Lin'an Never Night

Chapter 24: A Tiger Skin

Yang Yuan's heart moved slightly. He knew something was wrong from her tone, but he didn't understand which sentence she said wrong.

Yang Yuan had no choice but to bite the bullet and said, "Yes, what's wrong?"

The waitress snorted and said, "Sir, there was a barmaid in my family who had a beauty mole on the left corner of her eye.

However, a month and a half ago, she was no longer the bartender of our "Shuiyunjian".

How could you have seen her in the attic two days ago?"

Yang Yuan was disappointed: "She has left?"

The waitress said, "It's not that she left, but... she was spotted by our shopkeeper Fang after only three days.

Now she has transformed herself into the shopkeeper of our 'Shuiyunjian'."

Yang Yuan was surprised at first, and then he felt a chill in his heart.

It’s over. Before the business even begins, a great general has been lost.

Although this "Shuiyunjian" may not make a fortune every day, it is also a treasure land for making money.

How much money do I need to impress the boss's wife?
Besides, since the shopkeeper has taken her as his wife, it is impossible for him to let her show up in public.

Yang Yuan looked unhappy and immediately lost interest.

The waitress saw his lost look and saw that he was dressed in his official uniform, and her heart was moved:
“Let’s not talk about why he said he saw his sister in the attic two days ago.

Just looking at his expression, it seems like he is really bewitched by Sister Dan Niang.

Maybe, by using his authority, he can help my sister escape this disaster?"

Thinking of this, the waitress sighed and said, "It's a pity that our shopkeeper was unlucky. He happily married a beautiful bride, but before he even entered the bridal chamber, she got drunk and drowned. Don't you think it's tragic?"

Huh? The shopkeeper is dead?
This reversal did surprise Yang Yuan a little.

However, now that Manager Fang has passed away, it is even more impossible for the bartender, as his widow who inherited this large restaurant in a prime location, to use it for my own benefit.

The waitress continued to sigh like a chatterbox, "I originally thought that our shopkeeper was lucky.

But how does the old saying come from? Yes, it means that even if you have the luck to make money unexpectedly, you must have the fate to suppress it, otherwise, you will definitely encounter unexpected disasters..."

Yang Yuan was about to leave, but when he heard this, he stopped and asked, "What's the matter? What happened to your internal manager?"

The waitress sighed and said, "Half a month ago, a relative of our shopkeeper's family came over and said he wanted to take over the business, but our internal shopkeeper rejected him. That person was unwilling to accept the offer, and before he left, he said he wanted to ask the elders of the family to come back and argue again.

Our inner shopkeeper was terrified. Before the shopkeeper's relatives came, her mother's family came to the door again, also trying to seize the inner shopkeeper's property. It's really difficult for our inner shopkeeper to set up a family without a man to support her..."

The waitress raised her head and pointed upstairs, saying, "Look, our boss's family is forcing her to transfer her property upstairs now. How pitiful..."

Yang Yuan stroked the copper hilt on the knife handle and started thinking quickly.

After listening to what the waitress said, he roughly understood what had happened.

Shopkeeper Fang's wife got drunk and drowned on the day he got married, so this lucky bartender got a share of the family property for free.

However, the practice of exterminating a family has been common since ancient times. Even if one has a child and it is a boy, as long as the child is not yet an adult, it is difficult to resist such calculations.

What's more, the wine girl had just married Manager Fang and hadn't even entered the bridal chamber yet.

In this case, if the Fang family members wanted to seize the property, they would have legal reasons to do so.

As for the drunkard's family, they obviously had the same idea.

If I can help her avoid these troubles, then she may be of use to me.

The person Yang Yuan wanted to find had to be, first, from a good family, second, naturally beautiful, and third, someone who could be used by him.

Such a person is hard to come by.

Now that he has a goal, he certainly won't give up easily as long as there is a glimmer of hope.

Having made up his mind, Yang Yuan raised his eyebrows and asked, "Your internal manager is being bullied, so are you just going to sit back and do nothing?"

When the waitress heard what he said, she felt that there seemed to be a way, and she couldn't help but feel secretly happy.

She deliberately looked downcast and said helplessly: "It's someone else's family affairs. How can we, outsiders, who are neither officials nor relatives, intervene?"

Yang Yuan said, "The road is uneven, someone is shoveling it, what's the difference between insiders and outsiders? You can't take care of it, I will take care of it." Yang Yuan raised his legs and walked upstairs. Just as he stepped onto the stairs, he turned back and asked, "What's the name of your internal shopkeeper?"

The waitress quickly suppressed her joy and replied attentively, "Our shopkeeper's name is Dan Niang!"

※※※※※※※※※※

"Shuiyunjian" is a three-story building with a U-shaped structure and a patio in the middle.

The two wings on the third floor were not private rooms for entertaining guests, but attics where the hostesses leaned on the railings and waited for the guests to order.

In the evening, the lights on the upper floor were as bright as day, and charming ladies stood on the upper floor.

Some of them played the piano and the zither, some played the drums and the flute, and some danced, just like a group of fairies descending to the earth.

The row of rooms at the back of the third floor is where the shopkeeper lives.

The owner of "Shuiyunjian" is surnamed Fang, who is 41 years old this year. He once had a child who died of illness at the age of 16.

This incident caused great harm to the couple.

In the spring of the year before last, his wife, who had been depressed for many years, contracted an epidemic and died, leaving Lao Fang a widower.

Originally, Lao Fang had been planning to find a child to adopt among his clansmen, but two months ago, he fell in love with Dan Niang, who came to the store and offered to be a barmaid.

Unexpectedly, joy turned into sorrow. On the wedding night, he got drunk and fell into the lake and drowned.

He had already prayed to heaven and earth and held the wedding, so Dan Niang naturally inherited his restaurant.

Because Lao Fang died suddenly, his second wife also married hastily, so she didn't know much about her husband's family background and had no way to inform his family members of the death.

Unexpectedly, half a month ago, a relative from Manager Fang’s hometown came from Huzhou and passed through Lin’an. He originally wanted to ask his uncle for help, but when he arrived he found out that Manager Fang had passed away.

The nephew immediately became greedy and wanted to take over the restaurant as a family property.

Naturally, Dan Niang was unwilling to let her late husband's distant relative, who was not related to her at all, seize her family property.

The man was a stranger and could not defeat her alone, so he uttered a harsh word and hurried back to Huzhou to get help.

During these days, Dan Niang couldn't sleep well and had no appetite, as she was always worried that members of the Fang family would come to visit.

Unexpectedly, before the Fang family arrived, her parents, her brother, and her uncle came to visit.

Dan Niang didn't want to be laughed at by the guests and the cooks, waiters and servants in the store, so she invited them all upstairs.

Dan Niang originally wanted to beg them with soft words and promise them some benefits, and then send them back.

Dan Niang had always been aware of how partial her parents were to her younger brother, but she had never expected that their hearts would extend to Yanzhi Mountain.

They came here not to get some benefits and leave, but to occupy the entire restaurant.

After finding out their purpose, Dan Niang's heart felt like it was stuck in an ice cave in the dead of winter, so cold that it hurt.

"Dad, Mom, you sent your daughter to Aunt Rao to learn skills when she was seven years old..."

Dan Niang's eyes were filled with tears, and she choked up and said, "Since that day, my daughter has not eaten a single meal at home!

Ever since my daughter was able to earn money, you have come looking for me. You always find me every now and then and take away the little pocket money I saved with great difficulty.

My daughter has never saved a penny of her own money until now..."

By this time, tears were already streaming down her cheeks.

Dan Niang raised her hand to wipe away her tears and choked up, saying, "That's fine, but seeing that my daughter is getting older and older and is at the age of marriage, you actually have the heart to sell her to a 60-year-old man as a concubine.

Fortunately, the old man’s wife didn’t tolerate me and kicked me out of her house…”

Dan Niang asked in a trembling voice: "But what about you? When my daughter came home, you refused to let me in because you were afraid that people would ask for the money to buy a concubine back!

It was pouring rain that day! My daughter has been stranded in Lin'an Prefecture, with no relatives. It was so hard to find a place to stay, but you came to visit again..."

Old Man Fan's face darkened and he cursed, "What are you saying? Are you blaming your own parents? You are my biological daughter, and even your life was given by me. What can I do as I please?"

When Dan Niang's mother, Auntie Deng, was exposed by her daughter, she was furious and yelled, "You bitch, you are really getting cocky. You even dare to make up stories about me! Slap her in the face, boss! Slap her until her stinky mouth breaks!"

(End of this chapter)