Yu Yin accompanied them for a few days before stopping.
The one who came along instead was Zhou Shi.
Zhou Shi, feeling sorry for her daughters, had noticed that the buckets of coarse grain rice were too full. If the girls carried them to the county town themselves, their growing bodies might end up hunched from the weight, preventing them from growing tall in the future.
Since marrying into the Yu family, Zhou Shi had rarely gone to the county town. She felt an innate fear of the place and didn’t think she could contribute much. Business matters had never even crossed her mind.
But they couldn’t let Yu Lao’er go, could they?
The family’s crops couldn’t be left unattended, as they were their main source of food. Yu Lao’er had to stay home to tend to the fields.
In the end, Zhou Shi gritted her teeth and decided to accompany her daughters.
When Yu Li arrived today, she noticed Zhou Shi standing timidly next to Yu Jin. She raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
Yu Jin was busy making coarse grain rice balls. Seeing Yu Li arrive, she pressed her lips into a smile and handed the completed rice ball to a customer.
The customer handed over two wen, and Zhou Shi carefully took them, placing them in the money pouch she kept on her person. Money was more reassuring to keep close at hand.
Seeing no other customers approaching, Yu Jin turned to Yu Li and said, “Elder Sister, I’ll make a rice ball for you.”
Her elder sister had just delivered goods, which was hard physical labor, so she was surely hungry by now.
Zhou Shi noticed the large bamboo basket Yu Li was carrying and asked softly, “Li Niang, did you just deliver goods?”
Yu Li responded with a light “hmm.”
“Tired?” Zhou Shi asked again.
“Not tired.”
“R-really?”
“…”
Zhou Shi’s few moments of gathered courage were entirely extinguished by Yu Li’s indifferent tone.
She felt a bit dejected but didn’t know what else to do.
In truth, she understood deep down. When she and her husband hadn’t firmly opposed Old Madam Yu’s decision to marry off their eldest daughter to the Fu family as a life-saving bride, their parental relationship with her had effectively been severed, beyond repair.
Even though they now realized their mistakes and wanted to mend things, their eldest daughter no longer cared.
Zhou Shi felt a pang of sorrow.
She had come to this realization far too late. Her daughters had endured too much suffering and injustice because of their incompetence and inaction.
Even people like Chen Shi and Wang Shi knew to protect their children from being wronged, yet she and her husband had done nothing, which made them even more despicable.
Yu Jin handed the rice ball she had made to Yu Li but said nothing about the scene unfolding before her.
What was there to say? Even if their parents now acknowledged their mistakes and wanted to mend their relationship with her elder sister, it didn’t mean her elder sister had to accept it. If she did, what would all the suffering she endured in the past amount to?
Yu Jin believed that just because parents wanted to repair a relationship, it didn’t mean the children had to accept it.
Even if the world judged her as unfilial, she still felt this way.
Yu Li held the rice ball and ate it slowly.
Having just finished her work, she hadn’t washed her hands yet. However, the rice ball was wrapped in a vegetable leaf, so as long as she didn’t eat the outer leaves, it was fine.
Yu Jin, always generous toward her elder sister, had made a particularly large rice ball, packed with extra meat, making it especially hearty.
Yu Li ate quickly, but her movements were elegant, not coarse. Coupled with her good looks, her every action was pleasing to the eye. Watching her eat could even boost one’s appetite.
As a result, passersby couldn’t help but come over to try a coarse grain rice ball.
Yu Jin knew that whenever her elder sister came, business would pick up quickly. Before long, she became busy.
Zhou Shi, however, was flustered and nearly miscounted the money. It wasn’t until Yu Li finished eating and came over to help that things stabilized.
Soon, even more young customers came to buy rice balls.
While the stall was bustling, two yamen officers arrived at the dock for an inspection.
A dock manager followed closely behind them, catering to their every need with excessive enthusiasm.
Dock managers usually had backing; otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to hold such a position. However, their backing wasn’t as strong as that of Steward Cui. Since Steward Cui was currently at home recuperating from illness, the dock manager’s influence had also waned.
The dock continued to see its fair share of extortion, though it wasn’t as rampant as it had been under Steward Cui.
These dock managers, whose status was somewhat below that of the yamen officers, showed them extra deference whenever they encountered them.
The manager responsible for distributing permits at the dock was no exception. His status was clearly inferior to the two officers, so he dared not act casually and accompanied them on their patrol of the street where breakfast stalls were set up.
As they passed by a small stall crowded with customers, the two yamen officers suddenly stopped.
The manager, unsure of the reason, glanced over and said, “Sirs, is there an issue? This stall sells coarse grain rice balls. I’ve tried them once. The coarse grains don’t taste great, but with the braised sauce added, there’s a bit of a meaty flavor, so it’s passable.”
The two officers stood stiffly in place until the person behind the stall averted their gaze. Only then did they exhale in relief.
Inwardly, they cursed their bad luck. Of all days to patrol this area, why did they have to run into this female demon star?
What was she doing here?
When they looked toward the girl making the rice balls and recognized her as Yu Jin, they finally confirmed it. Their faces almost fell.
If her younger sister was here selling food, it made sense for her to be here as well.
Hearing the manager’s comment, Officer Ge asked, “You’ve eaten here? Did you pay for it?”
Officer Peng was shocked, his eyes fixed intently on the manager.
The manager, clueless, responded, “Pay? Pay for what?”
As a dock manager, when he came here to eat, he simply took what he wanted. Why would he pay these commoners? They didn’t deserve such treatment.
There was no need to ask further—it was clear the manager hadn’t paid.
The two officers were immediately infuriated. Sternly, they said, “How can you eat their food without paying? Go and pay them back immediately!”
The manager stared at them in bewilderment, questioning if his ears were playing tricks on him.
These yamen officers, who themselves never paid for food, had the audacity to criticize him?
Could the heavens be raining red, and they were turning over a new leaf?
Although utterly confused, the manager didn’t want to offend the officers, so he quickly promised to pay back what he owed and vowed that he would never take their food without paying again.
The officers’ expressions finally softened.
Then Officer Ge added, “From now on, you’re not allowed to bully this stall. Just follow the rules.”
This implied no more extortion from them either.
The manager hastily agreed and cautiously asked, “Sirs, are they your relatives?”
If they were, it would explain the officers’ protectiveness. Who would want their relatives to be exploited?
The two officers thought to themselves: We don’t have any relatives this terrifying!
After finishing their patrol of the area and dismissing the manager, the two officers lingered a short distance away, hesitating.
“Brother Ge, should we go over?” Officer Peng asked softly.
He was nervous. If the female demon star thought the manager’s failure to pay was instigated by them, and she got angry and involved their families… they had better explain things clearly.
“Of course, we have to go,” Officer Ge said. “Now that she’s seen us, it wouldn’t do to leave without saying hello. If she holds a grudge, that’d be bad.”
They hadn’t figured out Yu Li’s temperament yet or what she might be thinking, so being cautious was the safest approach.
The two officers didn’t dare approach her openly, worried about causing unnecessary trouble if others saw.
More importantly, they feared annoying Yu Li and getting beaten up in the process… Better to be prudent.
Not long after, they saw Yu Li walking toward them.
Their hearts pounded so hard it felt like they might leap out of their chests. They stood there stiffly, and anyone nearby would have noticed their odd behavior.
As Yu Li approached, she didn’t say anything to them but simply walked past.
The two officers exchanged a glance and then slowly followed, maintaining a distance as if they were just patrolling the area, making it appear they weren’t following her directly.
When they saw her turn into a narrow, quiet alley, they realized she must be deliberately waiting for them.
Entering the alley moments later, they found Yu Li standing there, waiting.
Her cold, piercing gaze met theirs, and Officer Peng couldn’t hold back, blurting out, “Boss Li!”
Officer Ge: “.…” Could you be any more obvious?
They didn’t know Yu Li’s real name and didn’t dare investigate her background. Since Skinny Wu and the others referred to her as “Boss Li,” they had adopted the same term.
Anyone who could earn such a title from the idle ruffians wasn’t someone to take lightly.
Officer Peng had even started calling her “Boss Li” in private conversations.
Yu Li didn’t seem to mind the nickname. She asked, “You were patrolling the dock just now?”
“Y-yes,” Officer Ge stammered. Even when facing the county magistrate, he hadn’t been this nervous—after all, the magistrate wouldn’t randomly beat them up.
Yu Li continued, “You saw that my sister is selling rice balls at the dock. In the future, when you patrol, keep an eye on her stall. If anyone bullies her…”
“We absolutely won’t let anyone bully her!”
The two officers hurriedly promised.
Yu Li stared at them until they were drenched in nervous sweat before finally letting out a low grunt.
“Alright, you can go now.”
Hearing this, the two officers felt as though they’d been granted amnesty. They didn’t dare rush away, though, and carefully gave her a respectful bow before leaving.
Once out of the alley, they exchanged glances and saw the sweat streaks on each other’s faces.
Neither dared say a word, fearing Yu Li might overhear them from behind. They walked silently to a teahouse, sat down, and ordered a pot of tea to calm their nerves.
As they were drinking, a tall and lean officer walked in.
The newcomer greeted them, “Brother Peng, Brother Ge, drinking tea here, are you?”
They replied, “Brother Zhu, what brings you here?”