Chapter 1111 — Why Are You Crying?

At this thought, Yu Yuanyuan could not hold back her tears; they slid silently down her cheeks, and she began to sob, her throat tight with weeping...

Er Goudan was eating with great relish when he suddenly heard a woman crying. He gave a violent start, looked up, and saw that it was Yu Yuanyuan in tears!

"Miss shopkeeper, what's the matter with you?" Er Goudan rose at once and went over to her.

Yu Yuanyuan said nothing, only wept. His question had touched the sore spot in her heart, and she cried all the harder for it.

"Hey! Girl, say something, won't you? What on earth is wrong? Everything was fine a moment ago — what are you crying for?" Seeing that she would not speak, Er Goudan grew a little anxious. "Don't tell me you're heartsick because I'm eating without paying? Set your mind at ease, I'll pay you back for sure. Stop crying — your crying makes me feel awful!"

"Woo... woo..." Hearing Er Goudan spouting such nonsense, Yu Yuanyuan cried even harder.

Yu Ren, his heart full of thoughts of his daughter and of how few chances they had left to be together, simply closed up his grocery store early and knocked off work, then headed for the burger shop where his daughter worked.

The moment he stepped into the burger shop, Yu Ren heard his daughter's sobbing. Alarmed, he ran over, taking the steps two at a time. "Yuanyuan, what's wrong? Why are you crying? Has someone wronged you?"

"Dad..." At the sight of her father, Yu Yuanyuan flung herself into his arms and wept harder still.

"Yuanyuan, don't cry. What on earth happened?" Yu Ren asked gently, holding his daughter.

"Ai, it's only that I ate without bringing any money... You said you'd treat me, so why are you crying now? If you've changed your mind, I just won't eat..." Er Goudan was truly at his wit's end.

Yu Ren was taken aback. So this fellow had come to eat and run? But from the way he told it, that didn't seem right either — it sounded as though his daughter had offered to treat him.

"You... go on and eat your food. This has nothing to do with you..." Fearing her father would blame Er Goudan, Yu Yuanyuan hurried to explain.

"Hey, if it's got nothing to do with me, then what did you suddenly start crying for? You were perfectly fine a moment ago — how did you all at once burst into tears?" Er Goudan sighed, utterly baffled.

"Young man, since it's none of your business, go and eat..." Yu Ren had guessed why his daughter was crying and knew Er Goudan had nothing to do with it, so he waved a hand, motioning him back to his food.

"I ate your food, and I won't eat it for nothing. Have you run into some trouble? Tell me, and let's see whether I can help you!" Judging by the look of Yu Yuanyuan, Er Goudan guessed that she must be in some difficulty.

"You can't help me... no one can help me..." Hearing Er Goudan's words, Yu Yuanyuan seemed to be speaking to him, and yet also muttering to herself as if venting her feelings: "Just don't ask..."

"How can I not help?" A surge of gallantry rose in Er Goudan's heart. Watching Yu Yuanyuan weep in her grief made him miserable. Er Goudan was the sort who repaid a drop of kindness with a gushing spring; Yu Yuanyuan had treated him to a meal, and now she was plainly in trouble — there was no way he could stand by and do nothing!

"I'm being taken by force to be someone's concubine — can you help me with that?" Pushed to the wall by Er Goudan's questions, Yu Yuanyuan simply came out with it. It was no honorable matter; she had not wanted to speak of it, but Er Goudan would not stop asking, and she had no way out.

"A concubine?" Er Goudan was startled. "You're being taken to be a concubine? Who wants to take you? Why would they?"

"Don't ask so much. It has nothing to do with you either. Finish your food and be on your way!" Seeing that Er Goudan was an honest sort, Yu Yuanyuan did not want him dragged into this business.

"Tell me, what exactly is going on? I'd like to see it — I'm sitting right here, and someone dares to come and take you away?" Er Goudan's stubborn streak flared up; he glared wide-eyed and snorted.

Er Goudan felt a certain fondness for Yu Yuanyuan. He thought her a kind girl — she had treated him to a meal, which was far better than that female swindler! So now that Yu Yuanyuan was in trouble, and Er Goudan was by nature a warm-hearted man, how could he possibly look the other way?

"Fine. If you want to hear it, I'll tell you..." Seeing that Er Goudan was determined to get to the bottom of it, Yu Yuanyuan stopped resisting. These past two days her heart had been unbearably pent up anyway; pouring it out to an outsider might at least make her feel a little better.

In truth, Yu Yuanyuan did not believe Er Goudan could do anything — he had only just come to the city; what did he know of the world's coldness? So she told him how Xiao Luozi had schemed to trick her father into going to the boxing arena to watch a match, how he had then lent money, and how he had forced her to become Master Li's concubine.

Hearing of Yu Yuanyuan's plight, Er Goudan flew into a rage, glaring at Yu Ren, who sat nearby with a face full of gloom. "What are that Xiao Luozi and Master Li supposed to be? One's a street thug, the other's a showman who fights on a platform for a living. I thought they were some formidable characters — turns out they're just a pair of trash. And you'd actually think of handing over your daughter to settle a debt? What kind of father are you? Are you even a man?"

"Whether I am or not, what difference does it make? That Xiao Luozi is a man of the underworld, and Master Li is fearsome too — one punch from him and he shatters a steel security door. What am I, an old man, supposed to do? One word from them and our whole family is ruined!" Yu Ren said with a bitter smile.

"So you just accept your fate? You'd give your daughter to him as a concubine?" Er Goudan was furious. What kind of father was this?

"And what good would refusing do?" Yu Ren shook his head helplessly. "Young man, you don't understand. You're too simple and honest — you don't know how formidable those people are!"

"Formidable? How formidable can a street ruffian and a showman boxer be?" Er Goudan said scornfully. "That sort bullies the soft and fears the hard. Show weakness and they turn hard; show hardness and they turn soft. If I were you, I'd go settle it with them, life for life!"

"Life for life? How could I be their match? They'd beat me to death!" Yu Ren felt Er Goudan was talking more and more wildly, and shook his head.

"How can you talk about my dad like that? You've only just come to the city — what do you know about how formidable they are? It's easy enough for you to say. Then why don't you go settle it with him, life for life?" Yu Yuanyuan was angry now. Her father might be a disappointment, but to hear an outsider like Er Goudan run him down like that still stung. What Er Goudan said had some sense in it, but he had no idea how tangled the whole business was, or how formidable those people were!

"A pair of trash — they're not worth my life!" Er Goudan stood up. "Give me the address of that Master Li, and I'll go kill him with one punch!"

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