Chapter 253: For sweet4u's Crown Update, the Kind-Hearted Restaurant Owner

Standing next to Han Duo, I got the illusion that, if it weren't for the two lines of clear tears on her cheeks, this scene would be exactly like a movie where a petty girl drags a carefree hooligan, arrogant and begging for a beating, saying: "Hit me, come hit me."

However, Han Duo is Han Duo—she's not a petty girl who's strong outside but weak inside; she's a decisive and straightforward female overlord.

Han Duo kept shouting, "Hit me, come on!" The fatty froze, not daring to move. After shouting a few more lines, Han Duo straightforwardly rushed at the fatty and said, "Fine, since you won't listen and insist on being troublesome, you won't hit me, huh? Then I'll beat you to death."

Having said that, before I could even react, Han Duo snatched the brick from the fatty's hand and, with a clang, slammed it straight onto his head.

The fatty yelled, crouched down, and kept covering his head while dodging, but Han Duo, still unsatisfied, kept striking him with the brick over and over until he was covered in blood and in a miserable state.

I stood there stunned, staring blankly at everything, unable to snap out of it for a long while.

This girl, as always, defies common sense. Even when it comes to extorting money, she's excessively violent.

"Miss, miss, stop hitting, stop hitting—look, am I the fatty you used to know? Take a good look—did the Ye Wei you used to know have this mole on his face?" the fatty shouted, clutching his head and scrambling about, begging Han Duo in a panic.

At that moment, I also ran over and urged Han Duo, "Stop hitting—if you keep going, someone will die."

My plea and the fatty's explanation came out almost at the same time. Han Duo instantly put down the brick, stared blankly at the fatty for a good while, then exclaimed in surprise, "Ah… you really aren't the former restaurant owner I knew, but besides that mole, why do you two look so alike?" Han Duo was a bit dazed; even though she realized she had hit the wrong person, her first words forgot to apologize—instead she curiously asked about the fatty's identity.

"Oh, miss, that's my older twin brother; I'm Ye Liang, his younger twin. I've only just taken over this little restaurant." The fatty wiped the blood from his forehead and explained, feeling wronged.

"What about this brick…?" Han Duo, holding the brick she had taken from Ye Liang's hand, recalled that she had just struck Ye Liang's head with it, and hastily threw it away.

"This brick, oh, I was using it to hit that dead dog. That wolf dog was left by my older brother; I originally wanted to keep it to guard the house, but who knew it would be so fierce, chasing anyone it sees." Ye Liang explained, and meanwhile he rubbed the big bump on his head.

According to Ye Liang's explanation, Lele and a few orphans came to his small restaurant to pick up the bottles customers had finished drinking. He had originally wanted to take those poor kids for a meal, but when they saw him they ran off; then the guard dog, not tied tightly, went berserk and chased after Lele.

Ye Liang, fearing trouble, hurried after them. When he saw Han Duo holding Lele and noticed the bite marks on Lele's leg, he flared up, grabbed the brick intending to teach that big wolf dog a lesson. Who would have thought… Han Duo misunderstood him, didn't let him explain, scolded him loudly, then snatched the brick and slammed it hard onto his head.

Ye Liang's head was covered in bumps, blood still flowing from his forehead, and he looked at us aggrieved, saying, "I'm not my older brother; how could I possibly let the dog bite those poor orphans from your orphanage?"

"I thought you were the former owner of the Fragrance Commune Restaurant." Truly sorry, truly sorry—Han Duo, now knowing the full story, flustered, apologized to Ye Liang.

Ye Liang simply waved his hand, gave a simple smile, and said, "Never mind that for now—first take the child back to my restaurant. Wash him with rice water; since he was bitten by that mad dog, we need to treat it promptly."

Ye Liang stepped forward, picked up Lele who was crouching on the ground, gave her head a cheerful rub, then led me and Han Duo back into his restaurant.

The restaurant isn't big; it's a medium-sized place. Although Ye Liang's accent sounds like a local from Shenzhen, the experience is that of a restaurant with out-of-province flavors. I think Ye Liang must have paid a franchise fee, so this brand's eatery allows him to operate under its name.

As we carried Lele back to the restaurant, a large group of children spotted us through the window from afar, then came running out and surrounded Han Duo, each cheerfully calling, "Rice Sister, Rice Sister."

Their voices were as pure as angels, yet I almost couldn't help laughing. "Mi Li"... even as a nickname that's totally outdated, not just outdated but hilarious. Hearing that name, I don't know why, but I keep picturing myself as a kid with leftover rice, a few grains of rice stuck to my face.

Together with this group of kids and Han Duo, we entered the restaurant. As soon as we stepped inside, Han Duo froze. The whole place had only one table, occupied by dirty little faces, and on the table sat steaming hot meat and vegetable dishes.

"Boss Ye… what is this?" Han Duo widened her eyes, looking at Ye Liang beside her in surprise.

Ye Liang waved his hand and answered casually, "Don't fuss over these things—they're not worth much. My wife's birthday is today, and coincidentally your orphanage kids showed up, so I simply cooked a full table of dishes for everyone to share."

"Ah… looking at these kids tugs at the heart—see how small they are, how long has it been since they've had a full meal?" Ye Liang patted a child's head, sighed, and said, "Let's not talk about useless stuff—quick, let me check this child's injury."

"Hehe, now I'm totally convinced they're not the same person—the fatty who used to run the restaurant was never this generous and kind. Sorry, boss," Han Duo apologized.

Just then, a plump woman came out carrying a dish, interrupting Han Duo and Ye Liang's conversation: "Honey, you're finally back—the landlord just told me to get ready for next quarter's rent; he wants to collect it early… Oh dear, why is your forehead bleeding?" As soon as she saw Ye Liang's forehead still bleeding, she rushed over.

"Ah, I get it! Don't worry about this—I'll figure out the money. If cash flow is tight, I'll go ask my older brother for a little." Ye Liang waved his hand, explained to his wife, and said the blood on his forehead was from him accidentally bumping it.

Ye Liang's wife helped bandage his forehead, then asked doubtfully, "Big brother, husband, will your older brother lend us money? You know what he's like…"

"Hey, I told you not to worry about it—can't you see the child's foot is bleeding? Go aside, take care of the kids eating; don't fret over other things needlessly."

Ye Liang scolded his wife a few times, then crouched down and examined the child's injury together with us.

He rolled up Lele's pant leg. On her calf were two clear rows of tooth marks, with a darkish tint.

Seeing this, Ye Liang said it wouldn't do, that they needed to rush her to the hospital, but Han Duo insisted he bring over a basin of rice water.

Ye Liang was puzzled, but still had his wife wash some rice and bring over a basin of rice water.

After the rice water was brought over, watching Han Duo pull two coins from her pocket, I began to understand what she was about to do.

This is one of the rural folk remedies called "scraping poison": washed rice water combined with coins and a red thread can draw the poison out of a wound.

Speaking of this rice water, its uses are truly immense—so miraculous it's hard to believe.

I had a classmate whose face was covered in acne in middle school; a year later, when I saw him again, his acne had completely cleared. Since I was also going through puberty and had acne myself, and facial washes hadn't helped, I asked him for his method of getting rid of acne.

His answer was simple: every morning, persist in washing your face with rice-washing water, no skincare products needed. Later, a classmate whose hair turned prematurely white from overusing his brain applied this method flexibly to washing his hair. After a similar period, his hair actually regained a soft, lustrous sheen.

Han Duo's method is a common rural detox practice. Though not very scientific, since childhood, when kids get bitten in a fight or by an animal, they never mention getting a rabies shot—they just rely on this method to get through it.

Of course, there are risks, but if used together with a talisman for treating dog bites, the harm can certainly be reduced to a minimum.

Han Duo carefully performed the scraping poison on Lele, while I went with Ye Liang to another table in the restaurant. I had asked for this voluntarily, because I thought Ye Liang was a kind person and I really ought to help him out.

Why say that? Because this restaurant is really strange. It's now just past one in the afternoon, the time people leave work for lunch, yet although there are many furniture factories and workshops around Ye Liang's restaurant, very few people come in to eat.

This situation could arise either because Ye Liang's restaurant has had integrity issues, or because the food simply isn't tasty.

However, given Ye Liang's character, I doubt an integrity crisis is likely; as for the food, I tried it and found it first-rate.

In that case, it's highly probable that the problem lies with the feng shui.

In fact, as soon as I entered Ye Liang's restaurant, I had a feeling—a sense of a mutually repelling magnetic field. After I carefully examined the layout inside and out, I finally noticed a clue.