I'm dressed up as the timid eldest daughter, and the whole family has to listen to me!

Thinking this, the woman plopped down on the ground and burst into tears.

"This world is outrageous! I have no idea who this Su Banxia is. All I know is that my child got sick after eating the candied hawthorns I bought from your stall, and now you don't want to take responsibility and are just making excuses!"

Seeing that the woman wanted to escalate the situation, Lin became even more frightened and hurriedly stepped forward to pull at the woman's arm.

"Hey, hey, don't try to be unreasonable! There's nothing wrong with my candied hawthorns!"

No sooner had Lin finished speaking than a man appeared from the crowd of onlookers.

"What do you mean by 'being unreasonable'? I think the problem lies with the candied hawthorns you make. I bought some from you yesterday, and I got diarrhea after eating them. It's one thing for me to suffer, but other people's children have to suffer this undeserved misfortune because of you."

As soon as the man finished speaking, he turned to look at the crowd of onlookers.

"Everyone, be the judge! We spend money to enjoy ourselves, but now that we're spending money here, it's like we're being made to suffer!"

As he spoke, the man glared fiercely at Lin.

"You don't look like a kind person at all. You say you sell them cheaply, but I bet you just used some rotten candied hawthorns to pass them off as good ones, that's why you sell them cheaply!"

The man waved his hands and shouted:

"Everyone, don't buy her candied hawthorns anymore. You'll suffer if you eat them. I think another candied hawthorn stall is much better! If you want to eat them, you won't be short two coins. At least you can eat them with peace of mind, right?"

"You're right, we can't buy anything from this kind of unscrupulous merchant anymore!"

The woman also got up from the ground and pointed at Lin, cursing.

Seeing this, the onlookers nodded in agreement.

"That's right! Isn't that what we want from food – peace of mind? Now that we've eaten it and gotten diarrhea, who would dare eat it again!"

Hearing this, Lin became even more anxious. She couldn't hold back any longer. She was being humiliated all by herself, while Su Congxian stood by acting as if nothing was wrong, as if the business wasn't his and he didn't need to spend the money he earned.

So Lin threw the stall she was holding on the ground, grabbed Su Congxian by the collar, and dragged him over.

"He's the boss! If you need anything, go to him! Don't keep bothering me!"

As she spoke, Lin glared fiercely at Su Congxian.

"You're supposed to be a real man, how come you always try to put things off? I think you should stop calling yourself Su Congxian and start calling yourself a coward!"

Upon hearing Lin's words, Su Congxian blushed and stammered:

"I, I, I don't know what happened either. I've never dealt with something like this before. I was just thinking you'd be more professional, right? Besides, she's just a woman, and I didn't want to say too much to her. I was just afraid you'd get angry."

Lin glared fiercely at Su Congxian.

"You're afraid I'll get angry, but aren't you afraid I'll get beaten up? Such a big problem has happened at this stall, and you haven't said a word, just sitting there like a mute. Why don't you say a few words in my defense? Our candied hawthorns are made fresh every day, how could anyone get a stomachache from eating them?"

Su Congxian swallowed hard, not daring to open his eyes to look at Lin Shi. He was quite frightened at the moment. He never expected things to escalate to such a serious level. If this matter was not handled properly, he feared he would no longer be able to sell rotten candied hawthorns as good ones for a good price. Even worse, he might have to give up his business altogether.

But Su Congxian didn't know how to handle the situation either. He had never experienced anything like this before, so he quietly tugged at Lin's sleeve and whispered:

"How about we go somewhere else, or maybe we should go back and pick him up? I think we shouldn't set up here yet. These people are making a huge fuss, and it looks like we can't set up here."

Upon hearing Su Congxian's words, Lin spat on the ground.

"Pah! Do you think I'd stop setting up a stall just because of a few bad apples? We made so many candied hawthorns today, wouldn't it all go to waste if we couldn't sell them?"

As she said this, Lin turned to look at the woman and the man.

"If you want to cause trouble, go somewhere else. Don't delay my business here. If you ruin my business, you won't have a good life either!"

The woman was the type who responded better to gentleness than force. Seeing that she had come to demand an explanation but had instead been scolded, she was naturally displeased. So, she decided not to tolerate Lin Shi any longer and stepped forward, glaring at her and saying:

"Since you refuse to admit it to the death, then let's go to the government and get a verdict. That way, you won't have to accuse me of having ulterior motives and ruining your business!"

Lin thought that he could scare the two away when he got angry, but he didn't expect that the woman would be so persistent and even wanted to take him to the government office. He was just an ordinary citizen and had never seen a government official before.

She set up a stall just to earn a living, but now it's escalating to the point of taking her to court. This has clearly frightened Lin quite a bit.

So Lin took several steps back, not daring to look the woman in the eye, and stammered:

"I still have business to do, I don't have time to accompany you to the county magistrate, unlike you, who stays at home all day doing nothing and thinking about how to ruin other people's business!"

The woman sneered upon hearing this.

"Fine, since you're unwilling to accompany me to see the official, then I'll personally have the constables come and arrest you!"

Hearing this, Lin felt even more frightened and couldn't help but steal a glance at the woman.

"What skills do you have? Are you even one of those people in the county government? You think you're so great, sending the yamen runners to arrest me yourself! It's a joke!"

Seeing that Lin was so stubborn, the woman became angry and grabbed the boy next to her, pointing at Lin's nose.

"Fine, since you don't believe me, and since you have the guts, then you wait here and see if I can actually get the constables to arrest you!"

After saying that, the woman turned and left.

Among the onlookers, someone who recognized the woman quickly stepped forward and spoke up:

"You're really foolish. Don't mess with our county magistrate's relatives, no matter who you're dealing with. Do you really think she can't get you some yamen runners from the county office?"

Upon hearing this, Lin immediately walked nervously to the man.

"Sister, what do you mean by that? Do you know that person from earlier?"

"Of course we know each other! She's the county magistrate's sister-in-law. You've really messed with her! I bet she's gone to the county office to call for help right now."

The older woman sighed helplessly and said:

"I think you'd better be careful. If you offend her, it'll be hard to say whether you'll be able to set up your stall here in the future!"