After the arranged marriage, she farms and survives under the tutelage of the villainous boss.

"It's not much, just thirty taels a week. It's all calculated based on the profits of your shop. The more you earn, the more you have to give us. Thirty taels is already very cheap."

Xiuhe's cousin was immediately displeased.

Standing in front of Jiang Zhiyun, he said, "Thirty taels? You couldn't even rob us! We'll take it directly."

"Do you really think we're pushovers? You think you can take whatever you want? Based on what we earn? Do you even deserve it? You'll have to take it."

Xiuhe can have a really fiery temper sometimes, but only if you don't provoke her.

Because she was really angry and disgusted.

Seeing that her cousin Xiuhe was about to make a move, Jiang Zhiyun clenched her fist and said, "Cousin, don't rush. Let's listen to what we need to do first."

"If we don't pay this much money, then you might as well not protect us. This shop was bought outright."

"Are you going to smash up our shop and then come back to cause trouble?"

Jiang Zhiyun thought for a moment, wondering if this was the only method they used to do things.

"Since Madam Jiang knows the process, why is she still unwilling to spend money? People say that the richest people are often the least conscious of helping the poor. Now I understand why you hypocritical businessmen are like this."

"too disgusting!"

Jiang Zhiyun sneered, "What, you beggar, you're practically at my doorstep, and I'm going to yell at you if I don't give you money?"

"What protection money? Not a single penny."

"Get out of here."

She waved her hand, as if she were simply talking about the weather today.

Upon hearing this, the man demanding protection money was stunned: "Wait, what do you mean?"

"Madam Jiang, are you just going to refuse to pay like this? Not even bothering to bargain. Do you really think you can survive here without paying protection money?"

"Can I die right now?" Jiang Zhiyun found it inexplicable.

How did you turn such a small thing into something so ridiculous, like you've gone crazy?

He clenched his fist and said to his brothers behind him, "Come on, smash things!"

Smashing things is nothing; Ye Qi can probably handle so many people all by himself.

It's okay if some things break.

Don’t fight for the bread, fight for your dignity!

That's how you subdue these people!

Jiang Zhiyun felt so angry just thinking about it that she gritted her teeth and felt extremely uncomfortable.

Just as her people were about to make a move, Ye Qi also stepped in to beat them up one by one.

Just then, a man with a limp walked in through the door.

Standing in front of the person collecting protection money, he said, "How dare you come in here!"

The limping man was familiar; Jiang Zhiyun had even met him when they were in the county.

It was Jiang Jiuzhou who sent the man to Su Shaoye for treatment; he was the one who had been imprisoned for killing many people.

Now that she was standing right in front of Jiang Zhiyun, she felt a little confused.

To be honest, I didn't expect this to happen.

Not to mention Jiang Zhiyun's surprise, at this moment the man collecting protection money was covered in sweat and his legs were trembling.

"You are...you are Jiang Jiuzhou?"

"Yes, not all of your people are dead yet. You've come here to oppose me. If you don't want to die, then come on in."

Jiang Jiuzhou stood there, looking at these people with a world-weary, half-dead expression.

She spoke lightly, and the man in front of her had changed from being afraid to being afraid with a smile.

“Um… Jiang Jiuzhou. We didn’t know that the group of elderly, weak, sick and disabled people in this house were related to you. If we had known earlier, we definitely wouldn’t have come.”

"You could have just let me know when the time came. Why did you have to show up here?"

"Apologize." Jiang Jiuzhou looked at him indifferently.

It seems that this person would agree with whatever Jiang Jiuzhou said.

Then he went straight to Jiang Zhiyun, stood in front of her and said earnestly, "Madam Jiang, I'm so sorry, I'm really so sorry."

“I never thought about these things. I had no idea there were so many twists and turns.”

"If I could, I definitely wouldn't have come! I didn't know you and Brother Jiang were such good friends."

"I'm leaving, let's get out of here right now."

Jiang Jiuzhou was a little annoyed: "Tell the other protection collectors not to come either. Remember, they don't deserve to come to this shop."

"Yes Yes Yes."

The group of people who came in were all swaggering around, but now they've all left.

It looks quite special.

Jiang Zhiyun was also somewhat shocked.

Looking at Jiang Jiuzhou, he said, "You're... a local tyrant here too? Your strength is too great."

"Ah."

He nodded: "I said I'd retire from this business. But they don't know when I'll go back. I'm a bit of a man of my word."

He didn't want to say too much to Jiang Zhiyun, but simply returned the two taels of silver that Jiang Zhiyun had given him that day.

"Here, take this. If I need money, I'll earn it with my own hands."

Jiang Zhiyun thought for a moment and then asked, "So, are you going to help someone collect protection money?"

“No.” He looked at Jiang Zhiyun. “I’ll listen to you.”

"I've been helping people find work these past few days."

"Indeed, I want to choose something different. I don't want to live a muddled life, having nothing. That's meaningless."

"Hmm." Jiang Zhiyun finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He nodded: "That's a good way of thinking."

"But what happened to your leg? And what about all these wounds all over your body? If they were in the county, they should be completely healed by now."

"Even if it's not fully healed, it should have formed a scar by now."

"No."

He was honest, saying, "I've killed people, just as many. I don't look kind enough, so I haven't found a way to make a living yet."

"I don't know what suits me."

Zhang quickly pulled Yunniang along, saying, "Then come over here! Jiangcheng always has to deliver goods, so it's best if Ye Qi doesn't show his face. This is our trump card."

“With Jiang Jiuzhou coming over, our family will have one more person to help with the work. He can help serve dishes and wash dishes, which are all decent jobs.”

Yunniang had had this idea for a long time.

However, considering that her family consisted of elderly, weak, women, and children, bringing someone as unstable as Jiang Jiuzhou along was probably not a good choice.

This was the first time I'd thought of it, but this time it came knocking again.

Jiang Zhiyun asked earnestly, "Mother, are you afraid?"

"Don't worry. We saved him that day, and now we've run into him again. Many other families have also helped us."

"Let's keep it so we can all work together. They can't just kill me because I talk too much, can they?"

Anyway, Zhang didn't think it was that scary.

Back when he was in Bianjing, it's safe to say that everyone under Xie Shuheng's father had hands stained with blood.

He's not a bad person.

The definition of good and bad has never been determined by killing a few people.

It depends on how things develop in the future.

That's what Zhang thought, and that's what she said.

Sure enough, after hearing this, Jiang Jiuzhou suddenly raised his head and said incredulously, "You really think so?"

"Of course! What's the big deal? Why worry about it so much?"

"Do whatever you want."

"Everything is going smoothly. Come to our house. Although we're short of guys like you, you can't be lazy. We have a lot of things to do. Would you like to come?"

He looked at Jiang Zhiyun with longing, but didn't know how to ask.

Jiang Zhiyun saw through it at a glance and said helplessly, "I welcome you too."

Cui Zhen said, "I am also a pitiful person with nowhere to go, and I have even been used against Jiang Niangzi and done wrong things. So please come in!"

No one is born a good person.

Cousin Xiuhe added, "That's right, young man, you need to be more resilient. Life is tough for us, but if we stick together and grit our teeth, we'll get through it."

Everyone was talking at once, all talking to Jiang Jiuzhou.

He was even somewhat flattered.

What kind of feeling is this?

For so many years, he's been treated like a filthy bedbug in the sewers. I never imagined that a group of people would treat him as an equal.

They even tried to dissuade me, and never looked at me with any strange eyes.

Such a good group of people, does he deserve to be among the crowd?

Although I feel extremely inferior.

But at this moment, Jiang Jiuzhou nodded seriously and said, "Okay. I'll do it."

He had always hoped to join. Now that he was able to, he was extremely excited.

No one else can explain this feeling, but all I feel is my pursuit of Jiang Zhiyun.

Jiang Zhiyun said, "These things will pass if you just wait it out."

"I didn't expect you to be so capable."

Ye Qi came down and handed him a set of clean clothes: "Change into these."

After changing into clean clothes, he felt like he was clean from then on.

Even now, touching this fabric makes my skin tremble slightly.

Then he looked at Jiang Zhiyun and asked seriously, "Why are you so good to me?"

"I have never, ever seen anyone treat me well."

"you are the first."

Jiang Zhiyun nodded: "I don't know about those things, and other people's business has nothing to do with me. I just saw it and wanted to take action."

"Moreover, Jiang Jiuzhou, I want you to be a good person more than anyone else."

"Why?" Jiang Jiuzhou asked stubbornly.

He always felt that Jiang Zhiyun had her reasons, that she had her own reasons.

But we don't know what it is.

I couldn't figure out how lucky I could be, no matter how hard I tried.

Jiang Zhiyun smiled and said, "Because I had a dream in which you killed one of my friends."

“Then you should kill me to prevent future trouble,” he said. “By the way, it’s fine if you don’t save me. Because if you hadn’t saved me that day, there would be no future. I might have died long ago.”

“Yes,” Jiang Zhiyun nodded. “That makes sense. But I won’t just watch a life die like that. No one is born to die. I remember I told you that, Jiang Jiuzhou.”

"Everything from now on will be smooth sailing."

"I think you have a choice."

After saying this, Jiang Jiuzhou closed his eyes, and tears streamed down his face.

Then, looking at Jiang Zhiyun, he knelt down before her: "I..."

"I thank you."

"I will be grateful to you for the rest of my life. Thank you, Madam Jiang."

“Yes. We’re always interested in hearing about you. I’m willing to listen as long as you’re willing to talk,” Jiang Zhiyun said.

"What do you mean?" he asked, puzzled.

"You killed nine people, but so many people in total. Did you actually kill them?"

"These things, I think, may never be known, and you will never tell anyone but you. But I hope that you can tell me your most painful secret, and that will mean the end of the darkness."