Strolling on Waguan Street, although Waguan Street has the character for 'street', it doesn't simply refer to a single street; it refers to the entire slum area within Lin'an County.
Lin'an County, don't look at it as just a County Town, its area is extremely large. In terms of area, it's even slightly larger than a typical prefecture-level city in his previous life, with a large and mixed population.
The slum area means dirt, chaos, and poverty, so Lin'an County doesn't pay much attention to it. Even the Prefecture Yamen only has a few bailiffs responsible for this area, and saying they are responsible is just a formality; in reality, they only come to extort money.
This also leads to the security here not being good, and it's not an exaggeration to describe it as chaotic.
Fights and brawls happen frequently, and as long as no one is killed, the Yamen is too lazy to intervene.
Therefore, Waguan Street is basically controlled by some Gangs.
On a daily basis, they make a living by collecting protection fees from people and monopolizing some businesses on the street.
Lin Sheng had long been accustomed to the various mixed odors filling the air.
Selling cries occasionally came from the street. Although it was just the slum area of the County Town, it had quite a lively atmosphere.
Putting other things aside, even the slum area in the County Town was much better than the people in the villages outside. At the very least, they could make a living and have food to eat.
Lin Sheng weaved through the crowd and bought some meat on the street. This time, he didn't buy all offal but rarely selected some lean meat. After all, he needed to improve their diet. Thinking that the clothes of his two elders were already full of patches, Lin Sheng went to the cloth shop on the street again, bought two bolts of cloth, and then took the things and headed towards where Lin Hong was.
His Father Lin Hong had a leg disability, and coupled with his inability to pay the stall fee on the main street, the place where he sold goods was basically in a remote area on Waguan Street.
Lin Sheng carried the pork on his shoulder, held some fine rice in his hand, and tucked the coarse cloth under his armpit. He turned left and right on the street and entered a small alley. There weren't many people in the alley, but this was exactly where Lin Hong sold miscellaneous goods.
Business in this kind of place was naturally quite bad, but the advantage was that there were fewer miscellaneous troubles, such as the so-called protection fees, stall fees, and so on.
In Lin Sheng's memory, besides Lin Hong, there were only two or three other stalls here, and the stall owners were all white-haired elderly people.
Just as he turned into the small alley, he heard a shout of abuse.
"You old farts, you've been selling goods here for so long, it's time to pay some stall money. If you can't produce five large coins today, I'll overturn your stalls."
Hearing the abusive shout, Lin Sheng's brows furrowed slightly.
He immediately quickened his steps. After all, Lin Hong had a leg disability and was inconvenient to move. If he had a conflict with someone, he would inevitably suffer a loss.
Turning around the alley, he saw several men surrounding a few small stalls in the alley.
The leader was a tall and thin man with a pointed mouth and monkey-like cheeks. He was holding an apple in his hand, looking at it while cursing impatiently.
"Sir, this small alley is not the main alley of Waguan Street, it should... it should not be within the scope of collecting stall fees, right?"
Towards the inside of the small alley, in front of a stall about one meter square, Lin Hong spoke with a difficult expression.
"Yes, we are either old or injured. Sir, please be merciful and don't make things difficult for us old fellows..."
The other stall owners besides Lin Hong also immediately spoke up in agreement.
"Bastards, if I am merciful and let you off, what will I eat and drink? I'm putting my words here today. If you want to set up a stall here, you'll have to pay a stall fee of 5 large coins every month from now on. If you're short by even a single coin, my name, Brother Gou, will be written backward."
Hearing this, the faces of Lin Hong and the other stall owners all turned a bit ugly. They wanted to say something more, but they were directly interrupted by that Brother Gou.
"Stop talking nonsense. If you can't produce 5 large coins, that's fine too. You brothers, take everything from these stalls. Consider it their stall fee for these two months."
"Yes, Brother Gou."
The three men, except for the thin monkey, immediately responded with smiles, rolled up their sleeves, and were about to take away all the miscellaneous goods displayed on the stalls.
Seeing that the other party was really going to take action, the stall owners finally couldn't sit still.
For no other reason than this: although the things sold at their small stalls were not many and not very valuable, they were still worth much more than 5 large coins. Naturally, they couldn't just watch their things being taken away by them.
"Wait... we'll give it! We'll give it right now."
The stall owners said this while reluctantly fumbling in their pockets to gather five large coins.
Before they could hold them steady, the monkey-like Brother Gou snatched them away.
He tossed them in his hand, and then grinned and laughed.
"If I don't teach you old farts a lesson, you really won't know what your last name is."
As he spoke, his gaze fell on Lin Hong nearby.
"Old cripple, now it's just you."
Among the stall owners, only Lin Hong did not make a move.
To say that he could produce five large coins if he gritted his teeth is true.
It's just that since his leg injury, the family's condition had gone from bad to worse. He worked hard setting up a stall for a month and only earned a net profit of eight or nine large coins. Asking him to take out 5 large coins at once was really difficult for him to accept, especially since it was 5 large coins every month.
Lin Hong opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but a voice came before him.
"We'll give the 5 large coins."
As the words fell, Lin Sheng had already stepped over, directly took out 5 large coins from his pocket, and tossed them to that Brother Gou.
"A Sheng..."
Seeing Lin Sheng's figure, Lin Hong was first taken aback, then opened his mouth wanting to say something, but was directly interrupted by Lin Sheng.
"Father, it's only right to pay the stall fee for setting up a stall. No need to say more. Let's pack up and go home."
Lin Sheng had a smile on his face and, without question, packed up the stall for Lin Hong.
"You're the son of this old fellow. Consider yourselves sensible."
That Brother Gou caught the large coins, played with them in his hand, and looked at Lin Sheng with a somewhat playful gaze.
However, when he saw the meat and fine rice in his hand, he paused slightly.
Lin Sheng moved extremely fast, and since Lin Hong's stall didn't have much, he rolled up the stall in just a few breaths and helped Lin Hong leave the small alley.
Watching their figures disappear into the distance, several big men gathered around Brother Gou.
"Brother Gou, that old cripple, he's really f*cking good at pretending to be poor. That kid just now was carrying pork, fine rice, and these two bolts of cloth. These things alone are probably worth an ounce of silver."
"Nonsense, do you think I'm blind? I didn't expect there to be some profit to be made in this crappy place."
Brother Gou played with the few large coins in his hand, his face revealing undisguised greed.
"Third Brother, you follow him and see where this kid lives?"
"Yes, Brother Gou."
Hearing this, a man in gray clothes grinned and hurried away.
"Brother, we just occupied this territory. Leader told us to keep a low profile. That kid looks like he has some wealth. Does he have any background?"
A subordinate said with some hesitation.
However, before he finished speaking, he was directly interrupted by Brother Gou.
"Background? Can someone with a background live in this crappy place? And still come here to set up a stall? Let me tell you, in this Waguan Street, there's nothing Brother Gou is afraid to touch."
Brother Gou's face was full of cold sneers.
"Get more silver, and in a couple of days, I'll take you guys to the Osmanthus Pavilion in the County Town to have some fun..."
"Thank you, Brother Gou, thank you, Brother Gou..."
Hearing this, the subordinates didn't know what they thought of, and each of them revealed a lewd smile.