Chapter 18.1

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The sun climbed higher, and icicles hanging from the eaves dripped steadily.

A group of seven or eight burly men, their faces full of malice, shoved aside pedestrians and street vendors as they stormed toward Fan Changyu’s shop. Leading the group was a man with a broad face, a short beard, and an intimidatingly fierce appearance—except for the limp in his stride.

It was none other than Master Jin, the head thug from the gambling hall who had caused trouble at the Fan household multiple times before.

“Let me see which gutsy fool dares to run a business on this street without paying respect to—”

The rest of his sentence died on his lips when his eyes landed on Fan Changyu, standing at the shop entrance with her arms crossed.

Behind him, several lackeys who had previously suffered under Fan Changyu’s fists visibly paled. Memories of their last beating resurfaced vividly, and even their uninjured legs began to ache at the thought of what might happen today.

Would they end up limping on both legs this time?

Unconsciously, a few of the thugs dragged their limp legs backward, retreating half a step.

The neighboring butchers, seeing the gang’s numbers and Fan Changyu being just one woman, couldn’t help but feel a twinge of worry for her. Only Butcher Guo across the street wore an expression of glee, clearly enjoying the potential trouble.

Master Jin’s face contorted as he forced a sycophantic smile. “Fan… Fan Miss? This shop belongs to you?”

The onlookers blinked in surprise. This… wasn’t going as they’d expected.

Fan Changyu casually picked up the long staff she’d placed by the door, and the gang of thugs immediately looked terrified, retreating a step as a group.

At the head, Master Jin frantically waved his hands. “A misunderstanding! Miss Fan, this is all just a big misunderstanding! If we had known this shop was yours, we wouldn’t have dared to offend you!”

Across the street, Butcher Guo’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. He couldn’t believe these street thugs, who usually terrorized everyone, were so petrified of Fan Changyu.

Fan Changyu fixed Master Jin with a cold stare, her staff pointing to the smashed brick stove in front of her shop. “Was that you?”

Despite the freezing weather, sweat dripped from Master Jin’s forehead. He wiped it hastily with his sleeve and stammered, “We… we were hired to do it! But we’ll fix it! We’ll fix it right away!”

Master Jin quickly shot a meaningful look at the lackeys behind him. The thugs, still traumatized by memories of Fan Changyu’s long staff and the humiliation of being beaten until they spat up food scraps, were too terrified to resist. Trembling, they moved forward to start rebuilding the stove.

Fan Changyu couldn’t help but feel a bit surprised. She had initially assumed they were here to demand protection money. It seemed there was more to this situation.

She directly asked Master Jin, “Who sent you to cause trouble at my shop?”

“Miss Fan, this…” Master Jin hesitated, his expression troubled. After all, their work was paid for, and staying tight-lipped was part of the job.

Without hesitation, Fan Changyu flipped the staff in her hand and swung it backward, aiming the tip directly at Master Jin’s throat. He barely had time to react before the staff was pointed squarely at his vital spot. Beads of cold sweat formed and rolled down his face as any thoughts of professional loyalty flew out the window. Stammering, he confessed, “It… it was the owner of Wang’s Braised Goods on Main Street!”

Fan Changyu frowned slightly. She had no connection with the owner of Wang’s Braised Goods; their shops were several streets apart, with no overlap in business. Her braised meat shop had only been open for a few days—hardly enough time to provoke such hostility.

She barked, “Nonsense! I have no quarrel with Wang’s owner. Why would he send you to smash up my shop?”

Master Jin hurriedly replied, “I swear it’s true! Yesterday, one of Wang’s workers came to us personally with money in hand to hire us.”

Fan Changyu’s frown deepened. She glanced at the lackeys, who were now finishing their work, using clay to reassemble the bricks of her stove. The crowd of onlookers had grown larger by the moment. Deciding that her business couldn’t afford further delays, she withdrew the staff.

Master Jin barely had a chance to catch his breath before Fan Changyu started ordering him around. “You—light the fire and heat up the stove! And the rest of you, go to the well at the street corner and bring me a few buckets of water!”

The thugs looked at one another in dismay but dared not disobey.

Fan Changyu had planned to prepare her braised dishes right in front of the shop, which meant having water on hand was essential. But with the morning spent dealing with the smashed stove, she hadn’t had time to fetch any from the well. Given the delays, handling everything herself would take too long. Better to put the troublemakers who had wasted her time to work.

The thugs hadn’t expected to end up being ordered around. They froze in place, dumbfounded. One sharp glance from Fan Changyu, however, was enough to jolt them into action. Grabbing water buckets, they hurried off to fetch water without a word of protest.

Once the gang left, the clueless crowd surrounding the Fan family shop assumed the issue had been resolved and dispersed to attend to their own affairs.

The nearby shopkeepers, however, were left stunned. Watching Fan Changyu casually boss around a group of notorious troublemakers nearly made their jaws drop. Their expressions said it all—they looked at her as if she were some kind of anomaly.

Fan Changyu, oblivious to the reactions around her, noticed Master Jin lingering awkwardly in front of her shop. His presence was scaring off potential customers, so she quickly waved him aside. “Go stand over there. Don’t block my doorway and scare off my customers. Once I’ve sold all the meat for today, you’re coming with me to Wang’s Braised Goods. I want to hear an explanation. And if I find out you’ve been feeding me lies…”

Her gaze drifted down to Master Jin’s uninjured leg. “I’ll make sure this leg gets crippled too.”

The memory of that cold, menacing man—the one who had mercilessly struck his leg with a crutch—flooded Master Jin’s mind. The lingering pain in his not-yet-healed leg flared up at the thought, making his face turn pale. He shook his head frantically. “I, Jin Laosan, wouldn’t dare lie to you, Miss Fan! Not in a million years!”

Seeing how terrified he was, Fan Changyu kept up her fierce demeanor but couldn’t help feeling puzzled. Just how badly did that guy beat them? she wondered. She had only made an offhand comment about crippling his other leg, but it was enough to send this thug into a panic.

The thugs quickly returned with the water. Fan Changyu, suspicious they might have tampered with it, handed them a ladle and ordered each one to drink a sip from their own buckets. Only after confirming the water was safe did she begin using it to clean the pork that was about to be braised.

As for the water that would go into the pot, she still had some left over in the shop’s water tank from the day before.

Once the large pot was set up, the rich aroma of braised spices began wafting down the entire street again. People who had queued up yesterday to buy her braised meat but left empty-handed had made it a point to come early today. This time, they finally got their share.

However, most passersby hesitated to approach the shop upon seeing Master Jin and his crew squatting nearby with grim expressions. Even though their faces carried a look of bitterness and humiliation, their rough and menacing features still made them appear intimidating, like a pack of thugs waiting to pounce.