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Second Aunt followed closely behind, hoping for Ye Xiaohan to relent.
But she only had one bargaining chip, which she could only repeat over and over.
"Ye Xiaohan, no, it's you, the daughter-in-law of the Liu family. You’re in the wrong here. Liu Bei has treated you so well, accommodating you in everything. I know that he was the one who saved you before; otherwise, you would have been beaten to death long ago. Where would you be now? How could you have this big shop and earn so much silver?"
Second Aunt attempted to sway her with Liu Bei; apart from this, she had nothing else to leverage against Ye Xiaohan.
Now, all Ye Xiaohan had to do was wait for her to start giving up. The moment cracks appeared in her resolve would be the best time to strike.
Ye Xiaohan pretended to hesitate for a moment, wearing a look of uncertainty. Second Aunt thought she had shaken her resolve and hurriedly continued her endless chatter.
Finally, she heard Ye Xiaohan say, "Fine then, consider it a favor. How much do you want? But let me be clear: Liu Bei is Liu Bei, and I am I. Don’t try to extort me. If you want something, go ask Liu Bei yourself and see how much he’s willing to give."
Second Aunt raised a finger. "I won’t ask for much; just give us a hundred taels, and we won’t cause any trouble."
"A hundred taels." Ye Xiaohan looked at her with some amusement. Was this person out of her mind? "Second Aunt, an ordinary farming family spends no more than two taels a year. A hundred taels could last you a lifetime. Do you think that Liu Bei's father’s corpse is worth as much as your family's expenses for life?"
Second Aunt spat disdainfully. "What kind of nonsense is that? Are you saying we should compare ourselves to a dead man? Don’t pretend to be poor; everyone knows you've become wealthy now. This amount is just pocket change for you. I advise you to give it up unless you don’t want your father-in-law’s coffin."
Ye Xiaohan found herself in a difficult position. "These are just rumors from outside; they can’t be taken seriously. You all have lived in the Liu household for quite some time; aren’t you the ones who know best about the situation? Liu Bei has given his utmost respect to you."
The Liu family had always been poor, but after making some money, Liu Bei felt sorry for Ye Xiaohan's hard work and was frugal with spending. Besides preparing well for Ye Xiaohan, they barely managed to keep themselves fed. Liu Yang had made two new outfits but was reluctant to wear them; Liu Bei was still living as he always had.
Of course, Second Aunt knew about the Liu family's situation, but she refused to believe it: "All of Liu family's money has been taken by you while you're living lavishly. What benefit does the Liu family get from that? At this point, if you're still unwilling to part with anything, then Liu Bei truly is blind for saving you."
The audacity of this family was beyond comprehension; they could demand favors from Liu Bei's wife after digging up his grave.
Ye Xiaohan scoffed inwardly; Liu Bei was truly unfortunate to have such wretched relatives. This family was utterly cold-blooded—selfish and lacking any sense of humanity.
Just wait and see who will have the last laugh. The debts incurred today will eventually be collected.
If Second Aunt had a stronger sixth sense, she would have felt a chill creeping up her back at that moment. Their family's actions had thoroughly angered Ye Xiaohan, and she no longer wished to show any mercy.
After some back-and-forth, Ye Xiaohan finally compromised, settling on a hundred taels.
"Second Aunt, I'll cover this amount. However, I don't have that much cash on hand right now. A batch of goods just arrived at the shop recently, and they haven't been sold yet; they're all piled up in the store."
Second Aunt said nervously, "You’re not trying to back out of this, are you? Let me tell you, that's not going to happen. You must pay this money!"
Ye Xiaohan replied, "Second Aunt, look at you. Since I've already made a promise, I will keep it. I just hope you can give me a bit more time to gather the funds. A hundred taels is quite a sum; I can't just pull that out of thin air."
Seeing that Second Aunt was still unwilling to budge, she softened her tone slightly but remained firm: "If you insist on refusing, then there's nothing I can do. I'm not a magician who can conjure gold and silver out of nowhere."
Perhaps fearing that pushing too hard would provoke Ye Xiaohan into refusing to pay altogether, Second Aunt hesitated: "How long do you need? You can't keep saying you'll gather the money today and tomorrow too, dragging it out for a year or more—making us hope in vain."
Ye Xiaohan reassured her, "Not long—just three days. Give me three days to prepare, and I will definitely deliver the money without delay. But I have one request."
Upon hearing Ye Xiaohan specify a clear timeframe, Second Aunt felt relieved. She wasn't worried about Ye Xiaohan going back on her word as long as they still had 6 Bei in their grasp: "Alright, three days it is. What’s your request?"
"During these three days, please don’t disturb us. 6 Bei is very agitated; I'm afraid he might impulsively get into a fight with someone again. After three days, I will take the initiative to come find you," Ye Xiaohan stated as her final request.
Without hesitation, Second Aunt agreed; as long as they could get the money, they didn't care what happened to 6 Bei. None of the 6 family members were worth anything; they would be glad never to see him again.
Satisfied with the response she wanted, Second Aunt returned triumphantly, secretly looking down on Ye Xiaohan. No matter how capable she was, she couldn't escape their grasp—this was what they meant by experience being more potent than youth.
Left behind, Ye Xiaohan watched her retreating figure with an unusually calm expression.
The trap had been set; she just needed to wait for the pieces to make their own chaotic moves.
Having temporarily resolved matters with six shops, she faced an even more daunting challenge. The inventory in her store was running low, and she needed to gather enough materials quickly to keep things afloat.
Otherwise, a shop like hers, lacking both background and influence, could only rely on quality and novelty to attract customers. Without those two elements, Peach Blossom Studio would soon be forgotten amidst fierce competition.
Ye Xiaohan pressed on various acupressure points to relax her tense emotions and sore muscles. With renewed energy, she dove back into her work.
However, she was unaware that an even more serious problem awaited her.
From a distance, she spotted a crowd gathered outside her shop, causing her heart to skip a beat.
This was not the usual bustling business; it was a disconcerting chaos. The crowd huddled together, engaged in loud discussions. As she got closer, she could see the anger etched on their faces, as if they were holding back immense dissatisfaction that was about to erupt.
"Why is everyone standing outside? Come in and take a look," Ye Xiaohan said, quickly adjusting her expression as she approached the customers crowded outside.
As soon as they saw her, they rushed over, clamoring all at once.
"Boss Ye, you’re finally back! We thought you had run away! What’s going on here? Are you making a joke out of us?" one customer grabbed Ye Xiaohan and confronted her angrily.
A chorus of voices echoed around her: "Exactly! Boss Ye, we’re regulars here; you can’t let us down!"
Ye Xiaohan was momentarily confused about their intentions and could only smile apologetically. "Everyone, one at a time! Don’t worry; Peach Blossom Studio will do its best to meet every customer's needs. One at a time, please."
She wanted to invite the customers inside the shop; allowing them to gather outside would only attract more onlookers and negatively impact the shop's reputation.
Moreover, at this point, she still hadn’t figured out why these customers had come.
However, the shop was crowded with people, and the customers were all furious, surrounding her and demanding answers. It was difficult to control the situation within a scope she could manage.
The customers were loudly expressing their dissatisfaction, but they seemed unclear about the specifics of the incident. From their repeated words, she could only catch phrases like "refund" and "fraud," which made her realize that this matter was related to money and involved many people, not just a simple transaction or two.
Ye Xiaohan quickly scanned her surroundings and noticed one of the hired girls, Hui, struggling to push her way through the crowd with an anxious expression on her face.
Meanwhile, the precious son who had been forced into the shop, Zhang Yaozong, was nowhere to be seen.
Ye Xiaohan had a sinking feeling; it seemed this incident was closely tied to Zhang Yaozong.
Otherwise, given how he usually followed her around like a shadow, fixated on her secret formula, he would have pretended to be doing his best to maintain the shop during such a crisis. He would have tried to create a façade of loyalty in hopes of gaining her favor and discovering the whereabouts of her formula when she let her guard down.
Finally, Hui managed to squeeze her way to Ye Xiaohan's side, pushing through the crowd. She leaned in and whispered urgently in her ear, "Boss Ye, this is bad! That fool Zhang Yaozong took deposits from customers while you were away! Now they're all coming to me asking for their goods, but we hardly have any stock left! What am I supposed to give them?"
Hui blamed herself, saying, "Sigh, it's my fault too. I noticed he was acting sneaky; he must have been up to no good. I should have questioned him more thoroughly instead of ignoring it. I never expected he would do something like this behind your back! It's infuriating!"
Combining Hui's words with what the customers were saying helped Ye Xiaohan piece together what had happened.
It turned out they had been preparing to launch a new series of sleeve flowers, and advertisements had already been released. The response had been excellent; customers were eagerly waiting to get their hands on the latest cosmetics in town.
Then Liu Yuan had intervened for his own selfish desires. Unable to win over the woman he wanted, he decided to sabotage things instead. He secretly pressured various shops along the way, causing Ye Xiaohan's materials to remain unresolved until now.
This was a matter that could determine the survival of the shop. Ye Xiaohan had been tirelessly working to gather materials and navigate through this crisis.
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