However, bean collection is a chaotic task, and many strangers would come to the house. Worried about Gu Jinxiu being a grown girl, Gu Jinli said, "Third Grandpa, let Aunt Luoâs family handle the bean collection in the future."
Father Luo and Ms. Chu would take turns running the stall, but Luo Wu never did. He stayed home grinding beans every day, and often visited her house. Gu Jinli knew he did it because he was worried about Gu Jinxiu and wanted to protect her.
So she wanted to entrust this task to him.
Luo Wu was more than willing. Without waiting for Father Luo or Ms. Chu to speak, he said, "Third Grandpa, I can handle this task. Let those selling beans come to my house."
Third Grandpa looked at Father Luo and Ms. Chu, asking, "Tie Zhu, Tie Zhuâs wife, what do you say?"
Father Luo and Ms. Chu naturally nodded in agreement: "The beans are ground at our home anyway. Having the bean collection here is more convenient than at other houses."
And so it was decided.
The next day, many people came to the Luo Family to sell beans, and at the townâs tofu stall, many farmers also came with loads of beans to sell to them.
"Elder Gu, weâve brought you soybeans, look at these of ours, all dry and full, not a single bad bean."
"Ours as well, all handpicked good beans."
Third Grandpa said with a smile, "Go and find Xiao Yu and Qin San Lang, get the soybeans weighed with them, then come here to get your money from the old man."
Upon hearing this, the bean sellers hurriedly went to look for Gu Jinli and Qin San Lang.
Gu Jinli and Qin San Lang, together with Gu Qingtian and Gu Qingliang, collected beans in a composed manner, and in just two hours, they had purchased two thousand catties of soybeans.
...
At the grain store, Manager Tao was originally smugly waiting for the Gu Family to come to him, but he miscalculated.
As soon as the Gu Family set up their stall, a large group of farmers came to deliver soybeans to them.
Manager Tao, furious, slammed his abacus down on the counter, cursing, "Rebellious, rebellious, these paupers actually dare to sell soybeans to the Gu Family, this is a slap in the face of the Tao Family."
"Zhaofu, spread the word, anyone who dares sell beans to the Gu Family, the Tao Familyâs Grain Store will not buy their grain!"
Farmers relying on farming and selling grain to live, if he refused to buy their grain, let those paupersâ grain rot in their hands.
"Also, go find some beggars, have them smash the Gu Familyâs tofu stall. Just because they set up a stall for a few days, they think theyâre businesspeople? Pah, a bunch of paupers whose legs are still caked with mud."
"Rest assured, boss, Iâm on it." Zhaofu hurried to the broken temple outside of town, found Liu Sanzi, gave him a tael of silver, and ordered him to bring a bunch of beggars to cause trouble at the Gu Familyâs tofu stall.
He also promised, after the job was done, another tael of silver and a catty of rice as a bonus.
Liu Sanzi and his group of beggars, homeless and jobless, survived on begging and doing shady deeds for the rich. Seeing a job coming their way, they naturally agreed and came to town with twenty beggars, their presence menacing as they headed straight for the Gu Familyâs tofu stall.
Upon reaching the Gu Familyâs tofu stall, they sat in front of it, singing a begging song, essentially meaning they were begging for food and money, and wouldnât leave without it.
Farmers selling soybeans and customers buying tofu and bean dregs cakes all stepped back when they saw what was happening, fearing they might get hurt.
Third Grandpa wanted to calm things down and offered them a basket of bean dregs cakes: "Weâre just a small family business, we donât have much to give, take these bean cakes and please be on your way."
After Liu Sanzi grabbed a few bean dregs cakes, he slapped the basket aside, and even deliberately fell to the ground, wailing, "Ouch, the Gu Family is hitting people, bullying us beggars!"
Several beggars also began rolling on the ground and wailing, "Murder, the Gu Family is murdering, theyâre bullying beggars!"
The remaining dozen or so beggars picked up their sticks and surrounded Third Grandpa, pointing at him and saying, "Old man, you dare hit our big brother, pay up now!"
Third Grandpa was dumbfounded. He had not expected offering them cakes to eat to backfire on him this way.
Gu Qingliang and Gu Qingtian were terrified. They were just trying to run their stall and now they were faced with beggars causing trouble.
Gu Damu and Ms. Yan were also really frightened, while Gu Dagui and Mrs. Chen were infuriated. One grabbed a carrying pole, the other a shovel, ready to fight the beggars.
But before the couple could act, Gu Jinli and Qin San Lang rushed out.
With two loud bangs, Qin San Lang kicked one beggar away and then punched another to the ground.
Gu Jinli grabbed a beggarâs hand, twisted it viciously with a crack, breaking it, then kicked him over.
Drawing out her dagger with a whoosh, she sliced an attacking beggar, then leaped in front of Liu Sanzi. She stomped on his stomach, then with her dagger at his throat, she sneered, "Thinking you can make trouble and extort money, not even checking if youâve got the skill?"
Qin San Lang was like a storm of fists and kicks, knocking down five or six beggars, scaring the rest so much they didnât dare to move forward.
Some beggars were so scared they knelt down with a thud, "Mercy, kind sirs, mercy! We were just following orders, we didnât mean to cause trouble."
Qin San Lang was uncompromising and immediately grabbed the one who had spoken. After dislocating his arm with a snap, he demanded, "Whose orders? Tell me!"
"Ah!" The beggar screamed as his arm was wrenched out of joint, crying, "It was Zhaofu, a clerk at the Tao Familyâs Grain Store, he gave us a tael of silver to come and make trouble for you."
Normally they would pull off this kind of scam successfully, who wouldâve thought that today theyâd meet two demons in human form.
The beggar looked at Gu Jinli holding the dagger, then at Qin San Lang. Were these even kids? They were so vicious.
When Liu Sanzi heard Li Erdan spill their secret, he wanted to speak out to stop him, but a pain in his neck immediately made him wet himself with fear: "Mercy, miss, we wonât dare do it again."
Third Grandpa, afraid that the actions of Gu Jinli and Qin San Lang would frighten the surrounding villagers, immediately spoke up: "Folks, donât be scared. The two kids learned some martial arts back home, and today they only acted out of necessity. We are reasonable people, we wonât hurt them, we will report this to the authorities."
Third Grandpa then turned to Gu Damu: "Damu, go to Si Li Square and call for the officials, ask the Lord to come here."
"Right away, Iâm on it." Gu Damu hurried off to Si Li Square and reported the beggars causing trouble at their stall.
The duty official today was Old Kong, who knew about Elder Guâs relations with Scholar Shang and County Captain Jiang, and the latter had also passed down instructions for them to take good care of the Gu Family. If the Gu Family encountered trouble, they were to help.
Upon hearing Gu Damuâs report, Old Kong immediately called Dasheng, Kangzi, and Hai Zi to hurry to the Gu Familyâs tofu stall, and they tied up Liu Sanzi and his gang.
Old Kong, knowing the Gu Family would continue doing business on the street and afraid that the incident with Gu Jinli and Qin San Lang would scare their customers, then shouted to the crowd, "Everyone, donât be afraid. The Gu Family are good people and they wonât hurt anyone unreasonably. The Gu Familyâs young lady has even saved the granddaughter of Lord County Captain, and he has spoken highly of her. Todayâs incident will be dealt with by the government office, and you can still come and support the Gu Familyâs business as usual."
The villagers present, reassured, joined in condemning the beggars, "Well caught! That Liu Sanzi is always leading beggars to the town to demand things, we townsfolk have all been extorted by them, best to catch them and send them to the official mine to suffer, see if they dare to try and extort everyone again."