Shen Xiu sent away the Sophora japonica and came to the spice shop to buy spices.
This spice shop is not a big place, and the waiter and shopkeeper are both Mr. Gu.
After Shen Xiu came in, Uncle Gu came over to greet her.
Shen Xiudao: "Uncle Gu, I want to buy some fragrant cakes to put in the sachet, preferably plum blossom cakes."
Plum blossom cake is a plum blossom-shaped fragrant cake made of spices. It can be burned in an incense burner or placed in a sachet to get its fragrance.
Uncle Gu took out a box and put dozens of thumb-sized plum blossom cakes in the box.
"This is a fragrant cake made of agarwood, jasmine flowers and Platycladus orientalis leaves." Old Man Gu picked up one and handed it to Shen Xiu, "Ms. Shen, smell it."
Shen Xiu held it in her hand. This fragrant cake was made with jasmine as the main ingredient. Before it even came to her nose, she could already smell the fragrance.
What she wanted was this effect, so she immediately asked the price of these plum blossom cakes.
Old Man Gu smiled and said: "Ms. Shen is not an outsider, and I don't want much. Just give me a tael of silver for this box of plum blossom cakes."
One tael of silver was still within Shen Xiu's affordability, so she paid it happily.
Uncle Gu helped her pack the plum blossom cakes. Before Shen Xiu could take them, she heard a noise coming from outside, including some insults.
"What's going on outside?" Shen Xiuyou wanted to see what was going on outside, but was stopped by Uncle Gu.
"Ms. Shen, you can't afford to offend those people, so it's better to avoid them."
Shen Xiu asked in confusion: "Uncle Gu, do you know who is outside?"
Old Man Gu sighed: "Who else could it be but those gangsters! They rely on the county government to have people and often ask us to pay protection fees. Small shops like ours can only spend money to buy peace."
"What's going on outside?"
Uncle Gu listened to the sounds outside and said with sympathy on his face: "That's the Miao Family Noodle House across the street. A few months ago, Boss Miao's old mother fell ill and spent all her money. Boss Miao thought I have to wait a few days before paying, but those people are not unreasonable at all. They come over every once in a while to cause trouble, forcing Mr. Miao to not even be able to do business in Dalian."
When Mr. Gu said this, he glanced at Shen Xiu and said, "Ms. Shen's shop has only been open for a few days, so they probably don't know about it yet. When they find out, they will definitely come to ask for money."
"Uncle Gu, how much does this protection fee cost?" Shen Xiu asked.
Uncle Gu said: "You have to pay five taels of silver a year. These people are really evil-hearted. Five taels of silver is almost half the income of those small shops in half a year."
You have to pay five taels of silver a year, which is indeed a lot of money.
"Uncle Gu, don't the government care?" Shen Xiu asked, "Are we just going to let people like them be tyrannical?"
Uncle Gu smiled bitterly and said: "The government is too lazy to take care of this kind of thing! What's more, there is also the power of the county government behind these people, either the county magistrate or the chief registrar."
The county magistrate is in charge of county administration and is an eighth-rank official. The chief registrar is in charge of the county's grain tax and household registration and is a ninth-rank official.
Shen Xiu was silent after hearing this. An eighth-grade official, a ninth-grade official, and a powerless embroiderer seemed like they really couldn't afford to offend them.
While she was still deep in thought, Old Man Gu said, "Ms. Shen, I see they are heading towards your shop. Go back and take a look!"
After those gangsters smashed up the Miao Family Noodle Shop, one of them with a keen eye saw that another shop had opened nearby, so he called everyone to come towards the newly opened shop.
When Shen Xiu returned to the shop, several local gangsters were looking around for the embroidery.
"Guests, those embroideries cannot be touched." Shen Xiu said, "Embroidery cannot be stained with sweat. Once stained with sweat, the entire embroidery will be ruined."
Shen Xiu's voice was not high, but it still reached the ears of several ruffians clearly.
Two people withdrew their hands, but one of the leaders sat on a chair with dignity and asked, "Where is the shopkeeper of your shop?"
Shen Xiu said calmly: "I am the shopkeeper of the shop. If you have anything to say, please feel free to speak directly."
The leading ruffian glanced at her and suddenly smiled: "We are not just guests, and we don't come to your shop to buy anything. You should know why we are here, right?"
"We are here to collect protection fees. Your shop has made a lot of money every year. Let's do this. We won't ask for more. As long as you pay ten taels of silver a year, if someone comes to make trouble in the future, you can just ask our brothers.
That’s it.”
Shen Xiu frowned slightly. Uncle Gu was obviously talking about five taels of silver, but how come it was ten taels of silver in her case.
She originally planned to pay the money. Five taels of silver was still within reach for her, so she would just spend it to buy her purity. But when the other party opened her mouth, Shen Xiu changed her mind.
The other party was clearly bullying her as a woman. Today he could force her to pay ten taels of silver, and tomorrow he might even rob the store of items.
Thinking of this, Shen Xiu couldn't help but calm down and said: "My shop has just opened and I don't have that much cash. Why don't you guys give me a few days?"
The leading ruffian said: "There are many newly opened shops, but there are not many shirkers like you. Let's do this. We will tolerate you for one day at most. If you can't get the money tomorrow, your shop's business will be ruined."
Just don’t do it.”
They didn't get any money. When several gangsters came out, they all had bad faces. One of them even kicked the door.
After waiting for a few local gangsters to go away, Old Man Gu came over and said, "Ms. Shen, are they here to ask for money?"
Shen Xiu smiled bitterly and nodded: "Not only do I want it, but I also ask for ten taels of silver."
"Ten taels of silver?" Old Man Gu said in surprise, "They really dare to open their mouths. What about you, Mrs. Shen?"
Shen Xiudao: "I didn't give it to them."
"Then what didn't they say?"
Shen Xiudao: "They said they would come back tomorrow."
"Ms. Shen, I think you should spend money to eliminate the disaster!" Old Man Gu said, "These people are not easy to mess with. Look at the Miao Family Noodle House opposite. It's still not clean now."
Shen Xiu glanced at the Miao Family Noodle Shop not far away. The shop was smashed inside and outside. Mr. Miao and his wife wiped away tears while cleaning up the mess.
"These people are indeed nothing." Shen Xiu looked back and said, "Uncle Gu, don't worry, I won't fight them head on."
On the second day, not long after Shen Xiugang came to the shop, those local gangsters came.
"Little lady, are you ready with the money?" the leading ruffian said, while taking out a stick as if to demonstrate.
Shen Xiu said calmly: "I can't collect ten taels of silver in one day."
"So, the little lady is determined not to pay the money." The leading gangster said, "You don't want to be like the Miao Family Noodle Shop across the way, where our brothers smashed the shop to pieces."
"That's not true." Shen Xiu said with a smile, "Although I don't have that much cash on hand, I have finally saved some good things in the past few years. I think the elder brothers don't mind me exchanging things for money!"