NOVPUBBeneath the tavern, at the tea stand, Wang Anfeng withdrew his right hand, speaking indifferently,
"I will buy this bead."
"Onepperin, is that enough?"
Zhou Lao San didn’t respond, but simply turned toward Wang Anfeng with a beaming smile, performed a bow, and nodded, signaling the deal was settled. Then he pushed open the tavern’s main door and walked in, casually shutting the wooden door behind him. Every Jianghu guest present held their breath, not daring to make a sound.
The group of martial artists without weapons looked at him with reverence, wanting to stand and bow to him, but Zhou Lao San raised his hand slightly in a gesture to abstain, then moved upstairs. It wasn’t until his footsteps faded away that everyone on the first floor sighed deeply, the atmosphere bming livelier.
Suddenly, a manuldn’t restrain himself, slapped the table hard, and called out,
"Keeper, bring out the wine!"
Zhou Lao San reached the fourth floor, glanced at his room without stopping, andntinued to the top floor.
This tavern’s top floor was pretentiously elegant, fashioned like a pavilion or tower, reputed to be the highest point in the city with a view that empassed the entire cityscapes. It was the most pleasant place for enjoying the natural beauty. A scroll wasmmissioned, the scholar asking for a hundred gold per character, so only one character was written.
It was called ’Elegant’.
Zhou Lao San opened the door and entered; inside, a person was standing with his back to him, staring blankly at the tea stand below at the scholar and Taoist, lost in thought. Hearing the entrance, the man’s neck shrank a bit and said,
"Did he refuse?"
The chubby man who hadme up nodded and said with a smile,
"But we’ve pretty much got what we needed to probe."
"A mastery of hidden weaponsmparable to crossbow bolts, accurate and lethal at close range, usual Seventh Rank experts wouldn’t last within a hundred meters."
"Such bold and overwhelming skills, in exchange for a hundred gold’s Shark Pearl, this deal is not at a loss at all."
The person facing away nodded.
At the tea stand, Wang Anfeng didn’t make a move, but Mu Shanxue played with the chopstick for a while finally digging a big hole in the table and extracted the bead, thinking the table had endured ten years of wind and rain only to be damaged at this moment by the lethargic Taoist.
Mu Shanxue toyed with the ’Shark Tears’ in his hand and tossed it to Wang Anfeng.
Wang Anfeng caught it, not really taking it to heart, but since he had bought it himself, heuldn’t bring himself to throw it away. After a thought, he turned and handed it to the young Taoist Chonghe, his face smiling,
"Young Taoist, since you’ve called me elder brother for life, this is your weme gift."
An old man nearby, rgnizing the situation, was left slack-jawed.
The young Taoist Chonghe hesitated.
Wang Anfeng chuckled and, holding the jade bead thatuld make any wealthy girl scream in delight, pushed it forward slightly, and said,
"You saw it just now; I bought this, spending just onepperin."
"What, won’t you accept a gift worth just onepperin?"
Chonghe no longer hesitated and took the jade bead, holding it tightly in his hand, his eyes shining brightly.
Mu Shanxue, feeling a bit embarrassed,ughed lightly and said,
"You lad, you’re not one of those maidenly ladies; what do you need that round bead for?"
Chonghe happily put away the bead, not even glancing at his indolent elder brother, and said,
"For my slingshot."
"This bead is just the perfect size for that."
Wang Anfeng was momentarily stunned, then laughed out loud, appearing quite pleased. Mu Shanxue slumped on a wooden stool, tore a piece of meat bun, and threw it into his mouth, chewing it while looking at Wang Anfeng, he said,
"Was that bead really only worth onepperin to you?"
Wang Anfeng nodded, as if it were only natural, and said,
"Bought for onepperin, naturally it’s worth onepperin."
Mu Shanxue swallowed the meat bun and then asked again,
"Then how much is your sword worth?"
Wang Anfeng lifted the iron piece sword in his hand, looked at the lethargic Taoist, thought for a moment, and seriously said,
"Originally, it was nine hundred seventypperins."
"These past few days I’ve taken extra care of it; it should be sold for about one tael of patterned silver now."
Mu Shanxue was dumbfounded but didn’t say anything, instead, he raised his hand and stroked his chin.
The old man nearby was so outraged that he was jumping about.
It had been a long time since he had felt as angered as he did now, seeing the dignified, entitled young man in the green robe, who rarely even thought about snatching shoes to slap across someone’s face.
He really wanted to grab the young man by thellar and chastise him on behalf of his parents for being a spendthrift.
A giant jade bead worth just onepperin.
And that broken sword worth a tael of patterned silver?
So a mere iron piece, with two pieces of wood nailed together to serve as a sword scabbard, is worth a thousand gleaming jade beads?
Those items, he had heard his grandson talk about them, are rare even in wealthy households, normallysting at least a hundred taels of gold.
Arding to what the young man in the green robe said, just the sword in his handuld be worth one hundred thousand taels of gold?
The old man snorted in disdain.
Yet Mu Shanxue also appearedmpletely nonchalant about it.
He reached into his robe, felt around, and drew out a small embroidered pouch adorned with two ducks. The lethargic Taoist opened it,unted inside, and somewhat regretfully shook his head, saying,
"Tsk, not enough money."
"Otherwise, I really would want to buy your sword to play with."
"We’ve known each other for almost three years now, let’s negotiate. Nine hundred sixtypperins, sell it to me?"
Wang Anfeng laughed out loud, shook his head with a bit of banter, and said,
"There’s a saying ’small business, no diunt.’"
"My business, having no profit at all, naturally has no diunts either."
Mu Shanxue sadly put away the pouch in his hand, mumbling, 𝘯𝑜𝑣𝑝𝑢𝘣.𝑐𝑜𝑚
"Who says that."
"Ever since ancient times, the Jianghu guests and warriors on the battlefield are known to make the most fortune in businesses that don’tst a dime."
