The youth didn't reply, but he didn't release his grip on Li Yue's wrist. He just stared at her, making Li Yue's hair stand on end.
If it weren't for the fact that the youth never had a fever, Li Yue would have suspected that the youth had gone crazy from the fever.
Li Yue tried to retract her hand, but the youth still didn't move. She could only maintain an awkward and polite smile as she spoke to the youth:
"I'm not in a hurry to ask you to repay a debt of gratitude. You don't have to treat yourself so badly.
Let's not talk about this for now. You've slept for so long. Are you hungry? Do you want to eat something? "
The word "debt" probably touched the youth's heartstrings. He finally released his grip on Li Yue's wrist, lifted the blanket, and prepared to get up. Li Yue hurriedly pressed the youth back onto the bed:
"Hey, hey, don't move. You haven't recovered yet."
"… I can't continue to owe you a debt."
The youth who had just woken up still had a bit of hoarseness in his voice, but his complexion was much better than before. He didn't dare to use too much force on Li Yue, and only gently brushed away Li Yue's hand. It was obvious that he had made up his mind to leave the room.
Seeing Hoodlum stand up in his underwear and pick up his sword to leave, Li Yue was so angry that she wanted to laugh. She sat on the edge of the bed and suddenly shouted to stop Hoodlum from stepping out of the door:
"Stop!"
The youth stopped in his tracks. He hesitated for a moment, then finally turned around and faced Li Yue with a cold expression.
As soon as she met the youth's eyes, Li Yue's heart was filled with irritation. However, when she saw Hoodlum's slightly pale and handsome face, her anger instantly disappeared. She took a deep breath to remain calm, raised her chin to the youth, and then patted the edge of the bed beside her:
"You don't want to owe a debt, right?
Come sit here, let's settle the debt. "
Hoodlum squeezed the iron sword in his hand, yet he didn't sit by Li Yue's side. Instead, he walked over to stand before the little girl with an expressionless face, and his actions carried a strand of stubbornness.
There was already a height difference between the two, so when one sat and the other stood, the taller one was taller, and the shorter one was shorter. Li Yue could only look up to see Hoodlum's expression. She recalled the image of a landlord's image in the movies she saw in the past. She simply took off her shoes and jumped onto the bed, and looked down at Hoodlum as if she let herself fly:
"Is this the attitude of a good debt?
Do you think that if you leave my house now, you can reduce your debt to me?
Do you know how much money I spent to hire a doctor to brew medicine for you while you were unconscious?
Humph!
You owe me so much debt and you want to leave leave?
Whether't't or not, or not, you still have to obediently stay here obediently't't't's''s you't!?!!!'t '
Otherwise, if something happens to you again, who am I going to look for to collect the debt? "
Li Yue said a string of words to Hoodlum. Hoodlum looked at her without blinking.
When her mouth was dry and she thought the youth would definitely refuse with silence, the other party suddenly opened his mouth and responded:
"I understand."
Without waiting for Li Yue to say anything else, Hoodlum added:
"I won't run away before I repay my debt."
"Humph!
Do you think I … you … "
At first, he was so difficult to communicate with, but now, he was so easy to talk to. Li Yue really couldn't understand what the youth was thinking. She didn't care about anything else, as long as he could stay obediently.
Thinking of Bai Feifei's previous actions, in order to prevent the youth from changing his mind again, Li Yue didn't rush to jump off the bed. Instead, she counted with her fingers and settled the debt with Hoodlum:
"Hey, let's make it clear first. You owe me money for the medicine, so you have to work to pay off your debt.
In order to ensure that you have enough strength to work, I will provide food and lodging during this period. The money for food and lodging will also have to be paid off by your hard work.
As for the debt of gratitude, let's put it this way. You owe me two wishes. If I need them in the future, no matter how hard you work, you have to fulfill them for me.
Is this fair enough? "
"… Okay, I promise."
Li Yue let out a long sigh of relief in her heart. She still had that "I'm super fierce" look on her face. She was just about to slowly climb off the bed, but she felt that it would ruin her image. She could only instruct the youth to bring her shoes over and make him turn around.
Hoodlum did as he was told and stood with his back facing the little girl.
Li Yue's "negotiation" was successful. She sat on the edge of the bed with a smug expression and slowly put on her shoes. She finished putting on her right foot and was about to put on her left foot when Li Xunhuan suddenly pushed the door open and entered.
After the person who came in third in the examination looked around the room, his expression turned from gentle to strange.
"What … were you guys doing just now?"
It was no wonder that Tanhua Lang had a strange expression. After all, Hoodlum and Li Yue's current expressions and actions, as well as the messy clothes on the bed, were like the scene of a mountain king defiling an innocent girl.
Of course, the innocent girl was Hoodlum, and the mountain king was Li Yue.
Coupled with the fact that Li Yue had mentioned something about a "child bride", if it weren't for the fact that the two of them were still young, Li Xunhuan's blood pressure would have risen.
Tanhua Lang restrained himself. In the end, he didn't reprimand Li Yue in front of Hoodlum.
He only said coldly, "You … come to my study."
Li Yue's hand, which was holding her shoes, paused. Her face immediately fell.
Although she had explained to Tanhua Lang what she had done in the study, and Li Xunhuan didn't say anything wrong, Li Yue still returned to her room with a small mountain of copybooks.
She originally planned to let Hoodlum help her with some of the tasks, but after the young man came over and wrote a few words, Li Yue immediately gave up on this idea.
The reason was very simple. Not only was the style of the young man's handwriting different from Li Yue's, but it was also better than Li Yue's. It was too easy to be exposed.
The next day, Li Yue went to school as usual. She ordered Hoodlum to stay at home to rest.
During the break, she didn't disturb Zhu Ting who was sleeping on his desk. Instead, she thought about Hoodlum's future.
With the young man's current age, it wasn't suitable for him to go to school with her. According to his personality, he didn't like to have any connections with others. Li Yue thought about it and remembered the scene when they met in front of the tavern during the New Year.
As soon as she got home after school, Li Yue went to the backyard and caught the little fox who was digging all over the ground like a groundhog. When she slipped into the front yard, she immediately saw the youth who was holding his sword and deep in thought under the plum tree. She suddenly had the idea of teasing the youth, so she tiptoed behind the youth in an attempt to scare him.
Hoodlum was used to living in the wilderness, so he was very alert. When Li Yue stepped into the front yard, he had already heard the little girl's movements. When Li Yue suddenly jumped out from behind him with the little fox, he didn't even bat an eyelid.
Li Yue put the squeaking little fox into Hoodlum's arms and put her hands behind her head.
"Here, Uncle Tie has always been taking care of Mao Mao, but Uncle Tie has been busy recently and has no time to take care of it. The others also don't have the experience of taking care of foxes, so your first job is to take care of Mao Mao. Don't let it destroy the plants in the yard, and don't let it escape from the backyard. Do you understand?"
The young man nodded and skillfully changed his position so that the little fox was nestled in his arms.
After arranging Hoodlum's work and dealing with the Long Dragon's matters, Li Yue stretched and turned around to look for Tie Chuanjia.
On the day off, the children of the same age were playing around. Li Yue sat on the Long Dragon's high chair with one hand supporting her chin, listening to the hoodlums' work reports.
After the Long Dragon announced that they wouldn't collect protection fees, not many people were willing to pay the higher price of the security fees even though the gang members repeatedly advertised to the peddlers. Many peddlers still held onto the protection fees and begged the hoodlums to lower the fees.
Among the people who paid the security fees, Li Yue knew without thinking that most of them didn't want to offend the local tyrant, the Long Dragon. They weren't willing to hire the Long Dragon's security personnel.
Wang Sanqian, who was in charge of security and related matters, directly said that the gang's income had plummeted this month and asked for punishment. Li Yue didn't respond and just waved her hand to let him continue to wait.
He Lao Er, who was in charge of selling soap, had a happy expression and confidently reported this month's income to Li Yue. Wang Sanqian, who was on the side, had a bitter expression on his face.
These days, people mostly used locust and charcoal to clean their clothes. When bathing, they only used hot water. Only high officials and nobles could afford to use soap.
The cost of soap was higher than soap, and the cheaper locust was not as clean as soap. In addition, Li Yue had Zhu Ting made a large number of templates with different shapes and some natural dyes. They could completely satisfy the different needs of the residents of Shuo Zhou City.
The location of the soap shop was near Xi City. The shop was owned by Li Yue herself. Before the official opening, Li Yue asked the gang members to cut the soap into small pieces and distribute them to the passers-by on the streets. Then, under the guidance of Uncle Fu, she gave a few gifts to the main government officials in Shuo Zhou City.
Although the residents of the city had doubts, they quickly discovered the advantages of the soap after trying it out. Therefore, on the opening day, there were still people lining up to buy it.
In addition, with the help of the Li Family's caravan, the business of the soap shop was exceptionally good. It was quite a bit of demand.
He Lao Er hurriedly hoped that Li Yue would allow him to expand the production of soap. Li Yue did not agree. She was not worried about the scarcity, but she felt that the gang members did not have enough manpower. Just making the soap had already consumed a lot of manpower. They also needed a lot of people to sell the business. If it was not for the fact that the security was not fully developed, the gang would definitely lack people to patrol and guard.
If the business was booming, it would naturally make others jealous. If one gang was the only gang, it would attract even more jealousy and hatred. It was not uncommon for people to come looking for trouble or secretly tamper with the soap's secret formula.
Li Yue had thought of this long ago. After she became the gang leader, she had already cleaned up a wave of people in the gang.
Therefore, in the gang, those who knew about the raw materials of the soap were the reliable old gang members. They had already been beaten by Tie Chuanjia. Later on, when the business of the soap shop started, they would invest in it and get a share of the profits.
With a stable income and Tie Chuanjia's occasional 'guidance' to the young men in the clan, very few people dared to have thoughts that they shouldn't have.
Even if there were people who had disloyal thoughts, they would think twice about their own weight and see if they had the life to earn money.
In a short period of time, they could not find a breakthrough from the Long Dragon Gang members. Some people simply spent money to hire thieves to try to steal the secret formula.
Although they were all in the underworld, different professions were like different mountains. If it was not for Tie Chuanjia who happened to be guarding the main hall that day, the thieves would have succeeded.
Although Tie Chuanjia caught the thief, he did not beat him ruthlessly because the thief was a child who looked only a few years older than Li Yue.
Li Yue looked at the pitiful appearance of the child lying on the ground and felt her heart soften. However, she was very clear-headed. She only asked the gang members to lock the child in the firewood shed and did not directly let him go.
The child had been starving in the woodshed for two days and had become much more well-behaved. His eyes were no longer rolling around and looking around randomly like before. However, when Li Yue asked him who had instructed him to do so, the child spouted some nonsense and refused to tell the truth.
The gang members were so angry that they wanted to beat the child. Li Yue shook her head and signaled them to let him go.
The child was also very clever. After he left, he did not directly return to the place where he lived. Instead, he hid in the streets and alleys for a few nights. In the morning, he sneaked back to a broken courtyard.
When Li Yue and the Hoodlum were buying snacks in the downtown area, she saw the child again. However, he was not as healthy as he was when he went to steal things. He was lame with one leg and a broken arm. He was lying on the side of the street with a foul smell all over his body. He kept kowtowing to the people who came and went.
When the child was at the Changlong Gang Headquarters, he did not carefully look at Li Yue's face. Therefore, he did not recognize Li Yue. When he saw the little girl coming over, he also kowtowed to Li Yue for alms.
Looking at the child who could be said to be unrecognizable, Li Yue's heart beat fast. She had heard a long time ago that in ancient times, there was a vicious and vicious method called plucking and cutting. However, she did not expect that she would personally encounter it this time.
Plucking and cutting was to artificially create monsters or handicapped people and make these handicapped people beg on the streets. They used people's sympathy to collect money.
Li Yue thought that after the child failed his mission, he would at most be beaten up. She did not expect that the person behind the child would be so ruthless.
She did not dare to stay in the same place for long, afraid that the person who was watching the child would notice something. She pulled the Hoodlum's hand and gritted her teeth as she ran home.
The Hoodlum's swordsmanship had already reached a small level. However, because she did not know the other party's methods, Li Yue still chose to go find Li Xunhuan.
When Tanhua Lang was an official, he had also heard of such practices. He had seen even more terrifying methods in the jianghu, and his heart was filled with disgust.
Therefore, when the child packed up his stall and returned home, there was an expert in the jianghu who was outstanding in qinggong behind him.
With Li Xunhuan's help, the person behind the child's begging was also successfully caught. Li Yue followed the clues and led the Long Dragon Gang members to directly raid the homes of these people. Naturally, they also found the person who stole the soap's secret recipe.