The remaining days of the holiday were short, and with his elder brother's wedding just a few days away, coupled with the resolution of financial issues, Su Xiaotian decided to abandon her plan to travel south.
She began to focus all her energy on managing the factory.
Meanwhile, the rest of the Su family started busy preparing for Su Shouwen's wedding.
Although weddings in this era were generally simpler, because Su Shouwen was the first child and the eldest grandson of the Su family, both Grandpa Su and Grandma Su felt that this wedding had to be done well.
Furthermore, Grandma Su said that getting married in the capital and then hosting the villagers during the New Year would be a complete celebration.
The Su family members worked together, and there was no need to hire anyone else; they simply tidied up Su Shouwen's small house until it was clean and orderly.
The walls were repainted with white lime, so bright they hurt the eyes.
The wooden doors and windows were meticulously scrubbed, then coated with a layer of clear varnish, and finally, a ceiling was added to the roof.
After all the work, the house looked much better than before.
Just as the Su family was busy with these matters, the Yiming Pavilion was vandalized.
Yes, the Yiming Pavilion was smashed.
It was lunchtime on this particular day, and Grandpa Su was sitting at the bar when he saw several young men dressed in a disreputable manner enter.
Grandpa Su frowned; he truly disliked such young people.
Although people's attire had become more varied in the past two years, those dressed like these were either ruffians or hooligans.
However, as a business owner, Grandpa Su had to approach them, even if he disliked their appearance.
"What would you young comrades like to eat?"
Grandpa Su stepped forward to greet them.
The moment Grandpa Su approached, one of the men shoved him directly.
Grandpa Su stumbled and hit the bar counter.
His waist struck the counter, and he gasped in pain, almost unable to stand.
"You old geezer, take one more step and I'll beat you to death."
The man cursed vulgarly.
By this time, Grandpa Su had realized that these people meant trouble and were likely not here to eat.
His mind raced as he considered whether he could call the police.
But with the men glaring at him menacingly, Grandpa Su thought he had no opportunity to report them.
At this moment, a slightly bolder waitress stepped forward to intervene.
"Comrades, if you're here to eat, please come in."
Upon seeing the pretty waitress, the men's expressions turned lecherous.
One of them even reached out a "pig's hand" and groped the waitress's face.
"Little sister, you're quite good-looking. How about you come and have a few drinks with us?"
These nonsensical words immediately made the waitress's face turn red.
The waitress, maintaining her composure, said, "Comrades, we are a respectable restaurant."
"Respectable? Who knows if it's respectable or not."
One of them said obscenely, while the others burst into laughter.
"Big brother, maybe this little girl is not respectable herself."
These words almost made the waitress die of shame.
She had been working at the restaurant since it opened and felt a connection to it, which was why she bravely stepped forward at this moment.
However, she also knew at this point that these men were here to cause trouble.
She alone could not stop them and might even suffer harm.
But at the moment, there were only a few elderly people and four waitresses in the restaurant.
They were no match for these men.
"Xiuhong, come here."
Grandpa Su, also worried that the waitress named Xiuhong might get into trouble, called out to her.
"Oh, the old man is being chivalrous? Isn't this little slut your mistress? Old man, at your age, can you still handle meat? Or maybe we brothers can help you?"
The men's words became increasingly outrageous.
By this time, the customers in the restaurant had also noticed that something was wrong.
Some of the bolder ones came forward, intending to mediate.
However, they were spotted after taking only two steps.
"Scram!"
The few people who had intended to speak up no longer dared to step forward.
"Old man, you've offended someone you shouldn't have, and you still haven't come to apologize. Today, we brothers will teach you a lesson!"
After saying this, the leader waved his hand and said, "Smash this damned restaurant for me!"
His subordinates, a few thugs, immediately sprang into action. They overturned tables where no one was sitting and started shoving people with their fists.
"How can you be so lawless..." Before a man enjoying his meal at one of the tables could finish speaking, he was slapped.
"Do you need to manage how I act? Lawless, I am lawless!"
The man, caught off guard by the blow, dared not speak further, but his eyes continued to glare at the men.
"What are you looking at? Look again, and I'll gouge your eyes out!"
As he spoke, the man was kicked again, falling to the ground and knocking over several chairs.
Witnessing this scene, the other diners immediately cried out in alarm and completely gave up any thought of helping.
These people looked like trouble.
People naturally tend to avoid danger, so they couldn't act to help others at the risk of their own safety.
"If you dare to eat here again, we'll beat you up too."
The thugs, perhaps sensing the diners' intentions, immediately shouted a warning.
Under the threat, all the diners fled. Some quietly left money in a corner, but more left without even bothering to pay.
Finally, the only person left in the entire restaurant was the middle-aged man still lying on the ground.
The man struggled to his feet, leaning on a chair.
"What, you want to get beaten again?" the thug asked, staring at the man.
The man dared not speak further and also ran away in a hurry.
Seeing that everyone had left, the thugs laughed triumphantly.
"Little girl, come here and have some fun with us!" one of the thugs, a man with a large mole on his face, leered at Xiuhong.
"Big mole, focus on the main task!" the leader immediately reprimanded.
They were here primarily to intimidate this oblivious family and couldn't afford to act like hooligans.
The man with the mole cast a resentful glance at Xiuhong and could only vent his anger on the tables and chairs.
Chi Ge, Du Tong, and two old brothers were drinking tea upstairs. When they heard the commotion, they hurried downstairs to see what was happening.
"How are there two old geezers here? Get out!"
Seeing the two old men, the man with the mole became very angry and almost rushed to hit them.
"Who are you people? How can you act like this in broad daylight?" Chi Ge reprimanded.
"Broad daylight? Are you blind? Is there anyone here?"
Chi Ge looked at the messy restaurant, which was already empty, and was momentarily speechless.