Chapter Seventeen: Father Teaches the Villain a Lesson

Lin Sangqian’s eyes flashed with cold sharpness. She turned her head and saw the man who had just been selling steamed buns, now stuffing a meat pie into his mouth.

After one bite, his eyes widened, and then he devoured the rest, swallowing it in two or three gulps.

The aunt was dumbfounded for a moment, then grew anxious. “What are you doing! The young lady already said she’d given me the pie!”

“Heh, I ate it. What can you do about it?” The bun-seller raised his fist with a feigned movement. “What, you want to fight me?”

He wasn’t particularly strong, but still heftier than the average man. The aunt, being a woman, wouldn’t dare go head-to-head with him.

Lin Sangqian sneered and reached out her hand to him. “Pay up.”

“Pay? Pay for what?” the man replied carelessly.

“You ate my meat pie. Seven coins a piece.”

She had just been selling pork pies at that price.

No markup—this was the last bit of leniency she would show this man.

“Seven coins? That’s daylight robbery!” The man shouted, “My buns only cost one!”

“There’s pork in her pies!” the aunt couldn’t help but defend Lin Sangqian. “Seven coins isn’t expensive at all. Your buns—I won’t even start—nothing but who-knows-what inside. One coin is generous!”

The man’s expression turned sour and he ground his teeth in anger.

His name was Guo Da, and he’d been selling buns here for a while. Business was always mediocre. On bad days, he’d have plenty of unsold buns left.

Yesterday, he’d watched Lin Sangqian’s family sell pies, and they sold out in no time. Jealousy burned in him, so today he’d deliberately taken their spot.

But Lin Sangqian simply found another place and continued her business, just as lively as before!

He was nearly driven mad with envy, convinced that her pies were stealing his bun customers.

So, he came over to make trouble.

“Bah! Who knows if that’s real pork in your pie or not? I’m not paying—what can you do about it?”

Lin Sangqian withdrew her hand, her gaze icy. “You’re sure you won’t pay?”

“I won’t!”

Several people, hearing the commotion, turned to look their way.

“What’s going on?”

“The bun-seller stole the young lady’s pie and won’t pay for it.”

“What? How shameless can you get?”

“Exactly…”

Some in the crowd couldn’t stand it and scolded Guo Da, who bared his teeth and snapped, “None of your business! Get lost!”

He leered at Lin Sangqian. “Skinny as you are, you’re not half bad-looking. Come here, let me have a feel…”

A wave of disgust swept through Lin Sangqian. She was about to dodge when she suddenly saw a hand seize Guo Da’s wrist.

“Who’s that?” Guo Da snarled, but before he could see who it was, he was kicked to the ground.

“Damn it, you want to fight?” Guo Da scrambled to his feet and saw a thin man standing protectively in front of Lin Sangqian.

If he remembered right, the man was the young lady’s partner in selling pies—probably her father.

But Guo Da didn’t take this scrawny, monkey-like man seriously.

“Haha, you think you can take me? Do you even know your own strength?”

With that, Guo Da lunged. Lin Hongda, unamused, caught Guo Da’s swinging fist and landed a punch squarely in his stomach.

Guo Da cried out in pain, and Lin Hongda followed with a sweeping kick, sending him to his knees.

Lin Hongda pressed Guo Da’s head to the ground, forcing a mouthful of dirt on him.

For such trash, he didn’t even need to put in any real effort.

“Well done!”

“Good job!”

The onlookers applauded, all fed up with Guo Da’s behavior but never daring to act themselves. Now that Lin Hongda had taught him a lesson, it was as if he’d vented everyone’s anger.

Lin Sangqian couldn’t help but clap too. Back in her modern life, she’d rarely watched her father practice taekwondo or even visited his gym. Watching him deal with those thugs brought by Lai Ruyu before had delighted her; today, seeing him in action again made her think her father was truly amazing!

“You little punk, you dare touch my daughter? Hm?”

“Big brother, I was wrong!” Guo Da was nearly scared out of his wits, begging for mercy. “I was blind, didn’t recognize greatness, I shouldn’t have messed with you two, please let me go!”

Who would have thought that such a skinny man could fight so well?

No wonder the young lady had never shown the slightest fear.

“Will you dare bully people again?” Lin Hongda demanded sternly.

“Never again!” Guo Da replied hastily.

At this moment, Lin Sangqian spoke up. “Dad, he just ate our pork pie. Make him pay!”

“You heard her? Pay up!” Lin Hongda barked.

“I’ll pay, I’ll pay! Just let me go…”

Lin Hongda released him, and Guo Da, trembling, fished out some coins, counted out seven, and handed them over.

“Ten coins,” Lin Sangqian said.

“Didn’t you say seven a piece?” Guo Da asked cautiously.

“It’s seven for decent customers. For someone like you, who snatches and causes trouble, seven is too cheap,” Lin Sangqian replied coldly.

Guo Da hesitated, but seeing Lin Hongda glare at him, he quickly handed over three more coins and fled in a panic.

The crowd burst into laughter, then gradually dispersed.

No one thought Lin Sangqian had been wrong—in fact, some thought she had charged too little and should have really made the scoundrel pay.

Lin Hongda handed the ten coins to Lin Sangqian. The aunt beside her said admiringly, “Young lady, your father is truly formidable!”

Lin Sangqian grinned, “Auntie, sorry—the pork pie was meant for you. I didn’t expect him to steal it.”

“Don’t apologize to me! I was getting a free pie from you in the first place,” the aunt protested, waving her hand. “Actually, thanks to you, my sweet potato business did much better today! I’ll set up beside you again tomorrow!”

“Alright!” Lin Sangqian nodded. “Tomorrow I’ll have a pork pie ready just for you.”

She and Lin Hongda counted up their earnings for the day: eighteen coins from leek and egg pies, seventy-three from pork pies, a total of ninety-one coins.

Lin Hongda rubbed his hands in excitement. “We made so much today—your mother will be delighted!”

Lin Sangqian smiled. “Let’s go by the restaurant to see my brothers. We didn’t see them yesterday, and today, since we’ve earned so much, let’s buy some treats to bring them.”

She’d thought about keeping three pork pies for them, but by the time they got there, the pies would be cold and not as tasty. She decided to buy something else to bring instead and make fresh pies for them when they came home.

“Good idea.”

Father and daughter set off for the restaurant where her three brothers worked.