C19 No Need to Find Fault

Ruonan noticed the butcher but didn't pay much attention to him. Looking at the two large woven bags in front of her, she thought for a moment and said, "Dad, why don't you take this bag of fish to sell on South Street? I'll stay here with Mr. Qian."

Zhou Hongqu paused, glanced at Qian Wang, and then nodded, "Alright."

His daughter was quite sharp; she didn't trust Qian Wang. If Qian Wang went to sell, who knew how much he would sell? Qian Wang, being quite shrewd himself, understood what Ruonan meant. But since they were working together, a little distrust was inevitable.

They poured half of the crayfish into a basin, many of which were bubbling. Since the area hadn't developed much yet, they didn't have oxygen equipment and couldn't transport the crayfish to far-off places to sell.

By seven or eight in the morning, more people were out shopping for groceries. After yesterday's trial, more people came to buy crayfish today. After all, you didn't need ration tickets to buy meat, and it was so cheap—it was a great deal.

Just as Ruonan and Qian Wang were busy with the crayfish stand, someone kicked over the basket of crayfish. The ground was suddenly covered with crayfish scuttling everywhere. Annoyed, Ruonan looked up and saw it was the butcher from the meat stand.

"What do you mean by that?" The butcher glared at the two of them, his expression fierce.

Qian Wang, having never faced such a situation, immediately tried to smooth things over, speaking kindly.

Ruonan, feeling annoyed, looked at the middle-aged man and said, "You sell your stuff, I sell mine. We don't interfere with each other, so what's the problem?"

The man, with pig's blood still on his hands, shook them off and said, "I don't care. If you want to sell, you can only do it on South Street. Not here!"

Ruonan was so infuriated by his unreasonable attitude that she couldn't help but laugh.

Qian Wang furrowed his brow deeply, pulled out a pack of cigarettes, and offered one, saying, "Come on, buddy, let's talk this out calmly."

Before he could finish, Ruonan interrupted, "We're not moving. What are you going to do about it?"

The middle-aged man raised an eyebrow. He had noticed yesterday that this girl was no pushover, and now she was standing up to him.

"Fine, we'll see about that," the butcher said, glaring at Ruonan.

Qian Wang frowned, looking at Ruonan, and said, "Kid, when you're away from home, you shouldn't provoke the locals, especially since we're not exactly in a strong position."

Ruonan glanced at Qian Wang, understanding that he was worried she'd get into trouble.

"Mr. Qian, it's not as serious as you think," Ruonan said casually, her eyes scanning the street as if she were looking for someone.

After a while, he actually found it and said to Qian Wang, "Mr. Qian, keep an eye on things here for a bit. I have something to take care of."

Qian Wang nodded, watching Zhou Ruonan walk away with a sigh, unsure if this was good or bad.

"Zhou Hu!" Zhou Ruonan called out to the person ahead.

Hearing someone call his name, Zhou Hu turned around and saw it was Zhou Ruonan.

"Oh, hey, Ms. Ruonan, you're here again today." Seeing her made Zhou Hu feel a bit nervous, so he instinctively addressed her as "Ms."

He had been pondering this issue since yesterday, but still hadn't figured it out.

Seeing Zhou Hu's attitude today, Zhou Ruonan found it amusing.

She waved her hand and said, "No need to be so formal. We might even be related. I'm here today because I need a favor, and of course, I won't let you do it for nothing."

"Hey, Ms. Ruonan, if you need anything from me, just say the word," Zhou Hu replied, though he still maintained a polite demeanor.