Divorce with three kids? I'll build a house and eat meat, driving my in-laws crazy.

Chapter 31 My rules are rules
"Oh?" The magistrate stroked his beard and looked at Li Ruru. "Have I ever sided with you?"

Li Ruru shook her head vigorously, "No!"

He added, "Sir, you are acting in the spirit of justice, in the spirit of the people, and in the spirit of every bullied citizen of Pingchuan County."

Li Ruru didn't know whether the magistrate was good or bad, but she figured it was always a good idea to shower him with compliments first.

Sure enough, the magistrate was very receptive to this, and he laughed loudly, "What Li said makes sense."

After laughing, he turned cold and looked at Zhao: "Since you are not satisfied with 100 coins, then I will give you a satisfactory number."

Zhao's eyes lit up; her tantrum had worked again?
Wang Shuixia and Chen Dagang looked at Zhao Shi with eyes full of admiration. It had to be their mother; her skill was undeniable.

The magistrate smiled and asked, "Zhao, you're not willing to pay 100 coins, are you? Then how about 200 coins per person?"

Zhao: "..."? ? ? ! ! !

What's going on? Is this county magistrate illiterate?
Didn't we say we'd give her a satisfactory number?
Why did it increase? It suddenly went from 100 coins to 200 coins.

How could she possibly be satisfied with that?
"Your Excellency, have you made a mistake? According to the rules, you should subtract less."

The magistrate chuckled and said, "Rules? Whose rules? My rules are the rules. Since you're still not satisfied, then it'll be 500 coins."

Zhao was dumbfounded. "How come it's 500 coins again?"

At 500 coins per person, she cannot lose 5 taels of silver.

The magistrate said with great interest, "Then it will be 800 coins."

Zhao was absolutely furious: "Your Excellency, how can you behave like this?"

The magistrate frowned: "Still not satisfied? Then two taels each."

Zhao wanted to argue, but Chen Dagang quickly stopped her, saying, "Alright, alright, two taels it is."

He struggled to lift his head from the ground and said to Zhao, "Mother, hurry up and get 20 taels of silver."

He realized that as long as his mother disagreed, the magistrate would keep increasing the amount of money.

Wang Shuixia also cried out, "Mother, please don't be stingy with the money! If you don't pay, we won't be able to go home!"

Zhao hesitated. That was 20 taels of silver. Why should she give it to someone else?

"I..." she wanted to say that she had no money.

Wang Shuixia didn't give her a chance. "Mother, if you won't save me, you should at least save your son and two grandsons. Can you bear to see our whole family go to jail?"

Chen Dagang cried and said, "Mother, doesn't my third brother still have 64 taels? Go and get 20 taels quickly."

Zhao's lips twitched. How come her son's 100 taels of silver had been spent by more than half before he had even done anything with it?

Last time, Li Ruru took away 36 taels, and this time she will lose another 20 taels.

The huge sum of 100 taels of silver was suddenly reduced to only 44 taels.

This... is simply outrageous!
That's all the money she's saving for her retirement!

Although Zhao cursed inwardly, she still obediently took the money for the sake of her son and grandson.

Each person who ate the konjac tofu made with swill received two taels of silver.

They instantly felt their dizziness and stomachache disappear, and they felt completely alive again.

As the crowd dispersed, Li Ruru returned to her stall with Sanyatou.

With only a small portion of konjac tofu left, and seeing that it was getting late, she decided to close up shop.

It doesn't matter if we can't sell all of these things. We can take them home to eat ourselves and give some to Aunt Pan. Nothing will go to waste.

Just as the stall was almost packed up, a man suddenly walked straight towards them.

This person was dressed in fine clothes, his hair was neatly combed, and he looked extremely noble.

He held a fan in his hand, waving it leisurely.

Walking up to Li Ruru, he casually closed his fan and asked, "Madam, how much is this... this thing?"

Li Ruru said, "Three coins a bowl."

The young man smiled sweetly, "Alright, give me a bowl. Sweet! No, I want the sour and spicy one too!" Li Ruru spread her hands and said, "Sorry, we're closing up shop, we're not selling anymore!"

The man got impatient. "You haven't left yet, have you? I don't want two bowls, one bowl will do."

Li Ruru smiled and said, "I said I won't sell, and I won't sell."

Daya looked puzzled. Why wouldn't her mother take the money that was offered to her right in front of her?

This young man doesn't seem like a bad person.

The servant beside the young master angrily said, "Is this how you do business? Be careful, or I'll overturn your stall and make sure you can't stay in Pingchuan County."

After saying that, Li Ruru reopened the wooden tub.

The servant looked smug. This woman wouldn't listen to reason, so he had to step in when it mattered most.

Otherwise, their young master will be disappointed today.

The young master is someone who loves to try new things; he won't miss any of the delicious food in Pingchuan County.

Li Ruru made two bowls of konjac tofu, one sweet and one sour and spicy, and handed them to the young master.

"I'm not selling this konjac tofu anymore, but I'm giving it away for free! The rest at the bottom is a bit broken and doesn't hold its shape, but you can eat it anyway, it's free!"

After saying that, she put the lid back on the bucket and waited quietly for the young master to finish eating before clearing away the bowl.

The servant standing nearby watched his young master eat konjac tofu with longing eyes, "Could I have a bite?"

Before the young master could speak, Li Ruru said directly, "No, I won't give you anything from my family."

The servant was so angry that he glared and puffed out his beard. "Why? You look down on people like a dog."

Why should they only send gifts to his young master and not to him?

Li Ruru said coldly, "I just don't like the look of you."

This servant said he would overturn her stall and make it impossible for her to stay in Pingchuan County, so why should she give him a nice look?

The young master in front of me was quite friendly, but this servant was really an eyesore.

The young man took a bite of the sweet konjac tofu, his eyes lit up, and then he began to slurp it down.

He finished both bowls of konjac tofu very quickly.

Li Ruru took the bowl and was about to leave when the young man stopped her, "May I ask how to address this lady?"

"I am Mr. Lee."

“Madam Li, my surname is Chu, and my given name is Xiu.” Chu Xiu bowed and greeted her.

Li Ruru glanced at him. "Is there anything else?"

Chu Xiu didn't mince words and asked directly, "Could you send me 50 bowls of your konjac tofu tomorrow?"

"50 bowls!" Li Ruru's eyes lit up. "Really?"

Chu Xiu nodded, "I can pay you first."

She then asked the servant next to her to pay the bill. The servant reluctantly took out the money and handed it to Li Ruru with a dark face.

Li Ruru smiled broadly after receiving the money, "Oh my, Young Master Chu, you are truly a great customer of ours. I could see your noble air from afar; you must be a very wealthy and powerful person."

She was never stingy with her praise for major clients.

Chu Xiu's face remained expressionless, clearly having grown accustomed to such flattery.

He pulled a note from his pocket. "Tomorrow, please have Madam Li deliver the items to this place."

Li Ruru took the invitation and glanced at it, her face showing some embarrassment. "Spring Breeze Pavilion? You want me to deliver it to Spring Breeze Pavilion?"

Chunfenglou was a famous brothel in the county town, named for the joy of being bathed in a spring breeze.

Chu Xiu noticed her unusual behavior and raised an eyebrow, asking, "Is there a problem?"

(End of this chapter)