Righteousness without hesitation

  "Little girl, come and have some noodles."

  Liu Yuan held a bowl of noodles in front of Xiao Niang and persuaded her, saying, "This little guy has been going on for two days and two nights, only drinking a few cups of water, and hasn't eaten anything at all."

  The little girl shook her head and still didn't eat.

  "A person can't come back to life once they're dead, you should accept the natural order of things. Your father's spirit in heaven would see that you're like this and even if he were to leave, his heart wouldn't be at peace." Liu Yuan advised softly.

  The little girl heard this and was stunned for a moment. Perhaps Liu Yuan's words, "Your father's spirit in heaven would not be at peace if he saw you like this," had moved her. She turned her head to glance at the ordinary coffin, then silently accepted the noodles that Liu Yuan handed over and began eating them mouthful by mouthful, without even knowing what they tasted like.

  "Thank you, thank you so much, Big Brother Liu. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't know what to do!" Xiaoniang put down the bowl and looked at Liu Yuan with a grateful face.

  Now all these things are taken care of by Liu Yuan alone, if there was no Liu Yuan, Xiao Niang would not know what to do.

  "Foolish girl, isn't your business also mine? Besides, if I don't take care of you, who will?" Liu comforted her.

  The little girl looked at Liu Yuan, who had two "panda eyes", and said emotionally: "Brother, take a rest for a while, you haven't closed your eyes for two days, I can watch here."

  "Ah~~~" Liu Yuan yawned and forced himself to say: "It's nothing, I can hold on."

  "You go sleep for a while, when I can't hold on at night, we'll switch and you can keep watch. There are only two of us, and just a few more days to go, so let's take turns."

  "There's hardly anyone who comes to worship." The young woman said quietly.

  After Liu Yuan's departure, Xiao Niang also wanted to leave.

  According to custom, the coffin is placed at home for seven days before burial. Now there are only two people left, and if they don't take turns resting, it's estimated that even before the funeral procession, both of these big living men will be so tired they won't be able to get up.

  Liu thought about it and felt the same way. He was also forcing himself to stay awake, his eyelids had been fighting for a long time, if he lay down and closed his eyes, he would probably fall asleep immediately.

  "Alright then, little girl, I'll stay here for a while, you can wake me up when you need something."

  "Uh-huh."

  Liu Yuan saw that nothing was wrong, took a big coat, leaned against a pillar beside him, closed his eyes and soon fell asleep.

  Rushing in and out, Liu Yuan hasn't closed his eyes for more than two days, he doesn't know how tired he is.

  In his dream, Liu Yuan seemed to have returned to the 21st century, in that warm home, eating dumplings wrapped by his mother's hands.

  Just as Liu Yuan was sleeping most sweetly, he was suddenly awakened by a burst of noise. Dazed and confused, he opened his eyes to find many people seemingly quarreling about something. After listening for a while, Liu Yuan finally understood what they were saying.

  No good, these people didn't come to offer condolences, they came to collect debts.

  "Return the money quickly, your father owes us Chen's store 150 taels of goods, take a good look, this is your father's painting as collateral, and his fingerprint, it's written in black and white here, return the money quickly."

  "The Jin family hasn't paid this month's rent yet. Hurry up and pay me back, if you don't give me the money tomorrow then get out."

  "Miss Yuan, you take care of this. This is the fifty taels of silver that your father borrowed from me when he was having a cash flow problem. Now that he's dead, this debt can't be left to rot. Hurry up and repay it."

  "And also the thirty taels I lent you here, you should return them too."

  "This month's meat money hasn't been settled yet, have a kind heart and our whole family relies on this little money to eat, if you don't pay the bill, my whole family will go hungry."

  Everyone of you says one word, I say one sentence, and the poor little girl is forced in the middle, as if she can't wait to strip her naked and search her body, and take back as much as possible.

  The young girl was still a minor, always under the protection of Yuan Zhanggui, like a flower in a greenhouse. How could she have experienced such things? Now that the "big tree" has fallen and there is no shade, facing these debt collectors' faces, some of which were once so familiar and enthusiastic, but at this moment, all those faces seem so strange.

  These people seemed to have made an appointment and came together to demand debt repayment, suddenly forcing Xiaoniang into a desperate situation.

  I

  "I don't have money." The young woman said in a low and embarrassed tone.

  She had turned over long ago, the Golden Jade Family originally didn't have much to gain, and Yuan Zhanggui was also fond of tea, buying only top-quality tea, from morning till night, this was extremely expensive. The other day, they overturned the family fortune, borrowed money to make a batch of high-priced jewelry, planning to get rid of the rumor that Golden Jade Family could only make cheap jewelry, but unexpectedly let Zhao Yuan and Li Fang abscond with it.

  It is also unknown whether they had planned it in advance or came up with it on a whim.

  When dealing with the aftermath, they urgently needed money. The young woman had already found all the money she could find, but it was really not enough, so she was forced to pawn things at a pawnshop. Where is the money to pay back these creditors now?

  "Impossible! You have such a large gold shop here, yet you're saying you don't have any money?" asked the plump shopkeeper in disbelief.

  A sharp-tongued woman sneered and said, "Boss Zhou, you really are too naive. Haven't you heard? Those two apprentices ran away with the valuable goods, where is there still money to compensate you?"

  "You can't run? Monks can't run away from their temples, go find their family members to compensate."

  Soon someone shouted in a gloomy tone: "What's the point of compensation? The two families are poorer than poor, I reckon even if they sell their pots, they can't scrape together ten taels. The old ones are old, the ugly ones are ugly, and even as slaves, they're not worth much."

  "What about my hard-earned money?" The stout boss with a fleshy face suddenly became anxious.

  "What's to be done? Just grab whatever is valuable, if not enough, that dead guy's daughter looks quite pretty, take her and sell her as a Yangzhou thin horse."

  "Right, with this figure and face, she'll definitely be able to sell for a good price~~~"

  "Ah, no, I don't want to, don't sell me, don't, don't, don't"

  As soon as she heard that she was being sold as a Yangzhou thin horse, the young girl was so frightened that she almost burst into tears.

  "Qīu mǎ" is a derogatory term for women, implying that they can be arbitrarily abused and bullied, just like a weak and small horse being exploited and maltreated. Once you become a "qīu mǎ", you become someone else's plaything, which marks the beginning of a nightmare.

  "Hum, don't sell? Alright, return the money!"

  "Pay back the money!"

  The owner of that butcher shop has already grabbed Xiaoniang's hand and seems to be about to sell her to a brothel.

  That's human feelings for you. Just a few days ago, these people were still smiling at each other, and now they're making a ruckus in the mourning hall before even three days have passed.

  "Stop!"

  Hearing the young woman's cry of surprise, Liu Yuan could no longer sit still, let out a loud shout, and suddenly rushed over. Taking advantage of the momentary stunned state of several people, he pulled the young woman back behind him with one hand and used his own body to shield her from the front.

  Liu Yuan's action first stunned everyone, and when they realized that a small apprentice from the wealthy Jin family was shouting at them, it suddenly enraged everyone.

  "Old Chen pointed directly at Liu Yuan's face and said, 'I thought it was someone else, but it's just a useless little apprentice. What are you yelling about? This has nothing to do with you, scram!'"

  That finger is about to poke into Liu Yuan's eyes.

  The golden employee with a smiling face but not a laughing heart said, "How are you still here? The wealthy families are all going bankrupt, and you can't learn anything from them. Hurry up and leave."

  "It's like a dog biting a mouse, meddling in other people's business."

  "Hey kid, this isn't going to work out here, let's get moving before you get dragged down with us."

  .......

  .......

  Everyone had a word or two to say, some sarcastic, some scolding, and others kindly advising Liu Yuan to leave.

  "Master~~~~" The little girl subconsciously grabbed Liu Yuan's hem, afraid that he would turn around and leave. In her heart, Liu Yuan was the only one she could rely on. If he were to shake off his hand and leave, she would immediately be left with no support.

  She grasped the corner of Liu Yuan's clothes, but it was just a manifestation of her inner cowardice. Her small hands were slightly trembling.

  Liu Yuan knew she was panicking inside, so he quickly and gently patted her shoulder and said softly: "Little wife, don't be afraid, I'll take care of everything, nothing will happen to you."

  After finishing speaking with Xiao Niang, Liu Yuan turned around and loudly said to the creditors: "Alright, everyone, I know that our family owes all of you a lot of money. Today, it's my fault for troubling you all to come here. Don't worry, even if a person dies, their debts won't rot away - we won't be short a single cent in repaying what we owe you."

  "You speak better than you sing, but you're just a useless little apprentice. Can you represent the esteemed Golden Jade family? Besides, who doesn't know about the Golden Jade family's financial situation? Their money and silver were all embezzled and squandered, even the coffin money was borrowed by pawning things. Who in this room doesn't know that? Debts don't disappear with death, what will you use to repay them?"

  This speech is both sharp and bitter, Liu Yuan recognized that the speaker was Chen Lishi, the owner of the tea shop. Before his death, Yuan Fugui liked to drink good tea and often bought it from Chen Lishi's tea shop, which made him a big customer. However, he usually settled his accounts once a month, and the amount of money he owed was not small.

  It wasn't that Chen Li didn't want to come after the "seventh day" to collect debts, but hearing that other creditors had arrived, she handed over the store to her partner and rushed over hastily.

  "Little girl, you said Master entrusted this place to me before he died." Liu Yuan turned his head and said to the little girl.

  As she spoke, she winked at him.

  "toward"

  "Yes, my father said that he would pass on the family fortune to Master Liu." The young woman hesitated for a moment before speaking up in agreement.

  This is a trust in Liu Yuan, besides, the store isn't his own, and he's deeply in debt. Even if Liu Yuan wanted to take it over, it would be useless. Xiao Niang knows that Liu Shixiong is just trying to help himself by changing tactics.

  With the "cooperation" of Xiao Niang, Liu Yuan immediately became the legitimate spokesperson for the Jin Yu Shi family.

  Liu Yuanxiang made a bow to the creditors present and said sincerely: "Everyone, everyone, I'm really sorry. Reason is not in loud voices, all things can be negotiated. Please consider that my master's body is still warm and the dead are respected, let's discuss this slowly. Don't worry, our family still has some meager assets, we won't owe a single copper coin."

  The little girl stood behind Liu Yuan, seeing him calmly dealing with these debt collectors. In her eyes, his slender figure suddenly became exceptionally tall and majestic.

  Fortunately, there was such a man who, at the moment when he needed it most, did not shrink back or escape, but instead stood up without hesitation to shield himself from the wind and rain. Although what Liu Yuan said about being from a wealthy family was almost entirely fabricated - only the young wife of the accountant of the Jin Yu family knew that - the current state of the Jin Yu family was that they had no money, no people, and no goods, and were even in debt to the tune of several hundred taels.

  No matter what, Liu Yuan's performance made Xiao Niang's heart warm for a moment.

  When Brother Liu was

  It's really good.