ATP Chapter 32

All the Protagonists I’ve Scummed Came To Me For Revenge Chapter 32: Abandoned Daughter of a Rich Family (3)

“It’s very simple, I’ll tell you, East Market and South Market…”

Xia Yu originally thought Xin’er would be completely confused, but to her surprise, Xin’er’s eyes grew brighter and brighter, and she became more and more excited.

She clearly understood everything.

“Buy low and sell high, so that’s how it works!”

Xia Yu nodded and said softly, “This is the market. Actually, there are other ways besides this. When I have more money, I have other ways to make even more money. But this method can’t be used for too long. If we get found out, things will be bad for both of us.”

Xin’er nodded quickly.

She now has nothing but admiration for Xia Yu. This way of making money by profiting from price differences requires absolutely no effort; it’s like a dream come true.

Sister Xia must be a wealthy merchant in Yangzhou, otherwise how could she be so clever as to come up with such a method?

“How about it? Want to try it with me this afternoon?” Xia Yu said with a smile.

“This……”

Although she was excited, Xin’er still had some doubts. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Xia Yu, but she felt that Xia Yu could handle the task on her own and there was no need for her.

She gritted her teeth, stuffed the loose silver coins in her hand into Xia Yu’s hand, and said, “I won’t go. They might not even let me into the shop. I’ll just continue begging this afternoon.”

That’s true. Beggars are synonymous with filth and disorder; it’s a very realistic situation. If the shop owner isn’t a kind-hearted person with a good temper, you’ll be beaten and kicked out if you enter the shop.

Xia Yu’s success in selling her products was partly due to the trustworthiness inspired by her clothes and appearance; as the saying goes, clothes make the man. Without a good image, people won’t even have the desire to do business with you.

Sighing inwardly, Xia Yu comforted her, “Don’t be sad. Once I’ve earned some money, I’ll buy you a nice new outfit.”

Xin’er smiled and nodded emphatically.

“Are you hungry? You only ate half a steamed bun this morning, you must be hungry, let’s go get something to eat.”

Xin’er thought for a moment and said, “Okay, I know a noodle shop. The lady who runs the noodle shop is really nice. Let’s go there to eat!”

If Xin’er were alone, she would definitely eat whatever she could find and beg for food, and she certainly wouldn’t be willing to spend money to buy anything. But with Xia Yu by her side, she didn’t want Xia Yu to see her begging.

This was her pride. She liked Xia Yu, this gentle older sister. Although Xia Yu didn’t show any disdain for beggars, she didn’t want to expose this side of herself to Xia Yu.

People tend to pay extra attention to their appearance and behavior when they’re around someone they want to impress. Xin’er is like that now, so she decides to splurge and take Xia Yu out for noodles.

“Would you like noodles?” Xia Yu asked thoughtfully. She had already looked into it; noodles would cost around three coins, while a meat dish would cost five to ten coins.

Xin’er happily led Xia Yu in a familiar direction, occasionally turning back to chat and laugh with her. That noodle shop was the only place where the kind people didn’t look down on her for being a beggar, and sometimes even gave her food. She remembered everyone who was good to her very clearly.

On the first day, Xia Yu earned a net profit of eighty-five coins using this method, which was a huge sum of money for Xin’er. She had never imagined that money would come so easily one day.

The next day, since the demand for urgently needed goods had eased, the price difference wasn’t too significant. Xia Yu asked the pharmacy owner about the names and appearances of some of the herbs they were recycling. The dilapidated temple was far away, surrounded by mountains and rivers; there might be some herbs there that could be sold.

Four days passed in this way. Over those four days, Xia Yu used her brain and started with ten coins, making a net profit of four hundred and fifty-seven coins, a huge sum of money.

This money could actually be used to start a small business, enough to rent a place in Le’an County, although the money would be almost gone after renting it out.

The risk was too great, and Xin’er also felt there was no need to move to the county, so the matter was temporarily put on hold.

“Sister Xia!”

That evening, Xin’er waited for Xia Yu at the city gate as usual. When she saw Xia Yu walking with her head down, she happily raised her hand and called out to her.

Xia Yu smiled and walked over.

“Did something unpleasant happen? Or did you run into some trouble?” Xin’er asked Xia Yu nervously as she saw her head bowed in thought.

“It’s not trouble, it’s… well, it’s a good thing, isn’t it?” Xia Yu patted her head. Xin’er was much shorter than her. She was in a better mood and said, “My business of buying low and selling high in the city has been discovered. That big merchant thinks I have a good business mind and wants to invite me to work for him.”

“Is it a man?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“We shouldn’t go!” Xin’er said excitedly. “None of these rich people are good people. He must be after Sister Xia’s face!”

“Forehead……”

Didn’t you just recently praise rich people as being great philanthropists?

Xia Yu looked at Xin’er, who was filled with righteous indignation, and could only nod in agreement, saying, “I also felt it was inappropriate, so I declined that offer, but he said he would let me think about it carefully. If I work for him, he will give us a house in the county tomorrow, and he will pay us thirty taels a month.”

“That’s so kind!” Xin’er became even angrier, clenching her little fists and saying, “My grandfather said that anyone who is overly kind to you is either up to no good or has ulterior motives. He must have something on his mind about you, Sister Xia!”

Xia Yu smiled helplessly.

Although the guy was indeed somewhat amazed by her, after talking to her, he was impressed by her novel ideas and strong abilities.

The compensation is indeed very good.

However, Xia Yu didn’t want to live under someone else’s roof or work for someone else; she planned to open her own shop. But she still didn’t have enough money; she needed at least one hundred taels of silver to officially begin her plan and take over a shop.

There’s still a long way to go.

The main problem is that the beginning was a bit tragic. She started with a dilapidated temple and a little beggar. If she were in a village, no matter how poor the village was, she would have a way to make the whole village rich in a short time.

A dilapidated temple cannot be used as a home.

Anyone can go in freely; leaving your belongings in a dilapidated temple is completely unsafe.

“Stop!”

A voice suddenly called out to the two of them. They had already traveled some distance outside the city. Xia Yu squinted and saw that it was a few familiar faces, all of whom were beggars from the city. There were four of them in total.

“What are you trying to do!” Xin’er’s heart tightened, knowing that money was tempting her, but she still tried to be tough, shouting in a show of bravado.

The group exchanged glances, and an old man with unkempt hair and yellow teeth chuckled, “Little one, now that you’ve made your fortune, don’t you even think about your uncles and elders? We used to take such good care of you and your grandson, and you’ve really disappointed us.”

This didn’t seem to be the first time, but Xia Yu still keenly sensed that her heart trembled when the old man with yellow teeth mentioned the words “grandfather and grandson”.

Xin’er gritted her teeth and said, “How many do you want?”

The beggars looked at each other, and the old man with yellow teeth rubbed his hands together and said, “You can tell you’ve followed a rich man. Give us a hundred taels and we’ll leave now.”

“Are you crazy?!” Xin’er shrieked, “Even if you sold me, you wouldn’t have a hundred taels. Where am I supposed to get a hundred taels for you?!”

Old Huangya chuckled, looking at Xia Yu who was gripping Xin’er’s shoulders, a strange light flashing in his cloudy eyes: “Just because you don’t have it doesn’t mean the person next to you doesn’t.”

“Forget it!” Xin’er said angrily, “I don’t have a hundred taels! And I can’t possibly give you a hundred taels!”The man behind Old Yellow Teeth stepped forward with a stern face and sneered, “So you mean you’re going to refuse a toast only to suffer the consequences?”

Xin’er gritted her teeth, clearly terrified. After all, she was just a malnourished child; how could she possibly fight against these four strong, grown beggars?

“Hehe, why waste words with them, brother? Just rob them.”

Xin’er said, “We don’t have that much money!”

Old Huang chuckled and looked at Xia Yu, saying, “That’s not necessarily true. The person next to you is definitely rich. If she can’t come up with the money, don’t blame me for selling you to the Red Courtyard. You should know that once you’re in the Red Courtyard, you can never get out.”

“You!” Xin’er was furious, but she was also terrified when she heard these words.

She always smeared ash on her face, something her grandfather taught her, to prevent herself from being caught and sold to a brothel. The government and the brothel were connected; they wouldn’t make decisions about such matters, they would simply turn a blind eye.

“Don’t be afraid, Xin’er.” Xia Yu’s gentle voice calmed Xin’er down a bit.

Her palms were sweating. Thinking of Xia Yu’s face, she felt that these people were not lying at all, and might even be after this.

She was terrified, but still managed to nudge Xia Yu’s hand out of their sight and whisper, “I’ll hold them off, sister, you go quickly.”

Xia Yu never expected her to say such a thing, that she would be prepared to leave in such a dangerous situation. So she stayed, and staying required more than just courage.

Xia Yu looked at Xin’er with a complicated expression.

Another person who treats her unconditionally well. Why does she always encounter people like this in these worlds, but never in the real world?

“No need for that trouble.”

Xia Yu placed her hand on her head, then looked at the group of people and said, “I’ll give you four a chance. Now tell me who sent you.”

The four beggars were taken aback by these words, then Old Yellow Teeth laughed and said, “Beauty, what can you do if I don’t give you a chance?”

“It seems you don’t want this opportunity.” Xia Yu’s lips curled up, her eyes flashing with a cold light. She snorted and took her hand off Xin’er’s head: “Xin’er, go to the side.”

“Elder sister!”

“Be obedient.”

Xin’er was extremely anxious and refused to leave the spot no matter what.

“Is the beauty preparing to teach us a lesson?” Big Yellow Teeth laughed. “Alright, alright, I’d like to see what you’ve got up your sleeve.”

Xia Yu smiled and said, “We will meet.”

She moved with lightning speed, rushing out and kicking Old Yellow Teeth hard in the chest, sending the 100-pound man flying several meters backward.

“Boss! You damn bitch, you’re asking for it!”

The remaining three men threw punches at her using street thug moves. Xin’er, seeing them ganging up on Xia Yu, was terrified: “Sister, let me help you!”

“Get out of the way!”

Xia Yu’s movements were fluid and graceful. She dodged the punch by turning her head, grabbed the man’s hand, and struck him hard with her elbow, knocking one of them down. Then, using pure physical skills, she knocked down the remaining two in less than a minute.

Big Yellow Teeth was terrified, not expecting her to be so good at fighting. He tried to get up but Xia Yu kicked him hard in the back, causing him to fall flat on his face.

Xia Yu laughed and said, “It’s too late to talk now. Tsk tsk, you’re young and strong, with all your limbs intact, what can’t you do? You have to beg for money, it’s really shameful. A beggar should look like a beggar. You guys look fierce, you probably don’t get any money usually, right? How about I be a good person and help you out, I’ll break your arms and legs? Broken arms and legs make you look pitiful, and it’ll evoke more sympathy, won’t it?”

Xia Yu’s smile was beautiful, but in Da Huangya’s eyes, she was like a devil, and the words she spoke terrified him.

The remaining three tried to escape upon hearing this, but Xia Yu struck them again, severely injuring them and causing them to fall to the ground. Ignoring their cries of pain, Xia Yu coldly snorted and said, “You all better behave yourselves, or else…”

She stepped on Old Yellow Teeth’s hand, and a crisp cracking sound silenced everyone, except for Old Yellow Teeth’s painful howls echoing in the air.

Author’s Note: Xiao Sanniang won’t make her appearance for another two chapters; she definitely won’t have as much presence as Xin’er in the early stages…

This world is quite different from the previous two worlds.

Xiao Sanniang’s role will become more prominent later on.