Chapter 9: The Old Without Respect

In the midst of the crowd, a young girl was sitting on the ground, crying bitterly, while next to her stood a solemn old man in a plain gray robe.

"You, at your age, still flirting with young girls, do you think my teahouse is a brothel?" The greasy-faced teahouse owner spoke, looking quite indignant.

"I've said it before, it was this girl who bumped into me," the old man's beard trembled with anger, feeling humiliated to be mistaken for a lecherous old man at his age, and being surrounded by so many people was truly embarrassing.

Upon hearing this, the girl trembled as she stood up, covering her face and pointing at the old man, "You old pervert, taking advantage of me and then saying such shameless things, I might as well die today." She then tried to run towards a nearby pillar, but was stopped by the teahouse owner, "Hey, miss, you can't do something foolish, you still have bedridden parents to take care of at home. If you die, wouldn't that be unfilial?"

The onlookers, more interested in the spectacle than the gravity of the situation, chimed in, "In that case, why not let him marry you?"

The old man's face turned ashen with anger, "She's the same age as my granddaughter, how can I marry her!"

"You're ruining her reputation and yet refusing to marry her, you're so unreasonable, just as the girl said, you're a shameless old pervert!" someone in the crowd spoke up.

The crowd joined in the scolding, calling him a shameless old pervert, and the old man was so angry that he almost couldn't catch his breath. Fortunately, there was a woman next to him who helped him steady himself, "Are you okay, sir?"

Listening to her gentle voice, the old man's anger softened slightly, and when he turned to look, he saw a girl of thirteen or fourteen years old. She was dressed plainly and modestly, but stood with a straight back, exuding an air of dignity, "Young lady, you..."

"Since the old man can't explain himself, why not report this to the authorities?" Chu Si said with a faint smile.

"Where did this little brat come from, spouting nonsense!" the teahouse owner exclaimed angrily.

Chu Si's lips curled, "I said to report to the authorities, to seek justice for that sister, why are you getting angry? This matter can't be hidden anymore. Since we can't resolve it, isn't it best to let the authorities handle it?"

The teahouse owner couldn't refute her words, but was strongly against involving the authorities, and could only mock a few times, insisting that she didn't need to get involved.

The old man also understood what was going on. The more they feared involving the authorities, the more he wanted to do so, "Let's go to the authorities!" he said, reaching out to grab the teahouse owner, but was pushed and nearly stumbled, "You..."

"Go to the authorities, aren't you forcing this girl to her death?" the teahouse owner said, and immediately there were people in the crowd echoing his sentiment.

"What do you think is the best solution?" Chu Si asked.

The teahouse owner glared at Chu Si, then looked at the old man, "This girl's parents are bedridden, her relatives are all deceased, and you seem to be a stranger. Why not come up with ten taels of silver, and we'll consider the matter settled."

The old man stood straight, "Since I didn't do anything wrong, I will not pay a single coin!"

"You old man, you're not young anymore, being so disrespectful. If you don't resolve this today, do you think you can walk out of here?" the teahouse owner threatened.

The old man frowned, but the onlookers were only interested in the spectacle.

Chu Si calculated the time, and it should be about the time for the county magistrate to 'coincidentally' pass by here.

"This big brother is being too ruthless," Chu Si said weakly, "The girl on the ground is clearly your wife, how can you say she's alone and helpless? There are clearly relatives of this girl in the crowd, how can you say her family is all deceased? And this girl clearly didn't have any physical contact with the old man, how dare you accuse him of being disrespectful?"

As soon as Chu Si spoke, the teahouse owner and the girl on the ground clenched their teeth, and the man stared at her fiercely as he walked towards her, "Young lady, you can eat a meal messily, but you can't speak carelessly!"

"Speak carelessly?" Chu Si raised her head to look at him, unafraid, "I have evidence."