41: Chapter 41 Don't be afraid, I'll be your witness

The gold bracelet was sold smoothly.

215,000 yuan arrived in his account.

Zhao Jian currently had 320,000 in savings, plus the compensation from the wholesale market. He was only a little more than halfway away from owning his own house!

The next information refresh was still over ten hours away.

He went to the Vegetable Market.

The vegetable vendors he knew greeted him proactively when they saw him.

"The boss is here! My celery is fresh; take some back and try it."

Zhao Jian accepted it.

It definitely wasn't because he was greedy for small advantages.

It was just that with so many people watching, refusing would make the vendor lose face.

Really.

Along the way, he harvested countless fruits and vegetables, and even a few pounds of beef.

He couldn't remember exactly which vendor had given him a gift.

But he knew exactly who hadn't.

"Quick, Lady Boss, help me out." He arrived at the Tofu Beauty's stall.

It was rare that she hadn't closed up for the day yet.

Zhao Jian wanted her to help him load the vegetables onto the tricycle to take them back.

However, the Tofu Beauty mistakenly thought he wanted tofu.

She took two boxes of Mapo Tofu from the tricycle and placed them on top of the vegetables, which were already piled higher than his lips.

It became the final box of tofu that broke Zhao Jian's back.

He couldn't hold them anymore.

Vegetables scattered all over the ground, but Zhao Jian was quick and caught the falling takeout boxes.

The Tofu Beauty let out an "aiyah," finally realizing Zhao Jian wanted her to help take the vegetables down to lighten the load.

She hurriedly squatted on the ground to pick up the vegetables.

She was wearing tight jeans today, which outlined a charming curve.

"Closing so late today. Were you waiting for me?"

He noticed there were only three empty cutting boards on the stall, indicating she had sold out long ago.

Yet she hadn't left.

Zhao Jian guessed she was waiting for someone.

"Mm, I made too much Mapo Tofu today. Thinking you like it, I waited a bit longer."

The two of them loaded the things onto the tricycle.

Then they walked out of the Vegetable Market.

Just as Zhao Jian was thinking about whether he'd have a chance to keep the Tofu Beauty over once they reached the rental house...

Three people approached with unfriendly looks.

He knew them all.

Huang Xu, Huang Yuemin, and The Skinny, Dark Man from the South City Vegetable Market.

Zhao Jian sensed them approaching and said to the Tofu Beauty, "Go to the rental house first and help me unload the vegetables into the yard. I'll be there in a bit."

The Tofu Beauty wanted to ask why they weren't going together.

She was startled by Zhao Jian's shout of "Go!"

By then, she also saw that something was wrong.

She immediately followed Zhao Jian's instruction, got on the tricycle, and fled.

But she didn't flee toward the rental house; she went toward the Vegetable Market.

The three men didn't stop her; their goal was to teach Zhao Jian a lesson, and it had nothing to do with anyone else.

Zhao Jian didn't run.

Huang Xu stopped nearby and said gloomily:

"Didn't expect to see me again, did you?"

"Indeed. Why are you out so soon? Did you break out of prison?" Zhao Jian nodded nonchalantly, almost laughing out loud.

Seeing his indifferent attitude, Huang Xu became even more enraged.

At this point, Huang Yuemin stood on the other side and said to Huang Xu, "Why are you wasting words with him? Just kill him and be done with it."

"Oh, you're out too?" Zhao Jian remained unconcerned.

One of them was balding and flabby, and the other had a loose physique.

They didn't pose much of a threat in a fight.

The Skinny, Dark Man, however, seemed like he might actually have some skill.

The Skinny, Dark Man pulled out a dagger.

Zhao Jian thought to himself: I take back what I just said. He doesn't just 'seem' like it; he actually has a weapon!

How much of a grudge was this to justify using a knife?

There was also shock in Huang Xu's eyes.

They had indeed hit it off regarding the plan to retaliate against Zhao Jian.

But it was supposed to be just finding a place without surveillance to give him a beating.

Murder? He didn't dare.

"Brother Xia, didn't we agree to just give him a beating? Why are you..." Huang Xu asked timidly.

He neither dared to kill nor dared to provoke Shrimp Skin.

Shrimp Skin was the nickname of The Skinny, Dark Man; his real name was Li Erlong.

Because he often saw people online asking: 'Are you deaf?'

The homophone was bad, so he gave up his real name and used a nickname instead.

Shrimp Skin glared fiercely at Huang Xu.

He cursed inwardly: This idiot!

Did pulling a knife mean he was going to kill? It was for intimidation!

The goal was to make Zhao Jian give up resisting.

Otherwise, the Huang cousins might not necessarily win!

As for himself, how could a big boss like him act personally!

If things were exposed, there was no surveillance anyway.

He only had to insist he was just passing by.

No one could convict him.

And since it wasn't the first time the Huang brothers had been to the station, it was most appropriate to let them do the work!

Shrimp Skin, of course, wouldn't say his inner thoughts out loud.

He blustered fiercely, "This kid made my brother lose his job and cut off my source of income! I have to slaughter him today!"

The words were ruthless enough.

But he only talked and didn't move.

Zhao Jian had been a bit worried at first.

Facing three people, he might likely suffer some losses.

Now he wasn't afraid.

All talk and no action is just a fake show.

Huang Xu didn't advise Shrimp Skin to stay calm; instead, he shrank back half a step.

It was definitely too late to retreat now.

He couldn't afford Shrimp Skin's retaliation afterward.

So Huang Xu made up his mind: once the fight started, he'd just go through the motions, give Zhao Jian a few slaps, and then back away.

That way, he wouldn't get splashed with blood.

If he got caught, he'd just snitch on Shrimp Skin to earn credit and reduce his sentence.

The situation stalled.

Shrimp Skin was waiting for the Huang brothers to go first, Huang Xu was looking at his cousin, and Huang Yuemin didn't want to go up.

The three of them each had their own thoughts.

Zhao Jian saw that none of them were moving.

He thought: They can't be waiting for me to make the first move, can they?

Shrimp Skin gave Huang Yuemin a look.

Huang Yuemin pretended not to understand.

"The two of you, hit him! What are you waiting for!"

He brandished the dagger in the air.

The Huang brothers had no choice. The boss had given an explicit order; if they didn't listen, they'd be dealt with later.

They tried to grab Zhao Jian from the left and right.

Ordinary people only have two moves in a fight.

Either they grab and pull each other to compete in strength.

Or they take turns punching each other in non-lethal spots.

They chose the first one.

Each of them received a slap from Zhao Jian.

Before they could recover from the slaps, they were kicked to the ground.

Huang Yuemin had been beaten before.

When he was caught stealing a corpse, the family members had taught him a severe lesson.

But even that time didn't hurt as much as Zhao Jian's strike.

Huang Xu had more fat on his stomach, so he wasn't as miserable as his cousin.

He also lay on the ground, mimicking the pained cries.

He didn't want to get up.

Shrimp Skin thought: Two useless pieces of trash!

They didn't act like cowards when they were bullying the vegetable farmers, but in a real fight, they were just two spineless wimps.

He went in himself.

He gestured with the dagger toward Zhao Jian's arm.

Without exception, they were all dodged.

By now, Shrimp Skin felt something was wrong.

He wanted to withdraw to avoid falling into Zhao Jian's hands and losing face in front of his subordinates.

The more one cowers, the faster one loses.

Just as he was retracting the dagger, Zhao Jian kicked his wrist.

The dagger fell to the ground.

Shrimp Skin still wanted to bend down to pick it up.

Immediately after, a sharp pain came from his jaw, and he then lost consciousness.

He had been kicked unconscious by Zhao Jian!

After settling them, Zhao Jian dialed the police.

Just as he put down his phone, he saw a group of people coming from the direction of the Vegetable Market.

It was a dense crowd, and some were even holding wooden sticks.

Leading the charge was a tricycle.

The Tofu Beauty had brought people to save him!

Looking at the people coming, they were all vegetable vendors from the market.

For a moment, Zhao Jian felt a slight touch of emotion.

Especially when he saw that Aunt Liu was actually in the crowd as well.

When everyone arrived, they saw three people lying on the ground.

While Zhao Jian was looking at them with a beaming smile.

Aunt Liu said concernedly, "Did you accidentally kill them? Don't be afraid, we can provide an alibi for you!"