I mean it. If you ask me, you should buy a shop and open a proper restaurant. Then who would dare say you're not clean?"

Li Chunsheng's heart skipped a beat.

Shop frontage?

This was originally part of his plan, but these days, acquiring a shop requires not only money, but also connections, and the ability to command respect.

He glanced at Ma San, who was sitting there enjoying his meal, and made up his mind.

Although Ma San is a gangster boss, he does have a sense of brotherhood and his words carry weight in this area. If you ask him for help and smooth things over, you can avoid a lot of trouble when opening a shop in the future.