Chapter 230: Trashing the Stall

Chapter 230: Chapter 230: Trashing the Stall

"This morning, as soon as we got to town, we ran into another family with a stall. We said hello, and the man just wouldn’t stop praising us, saying Liangzi had found a good in-law family and that they’d been covering for us all these days we were gone. I knew something was wrong right then. When we got to our spot, our stall was already set up, and the whole Cao Family was bustling around, hard at work..."

The two families confronted each other in the middle of the street.

At first, Widow Xie couldn’t believe it. But when she pushed her way to the front and saw the bubbling pot of soup and the sizzling oil vat, wasn’t it their hot and spicy soup and fried dough sticks?

Just from the smell, she knew it was identical to her family’s golden combo!

Widow Xie exploded on the spot.

Pointing at Cao Yunyun, she demanded she explain herself—had she been pretending all along, using the guise of helping to actually steal their recipe?

Whether it was because of her near-death experience or because her heart had been completely shattered by Hu Liang’s heartlessness, Cao Yunyun’s temperament had changed.

She stepped out from behind the other members of the Cao Family. Faced with Widow Xie’s furious accusations, not only was she not frightened, but her expression remained calm.

She only glanced at Hu Liang before telling Widow Xie to ask him herself.

With those words, there was nothing left to misunderstand.

Widow Xie couldn’t believe it. She turned to Hu Liang, who was still staring blankly at Cao Yunyun, looking as if he were completely bewitched.

Utterly enraged, Widow Xie slapped him across the face.

The slap snapped Hu Liang to his senses. He looked at no one, his eyes fixed directly on Cao Yunyun. "You promised me."

"I promised you I wouldn’t teach it to outsiders. But I taught my own family."

Cao Yunyun’s words were sharp, devoid of any of her former gentleness or charm. Her eyes, as she looked at Hu Liang, were filled with hatred and resentment.

"Didn’t you also promise you’d marry me as soon as possible? In the end, you were the one who betrayed me."

At the mention of the broken engagement, Hu Liang’s questioning fell silent.

He felt guilty, but Widow Xie felt no guilt whatsoever at that moment.

"You have the nerve to say that! You nearly sold my daughter! With a viper’s heart like yours, who would dare marry you?! I was willing to let it go because you were threatening to kill yourself, but you shameless people, you really know how to push your luck!"

People had started to gather and watch when they first sensed trouble, but now the crowd simply erupted.

"What’s going on? Widow Xie’s future daughter-in-law tried to sell Widow Xie’s daughter?!"

"That can’t be true... Good heavens!"

"Looks like the Cao Family wasn’t covering for the Hu Family. That Cao girl stole the recipe and is starting to compete with them..."

"Do they have no shame? And to think I used to praise her for being so sensible..."

Widow Xie and her children were all known for their upright character. When doing business alongside others, they never hesitated to lend a hand.

Because of this, everyone instinctively sided with the Hu Family.

Cao Yunyun remained expressionless, as if they weren’t talking about her at all.

Granny Cao, however, wasn’t having it.

She had assumed Widow Xie would be concerned about Hu Ximei’s reputation and would keep the matter to herself no matter what, certainly never airing it publicly.

Who would have thought she’d be so ruthless as to expose it right here on the street, in front of so many people.

"Stop your slander! We tried to do a good thing by making an introduction, and now it’s a crime? We were just careless and got deceived by someone. You people insisted on breaking the engagement and tried to drive my daughter to her death! My poor, poor daughter..."

As Granny Cao cursed, she began to wail.

Her wailing caused the tide of the crowd’s discussion to shift. Although they weren’t entirely convinced, they were no longer so one-sided.

"If they were deceived, I guess that’s understandable..."

"I don’t think so. You can discuss things, but how could you drive a girl to her death..."

Seeing this, Mrs. Wang immediately jumped in to support her.

"She’s just a widow’s daughter, how precious do you think she is! Weren’t we just taking pity on her, worried she wouldn’t be able to find a good husband? Now that the engagement is off, the Hu Family and the Cao Family have nothing to do with each other. It’s none of your business what we sell!"

Widow Xie spat. "How is it none of my business! The golden combo you’re selling, you stole it from us!"

"Oh, please. Our Yunyun has been helping you for more than a day or two. She’s observant, quick with her hands, and smart. She learned it just by watching, so what? Once you’ve learned something, it’s yours. Are you saying only you are allowed to sell it and no one else can? You’re stricter than the law! By your logic, all the people on this street selling buns and noodles should find out who sold them first and then the rest should just close up shop!"

Most of the onlookers were vendors themselves, and for them, following a trend was normal.

If they saw something selling well, they would all swarm to sell it too. That’s just how it was; there was no shame in it.

The Hu Family’s business was good, and quite a few people had secretly tried to learn their recipe. But no matter what they did, they could never get the flavor right.

The fried dough sticks wouldn’t get fluffy, and the aroma of the hot and spicy soup was off...

Over time, who didn’t know that the Hu Family’s recipe was a secret? And who wasn’t envious of it?

Mrs. Wang’s words had, in a way, won over the other vendors. For a moment, even fewer people spoke up for the Hu Family.

’After all,’ they thought, ’the Hu Family can sell hot and spicy soup, the Cao Family can sell it, and maybe in the future, we can sell it too.’

"Have you said enough!"

Just as the crowd was whispering among themselves, Hu Liang kicked over a nearby table.

He pointed at the Cao Family, gritting his teeth and forcing the words out one by one.

"You... get the hell out of here now!"

When the tall, sturdy young man erupted in fury, Mrs. Wang and Granny Cao immediately cowered.

Cao Yunyun, who was standing especially close, couldn’t help but shudder at the deafening crash of the table and the furious look in Hu Liang’s eyes.

But immediately after, her hatred intensified.

’By what right?’ she thought. ’By what right does he treat me like this?’

’He doesn’t want me anymore. He betrayed me. So by what right does he point his finger at my family?’

"By what right!"

Cao Fugui was a man, after all. Though he was better at running his mouth than using his fists, that was with other people. He wasn’t afraid of Hu Liang.

Hu Liang had always been honest and approachable in front of the Cao Family, which led Cao Fugui to not take him seriously.

But he had forgotten that when an honest man is pushed too far, his fists are not just for show.

"This spot belongs to the government, not you! Why can’t we set up here? I’m setting up shop today, what are you gonna do about it? You can go bite—"

Burning with rage, Hu Liang swung a heavy punch straight at Cao Fugui’s face. Still boasting shamelessly, Cao Fugui crashed to the ground with a THUD.

The Cao Family was stunned by this sudden explosion of violence.

Mrs. Wang was the first to come to her senses, letting out a shriek as she rushed over to help Cao Fugui.

Cao Fugui was completely dazed by the punch. Half his face swelled up almost immediately, and a trickle of bloody froth, perhaps from a tooth cutting the inside of his mouth, ran down from the corner of his lips.

When Granny Cao saw the miserable state of her son, she couldn’t bear it and raised her hand to slap Hu Liang.

Widow Xie was standing right there; how could she let that happen? She rolled up her sleeves, met her head-on, grabbed a fistful of Granny Cao’s hair with one hand, and scratched her face all over with the other.

Granny Cao howled in pain, flailing her arms to fight back.

Mrs. Wang didn’t dare confront Hu Liang, so she joined the brawl between Widow Xie and Granny Cao.

After knocking down Cao Fugui with one punch, Hu Liang strode past the stunned Old Man Cao and Cao Yunyun. He went to the large soup pot and, ignoring the heat, flipped the entire cauldron of hot and spicy soup onto the ground. He followed up by kicking over the iron wok used for frying the dough sticks.

With his older brother leading the charge, Hu Dacheng was no slouch either. He charged in like a young bull, picked up a bench, and started smashing it against the tables.

Some were brawling, others were wrecking the stall—the scene descended into utter chaos.

The onlookers’ eyes were practically popping out of their heads.

By the time both sides stopped, the once neat and tidy stall was a complete wreck.

All the equipment the Cao Family had spent a fortune on was either smashed to pieces or utterly destroyed.