Yu Xin was stunned. She never expected these seemingly fierce gangsters to show such respect to Liu Yutong.
Moreover, she could sense that this group was far more intimidating and hardened than the petty thugs Zhao Zhu associated with.
What she didn’t know was that these men were genuine gang members—part of the notorious Yilian Society in Bright Pearl City’s underworld.
Even the toughest delinquents from her school, let alone the local troublemakers outside campus, paled in comparison to them.
Though Yu Xin desperately wanted to ask Liu Yutong why they addressed her as "Miss," she understood that some matters were private.
While she stood frozen, Liu Yutong reached out with her delicate hand, gripping Yu Xin’s tightly and pulling her up from the riverbank.
Yu Xin’s tense nerves gradually eased under the warmth of that small hand.
The heavy weight that had long burdened her heart seemed to loosen slightly with that simple gesture.
"Still worried now?" Liu Yutong asked.
Yu Xin couldn’t help but look up. The slender girl, bathed in sunlight that cast a golden glow over her school uniform, appeared even gentler and more confident.
A feeling called "security" quietly seeped into Yu Xin’s heart, reinforcing her fragile spirit with an unyielding shield.
She had lacked a sense of safety since childhood—it had been so long since she last felt this way.
Unaware of Yu Xin’s emotional shift, Liu Yutong immediately began outlining their next steps.
Once the plan was mostly settled, she turned to Yun Cheng and the others. "Which of you can swim?"
At her question, most of them raised their hands.
Satisfied, Liu Yutong said to Yu Xin, "Yu Xin, all you need to do is provoke Zhao Zhu. Leave the rest to me."
"Got it, Sister Tong!" Yu Xin instinctively changed her address.
Liu Yutong didn’t mind. After watching Yu Xin return to campus, she boarded Yun Cheng’s battered minivan and headed straight for her rural hometown.
Along the way, she mulled over the wholesale prices of seafood—particularly lobsters—for street food stalls.
She had to admit, these gangsters were surprisingly useful, even if their methods were… unconventional.
But that was just their style.
A dozen hardened men standing outside a shop was enough to make the owner obediently hand over the price list.
Efficiency couldn’t be better.
In Wushui County’s bustling night markets, lobster prices were fairly consistent—smaller ones around four yuan per pound, larger ones five to six.
Liu Yutong’s grandfather had a family pond teeming with at least several hundred pounds of crayfish.
Though not intentionally farmed, the pond yielded an abundance every year.
In her past life, she often saw her brother and village kids fishing them out—just a few hours would fill a whole basin.
Back then, she never understood why she disliked eating them, and her family seemed indifferent too.
Sometimes, to prevent overpopulation, they’d even spread poison, scooping out the dead lobsters to discard. (Note: This is realistic—my family actually had such a pond, and the description isn’t exaggerated.)
In this era, rural folks rarely had a business mindset, mostly focused on farming.
A simple trip to the city would reveal how valuable these lobsters were, but many, like Liu Yutong’s grandparents, seldom visited urban areas and never realized their worth.
Without Yun Cheng’s crew, Liu Yutong might not have thought of this as her first business venture.
It was too much hassle—researching, catching, transporting, and selling, all with uncertain success.
Alone, it would’ve been overwhelming.
But with Yun Cheng’s help, everything fell into place.
She figured it’d keep them busy while she prepped for college entrance exams.
A few hundred pounds of lobster could fetch thousands. If they sourced more from neighboring ponds, profits could reach tens of thousands.
The county was about fifteen kilometers from her village.
Soon, they arrived.
When Liu Yutong led the gang into the courtyard, her grandfather—busy weaving brooms—immediately grabbed one and charged.
"Damn you! Touch my granddaughter, and I’ll fight you to the death!"
Yun Cheng and the others froze, scrambling to dodge. They wouldn’t dare lay a finger on the young miss’s grandfather.
"Grandpa, spare us!"
"Grandpa, we’re good people, really!"
"..."
"I’ve lived long enough to know good from bad!"
"Take this!"
The old man chased them around the yard with his broom, sending them fleeing like startled chickens. Not one dared fight back.
Exhausted, Grandpa soon leaned on the broom, panting. "My worthless son owes you money? Go after him! But if you harm my granddaughter, I’ll die fighting!"
Liu Yutong quickly explained.
Even after hearing they were just there to harvest lobsters, Grandpa remained wary.
"Sweetheart, blink if they’re forcing you."
"Don’t worry, Grandpa’s got your back! I carried a rifle in my youth—these punks don’t scare me!"
Liu Yutong: "..."
Yun Cheng’s crew: "..."
After much persuasion, Grandpa finally accepted they weren’t kidnappers but lobster buyers.
Her reasoning was simple: college tuition was due, her father was unreliable, and the pond was her only hope.
Grandpa’s heart ached.
A father like that had truly wronged his granddaughter.
Though he had savings, most had been gambled away by his good-for-nothing son. Tuition was a real concern.
Only after triple-checking their purpose did he relent.
He even supervised as Yun Cheng’s men cast nets into the pond.
"Lower! That pole needs to sink into the mud, or the fish’ll escape! How can you catch anything like this?"
"Quick! A big carp got away—that’s my granddaughter’s tuition!"
"You call yourselves tough guys? Can’t even handle fish? Pathetic!"
"Bunch of bumpkins!"
"..."
The gang endured his scolding—they were clueless about this work.
City life had spared them from rural labor like this.
After hours of struggle, they finally hauled out several hundred pounds of fish and crayfish, leaving exhausted and humiliated.
Inside the van, defeat weighed heavily on them all.
Originally, they came to fetch the young mistress to have her inherit the boss's position, but how did things end up in such a mess?
