The carefree life of Yang Shuisheng, the village miracle doctor

Yang Shuisheng didn't go far. He followed Ah Hu and his group to a small tobacco and alcohol shop diagonally opposite the photo studio. He seemed to be looking at the street scene, but his eyes were actually fixed on the entrance of the Hongxing Photo Studio.

Through the glass window, one could vaguely see what was happening inside.

Inside the photo studio, the owner sat smugly behind the counter, legs crossed, holding the three hundred yuan deposit in his hand, humming a little tune, his face beaming with undisguised pride.

This money is so easy to earn!

"Bang!"

The door to the photo studio was suddenly pushed open and slammed against the wall.

Ah Hu and his men rushed in all at once, filling the already small shop to the brim.

The shop owner was startled by the sudden commotion and almost dropped the money in his hand.

He looked up and saw it was Ah Hu and his gang of notorious thugs in town. His heart skipped a beat, but he quickly put on a businessman's smile, stood up, and cautiously asked, "Hu... Brother Hu? What brings you all here?"

"Do you want to take a photo? Or develop the photos?"

"Boss Wang, business is good!"

Ah Hu ignored him, walked around the shop with his hands behind his back, touching and looking at everything. Finally, his gaze landed on the owner's face, and he said with a forced smile, "I see you have quite a few customers coming and going. Business is booming. Have you forgotten some of the rules?"

"Rules...rules?" The shop owner felt uneasy, his smile stiffening slightly. He feigned ignorance and said, "Brother Tiger, what rules are you talking about? My little shop has always operated legally and paid its taxes on time..."

"Stop playing dumb with me!" Ah Hu's face darkened, and he gave his two henchmen a wink.

The two henchmen immediately stepped forward, one on each side, grabbed the boss's arms, and dragged him out from behind the counter.

"Hey! What are you doing? Let me go!"

"In broad daylight, is there no law anymore?!" The boss was startled and struggled to shout.

Ah Hu strolled leisurely to the counter, picked up a drinking glass, weighed it in his hand, and then looked at the restrained shopkeeper, his tone icy: "Boss Wang, I really don't know what rule I'm referring to?"

"Should I help you think about it?"

As he spoke, he made a gesture as if to smash the cup down.

"No...no need!"

The boss looked at the gleaming glass in Ah Hu's hand, then at the several fierce-looking henchmen behind him, and his legs went weak with fear. His face turned pale, and he quickly changed his tune: "Brother Hu, I remember now, I remember now, it's time to pay that management fee. I was confused, I forgot."

Ah Hu then put down his cup and gestured for his underling to let go of him.

The shopkeeper, now free, hurriedly bowed and scraped, ran behind the counter, pulled out a hundred yuan from the three hundred yuan he had just received, and handed it to Ah Hu with both hands, forcing a smile that looked more like a grimace: "Brother Hu, look, this is a small token of my appreciation. You and your brothers can buy a pack of cigarettes..."

"One hundred yuan?" Ah Hu took the money, flicked it in his hand, and scoffed, "Boss Wang, are you trying to fob me off like a beggar?"

"Is your shop only worth a hundred yuan a month?"

The shopkeeper's heart sank. He cursed the thug's insatiable greed inwardly, but dared not retaliate. He could only reluctantly pull out another hundred-yuan bill and hand it over: "Brother Tiger, how about two hundred? This is just a small business of mine..."

"Two hundred?" Ah Hu shook his head again, holding up four fingers and waving them in front of him. "If you're short even a penny, I'll make sure you renovate this shop today."

"Four...four hundred?" The boss's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when he heard this, and he looked miserable. "Brother Tiger, I really don't have that much money here."

"No money?" Ah Hu's eyes turned cold, and he suddenly grabbed a wooden stool next to him, as if to smash it on the glass counter.

"No! Don't smash it! I'll give it to you! I'll give it to you!" the boss shouted in fright.

He hurriedly opened the drawer, took out another two hundred to make a total of four hundred yuan, and handed it to Ah Hu with trembling hands.

Ah Hu took the money, counted it, and then accepted it with satisfaction. He then leaned close to the shop owner and warned, "Boss Wang, this money is to teach you a lesson."

"In the future, when doing business, keep your eyes open and your hands clean. Don't have any crooked thoughts and break the rules of town."

"Otherwise... next time it won't be a matter of four hundred dollars, remember that?"

"I've got it! I've got it!"

The boss felt a chill run down his spine, vaguely sensing that the words had a hidden meaning, but he wasn't sure. He could only nod repeatedly, "Brother Tiger, I'll never do it again."

"Hmph! Let's go!" Ah Hu waved his hand and swaggered away from the photo studio with his underlings.

After Ah Hu and his group had gone far away, the boss slumped into a chair, on the verge of tears.

Four hundred yuan!

Adding the 300 yuan he swindled from Yang Shuisheng this morning, it's like he's worked for nothing and even lost 100 yuan.

"Damn it! These damn bastards!" the boss cursed through gritted teeth, mentally cursing Ah Hu's ancestors for eighteen generations.

He didn't connect the matter with Yang Shuisheng at all, and just felt that he was unlucky to have run into someone who was collecting protection money.

He was furious and resentful about losing the money and desperately needed to find a way to make up for it.

Suddenly, he remembered the photos he had washed that morning, and the extra set he had secretly washed.

The young man was photographing evidence of corruption by a village chief named Zhao Youcai.

This thing might be worth a lot of money; at least we should make up for today's losses.

A glint of greed and ruthlessness flashed in his eyes. He didn't bother to tidy up the shop anymore, locked the door, and hurriedly left.

He needed to find out first which village chief in the vicinity was named Zhao Youcai, what his background was, and how much profit he had...

On the other side, Ah Hu and his underlings hadn't gone far from the photo studio when they saw Yang Shuisheng waiting there at the street corner.

"Brother Yang, it's all taken care of."

Ah Hu immediately jogged over, a smug smile on his face, took out the four hundred yuan from his pocket, and handed it to Yang Shuisheng with both hands: "I've already warned that old bastard. Here's four hundred in total, please count it."

"Four hundred?"

Yang Shuisheng took the money, glanced at it, and pulled out a hundred yuan, stuffing it back into Ah Hu's hand: "Well done, take the brothers out for a good meal with this hundred yuan, it's on me."

"Oh! I can't accept this, Brother Yang, you're too kind." Ah Hu declined verbally, but his hands honestly clenched the money tightly, and his face beamed with joy.

His henchmen behind him were also all smiles, feeling that doing things with Brother Yang was a truly pleasant experience.

"Oh, by the way," Yang Shuisheng added, "the owner of the Shili Xiang Restaurant in town is my friend. You can patronize their business more often in the future, and make sure no one goes there to cause trouble."

"Understood! Don't worry, Brother Yang, it's Shili Xiang, right?"

"From now on, that will be our brothers' regular canteen. If anyone dares to cause trouble there, I'll be the first to object," Ah Hu patted his chest and promised.

"Okay, then you guys go ahead and get busy." Yang Shuisheng nodded.

Ah Hu said a few more flattering words before leaving with his overjoyed underlings.

"Hmph, you think you can extort money from me?"

After glancing at the photo studio from afar, Yang Shuisheng carefully put away the remaining three hundred yuan.

With the evidence in hand and the money back, and having even helped Xu Xiuxia's restaurant gain some regular customers, today was a perfect day.

So he turned around and prepared to go back to the village.

Before he could even leave the main street of Daliang Town, he saw several familiar figures arguing loudly in front of a small shop selling girls' hair ties, hair clips, and cheap cosmetics.

One of them was none other than Yu Qianwei!

Besides her, there were several other female students of similar age who were dressed more fashionably than the girls in the village. Upon closer inspection, I recognized them all; they were her classmates who had gone to her house for her college entrance celebration banquet.

They were gathered around the shop entrance, arguing with a young man dressed in a sleazy manner.

Yu Qianwei's face turned bright red, her chest heaving with anger. She pointed at the man and said something. A female classmate next to her had red eyes, as if she had been crying.

The man looked impatient and disdainful, muttering something filthy, and deliberately giving Yu Qianwei and her classmate a flirtatious look.

It looks like we've run into trouble.