The young man held a rope in his hand and grabbed a middle-aged man who was cursing with his other hand. He was tying the rope around the latter's waist.
The middle-aged man struggled a few times but could not break free. He cursed in a really unsightly manner, "You little b*stard, mongrel. You have a mother but no mother raised you. Hurry up and let go, or I'll break your legs. How dare a bastard from the countryside be arrogant in this prefecture city. Be careful not to die without knowing how. Kid, remember this. Let go quickly!"
Halfway through tying him up, the young man suddenly punched him in the stomach.
"Ugh…" The middle-aged man bent over and groaned in pain. His face was red, and he couldn't finish his sentence. "Bastard…"
Gu Yundong felt that this person deserved it. He could not see the situation clearly at a time like this.
Someone at the side was curious and asked what was going on. An onlooker seemed to know the inside story and said softly, "Shopkeeper Pan deserves it. He's stingy and vengeful. You know how his shop needed to be renovated some time ago and he hired this kid to help with the work? In the end, many refugees have come to look for work these days. As long as they get meals to eat, they don't even ask for money. Shopkeeper Pan wants to chase this kid away to hire refugees. If you want him to leave, so be it. He has to at least settle his previous salary, right?"
"What? Shopkeeper Pan wanted to go back on his word to pay him?"
"Not only that, he even found an excuse to say that he did not do a good job and wanted to ask for compensation instead. However, this kid is not easy to bully. He forced Shopkeeper Pan to take out the money. However, before he left, Shopkeeper Pan went to the government office to report a case. He said that this kid was the leader of the riot in Qing'an Prefecture previously and got someone to arrest him."
"Ah? This is too immoral."
The onlookers shook their heads in surprise. Was this really a way to behave? Who didn't know what the constables in the government office were like? Wouldn't anyone be skinned alive if they were arrested?
"Isn't he wicked? This kid is just lucky. The constables released him not long after bringing him back. Wouldn't he obviously have to settle scores with Shopkeeper Pan?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the young man had already tied Shopkeeper Pan up. The rope was suddenly thrown around the tree trunk above his head and pressed down.
"Ah ah ah ah ah…" Shopkeeper Pan screamed like a pig being slaughtered. He was already hanging in midair and swaying left and right.
There was a hard limestone slab below. If the rope broke and he fell, how could his old arms and legs withstand it?
He finally began to beg for mercy. "Qing boy, I was wrong. Put me down quickly. I'm dizzy. If you want money, I'll give it to you. How about ten copper coins? I'll give it to you if you put me down."
"Pfft…" Someone laughed and looked at Shopkeeper Pan gloatingly. "How generous. Ten copper coins. You sent him to the government office."
Shopkeeper Pan's face was ashen, but he could not see who was speaking from his position.
The young man ignored him. He watched as Shopkeeper Pan was hung two meters high before stopping. Then, he wrapped the rope around the tree trunk twice and tied it tightly before finally clapping his hands, as if he admired his masterpiece.
The onlookers pointed at him even more. It was probably because Shopkeeper Pan was not popular usually, but no one went forward to help put him down, nor did anyone plead for leniency.
Shopkeeper Pan felt that he had lost all his face today. Wait and see. If he didn't break the youth's legs when he came down, his surname wouldn't be Pan.
However, he soon realized that he did not have such an opportunity.