水蜜桃实验室

“Our clothes all come from the factory, how could there be a problem?” Chen Lele spoke up against the fat man, but halfway through, she was pulled back by Chen Lixin.

“I’m sorry, sir, do you have a receipt for this shirt? If it was indeed purchased from our store and has quality issues within the warranty period, we can help you return or exchange it,” Chen Lixin said to the fat man with a smile on her face.

These few individuals looked like trouble, and two of them even had tattooed arms showing. Chen Lixin, just a small apparel store owner, knew exactly what kind of people they were; she just couldn’t afford to provoke them.

“Your clothes are such poor quality, it tore after just two days, making me lose face at an important business event. Now you figure out what to do about it,” the fat man said with a cocky head tilt.

His followers were also arrogantly chiming in: “Dammit, Brother Stone, our billion-dollar contract got screwed up because of this crappy clothes from this crappy store. We can’t let it slide.”

Upon hearing their words, Chen Lijuan broke into a cold sweat. Normally, there wouldn’t be people causing trouble on this street, but that didn’t mean the area was always peaceful.

Xu Lijuan had always heard that next to Yulou Ancient Town there was an immensely powerful force—the Hu Family of Yulou Ancient Town. It was said that every business in Yulou, from the largest antique shop to the smallest stall on town’s edge, had to dutifully visit the Hu Family four times a year to pay a lucky fee.

Although it was called a lucky fee, in truth, it was protection money. If the Hu Family didn’t agree, whether it was a small stall or a luxuriously decorated storefront, they would be driven out of Yu Lou Town, much more efficiently than any city management enforcement.

Recently, the Hu Family were rumored to have had a dispute with Night Castle on the west side of town and didn’t dare expand their territory too aggressively. However, starting from yesterday, the Hu’s men changed their approach, starting from Yulou Ancient Town and reaching out to all profitable stores in the southern part of town, paying them visits.

Members of the Hu Family typically wore a fox-shaped insignia. Chen Lijuan noticed that the fat man before her wore a golden fox necklace, and the young followers behind him wore various rings and bracelets, but they all had one thing in common: regardless of the material or design, their jewelry all bore a fox insignia.

The only follower without any such accessory had a T-shirt that blatantly sported the word “FOX.”

As a prominent force in the southern city, the Hu Family’s symbol was a fox. Although Chen Lixin was just a woman, she had already heard about the Hu Family, and now the intimidating crowd made it clear to her: the Hu Family was expanding its territory and her little apparel shop was exactly the spot they aimed to “tax” indirectly. The quality of the clothes was just a pretext.

In fact, Chen Lijuan could tell at a glance that the T-shirt was not from her store, but how could she dare to provoke members of the Hu Family?

So, Chen Lijuan, with a smile, said to the fat man: “Big brother, it’s our fault for the poor quality of our clothes. I’ll get you a new one, and if your brothers behind you need anything, feel free to take from my store.”

“Hahaha, you think a few broken clothes can cover my losses from a contract worth several hundred million, dammit?” The fat man laughed scornfully, speaking disdainfully to Chen Lijuan.

“So, big brother, what would you like?” Chen Lijuan asked cautiously.

She was a single mother with no one to rely on, who had barely managed to open a clothing store on this street, hoping to make a small profit through hard work and volume sales. She had never seen such a scene and was already terrified by the group the fat man had brought.

“Mom, this T-shirt clearly isn’t from our store. I remember we’ve never sold T-shirts of this style. If you want compensation, please show the purchase receipt,” Chen Lele, still young and not aware of the Hu Family’s influence, said righteously to the fat man.

“Haha, brothers! This pretty girl is actually asking me for a receipt.” The fat man turned back and said with a laugh to his several ruffian followers.

“Haha, Brother Stone, who keeps receipts after shopping these days? This store isn’t trying to deny responsibility, are they?”

“Dammit, they dare to deny a debt to the Hu Family? It looks like this store doesn’t want to stay open in the south of town anymore.”

“Brother Stone, why waste words with them? Their clothes caused us to lose several hundred million. Just make them pay up,” the followers said, with a mocking tone.

“Hahaha, we are people of quality, we believe in civility before force. The clothes I bought from your store had quality problems, causing me to lose a contract worth hundreds of millions. Miss owner, what do you think, are you going to pay me these few hundred million, or are you ready to declare war on the Hu Family?” The fat man changed to a daunting expression as he spoke harshly to Chen Lixin.

Chen Lixin, who had never faced such an imposing group, was nearly paralyzed with fear upon hearing the fat man talk about hundreds of millions, and timidly said, “Big brother, even if we sold our small shop, we couldn’t pay your few hundred million.”

“Hahaha, since you can’t pay up, I won’t make things difficult for you. I’ll generously let you off with less, just one percent will do. Just pay me two million, and that will be fine,” the fat man, puffing up his belly, said dominantly to Chen Lixin.

“Two million?” Chen Lixin was speechless. Her small store couldn’t make two million in ten years, let alone pay this man two million.

“Mom, don’t be afraid. They are just here to scam us. We shouldn’t be scared. There is justice in this world, and I refuse to believe they can do whatever they want to us in the light of day,” Chen Lele, though skinny and still somewhat naive, suddenly burst with strong energy at this moment. She gently shielded Chen Lijuan behind her and spoke boldly to the hooligans.

In her eyes, there was not a trace of fear; she glared back at the fat man who was threatening her mother, not backing down at all.