They were domineering and often collected stall fees in the market at the docks. Although it was said that it was stall fees, that was actually self-proclaimed. They maintained the order here and chased away the troublemakers. They also prevented outsiders from stealing, so they wanted the vendors to give them money.
There was no fixed time. They would come whenever they were in a good mood.
Many vendors did not pay. If they were lucky and the other party had money at that time, things would go unnoticed. If they were unlucky, they would be deemed as 'foreign villains' and be punished. After that, the group would quickly slip away and say that if they wanted to sue them to the officials, it would be useless as they had their own forces to protect them.
There was no choice.
Over time, this group of people became the hegemon of the docks and market.
Fortunately, because there was someone in the government behind them, they were more sensitive. They had other ways to earn money, so they didn't come often.
The vendors at the docks weren't too troubled.
The man in the lead was called Brother Ba.
Brother Ba had brought a large group of brothers over today with a clear goal. It was Ye Lulu's stall. There was a reason behind this. Ye Lulu's stall had suddenly appeared and the business was too good.
There was a vendor at the docks who had been setting up a stall for a long time. He had a domineering personality and felt that he was an old man, so he was considered an overlord at the docks. He could not stand watching a new stall steal the limelight from an old stall.
This stall owner was jealous and couldn't stand the sight of newbies earning money. He had bad intentions and hired Brother Ba and the rest. They secretly discussed and wanted to occupy the new stall.
First, they said that someone had occupied this stall and didn't want this new stall to continue setting up and be in the limelight. Furthermore, after Ye Lulu sold Malatang here, that stall owner also took a fancy to the place where she set up her stall and felt that the place was easy to do business at.
Why didn't he realize that this spot was good before?
They wanted to chase Ye Lulu away and take over this place.
Apart from that, this stall owner had also discussed with Brother Ba and the rest. Either they would let Ye Lulu pay them money every month and share more than half of the money she had earned with them, or if possible, they would directly take over the Malatang recipe.
Then, they would be rich!
Then, they could set up a stall to sell Malatang. They would occupy this woman's stall and obtain her recipe to replace her in selling the popular Malatang at the docks. Haha! They would really become rich.
This old stall owner had discussed this with Brother Ba and the rest in private. He got Brother Ba and the rest to look for Ye Lulu. He set up a stall at his original spot and blended into the crowd to see what was going on with Ye Lulu.
Brother Ba followed what they had planned beforehand and stopped for a while to make Ye Lulu panic. Then, he opened his mouth and said in a threatening manner, "Young lady, do you understand? Everything has to be done in the order of arrival. Furthermore, our brothers have already let you earn money for a few days. That's enough, right? If you know what's good for you, do you know what you should do now?"
What he meant was that he did not want Ye Lulu to continue setting up the stall here and they wanted to take over this stall.
Ye Lulu had seen such things in the modern era.
It was nothing more than bullying.
Everyone looked at Ye Lulu to see how this girl would react. Ye Lulu stopped cooking and looked at Brother Ba slowly.
"There was someone occupying this spot before? Before I came to set up the stall here, there was only cold wind by the river.. There was nothing else. Brother, your eyes aren't working well, are they?"