Lin Lan looked at her. "A great man once said that a comrade who can admit their mistakes and change is a good comrade. Don’t look down on the pastry business. As long as you’re willing to work hard and learn, you won’t regret this decision when you’re older."

Life is all about food and clothing, and as time goes on, there are more and more ways to make money.

Once people have money in their pockets, they’re no longer satisfied with just having a full stomach. They like to buy all sorts of pastries to take home and eat while drinking tea or playing cards.

Western-style pastries often use more cream, while the fillings in traditional pastries are denser, emphasizing natural, organic, and healthy ingredients. As a result, traditional pastries were selling better and better.

Tong Xinglan nodded. "I’ll remember that."

Lin Lan told her to follow Qiaohui and Lin Yuezhen and start by being their assistant. Meanwhile, Lin Lan cut a pumpkin into chunks to steam when it was time to cook.

Wu Shufen and Wu Shuqin returned from picking vegetables in the garden, ready to make lunch.

****

Lin Changyou and Old Li were at the shop. They helped out when it was busy and sat around shooting the breeze when it was slow.

Just as the two were enjoying their conversation, three young men swaggered into the shop. They had shoulder-length hair, wore wide bell-bottoms, and had cigarettes dangling from the corners of their mouths.

He Li glanced at the trio. ’The way they’re looking at everyone, they’re not here to shop. They’re here to cause trouble,’ she thought. She shot a look at Old Li and went back to helping her customer.

The three let their eyes dart around the shop, taking in everything from the quartz clock on the wall to the watches and hair dryers in the display case.

The tall, beefy man in the lead whistled excitedly, a grin spreading across his face to reveal a mouth full of yellow teeth. "Well, well. Hey, guys, check it out. They’ve got a ton of different watches here."

The shorter, scrawny one nodded. "Yeah, not like the ones at the department store, huh!"

Old Li acted as if he hadn’t even seen the three, continuing his animated conversation with Lin Changyou.

The tall man sauntered up to He Li’s counter and leered at a male customer who was looking at a watch. "Whoa! An automatic mechanical watch. You must be loaded, huh!"

The customer frowned and handed the watch back to He Li. "Miss, could you hold on to this for me? I’m going to look around a bit more."

He Li took it with a smile. "Of course. Take your time."

It was a store rule: you had to greet every customer with a smile, whether they bought anything or not. You couldn’t give anyone a sour look. If a customer complained, your commission would be docked.

The customer gave a satisfied nod and left without so much as a glance at the three punks.

The three punks leaned against the counter. One took a deep drag from his cigarette, then blew a puff of smoke right at He Li.

The tall man leaned his whole body over the counter, tapping on the glass. He pointed to a mechanical watch and leered at He Li. "Hey, sweetie, let your big bro here take a look at that watch!"

He Li shot the three a disgusted look, then glanced hesitantly at Old Li. "Uncle, he wants to see this watch?" She was afraid if she took it out, she’d never get it back.

"Fuck your ancestors," the tall man cursed, spitting the cigarette from his lips onto the floor with a SSS.

He slammed his palm on the counter with a loud BANG and pointed a menacing finger at He Li. "You think I can’t afford it? Believe it or not, I could buy you, too!"

"Watch your mouth, young man." Old Li stood up, motioning for He Li to step back. He looked at the man calmly. "Which watch did you want to see, little brother? I’ll get it for you."

Lin Changyou stood up as well, moving to Old Li’s side and gripping a wooden club that was propped against the counter.

"Oh-ho!" the tall man jeered, pointing viciously at Old Li’s nose. "You old bastard, get that girl back over here, or I’ll smash this whole damn shop!"

In a flash, Old Li’s hand shot out and clamped down on the finger pointing at his face. Using just a bit of his strength, he bent it backward. "Young man, if nobody ever taught you to respect your elders, then this old man will have to teach you a lesson."

"Agh... ow, ow, ow..." the tall man yelped in pain. He shouted at his two companions, "Get him!"

"Let Old Gao go, you old bastard!" the other two shouted, pulling out switchblades and pointing them at Old Li.

Lin Changyou brandished the wooden club at them. "I dare you!"

"Uncle Shuiqing! Someone’s making trouble! Uncle Shuiqing!" He Li yelled, running toward the back courtyard to get Shuiqing.

Shuiqing rushed into the shop, wielding a club as thick as his wrist. He glared at the men. "You’re still wet behind the ears and you already dare to cause trouble here."

Seeing this, the scrawny one quickly retracted his switchblade and put on a placating smile. "Sir, my friends and I were blind. We didn’t realize who we were dealing with. Let’s just talk this out."

Old Li glared at the tall man. "Kid, I was running the streets with a butcher’s knife before you were even born. Take some advice from an old man: straighten up while you’re young, or you’ll end up doing hard time."

The scrawny one bowed apologetically. "Yes, yes, we were blind. Please, sir, be merciful and let us go this one time."

Shuiqing pointed a finger at the three of them and barked, "Get lost! If you ever come back here looking for trouble, I won’t be so forgiving."

"We won’t, we won’t dare come back." The three punks left, bowing and scraping as they went.

Once they were out of the shop, Old Gao spat on the ground, clutching his finger. "That old bastard," he cursed. "His grip is like a damn vise."

The scrawny man said, "Old Gao, that one-armed guy... he’s the enforcer for the East City black market."

Old Gao thought for a moment. "No wonder he looked familiar. So this shop belongs to Li the Butcher?"

The scrawny man nodded. "Looks like it. Didn’t the old guy say he was running the streets with a butcher’s knife before we were born? He’s probably Li the Butcher’s old man, Li Yidao."

"Oh." Old Gao’s face darkened. "Then why the hell did someone send us here to cause trouble?"

The scrawny man shook his head. "How should I know?" 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Watching the three walk away, Lin Changyou said indignantly, "People like that should be arrested and sent away for labor reform."

He couldn’t believe that even in this New Society, there were still good-for-nothing punks like them trying to extort people.

Shuiqing nodded. "It’s a good thing you two were here. Just yesterday, at the restaurant down the street, a few punks ordered a whole table of food, and then just did a dine and dash. The owner came chasing out of the kitchen, but they were long gone."

"Sigh." Old Li sighed, thinking of Li Xiangyang, who was away on a buying trip. "It’s not just the roads that have gotten dangerous these past couple of years. Even the cities aren’t safe anymore."

"If you ask me, it’s because there are too many young people just loafing around. They can’t find work, so they get up to no good. Someone needs to get a handle on it."

Shuiqing said, "I heard a couple of days ago that in the coastal regions, punks are already forming gangs and collecting protection money. If a merchant refuses to pay, they send people to cause trouble at their shop until they give in."

He Li said, her face pale with lingering fear, "It’s a good thing you were all here. If I’d been alone, they would have just snatched something and run."

"Don’t worry," Shuiqing said, comforting her with a smile. "We’ll be done watching the market at the end of the month. When that happens, we’ll have Zhigang come over and help you mind the store."

"That would be great." He Li picked up a rag and wiped the cigarette ash off the counter. A fresh wave of fear washed over her as she remembered the vile looks on those three punks’ faces.