Chapter 226: Chapter 106: The Blonde Loli Pays a Visit

Man’en 1 (Year 7 of Ansei, 1860), March 19——

Edo, Mukiura Town, a certain fabric shop——

The shop owner sitting cross-legged behind the counter——a middle-aged man already bald on top, was calculating with an abacus in his left hand and scribbling in the account book with his right.

A moment later, he sighed deeply, closed the account book with a tired expression, and pressed his thumb hard against his tightly furrowed brow.

"Father." The shop owner’s young daughter walked over with a cup of hot tea, "The tea is ready."

"Oh oh..." The shop owner tried to squeeze out a smile at his daughter, "Thank you."

The shop owner took the hot tea his daughter offered, gently blew on it, and then sipped it lightly.

Seeing the lingering worry on her father’s face, the daughter hesitated and asked:

"Father... Has the shop been doing any better lately?"

"Ah... hahaha..." The shop owner paused in his sipping, then laughed awkwardly and set the teacup on the counter, "It’s gotten a bit better, slightly improved over last month."

After saying that, the shop owner let out a deep sigh.

"Sigh... How are these barbarians able to weave such fine fabrics while keeping the prices so low..."

Since the national gates were forced open under the threat of Western countries, and a large number of Western goods flooded into the country, business at the shop owner’s fabric store had become increasingly difficult.

The shop owner still didn’t understand—why can the barbarians’ fabrics be both so well-made and yet so cheap?

The first time he saw the fabric sold by the barbarians, the shop owner was so shocked he nearly forgot to blink.

He couldn’t believe the feel of the fabric under his hands, constantly rubbing it.

Such good fabric, sold for so little money?! For so little money, surely they can’t even cover the cost?

The Western fabric is better quality and cheaper than yours, what are you supposed to compete with?

As a result, business at their fabric shop grew increasingly hard... earnings had dropped by more than half compared to before the national gates were opened.

"...Father." The daughter hesitated for a moment, then took a deep breath, "Maybe... I should go out and find a job."

"I’m already 14 this year, I can work."

"I noticed yesterday that the tea house in the neighboring Chō is hiring Shodai."

The shop owner was momentarily stunned, then showed his daughter a grateful smile.

"Don’t worry too much about household matters." The shop owner lifted his hand to affectionately rub his daughter’s head, "No matter how bad our business gets, it won’t leave our whole family starving."

Suddenly, there was the sound of a door curtain being lifted and footsteps coming in from the shop entrance.

"Welcome..." The shop owner reflexively squeezed out a formulaic smile.

He had only gotten halfway through his "welcome" when the rest of his words were caught in his throat.

In the store came four samurai with swords at their waists.

The hair and stubble of these four samurai were all in disarray, their bodies and clothes quite dirty, not knowing how long it had been since they were cleaned.

Looking at these four samurai who seemed like ronin, the shop owner felt a vague sense of foreboding in his heart...

He quickly gestured with his eyes for his daughter to move to the back of the shop—but unfortunately, his daughter didn’t notice his look.

"Are you the owner of this shop?" The leader of the four samurai—a middle-aged man with a large nose loudly asked the shop owner.

The man with the big nose had a heavy accent, from the Northeast Aozhou region; his accent was so thick that the shop owner almost couldn’t understand what he was saying.

"Yes, yes!" The shop owner hurriedly rushed out from behind the counter, plastering a flattering smile on his face, "I wonder what brings the gentlemen..."

Before the shop owner could finish his sentence, the man with the big nose interrupted in a booming voice:

"We are Anti-foreigner Warriors!"

"We are about to head to Nagasaki, to join with other comrades to annihilate all the barbarians gathered in Nagasaki!"

"But we currently lack enough travel expenses."

"So we thought to borrow some travel costs and military funds from your shop."

"Once the Anti-foreigner Cause has achieved complete victory, we will surely repay twice the amount borrowed!"

The flattering smile on the shop owner’s face instantly froze.

His reaction was quick, and he soon adjusted his facial expression.

"Uh... this..."

The shop owner discreetly wiped the cold sweat seeping from his forehead.

"Ah hahaha, it turns out the gentlemen are patriots committed to the Anti-foreigner Cause! Admirable! I respect the Anti-foreigner Warriors the most!"

The shop owner said a lot of flattering words to these four people.

Things like "You’re so admirable," "I’ve long been fed up with those barbarians"...

The man with the big nose and others were quite pleased with the shop owner’s praises, wearing expressions of pride.

After soothing these four people with the eloquence acquired from running a business for so many years, the shop owner’s tone shifted——

"Samurai gentlemen, I also wish to support you, to contribute my bit towards the Anti-foreigner Cause."

"But my shop is just a small one... Generally, the struggle to sustain the family is already difficult, and there are no funds available to lend..."

Upon hearing this, the expressions of the man with the big nose and others, who had just shown pride after the shop owner’s praises, instantly changed.

"What?!" The big nose furrowed his brows, "Are you unwilling to support our great Anti-foreigner Cause?"

"No, no, no!" The shop owner hurriedly waved his hand, "I didn’t mean that! I truly wish to support you, but I really have no money!"

"Owner, that’s narrow-minded of you!" The big nose straightened his chest, lifted his head, and assumed an expression of righteous indignation, "Haven’t you heard the saying? The rise and fall of the nation, every man’s duty!"