Chunfeng Building was the largest brothel in Zhuma Town. People of status often frequented it, and it was rare for any trouble to occur. Of course, Lin Jiaxiao was willing to take on such a desirable job, especially since there were many young and beautiful girls in the building, which was far preferable to dealing with Li Feng’e, the foul-tempered woman, all day.
However, Lin Jiaxiao was no fool; he dared not tell his wife about the job but simply claimed he was working with his cousin. With Li Sanzi being a relative, Li Feng’e naturally didn’t suspect anything. All that mattered to her was that he brought home money.
As for Lin Jiazhong’s situation, it could only be described as tragic. His second son was paralyzed on the kang bed, and although Lady Ma took great care of him every day, his mental state was becoming increasingly chaotic. Several times he had stealthily crawled out of the house, mumbling and attempting to head towards Lin Yuan’s direction. Even worse, the children in the village had seen him, taunting and throwing stones at him, which worsened his mental state.
Lady Ma, consumed by the care for her son, cried all day, neglecting everything else. She even forgot that her eldest son had not returned home for over a month.
In order to save his younger son from the disaster of imprisonment, Lin Jiazhong borrowed a significant amount of silver from the Boss, and even now the debt had not been fully repaid. Every day, when he came home and heard his younger son’s wailing, he couldn’t help feeling agitated. Lady Ma also often wept to him, begging him to find a skilled doctor, which only added to his irritation.
Lady Ma and her husband had lost hope for their son, but when they heard that Lin Jiaxin, who had been paralyzed for more than half a year, had managed to stand up again, they saw new hope. However, the person who treated Lin Jiaxin was not just anybody; it was the former owner of the Fuman Building. It was so, not even Master Magistrate Lichang could easily request his services without considering his mood.
The couple thought of asking Lin Yuan for help, but Lin Jiazhong, the self-righteous fellow, would not lower his head to that Little Disaster Star. No matter how hard Lady Ma tried, he adamantly refused to seek out Lin Yuan.
Lin Yuan had no mind to inquire further into the affairs of Lin family’s valley, as she was facing a troublesome matter herself.
Early one morning, as soon as Lin Yuan arrived at the Fuman Building, she encountered Shopkeeper Wu from Yecheng, Xiangman Building. Shopkeeper Wu had an anxious expression, his face troubled. After speaking with Shopkeeper Liu, she learned that Shopkeeper Wu had rushed to Zhuma Town the previous evening.
Such urgency certainly indicated a serious matter.
Lin Yuan exchanged a glance with Xia Zheng and led Shopkeeper Wu into her room on the second floor.
Shopkeeper Wu was too anxious to sit, and blurted out desperately, "Boss, disaster! Drunken Immortal Residence has started selling tofu!"
Lin Yuan and Xia Zheng were startled and looked at each other in shock. The tofu-making process was Lin Yuan’s invention, and though it had been sold for almost half a year, she was certain that not even the cleverest person could figure out the process in such a short period. Could it be that someone had secretly betrayed them?
Unaware of their shocked expressions, Shopkeeper Wu continued fretting like an ant on a hot pan, saying relentlessly, "What shall we do? The business at our Xiangman Building isn’t as good as Drunken Immortal Residence, and just when we had this unique dish of tofu that almost gave us the upper hand, who could have imagined, in such a short span of time, they figured it out! What are we to do, Boss? They’re selling their tofu for half the price of ours, and many of our customers have been lured away! This month’s business is definitely going to slide again! Ah!"