Chapter 19: Kneel Outside My Door at Zhou's House

of villagers surrounded him."Yang Lin, I heard that you can learn how to make tofu for just one penny, right"Are you really going to teach everyone your tofu-making skillsI have money, I want to lear...A line of over a dozen people walked ahead. At the front was a dashing young man fanning himself, followed by a merchant in green robes. Behind them were ten or so servants and helpers.

"Is it you"

Zhao Ji's face turned pale, and he recognized the blue-shirted shopkeeper. It was Xu Maocai, the shopkeeper of Yongxing Trading Company, whom he had met in the county town the day before yesterday.

However, Xu Maochai ignored Zhao Ji and walked towards Yang Lin with a smile, extending his hand and saying, "This is Zhou Zhengyang, the eldest son of the Zhou family in the county town, Young Master Zhou!"

Mr. Yang, regarding the tofu from your household, we have conducted a thorough investigation. Our young master Zhou is very interested in it. Starting today, Young Master Zhou will purchase all of the tofu you make. From now on, you are not allowed to sell any of it to anyone else!

Xu Maochai smiled, and towards Yang Lin, he raised a finger.

"Oh, and by the way, what's the price"

"Although you claim that the cost of tofu is two copper coins, we have also investigated and found that even at two copper coins per piece, you are still making a profit. Therefore, from now on, supply our Zhou family with tofu at two copper coins per piece!"

Saying that, he pulled out a piece of paper from his sleeve.

This is a supply contract, please sign it.

Xu Maochai smiled with a gleam in his eye, but his words were impossible to refuse.

Yang Lin glanced at the piece of paper the other person handed over, and inwardly sighed.

What must come, will come in the end.

He hadn't expected the wolf to arrive so quickly!

"What if I don't sign"

Yang Lin asked.

"Oh Not signing"

Xu Maochai's face remained unchanged, and he still smiled and said, "Perhaps I didn't make it clear. This is Miss Zhou from the Zhou family in the county town. Mr. Zhou, her father, manages the county government's criminal department."

Xu Maocai's smile now clearly held a threatening edge.

Yang Lin knew that the "punishment room" Xu Maocai was talking about was an institution responsible for managing life and death, theft escapes, lawsuits, conscription, and prison guards, roughly equivalent to the police department in his previous life.

But this world lacks strict laws, so these gentry and bureaucrats in the county town are no different from local warlords.

"Boy, have some shame!"

Zhou Zhengyang let out a cold snort, still not looking at Yang Lin directly. He raised his head and said, "In this Jianghe County, no one dares to disrespect the Zhou family!"

Behind Yang Lin, the faces of the women were all very ugly.

They even beat up the son of a county magistrate last time. They wouldn't even look down on the son of a jailer.

But they also understood that the other party didn't know them last time, and now they had come looking for them. If they refused, I'm afraid the Zhou family wouldn't let it go.

If you agree, it's not just a piece of tofu, but also a penny in profit.

The most important thing is, being forced to sign this contract by others, it's really pathetic!

All the women glared angrily at Yang Lin.

Zhao Fu貴 then hurriedly tugged at Yang Lin's sleeve, lowering his voice to remind him: "Just admit it, signing will leave you with a way out!"

Yang Lin raised an eyebrow.

But listening to Zhao Fugui's meaning, if they don't cooperate with the Zhou family, I'm afraid there won't even be a way out

"What are you waiting for!"

Xu Maocai's smile disappeared, his eyebrows furrowed, and he pushed the contract in his hand towards Yang Lin again.

"Our young master came here personally, that's already giving you face. In Jianghe County, saying you're working for our Zhou family carries a lot of weight."

"Mr. Yang, don't be so ignorant!"

Xu Maochai narrowed his eyes and passed the document to Yang Lin.

Yang Lin casually took it, but without even looking, tore it in half.

Haha!

The expressions on everyone's faces changed instantly. "You can buy tofu, but with these conditions of yours, heh heh, I'm afraid I can't accept."

Yang Lin tore the paper in half and threw each piece to either side.

"Oh dear!"

Zhao Fu貴 was so anxious that he patted his thigh.

He hurriedly picked up the torn paper and leaned in, apologizing repeatedly.

"Young Master Zhou, I am truly sorry. This Yang Lin has been a simpleton since childhood, lacking in worldly knowledge. He didn't know the prestige of the Zhou family. You are magnanimous, please don't hold it against him. Just wait, I will have a good talk with him."

Zhao Fugui was bending down, about to go over and explain the ins and outs of the situation to Yang Lin, when Zhou Zhengyang kicked him from behind, sending Zhao Fugui sprawling to the ground.

"Who the hell are you, get lost!"

Zhou Zhengyang snapped his folding fan shut with a loud crack, fixed Yang Lin with a menacing glare, and let out a cold laugh: "Hahahaha, refusing the Zhou family You believe me or not, from now on, I'll make sure you can't even sell a single block of tofu!"

Zhou Zhengyang walked closer, staring intently at Yang Lin.

However, Yang Lin didn't look at Zhou Zhengyang but went to help Zhao Fu貴 up.

"Uncle San, are you alright"

Zhao Fugui was still very anxious: "I'm fine, you quickly go and apologize to Young Master Zhou! The Zhou family, we can't afford to offend them!"

Zhao Fugui nervously clutched Yang Lin's arm.

"Hmm."

Yang Lin's face turned cold. "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

Coming to Zhou Zhengyang's side, Yang Lin said neither humble nor arrogant: "Zhou Shaoye, right I think you may not have heard me clearly, so let me say it again, if you want to cooperate, you can, but the rules have to be mine, otherwise forget it!"

"Hahahahahahaha!"

Zhou Zhengyang burst into laughter as if he had heard a joke.

"Okay, there's a kind.

"We'll just wait and see. From now on, my Zhou family guarantees that if you can't sell a single block of tofu, you won't be able to sell even one!"

"Speak up, I dare anyone to oppose the Zhou family!"

Remember, when you regret it, come to my house and kneel outside. If I'm feeling generous then, maybe I'll let you off.

"Let's go!"

Zhou Zhengyang shook his fan and turned to leave.

Xu Maochai then sneered, looking at Yang Lin with eyes that seemed to regard him as already dead.

Not until all the members of Zhou's family had left did the surroundings erupt in chaos.

"It's over, it's over. I heard that even in the county town, the Zhou family is not to be messed with."

What should we do now I'm afraid business will be over from now on.

"Yang Lin, you're not making tofu anymore What will we use to work with later"

"We can't work right now, and we owe you money. We can't pay it back immediately."

The villagers who work at the tofu workshop are all in a panic.

Zhao Fugui was so anxious that he even started slapping his thighs.

"Yang Lin, Yang Lin, this time you've really made a big mess!"

The Zhou family is not to be trifled with. Since Young Master Zhou has said so, your tofu business will probably be ruined from now on.

"You said, why can't you just bear it We can't afford to offend the Zhou family, so let's just go along with them and make a little less money."

"Now things are bad, such a good industry has gone down the drain. You still have a whole family to support, how will you manage"

Zhao Fuguang is truly thinking of Yang Lin.

Yet Yang Lin just smiled: "Uncle Three, if I said that I already had a plan before they arrived, would you believe me"n the surface, within a radius of nearly a hundred meters, all is black and shiny coal!Yang Lin quickly checked and found that the quality of these coals was quite good.As for the scale of the coal mi...