Chapter 14: The Knife Comes Out

The market was already thinning out, with many vendors packing up their stalls. Only a few remained, sparse and scattered.

However, White Ye still had two portions left unsold and couldn't help but furrow his brows.

Was he going to fail the task?

If he failed the task just because of something so small and the system deducted money from his bank account, that would hurt more than dealing with a customer trying to haggle.

It was clear that the crowd had mostly dispersed, and even the cooked food vendors had almost all packed up. White Ye's father was also preparing to pack up.

"Dad, why don't we stay a little longer?" White Ye said reluctantly. "You can go sit in the car and warm up first."

"There's no one left. What are we still doing here?" White Ye's father didn't quite understand, but then realized that his son probably didn't want to leave because there was still some meat left.

"White Ye, let's go. It's fine if we don't sell it all. We've already sold quite a bit," his father suggested.

He was concerned his son might be upset, but realistically, Liu Jiaji was a small market, and selling so much was already a good result.

"I know," White Ye nodded. "Let's go."

Just as they were packing up the stall, even putting the gas tank into the car, a vehicle pulled up in front of their stall.

A man got out of the car and loudly said, "Oh, you haven't packed up yet, great! Give me some more of that braised meat!"

White Ye looked up, and it was the first customer who had bought from them earlier.

"Yes, we still have plenty!" White Ye called out enthusiastically.

There were two whole pieces of meat left. The man waved his hand and bought both. White Ye quickly had an idea and said, "Big Brother, could you make the payment in two parts?"

"Ah? Why?" The man was confused.

"What's the difference between paying once or twice?"

"Just a favor, just a favor!" White Ye said, "I'll give you a pig's foot to try. If you like it, you can come back next time."

This was the leftover back hoof, with not much meat and tendon, which few people would want to buy. But the man had already bought several pounds of meat, so giving him a taste would be a good gesture.

"Alright then!" The man agreed and paid in two installments, taking the two bags of meat and the pig's foot before driving off.

"Let's go, too!" White Ye's father said.

The pot was nearly empty now, with only a back pork hoof and some cut-up meat left.

"Let's go to Li Village and see if there are any pigs left. If there are, we'll buy one. If not, we'll place an order," his father added.

"…Okay." White Ye nodded, a bit distracted, and only snapped out of his thoughts when his father gave him a gentle nudge.

He was looking at the system.

Although he had just sold two more portions, he hadn't received the task completion notification.

While driving, White Ye anxiously asked the system what was going on.

The system, which used to be enthusiastic and chatty, gave him a very mechanical response this time:

[Please refrain from making unauthorized actions. The system does not accept such behavior. Further violations will result in penalties.]

White Ye's face turned pale.

It turned out that the man paying twice counted as only one transaction, and the system didn't allow him to "cheat" like that.

White Ye wasn't too concerned about the warning. He would just avoid doing it again next time.

But now, that meant he wouldn't complete his task.

"Let's go, it's getting late. The pork might sell out soon."

White Ye agreed and drove towards Li Village, though his mood wasn't great during the drive.

He didn't know when the task would end, and if it lasted until tomorrow, he could easily finish it. But this time, there was no hourglass on top.

He felt a little frustrated. This limbo feeling was just... unpleasant.

White Ye's father glanced at him, puzzled.

The sales of braised meat today had gone pretty well, so why did his son seem unhappy?

But since White Ye's father wasn't a talkative person, he only looked at him for a moment and said nothing.

White Ye drove to the place they were at yesterday, and sure enough, the crowd hadn't dispersed. The butcher was busiest around the New Year, as many people came to have pigs slaughtered, and he was mainly selling the pigs he had raised for the season.

"Is it almost noon and still so lively?" White Ye remarked.

However, when they got out of the car, they found the scene even livelier than they had expected.

For some reason, the butcher, Zhang, was in a fight with another man.

Everyone else stood at a distance, but White Ye and his father, unaware of what had happened, walked up. By the time they realized something was wrong, it was already too late.

They saw the man grabbing Zhang's butcher knife and going for him. White Ye, quick on his feet, grabbed Zhang's arm and pulled him away just in time.

White Ye, having been a chef for several years, was strong enough to move the big, muscular butcher.

They narrowly avoided the attack, and others quickly rushed up and subdued the attacker.

"Song Lao Liu, are you crazy?"

"The pig was sent by your wife, what does it have to do with Old Zhang?"

"Yeah, you're too scared to talk back to your wife, but you can pull a knife on someone else? How bold!"

"You idiot, call the police and get him arrested!"

White Ye finally pieced together the situation from the conversation.

It seemed that Song Lao Liu's wife had sent a pig to be slaughtered, and when he found out, he came here to cause trouble with the butcher.

White Ye felt speechless.

Was this guy out of his mind? Raising a pig was for slaughtering it, especially around the New Year. If not now, when?

And why take this argument outside? Why not just settle it at home?

It was ridiculous!

At that moment, a woman arrived.

White Ye immediately understood why Song Lao Liu didn't dare argue with his wife.

She was tall, over 1.7 meters, and built strong. But despite her physique, she had a good face and appeared to be a straightforward person.

Meanwhile, Song Lao Liu, standing at about 1.7 meters, looked a bit downcast, and it was unclear where he found the strength to push the butcher just now.

The moment his wife arrived, she saw her husband being restrained and heard the story. She immediately exploded, grabbed him by the ear, and shouted, "So you think you can do this now? I asked Old Zhang to slaughter the pig for us. What's your problem? Raising a pig is for eating, you know that, right? Your mother has told you this for days, and you still didn't act. Now, you're all fired up, huh? Do you have some special connection with the pig? Is it your relative?"

The surrounding people burst out laughing.

Song Lao Liu's wife quickly apologized to Zhang the butcher, and after a long while, finally dragged her husband away. Even from far away, White Ye could still hear her scolding and his miserable cries.

"Thank you, little brother," Zhang the butcher said, once he had calmed down. He grabbed White Ye's hand in gratitude. "If it weren't for you pulling me, I don't know what I'd do this New Year."

"It's nothing," White Ye shrugged. "But if you want to thank me, buy some braised meat!"

4o