"Deal, then the day after tomorrow, after I deliver the goods here, I'll bring my wife and daughter to visit. The day after tomorrow, after I finish delivering the goods, I'll pick you up and come to my house to sit for a while."
Once the two parties officially became sworn relatives, they were considered true uncle and nephew.
They would visit each other during festivals and holidays, interacting like normal relatives.
"That's wonderful." Zhao Zhijie laughed heartily, clearly very pleased with Zhang Liunian as his nephew.
As this was his first time becoming a sworn relative, Zhang Liunian took the matter very seriously and began to think about what gifts to prepare for the visit.
Two bottles of Maotai, several cartons of cigarettes, and some food and daily necessities.
That afternoon, he would go to the Nan City Department Store for a browse and pick out watches for himself and his wife.
With these thoughts, he bid farewell to Zhao Zhijie and went to the restaurant to deliver the braised meat.
"Fifty jin. This is one hundred yuan. Keep it safe." Mu Mingliang weighed the meat and paid Zhang Liunian.
With another hundred yuan in his pocket, his current earnings had surpassed a thousand.
Zhang Liunian touched his bulging pocket, his thoughts still on the smile his wife would have upon seeing this money.
"Comrade Mingliang, there's no need to see me off." Walking out of the restaurant, Zhang Liunian stopped Mu Mingliang, who was about to escort him further.
Mu Mingliang stopped, a smile on his face, "Alright, walk slowly, I won't see you out."
Zhang Liunian waved goodbye and left. He first found the butcher and asked for another one hundred and sixty jin of meat, then instructed him to deliver three hundred and fifty jin of pork to his home the next day.
The butcher was overjoyed, to the point of beaming, and even gave Zhang Liunian the remaining bones and a piece of pork liver on his stall.
"Take it, take it. I'm closing up shop." Because of this big spender, the butcher realized his meat was selling without any worry.
Meat that used to take until three or four in the afternoon to sell was now gone by noon, allowing him to close shop, go home, and take a nap.
Most importantly, he hadn't earned less money.
Less time and more money – this was truly a heavenly life.
Zhang Liunian didn't stand on ceremony, thanked the butcher, and then went further into the market to buy other things.
On the way, the three of them saw Wang Xiao'e again. This time she was alone, and Zhang Liusha was nowhere to be seen.
Zhang Liunian's gaze didn't linger. After walking a short distance, he noticed the woman he always bought vegetables from, who was with her child, being harassed by some ruffians.
"Same old rule. If you want to set up a stall here, you have to pay protection fees.
Considering your business is doing alright, we won't make things too difficult for you. They pay one yuan, so you should give us two yuan!"
The woman shielded her son behind her, her expression grim. "Can you be lenient for two days? I haven't even opened for business yet!"
Her vegetables were only bought by Zhang Liunian; no one else patronized her. It wasn't that her vegetables were bad, but everyone here said she was a jinx, that she had brought misfortune to her in-laws and husband, so they all shunned her produce.
"Do you think I'm a charity? You want to drag it out for two days? Hand it over right now.
Don't be ungrateful. Someone like you, a disaster star who curses your parents and husband, we're already being generous by letting you set up your stall. Hurry up and give me the money." As the ruffian spoke, he kicked over the woman's vegetables and then stomped on them, crushing them into a muddy mess.
"No, don't step on my vegetables." The woman was still waiting for Zhang Liunian to buy her vegetables and couldn't bear to see them destroyed like this. She immediately lunged forward, using her body to shield the vegetables, trying to prevent the ruffian from damaging them.
But the ruffian had come specifically to cause trouble for her and wouldn't let her succeed.
Seeing her blocking him, the ruffian directly stepped on the woman, pushing her to the ground, and continued to grind his foot. "I know you have money. You can afford two yuan. Hurry up and pay."
"Mommy, Mommy, let go of my mommy." The timid little boy, seeing his mother being stepped on by the ruffian, his face contorted in pain, immediately pounced forward, hitting the ruffian's leg.
The ruffian looked at the little boy with impatience. He grabbed the boy by the neck with his large hand. "Get out of my way, or I'll choke you, you little bastard."
"No, no, I'll give it, I'll give it, please let go of my son." The woman actually didn't have two yuan on her. She said this only to prevent him from harming her son.
The ruffian was extremely smug, "Why didn't you just say so earlier?"
"First, let go of my Xiao Mao." The woman's eyes were now solely focused on her son's safety.
Just as the ruffian was about to throw the boy aside, Xiao Mao suddenly bit his arm. The ruffian, in pain, instinctively swung his hand, instantly flinging the little boy away.
"Xiao Mao!" Seeing her son being flung away by the ruffian, the woman struggled to get up from under the ruffian's feet and then rushed forward desperately to catch her son.
However, she was too far from her flying son. Even with all her strength, she couldn't reach where he was about to land.
As her son was about to fall heavily from the height and be injured, she screamed in despair, "No!"
The next moment, she saw her son being caught steadily by a pair of large hands. The woman froze, then looked at the owner of the hands, and tears immediately streamed down her face.
It was her benefactor, her benefactor had arrived and saved her son.
"Xiao Mao is fine." Zhang Liunian, holding the little boy who was clinging to him tightly after being startled, walked step by step towards the woman and said.
The woman immediately broke down sobbing. The crowd in the market heard her cries, and although some felt pity, they didn't step forward to help.
It wasn't their fault; it was hers for having bad luck.
Anyone associated with her had met a bad end, so how could they help her?
Wouldn't that be harming themselves as well?
Zhang Liunian didn't know all this; he only saw the hardship this woman faced.
"Thank you, thank you, benefactor." After crying, the woman reached out and took her son. Back in his mother's arms, Xiao Mao immediately began to sob softly.
His cries were quiet, but they were heartbreaking.
"Who are you?" The ruffian, seeing a man appear to help these jinxes, stepped forward, glared at Zhang Liunian, and was about to curse.
Seeing such trash, Zhang Liunian didn't say a word. He stepped forward and delivered a kick. "I'm your father."
"Bang!" As the ruffian crashed to the ground, Zhang Liunian's arrogant words resounded through the ears of everyone present.
The other five ruffians who had been providing backup and hadn't intervened yet, seeing someone dare to cause trouble and beat up their associate, immediately grabbed their clubs and charged forward.
But Zhang Liunian didn't put them in his eyes at all. He rolled up his sleeves and, in a few swift moves, easily knocked these ruffians to the ground.
The onlookers were stunned. It was their first time encountering someone so skilled at fighting.
Du Ziteng and Zhang Qian were also awestruck by Zhang Liunian's display of strength.
Brother Liunian was so amazing; those moves were so cool.
He truly lived up to being his elder brother, possessing great skills.