Chapter 189 — Smash It Outright
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
That barbecue woman and the gaunt, gloomy-faced man clearly recognized Wei Zhao as well. Who wouldn't know the great young thug Lin who had slapped Bu Ruoming in the snack street last week and left him not daring to raise a hand in return?
A figure who bestrode the world like that—who didn't know him, who hadn't heard of him? And then there was his follower... Zhang Biaogan's gaze suddenly froze. Looking at Kang Xiaofeng, he abruptly recalled the student who had spoken to him at noon—wasn't that Kang Xiaofeng?
He was Wei Zhao's follower? Then they and Tang's Barbecue... Suddenly, Zhang Biaogan thought of a sorrowful truth: the reason Wei Zhao had slapped Bu Ruoming last time was none other than Tang Zhi!
And who was Tang Zhi? The daughter of the Tang's Barbecue landlady. This time, had Wei Zhao come to stand up for the two of them, mother and daughter? At the very thought of that possibility, Zhang Biaogan collapsed in fright on the spot, the color draining from his face... How had he overlooked something so important?
He had assumed the Tang's Barbecue family had no man left, that he could bully them however he pleased—but who would have thought their man had come, and a ruthless one at that!
"So you want the recipe, do you?" Though Wei Zhao felt some sympathy for these petty vendors, scraping together their hard-earned money day after day, sympathy was no excuse for bullying. Tang Zhi's mother likewise earned her living by her own two hands, stealing from no one and robbing no one—and yet these people, seeing that Mother Tang was making money, came to make trouble and demand her recipe by force. That behavior filled Wei Zhao with fury.
"Ah, no, I don't want it anymore, I don't want it—I was only joking," Zhang Biaogan said. How would he dare want it now? In his eyes, these rich young masters could beat a man and walk away scot-free—even Bu Ruoming, who had a gangster for a brother, had been beaten for nothing. Was he supposed to be tougher than Bu Ruoming?
"The recipe was my gift to them. If you want it, I can give you a copy too." Wei Zhao released Zhang Biaogan, who, unable to keep his footing, sat down hard on the ground.
"No, I really don't want it..." If Zhang Biaogan were still fixated on the recipe at this moment, his brain would have to be pierced through.
"If you don't want it, then what are you doing here? Crowding around someone's stall to watch the show?" Wei Zhao gave a cold laugh, his gaze sweeping over the vendors who had been enjoying the spectacle.
Toward these people Wei Zhao bore no great grudge. Zhang Biaogan was an "old hand" here; they could hardly have sided with Tang Zhi's family against him. So Wei Zhao had never intended to make trouble for them—though a little intimidation today would do no harm, sparing them from thinking in future that the Tang family had no one and could be trampled at will.
Swept by Wei Zhao's gaze, the vendors were badly frightened and hastily scattered to mind their own business. This was no show worth watching—one misstep and the fire would leap onto their own backs.
"You two, don't go." Wei Zhao pointed at the barbecue woman and the tall, thin man, who were just about to slip away with the crowd.
"It... it's none of our business, it was Zhang Biaogan's idea..." The barbecue woman had quenched her fire by now. She was plainly the sort who bullied the soft and feared the hard; seeing that Wei Zhao was the fiercer one, she at once turned cautious and meek.
"That's right, it was Zhang Biaogan's idea, he just called us over..." said the tall, thin man.
"Whatever he tells you to do, you do? Then if I tell you to do something, will you do that too?" Wei Zhao shot back.
"This..." The barbecue woman did not know what he meant, but she still followed along: "Young master, what do you want us to do..."
"You two, stop selling barbecue tomorrow. Change trades. Any problem with that?" Wei Zhao rolled his eyes and simply reassigned their livelihoods for them.