Eavesdropping on Fu Bao's inner thoughts, emptying the stored grain and fleeing the famine

Lian Rongrong's business was getting better and better, and the small cart for selling lobsters was replaced by a large cart pulled by a donkey.

Every day before sunrise, Lian Rongrong would head to Feishui Town with all her kitchen utensils and several large buckets full of lobsters.

By nightfall, the lobsters had turned into heavy money bags.

After about a month, Lian Rongrong had indeed saved up quite a bit of money.

The days gradually filled with hope again. Now, Lian Rongrong only hoped that her mother's health would improve quickly so that they could set off to find her father and second brother.

However, things in this world are never smooth sailing.

On this day, Lian Rongrong had just finished selling lobsters and was about to close her stall when she was unexpectedly blocked by a group of people.

"Sorry, we're out of lobsters for today. If you'd like some, please come back tomorrow."

Lian Rongrong said politely to the group while packing her things.

But the group chuckled, and one of them even stepped on Lian Rongrong's kitchen utensils.

Lian Rongrong frowned slightly and looked up at the men surrounding her. Clearly, they weren't there to do business.

Looking at the tall, muscular men in front of her, Lian Rongrong felt a moment of panic.

Wang Yang, who was beside him, was of no use except for physical labor. Seeing that the situation was not good, he had already hidden behind the donkey cart.

Lian Rongrong knew that in the current situation, trying to fight head-on would definitely result in a loss.

She clenched her fist, forcibly suppressing her anger, and smiled at the group, speaking gently and politely:

"Gentlemen, we've sold out of lobsters for today. How about tomorrow..."

"Did we say we came here to buy lobsters?" the man standing on Lian Rongrong's kitchen utensils said arrogantly.

"Besides, do we brothers need to buy anything we want to eat?"

The man burst into laughter, and the others immediately joined in with their own laughter.

Lian Rongrong couldn't laugh. Judging from the current situation, it seemed that things wouldn't end well today.

Since things have come to this, there's nothing left to do but face it. Lian Rongrong stepped forward and looked directly into the eyes of the leading man.

"Since you're not buying anything, what are you gentlemen here for?"

"Hey, look at this little wench, she's got some nerve." The leader laughed twice, then suddenly changed to a fierce expression and shouted:

"Young lady, did you even ask about the rules here before you started doing business on this street?"

"Rules? What rules?" Lian Rongrong asked in a calm and composed manner.

As soon as Lian Rongrong finished speaking, a shifty-eyed lackey stepped forward and said:

“This street is all under my elder brother’s protection. Doing business here naturally requires paying protection money.”

"Protection fees?" Lian Rongrong was both amused and exasperated. She never expected that a plot that appeared in a TV drama would actually happen to her.

Seeing that Lian Rongrong didn't care at all, the man who collected protection money was very unhappy. He suddenly pulled out a dagger and stuck it into the wooden board under his feet.

"Young lady, all sorts of people come and go in Feishui Town. Without our protection, it would be very difficult for you to continue your business."

Lian Rongrong didn't want to get entangled with these people any longer, so she asked directly, "Then may I ask, brother, how much is the protection fee?"

The man glanced at the money pouch at Lian Rongrong's waist, then revealed a greedy look and said:

"Not much, ten taels of silver per month."

"Ten taels? Why don't you just rob me?" Wang Yang, who had been hiding behind the donkey cart, couldn't help but shout.

Lian Rongrong turned to look at Wang Yang and asked slowly, "So what do you think they're doing right now?"

Despite Lian Rongrong's sarcastic remarks, the gang leader who collected protection money was not angry at all; instead, he looked smug and pleased with himself.

"This young lady is quite savvy. In that case, I won't waste any more words."

The man stretched out his hand, his face showing a look of certainty.

Lian Rongrong smiled slightly and obediently took out her money bag, but just as the man's hand touched the money bag, her palm suddenly felt a sharp pain.

The man instinctively withdrew his hand, only to find that the center of his palm had been pierced.

"You bitch, how dare you hurt me?" The man made a move to attack.

But Lian Rongrong pretended to be shocked and shouted, "Oh dear, it's my fault, I was careless."

Lian Rongrong subtly tucked the purse back into her waistband before saying:

“I was worried that thieves would target my money bag, so I put poison needles inside.”

"A poison needle?" The man was shocked, and immediately felt his entire hand go numb.

"But don't worry, brother, there's an antidote for this poison needle, so you won't die immediately."

"You can still die?" Upon hearing this, the man felt his vision go black, his heart race, and he had difficulty breathing.

"You brat, hand over the antidote right now!" the shifty-eyed lackey shouted as he stepped forward.

Lian Rongrong feigned surprise and carefully took out a black pill from her sleeve and handed it to the man.

Without the slightest hesitation, the man immediately took it and swallowed it.

Lian Rongrong twitched her lips almost imperceptibly, and the next moment, the leading man suddenly fell straight down.

This threw everyone into chaos. The underlings scrambled to carry their leader to the nearest clinic, while Lian Rongrong and Wang Yang took advantage of the confusion to escape Feishui Town.

Because of this incident, Lian Rongrong obviously could no longer set up her stall in the same place.

Fortunately, after nearly two months of interaction, Lian Rongrong has gained a certain understanding of Feishui Town.

Feishui Town is divided into two markets, east and west. Lian Rongrong originally set up her stall in the west market of Feishui Town.

After the incident, Lian Rongrong had to take a long detour to set up a stall in the East Market.

Since Lian Rongrong's lobster business already had a certain reputation, the move to Dongshi did not have a significant impact on her business.

But to everyone's surprise, just when they had escaped one disaster, another one struck.

On the third day of Lian Rongrong's stall in the East Market, when business was booming, she saw the other vendors fleeing in droves.

Confused, Lian Rongrong stopped a fleeing vendor to ask what was going on.

The vendor, being kind-hearted, stopped and said, "You'd better run too. The authorities are here to arrest people."

Why are the authorities arresting people?

"Of course, it's about collecting taxes."

"Why bother running around when you can just pay the taxes?"

"Pay taxes? Where would we get the money? Even if we sold everything we owned, it wouldn't be enough."

Moreover, if one cannot collect the taxes, one will be imprisoned, and once in jail, there is no hope of getting out alive.

After saying this, the vendor shook off Lian Rongrong's hand and ran away.

Although Lian Rongrong was still confused about what was going on, she knew that following the crowd and fleeing was the right thing to do.

Lian Rongrong drove the donkey cart at breakneck speed, not daring to slack off in the slightest, and finally managed to escape from the East Market safely.

When Lian Rongrong returned home, she was talking about this with Lin Chuyue when Ruan Nianzhi overheard them.

Ruan Nianzhi then realized that the girl had actually gone to the East Market to do business.

"You set up your stall in the East Market?" Ruan Nianzhi's expression was rather unpleasant.

Lian Rongrong nodded, not understanding what was going on.

Why didn't you even ask me?

Lian Rongrong learned from Ruan Nianzhi that the east and west markets of Feishui Town were not the same.

The West Market mainly catered to ordinary people, while the East Market was frequented by high-ranking officials and dignitaries from Feishui Town.

The official in Feishui Town was an extremely despicable and corrupt official. In order to demonstrate his status, he insisted on turning the East Market and West Market into a district for the wealthy and a district for the poor.

Therefore, in Feishui Town, it is not allowed to set up stalls and sell goods at will in the East Market.

If you are caught engaging in illegal trading, you will have to pay exorbitant taxes. If you cannot pay, you will be imprisoned.

Although the system is strict, people will die for money and birds will die for food.

Money was always easier to earn in the East Market, so people from the West Market often took the risk of going to the East Market to make money.

And that's how the scene Lian Rongrong witnessed today came about.

"My life is so miserable. I'm being chased by both the underworld and the legitimate world, from the East Market to the West Market. What am I going to do?"

Lian Rongrong slumped onto the table in frustration, looking utterly listless.