Chapter 188 — Bullying

Wei Zhao simply did not want Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu to see him go looking for Tang Yun, for who knew what tantrum Miss Chu might throw. Holding to the belief that less trouble was better than more, he had waited until both girls were gone before making his move.

Once outside the school gate, Wei Zhao glanced down the street in the distance. Seeing none of Uncle Qing's Bentley there, he breathed easier and headed toward the snack street together with Kang Xiaobo.

"Huh? Boss, is it really this crazy? Why are there so many people?" Kang Xiaobo pointed into the snack street in surprise. "Even people from the other stalls are going to buy barbecue from Tang Yun's family?" Wei Zhao frowned. A crowd of vendors from the snack street had gathered around the Tang family's barbecue stall, and he certainly did not believe they were there to buy food.

"Tang Yun may be in trouble. Let's go have a look." Wei Zhao quickened his steps.

Sure enough, as he drew closer he heard a man's booming voice shouting, "I say, landlady, this is no way to do things. We are all on the same street, and you grab business like this. Are you going to let the rest of us survive or not?"

The speaker was of course Zhang Biaogan. At noon he had already been furious that Tang's Barbecue was doing better than his own place, unwilling to just watch his trade be stolen. So he had rallied several other vendors selling barbecue or related food, planning to confront Tang's mother when she set up her stall that evening.

In Zhang Biaogan's eyes, Tang's mother was little different from a widow left with an orphan, with a husband bedridden and good as useless. The whole family looked easy to push around, and a little intimidation would surely make her give in.

"Brother, let's talk this over calmly. We never stole anyone's business," Tang's mother said, frightened to see so many people backing Zhang Biaogan. The vendors standing around watching, though they did not openly side with him, also offered not a word for her, all wearing the look of people enjoying a show.

"Not stealing business? You set up your stall here at noon and all the students went to buy from you. Who are we supposed to sell to?" Another barbecue stall's middle-aged woman spoke up. "And you call that not stealing? Do we have to starve to death before it counts?"

"Exactly. You alone sell more than all of us put together. Are you going to let us live or not?" A tall, thin man chimed in as well.

"This..." Tang's mother had never imagined that better business would offend so many people, and she did not know what to do.

"My mother runs an honest business. How is that stealing yours?" Tang Yun could not stand it and stepped forward for her mother. "Our food tastes good, and customers choose to buy from us. Is that our fault? If you want better business, you can improve your own recipes."

"Well said, little girl!" Zhang Biaogan laughed slyly. "Improve our recipes? We would love to. Since you brought it up, I will not stand on ceremony. Hand over your family's recipe so we can all learn from it, and we will call today's matter settled."

"The recipe belongs to our family. Why should we give it to you?" Tang Yun had not expected Zhang Biaogan to be so unreasonable as to demand the recipe outright. If they gave it away, what advantage would her family have left?

"Why? Because your family stole our business, and our demand for the recipe is the will of the people. Isn't that right, brothers and sisters?" Zhang Biaogan said to the supporters beside him.

"That's right. Either give us the recipe so we can all make money together. Keeping it all to yourself is no good," the barbecue woman agreed.

"If you won't give us the recipe, fine. Tomorrow you change it back to the way it was, and we will all be on equal footing," the tall, thin man said darkly.

"We will neither hand over the recipe nor change it back," Tang Yun said, so angry she was nearly in tears. How could people bully like this? A whole crowd picking on her mother and her? Was there no justice left?

"Neither give it nor change it?" Zhang Biaogan sneered. "Then that will not be your decision. I think you had better not come to set up in this snack street tomorrow." "You..." Tang Yun's eyes reddened and tears were about to fall. Was this how people bullied others? Because business was good, she could no longer set up her stall?

"Yun'er..." Afraid Tang Yun might do something rash, Tang's mother pulled her into her arms and pointed with a trembling finger at Zhang Biaogan. "You... are you bullying us because there is no man in our house? What kind of courage is it to bully us mother and daughter?"

If her husband were not confined to his sickbed, they surely would not dare to be so arrogant.

"Don't make it sound so ugly. This is the will of the people," Zhang Biaogan said. He had come today precisely because the Tang family had no man to stand up for them. He had long since learned all about their background, which was why he dared to act so recklessly.

Holding Tang Yun close, Tang's mother shook with anger. Why was it so hard just to run a small business? The moment they saw her family making money, they came to bully them. It was too much.

Tang Yun hated herself for not being a boy. If she were a boy, they would not dare to be so brazen. Looking at the vendors standing by, none with the slightest intention of stepping in, she felt despair wash over her.

Her family had just begun to recover and just found new hope, only to be forced back again... "Screw your mother!" Wei Zhao shoved through the crowd and charged straight in. Had Zhang Biaogan gone too far? Bullying Tang Yun and her mother? What was he thinking? Did he not know these two were under his protection?

The vendor shoved aside by Wei Zhao was about to curse, but on seeing who it was, he promptly shut his mouth. This was the new terror of No.1 High School. Even someone as fearsome as Zou Ruoming had been slapped by him into silence. Who would dare invite such trouble?

Wei Zhao seized Zhang Biaogan by the back of his collar and lifted him straight off the ground. "So you are the ringleader."

"Who the hell..." Grabbed suddenly by his clothes, Zhang Biaogan opened his mouth to swear, but when he saw Wei Zhao's face, he gave a violent start.

He remembered Wei Zhao all too well, the man who had slapped Zou Ruoming so hard he did not dare let out a peep. A man like that was truly ruthless.

Zhang Biaogan had once sold stir-fried seafood, until Zou Ruoming got an upset stomach and came the next day to smash his stall, beating him so badly he could not get out of bed for days. Once healed, he no longer dared sell stir-fried seafood and switched to barbecue, but his fear of Zou Ruoming ran deep.

It was no secret that Zou Ruoming had an elder brother who was a street boss in the north of the city. Knowing that, Zhang Biaogan dared harbor no thoughts of revenge. For such people, crushing him would be child's play.

Yet today Wei Zhao, the very man who had dealt with Zou Ruoming, had come looking for him. Zhang Biaogan was so frightened he nearly wet his pants. If this man could beat Zou Ruoming without hesitation, then beating him would be easy and pleasant.

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