Chapter 113: You’re Insane!
The shop owner’s wife dared not look at Wang Xiaoli standing beside her. After all, so many unpleasant things had just happened, yet she had to force a smile at Chai Jin.
She forced a smile and said, “I guess it’s around a hundred thousand or so. Boss, what’s this about?”
Chai Jin responded indifferently, then turned to Wang Xiaoli: “You still like the clothes I just bought for you, right?”
Wang Xiaoli’s voice was a little soft, and uncertain of Chai Jin’s thoughts, she nodded her head: “Mm-hmm.”
“It’s just that the skirt is a bit short.”
Chai Jin pointed to a salesperson nearby: “Look at her skirt—how short it is. Yours isn’t short; it goes past the knees.”
The salesperson instinctively tugged her skirt down.
Chai Jin added a remark that made the salesperson furious: “Fortunately, we’re not in business, so we don’t have to wear such short skirts.”
“You!” The girl wanted to snap back, “What do you mean by that? Are you implying something? Is it fun to insult people like that?”
But the sharp glance from their boss’s wife silenced her.
Chai Jin glanced around: “Wrap everything up. I’ll have someone bring the money over.”
“Ah?”
Everyone in the store looked at Chai Jin in disbelief.
Wang Xiaoli was equally stunned.
Chai Jin stared at the boss’s wife: “What, you’re not selling?”
“Selling, selling, selling. Oh boss, you scared us there. We’ve never seen such a generous customer.”
“Xiao Ying, pour some tea.”
The salesperson with the short skirt, now shedding her earlier anger, deliberately pulled her skirt up a little, the lace of her underwear visible. She ran back and forth in front of Chai Jin.
Wang Xiaoli felt very uncomfortable watching her.
Chai Jin glanced back with a smile: “See? This is how business is done.”
Then Chai Jin called Liu Qingwen and asked him to bring 100,000 in cash to settle the bill.
At first, the staff in the store were excited, but by the end, they felt something was off. Chai Jin had them toss all the packed clothes onto the street outside their shop, attracting a crowd wondering what was going on.
Finally, Liu Qingwen arrived with the money, carried in a black plastic bag.
Chai Jin grabbed it and threw it rudely in front of the boss’s wife: “Count it yourself.”
His manner was coarse, tinged with a hint of insult.
The boss’s wife was displeased but swallowed her pride for the sake of the money.
Chai Jin then went to a nearby gas station and bought a can of gasoline, pouring it all over the clothes.
He flicked a lighter onto the pile.
With a whoosh, flames blazed up immediately.
The onlookers were stunned, and the boss’s wife quickly realized what was happening.
She rushed out, hands on hips, glaring at Chai Jin: “Young man, are you deliberately insulting me?”
Nearby, at a night snack stall, a man with a gold necklace saw the fire.
With a wave of his hand, over a dozen men from the stall rushed over.
They were a local couple: the husband ran a night market, and the wife owned a clothing store.
They were notorious bullies in this generation. Whenever a rival’s business did better, they would do everything to sabotage it.
They had been tyrants in the area for decades, so having someone come looking for trouble at their doorstep was infuriating.
The gold necklace man quickly pushed through the crowd and slapped Chai Jin hard.
He shouted, “You’ve come to the wrong place to act tough!”
But Liu Qingwen, holding a mobile radio, reacted quickly and kicked the gold necklace man in the stomach.
With a thud, the man’s slap was cut short as he was sent sprawling to the ground.
His men froze, preparing to rush in.
But Liu Qingwen shouted commandingly, “You bunch of slackers, come here now!”
Almost immediately, four large Liberation-brand trucks roared up.
At least a hundred migrant workers jumped off the trucks.
They were the people Chai Jin had brought from outside today, ready to queue up for purchase certificates.
Now things weren’t so simple.
The hundred or so men surrounded the small shop, leaving no way in or out.
Liu Qingwen barked at the gold necklace man’s underlings: “Make a move!”
“Why are you all mute?” he shouted.
“Aren’t you so tough?”
The dozen men’s legs trembled. The shop owner’s wife finally realized they had provoked the wrong people. Standing at the door, trembling, she looked at Wang Xiaoli and instantly lost her nerve, unable to speak.
Who would have thought this rustic girl’s boyfriend was so formidable?
If your boyfriend has that kind of influence, why dress like that when you come out?
Liu Qingwen was also furious. He said, “Chai, you and Sister Li go back first. I’ll handle this here.”
Chai Jin nodded coldly and left with Wang Xiaoli.
Behind Liu Qingwen, he grabbed the gold necklace man and slapped him twice in the face.
“You’re so fierce!”
“If you don’t talk trash, you just hit people, huh? You’re all talk!”
“Damn it!”
…
Back in the courtyard, Wang Xiaoli and Chai Xiaoshan were clearly frightened by the chaos Chai Jin had stirred up.
After Wang Xiaoli put Chai Xiaoshan to bed, she saw Chai Jin sitting by the table smoking.
She came out and sat beside him, worried: “Xiao Jin, hasn’t Liu Qingwen returned yet?”
“Do you think nothing bad will happen?”
“I’m sorry. I just arrived here and already caused so much trouble for you.”
The young girl felt guilty but was also curious about what Chai Jin and Liu Qingwen were doing in Shen City.
How did a single phone call bring out several trucks full of people?
Chai Jin looked at her calmly, took a tissue, and gently pressed it to the sweat on Wang Xiaoli’s forehead.
It was a simple gesture but carried an unspoken intimacy. Wang Xiaoli accepted it naturally.
Chai Jin smiled: “Monkey will be fine. Wait for me here.”
Then he got up, went to the room, and brought back some ointment. He moved a stool behind Wang Xiaoli, sat down, and opened the ointment.
Wang Xiaoli turned around curiously: “What’s wrong?”
Her large apricot-shaped eyes sparkled with innocence.
Chai Jin dipped his finger in the ointment and gently dabbed it on the scratch marks on her neck.
“Ow!” Wang Xiaoli instinctively flinched.
Chai Jin whispered, “Summer sweat makes wounds prone to infection. Bear with it.”
“Mm-hmm, okay.” Wang Xiaoli nodded obediently.
After a long moment, Wang Xiaoli asked again: “Xiao Jin, what exactly are you and Liu Qingwen doing here in Shen City?”
“Can you tell me?”
She was worried Chai Jin might be heading down a wrong, dangerous path.
Chai Jin focused on applying the ointment and said, “In a couple of days, I’ll take you to see for yourself.”
“Also, do you remember Feng Haodong?”