Chapter 26: Background
Chapter 26: Background
"Oh, haha, I forgot, my apologies."
Xiao Yuanqing was taken aback, then realized what was happening. He turned to Jiang Cheng, "Sweet Potato Vendor, how much are your sweet potatoes?"
It wasn't that he was stingy with the money, but he felt that eating at a street stall actually required payment? However, he had finally managed to have a meal with his apprentice sister, so he naturally wanted to leave a good impression.
"Six yuan each."
Jiang Cheng glanced at Bai Wei with a hint of surprise.
He thought to himself that this girl actually had a bit of a conscience.
"Take it, no need for change."
He handed over a twenty-yuan bill.
Everyone's gaze shifted towards Jiang Cheng.
Lu Zicheng, standing nearby, widened his eyes as well.
In his opinion, it was best not to take this money.
After all, no one knew what this guy was thinking when he handed over the money. What if he felt displeased and caused trouble later?
But Jiang Cheng didn't think too much about it.
'If you're giving it, I'll take it, but only what's rightfully mine.'
He took the twenty-yuan bill with his left hand and gave eight yuan in change with his right.
"What's the meaning of this?"
Xiao Yuanqing narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing the youth before him.
"Two sweet potatoes for twelve yuan, here's your eight yuan in change."
Jiang Cheng explained.
"Hehe."
Hearing this, Xiao Yuanqing laughed.
"Sweet Potato Vendor, are you stupid or deaf? Didn't you hear me say I don't need change?"
"Hehe, I am a bit silly."
Bai Wei covered her mouth and laughed.
"Is that so?"
Having amused his apprentice sister, Xiao Yuanqing laughed even louder. He waved at Jiang Cheng and left.
Jiang Cheng was annoyed.
'Who do you think you are, acting like I owe you eight yuan?'
Moreover, this guy clearly wasn't a good person. If it weren't for his apprentice sister's reminder, he would have left long ago.
As the two of them walked away, the atmosphere at the scene relaxed.
"Boss, congratulations! You even made an extra eight yuan."
"Haha, yeah, but these martial arts academy members, whether it's you or us, we can't afford to offend them. If there's a next time, it's best not to take their money."
"Yeah, even if they give it, don't take it."
Hearing the crowd's reminder, Jiang Cheng quickly agreed.
After all, they were just being considerate.
Soon after, the freshly baked sweet potatoes were all sold out.
Those who didn't manage to buy any had no choice but to leave, planning to return after a few dozen minutes when there were fewer people.
Before leaving, someone suggested that Jiang Cheng bring an extra oil drum next time, so he could roast two batches at once.
To be honest, Jiang Cheng had this idea too.
Who wouldn't want to make more money?
For the sake of caution, he still planned to wait a couple of days until the situation became clearer.
Time passed, and in the blink of an eye, evening arrived.
Jiang Cheng had just sold the last batch of roasted sweet potatoes and was packing up his stall, planning to head to the grocery store to buy more sweet potatoes.
Lu Zicheng watched this, first with surprise and then with a hint of gloom.
He had specially bought some starch sausages with a higher meat content today. The price was the same, but he hadn't sold much more in a whole day.
Of course, if one were to say that sales hadn't increased, they actually had, by over a dozen sausages, but that was thanks to Jiang Cheng's help.
Those people gathered around, hearing his calls, bought one and ate while waiting.
But when he thought about how Jiang Cheng sold out one batch as soon as it was out of the oven, and the same for the next batch, he couldn't help but feel a bit envious.
"Jiang Cheng, you sold quite a bit more today than yesterday, right?"
Hearing the voice beside him, Jiang Cheng sighed inwardly. 'What was coming, was coming.'
"It's a bit better, yes, a little more than yesterday."
"Really?"
Lu Zicheng slowly said, "Since I've been here, you've sold almost eighty roasted sweet potatoes. If we count the morning, it's definitely over ninety."
Ninety, at six yuan each, that's 540 yuan.
Half of that is 270 yuan in profit!
That's what he could earn in two, or even three days.
Jiang Cheng managed to achieve this in just one day.
"It's not too bad, I suppose."
Jiang Cheng gave a bitter smile.
The kid was indeed right.
"Sigh, this is already the limit. The time for roasting sweet potatoes is fixed, and I can only roast so many in a day."
Lu Zicheng was about to say something, but thought better of it and swallowed his words.
If he spoke up, and Jiang Cheng actually went and got two buckets for roasting, he would feel worse seeing Jiang Cheng making money while he lost his own.
"It's getting late, I should head back first."
Jiang Cheng smiled and said.
"Okay, see you tomorrow."
"See you tomorrow."
Jiang Cheng pushed his cart and left.
He thought to himself, people should not always compare themselves to others, but rather compare themselves to their past selves. Constantly comparing to others, how could one ever be happy?
Just like at the same age of twenty, some people live in the city over there, enjoying a good life, while they barely survive under the thumb of the gang.
As he exited the grocery store, the sky darkened, and there were fewer people on the streets.
Jiang Cheng pushed his cart and turned into an alley.
Although he was no longer worried about encountering thugs blocking his path, he still secretly hoped for it, but he dared not let his guard down.
It was just like yesterday.
The dark shadows hiding nearby saw that it was him and quietly left.
He passed through many alleyways, and at this moment, he suddenly heard crying coming from a fork in the road ahead.
"Sirs, I don't have any money, I really don't. You just searched me, didn't you? Please, let me go." An old man's voice rang out.
"No money? Good, then leave your things here. When you have the money, you can come back and redeem them."
"No, please, this is my livelihood, my family depends on it. Please, sirs, let me go. Business hasn't been good these past few days, not many people buy stinky tofu. In a couple of days, when business picks up, I'll definitely pay what I owe. Please."
The old man wept.
The surroundings fell into an eerie silence.
"You old fool, do you think we're idiots? In a couple of days? Either leave your things here or fork over three hundred bucks, old man."
"Three hundred? Even if I sold myself, I couldn't come up with that much!"
"Then leave your tricycle and the things on it!"
"I can't, sirs, please, have mercy."
The old man cried out.
Hearing this, Jiang Cheng couldn't help but stop in his tracks, anger welling up inside him.
These people were beasts, preying even on the elderly!
A painful scream echoed.
A whimper of agony followed.
"You shameless old thing!"
A voice filled with malice rang out, and the owner of this voice was the one who had made the old man scream earlier.
However, this voice sounded somewhat familiar to Jiang Cheng.
Or rather, it triggered a memory from his original form.
In this slum, most thugs were ordinary people who came out at night to rob and bully those weaker than themselves.
A minority of thugs, however, had connections. Like those not far away, they had the backing of someone from the Wild Wolf Gang. They not only robbed ordinary people but also other thugs. Half of the money they took went to their superiors, and the other half to themselves.
His original form had encountered these people numerous times, and there were even instances where his tricycle was confiscated. Once, he had to borrow money from Chen Sao to redeem it.
Jiang Cheng broke out in a cold sweat and withdrew his hand from his back.
Fortunately, he hadn't acted on impulse and charged over, otherwise, a conflict with these people could have led to unpredictable consequences.
He wasn't afraid of these guys, but what about the Wild Wolf Gang?
They were a bunch of ruthless thugs.
"Sorry."
Jiang Cheng apologized, as if to the old man and also to himself.
Pushing his cart, he turned into the adjacent alley.
It wasn't that he didn't want to get involved, but he currently lacked the ability to do so.
(End of Chapter)
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