Chapter 4 – Guanqi Descends the Mountain, Meets an “Old Friend”!

The road leading down the mountain away from Prosperity Village was narrow and treacherous, but to Li Guanqi, it might as well have been flat land.

He had lost count of how many times he had traveled on this road. Almost everyone in the village who drank relied on him to buy wine from the town below.

The descent was quick, and he had almost reached Changxing Town by noon.

Li Guanqi breathed deeply. Beads of sweat had sprouted from his forehead. A smile spread across his face as he gazed at the town still a few kilometers away.

“I’m finally here, and I'm much faster than before. I've improved once again!”

Then, he shot off to town like an arrow.

***

Changxing Town was a large town with more than two hundred thousand people.

It was a market day, so the town was much busier than usual, filled with the shouts of vendors across the streets.

A girl wearing a light blue dress was looking around the place. Her dress had been washed so many times that it was turning white.

The girl was Meng Wanshu. She was carrying the rice, flour, and oil she had bought.

Meng Wanshu had begged her parents for a long time before they finally allowed her to leave the mountain and go into town.

“Uncle, how much is this rice cake?”

“One copper, young lady.”

“So cheap? Give me three, no... four pieces.”

Meng Wanshu muttered something to herself, and an image of the freeloader who always ate free food at her house appeared in her mind.

The moment she thought of the blind boy, Meng Wanshu stomped her foot in anger. “

Hmmph!

With that dog nose of his, he’ll sniff it out and demand to know why I didn’t buy him any.”

The old man quickly wrapped the sticky rice cakes in paper.

After taking the rice cakes, Meng Wanshu thanked him and walked happily out of town.

Meanwhile, Li Guanqi was about four or five li away from Changxing Town, unaware that Meng Wanshu had also descended the mountain and gone into town.

Suddenly, Meng Wanshu heard cries of panic and surprise from the street behind her.

She saw a young man with skin as smooth as jade. He wore luxurious white-blue robes and flapped his paper fan slowly, arrogance shining in his eyes.

His brows were slightly furrowed. Occasionally, he would shoot a disgusted glare at the elderly, white-haired rice cake seller.

Four or five servants protected the young man while he stood in the middle. They moved in unison to overturn the old man’s rice cake stall, stomping the steaming hot rice cakes to mush.

The old man kneeled on the ground with reddened eyes, reaching out as he tried frantically to protect the cakes.

“Don’t... Don’t step... Don’t step on them... These were freshly made!”

Crash!

The cruel servants tackled him to the ground. One of them threatened cruelly, “You old bastard! Did you think you could open a stall here without paying up? Don’t you know that the Zhao Clan has bought this area?”

His remark instantly attracted a lot of dissent from the crowd, but the insults died down quickly. The gangsters glared at everyone who spoke, so they had no choice but to shut their mouths.

Amidst the crowd, Meng Wanshu recognized the old man as the seller from whom she had just bought rice cakes. She frowned in anger, but when she glanced at the young man, she knew she could not say anything.

She recalled a piece of advice the blind boy had given her once. It was best to avoid trouble and mind her own business when she was away from home. Meng Wanshu knew she could not change anything, so she sighed, turned around, and walked away.

But when she turned, Zhao Yuanlin spotted her.

Initially, he had resented his father deeply for sending him to this faraway place. However, he was surprised to see such a graceful-looking girl here.

This girl was only thirteen or fourteen years of age, but she was already a budding beauty. There was an innocence in her eyes that made her completely different from the whores Zhao Yuanlin usually spent his days with.

Zhou Yuanlin said, “Gou San, I want that girl tonight. Follow her!”

Gou San, a thin and short servant with beady, mouse-like eyes, looked up at Meng Wanshu from a distance and instantly knew what to do.

Based on the girl’s clothes and the items in her hands, it was clear she was not from a wealthy family. Girls from regular families like her were the easiest to deal with.

Gou San bowed. The smile on his face did not hide his perverted thoughts.

He quickly nodded and smiled in an ingratiating manner. “Don’t worry, Young Master! I’ll get it done right away!”

The corners of Zhao Yuan’s lips curved upward as his heartbeat quickened. He was already fantasizing about what would happen next.

He slapped his fan on Gou San’s head and chuckled. “Get it done well.”

As he spoke, he took out a large golden ingot and tossed it at Gou San. “Whatever is left over is yours.”

Gou San’s eyes lit up, and he quickly nodded.

He yelled at the crowd of bystanders, “Get lost! Nothing to see here! Go home!”

After Zhao Yuanlin left, Gou San straightened his posture and kicked the old man’s cart over with a smirk. “The rent is three strings of coppers per month. Don't open your stall here if you don’t want to pay up. I’ll knock it down every time you try!”

The old man’s hair was a mess. He wiped his face haphazardly, but there was still blood on his face.

Despite that, he said reluctantly, “S-sir... wasn’t it one string per month previously? H-how... H-how could it go up by so much after just two days?”

Gou San scooped up the rice cake mush that had been stepped on and stuffed it into the old man’s mouth. He cocked his head and growled with a cruel glare, “One string?

Heh,

my brothers need to eat, don’t they?”

Humiliated, the old man swallowed the dirt-covered rice cake and nodded vigorously. “Yes, yes... I understand...”

“

Hahahaha,

that was funny, Brother Gou.”

“He doesn’t know what’s good for him. Brother Gou, what did Young Master say just now?”

Gou San smiled and dangled the golden ingot in front of them. “Didn’t we catch an old lady who was a pimp in the city recently?”

“What was her name again? Auntie Mei? Go get her. And you over there, think of a way to stall the girl.”

Once the others heard his orders, they immediately set off to work.

Gou San bared his yellow teeth. His hunched back made him look especially perverted as he licked his lips.

He had spotted that girl way before Zhao Yuanlin. If it weren’t for Zhao Yuanlin, he would have gotten to enjoy her instead.

However... with Zhao Yuanlin’s personality, his fellow brothers may have a chance later on!

“

Hehe,

how pretty...”

Soon after, Meng Wanshu realized that something was wrong. It seemed like no matter where she went, someone would block her way, and she could not shake them off.

Panic began to creep over her.

In a dark alley, Gou San furrowed his brows when he saw an old lady with a kind face before him. He turned to the man next to him and asked, “Are you sure this is that Auntie Mei? Based on her kind face, you really can’t tell...”

The old lady explained gently, “You don’t understand, sir. If I didn’t look like this... How could so many people have fallen for my traps? Exploiting pity—that’s the foundation of my business.”

Gou San looked amused and got straight to the point. “Then I’ll leave this matter to you. Once the deal is done, you’ll get thirty taels of silver.”

The old woman's eyes shone, and she quickly nodded.

From the bag slung over her back, she pulled out a set of tattered, foul-smelling clothes and changed into them. She then ruffled her hands through her neat hair and rubbed her hands on the ground, making sure to get grime beneath her nails. Finally, she smeared the dirt on her face too.

Gou San looked at the old woman again. The difference was like heaven and earth.

Before, she looked like a senior member of a great clan. Now, she was an old woman who had fallen on hard times. Even a seasoned crook like Gou San could not help but give her a thumbs-up for her impressive transformation.

***

Li Guanqi, who had just arrived in town, ran to the wine shop excitedly.

Contrary to what one might expect, the plump middle-aged shopkeeper was not rude. Instead, he greeted Li Guanqi warmly and said, “Haha! Little blind boy, you haven’t been here in a long time!”

When Li Guanqi heard the shopkeeper’s warm greeting, he replied, “Boss Zhao, your business seems to be doing well! You’ve gotten a lot fatter!”

Boss Zhao of the wine shop was not offended by Li Guanqi’s words. In fact, Li Guanqi was an important person to him. Ever since Li Guanqi started buying wine from him, his business improved and even expanded.

And just like that, after a few interactions, Boss Zhao, whose name was Zhao Dafu, gradually became well-aquainted with Li Guanqi.

Zhao Dafu passed Li Guanqi some sunflower seeds and asked, “The usual?”

Li Guanqi thought momentarily and remembered that he also promised Uncle Meng some wine. He ordered generously, “Four jars[1] of osmanthus wine.”

Zhao Dafu nodded with a grin and exclaimed in a booming voice, “Old customer! Four jars of osmanthus wine!”

Upon hearing his Zhao Dafu’s nickname for him, Li Guanqi said, “

Tsk,

you even added the phrase ‘old customer’! What’s up with that? Afraid your assistant might add water to dilute my order?”

Startled, Zhao Dafu quickly waved his hand, brushing off the possibility. “Don’t say that! I wouldn’t dare! I, Zhao Dafu, have always relied on my customers’ trust to keep my business alive. I only said that for fun...”

While waiting for the shop assistant to prepare his order, Li Guanqi munched on sunflower seeds at the counter and made small talk with Zhao Dafu. Through the gaps in the crowd outside, he spotted an old man picking up the pieces of a ruined stall, causing him to frown.

Li Guanqi turned to Zhao Dafu and asked in a low voice, “Old Zhao, what happened to Uncle Xiao? Why did someone wreck his stall?”

Zhao Dafu sighed. He, too, had witnessed the conflict between Uncle Xiao and the gangsters.

His wine shop had remained unaffected so far because of its higher status in the community, but he couldn’t help but sigh.

“

Haaa...

It’s been a headache. Recently, a clan with the surname Zhao bought three of the streets in this area, including this one. With that, the rent more than doubled overnight! Now, the shops around here, including ours, are thinking of moving away.”

Li Guanqi frowned. Narrowing his eyes, he muttered to himself, “The Zhao Clan?”

However, he did not dwell on it further and continued listening to Zhao Dafu’s brief explanation. Ultimately, he said angrily, “That’s ridiculous! Aren’t they afraid that you all will break your leases and move away?”

Zhao Dafu crossed his arms and huffed, “Who knows what they're thinking? I am already preparing to move. I’ll move even if the new place's rent is only slightly lower than this. How could anyone survive with such exorbitant costs?!”

“Boss, the four jars of osmanthus wine are ready.”

Li Guanqi eyed the jars, which were noticeably smaller than before, and blurted, “Come on! Instead of decreasing the quality, you decreased the quantity?!”

Zhao Dafu rubbed his hands awkwardly and refunded part of the cash Li Guanqi paid him. “

Haaa,

I don’t have much choice, do I?”

Li Guanqi took the money, shook the jar of wine, and then advised him, “Old Zhao, you can’t run your business like that... Anyway, I’ll go check on Uncle Xiao.”

Looking guilty, Zhao Dafu sighed again. Then he turned to his assistant and said, “Change them!”

“Huh? Change what?”

“The jars! What else could I have meant, you fool...”

“Oh, oh! Understood! By the way, I was watching just now, and I think that girl in the blue dress will likely end up in trouble...”

“Shut your mouth! Do not say anything you’re not supposed to!”

Zhao Dafu glanced around cautiously. Although he dared vent to Li Guanqi, it did not mean he dared offend the Zhao Clan.

Li Guanqi stopped in his tracks and turned to face the assistant with a frown. He asked, “What girl in the blue dress? What happened?”

1. Wines are traditionally fermented in terracotta, porcelain or ceramic jars. ☜