Jianghu Qimen Lu

Chapter 70 Deceptive Pricing

A dozen or so people sat down at a large, round table in the main hall, split it in two, and shouted at the top of their lungs, "Waiter, bring us all your most famous and delicious breakfast dishes! You'll be well paid!" Two waiters came over and hurried to the kitchen to bring the dishes. In no time, the table was full. There were osmanthus sugar, West Lake vinegar fish, Pian'erchuan noodles, honey-glazed ham, Song Sao fish soup, West Lake lotus root starch, fresh meat mooncakes, braised pork belly with fermented bean curd, chopped fish balls, braised duck with ham hock, shrimp dumplings, and various other delicacies such as mixed fruit cakes. A waiter approached and asked, "Gentlemen, would you like some more wine?" The waiter, Pi Liangban, retorted, "No soup, no feast; no wine, no banquet! You dog-headed fool, don't you even know this? You're no good as a waiter!" The waiter quickly smiled obsequiously and replied, "Sir, if you want to eat, eat the best food; if you want to drink, drink the best wine! I understand! I understand!" He and another waiter hurried downstairs and brought up a large jar of Gu Yue Long Shan rice wine. Gu Yue Long Shan is considered one of the most prestigious brands in the rice wine industry, comparable to Moutai among baijiu (Chinese liquor). There's a saying, "Without Gu Yue Long Shan, there is no rice wine." The waiter deliberately served them the highest-grade wine, undoubtedly intending to overcharge them later, giving Pi Liangban a rude awakening and avenging his bullying!

The Thousand-Hand Guanyin stared coldly at Pi Liangban, somewhat annoyed, and asked, "Eighth Brother, do you know how much money this food costs? And now you want such expensive wine! What's with the wine so early in the morning! Do you think we came here for sightseeing? This is ridiculous!" Pi Liangban chuckled and gestured with his mouth towards a middle-aged man dressed as a wealthy man sitting next to her, saying, "Our Second Brother is known as Iron Abacus. He's made countless fortunes in his life and is a famous wealthy merchant in Taishan, Shandong. Are you worried about not being able to afford this meager amount of food?" The wealthy man was tall and stout, with a large belly. He was none other than Iron Abacus, who was in charge of the accounts at Mo Qinghui. He was a smooth talker and good at calculating. Because he was popular, he was jokingly called "Iron Abacus" by everyone.

Iron Abacus laughed and scolded, "You greedy flower monk, you've tried to extort me! Fine, it's not easy for us brothers to get together, so today I, your second brother, will treat you to a hearty meal!" Immediately, the men opened the wine jars, poured a large bowl for each of them, and began to toast and drink heartily. In his drunken revelry, Tornado blurted out, "Last night, an informant reported that that dog emperor was..." But Thousand-Hand Guanyin stopped him with a finger to her lips, "Shh! Sixth Brother, why are you so loud? Be careful, the walls have ears!" Tornado, now on guard, lowered his voice and whispered, "The dog emperor is trapped in Yue Fei Temple. We'll join forces to capture him and use him to blackmail White Lightning and the others. They'll surely release our leader!" But all this couldn't escape White Lightning's notice. Hearing this news was like a bolt from the blue: "What? The emperor is trapped in Yue Fei Temple? Didn't I just come out of there? How come I didn't see the emperor and the others? That's strange!" Listen on.

Iron Abacus said, "That's true, but the four top-tier martial arts masters around this dog emperor are all exceptionally skilled and not easy to deal with! Although they are temporarily trapped in the secret chamber by our men, capturing them alive is easier said than done." Split in half, tearing apart a duck leg, said as he ate, "With the combined strength of all thirteen brothers, we can't handle those four? I don't believe it!" Thousand-Hand Guanyin scolded, "Don't be stubborn! Do you know where those four come from? Whose disciples are they?" Not only did Split in Half and the remaining members of the Mo Qing Society not know, but even White Lightning didn't know the origins of these four. Seeing Thousand-Hand Guanyin's voice soften even more, he used his Thousand-Mile Sound Transmission Hearing Skill to listen intently.

The Thousand-Hand Guanyin said, "More than a hundred years ago, a murderous demon appeared in the martial arts world named Li Chengdong, a native of Shaanxi, whose courtesy name was Tingzhen and sobriquet was Huzi. At night, if a child cried, simply saying 'Li Chengdong is coming!' would immediately silence the child, who would look around in panic. In the second year of the Shunzhi Emperor's reign (1645), the Manchus launched a massive invasion, their iron hooves trampling across the Jiangnan region. Li Chengdong, the Ming Dynasty's general of Xuzhou, surrendered to the Qing and was appointed general of Wusong, becoming the vanguard of the Qing army's conquests. First, he perpetrated the Jiading Massacre, killing over 20,000 Han Chinese; then he captured Zhejiang and Fujian provinces, and plotted to capture and kill the Ming Dynasty's Longwu Emperor; finally, he invaded Guangdong, Chaozhou, and Huizhou, advancing directly to Guangzhou Province, capturing the Shaowu Emperor alive. After being captured, the Shaowu Emperor refused to surrender and committed suicide. Along his journey, he massacred cities, burned, looted, and committed countless atrocities, incurring the wrath of both gods and men. Although he faced fierce resistance from the people of various regions, he became..." He was seen by the Qing court as an invincible war maniac! It turns out this traitorous villain had four martial arts masters under his command, notorious villains known as the "Four Eccentrics of the Overseas." All were from foreign tribes, practicing unorthodox and wicked martial arts—strange, unnatural, and extremely sinister and evil, so unapproachable that anyone who dared to touch them would be severely injured or even killed! So, how did Li Chengdong come to know these demons? He possessed a Demon-Slaying Sword, passed down to him by a reclusive master in his youth, who also taught him a sword technique specifically for subduing powerful and powerful demons. The Four Eccentrics of the Overseas, having heard of this from all over the world, came to his residence to test its power. Unexpectedly, the Demon-Slaying Sword technique proved truly formidable, and the Four Eccentrics were all convinced of its power and willingly became his disciples, willing to serve him for life…”

Split in two, laughing, interrupted her, exclaiming, "I understand, Third Brother! You've been saying all this time, so the master of those four dogs in front of the dog emperor is these four strange monsters from overseas, right?!" The members of the Red Flower Society, regardless of gender, all addressed each other as brothers, further highlighting the forthright and generous nature of江湖儿女 (jianghu children, meaning people of the martial arts world). Thousand-Hand Guanyin smiled faintly, then said seriously, "Eighth Brother can guess it, so everyone probably knows it too! It's conceivable that the four bodyguards in front of the dog emperor are all extremely skilled in martial arts; we can't underestimate them! Everyone, just be careful when the time comes!" The crowd roared, "Yes!"

A while later, after Mo Qing and the heroes finished their meal, Pi Liangban called the waiter to settle the bill. Unexpectedly, the waiter demanded five ingots of silver—equivalent to fifty thousand yuan today! Pi Liangban, enraged, stretched out his large, fan-like hand, grabbed the waiter by the collar, lifted him into the air, and raised his fist, like an oil hammer, to smash it into the waiter's face! But Thousand-Hand Guanyin grabbed him, forcefully pulling him back, preventing the blow! He angrily shouted, "Third Brother, they're clearly overcharging here, a complete rip-off! I'm going to rid the people of this scourge and demolish this black-hearted shop! Let's see if they still dare to bully people! Third Brother, don't stop me!" Thousand-Hand Guanyin coldly stared at him, and said in a deep voice, "Put him down, let me get to the bottom of this!"

Seeing her cold expression and the command she spoke, even though splitting him in two was unrestrained and extremely arrogant, he felt the thin, chicken-claw-like hand on his wrist as if it were deeply embedded in his bone, causing him excruciating pain. He hurriedly released the waiter. Immediately, the "chicken claw" also left his right wrist, and upon closer inspection, he saw a dark bruise! He glanced at the Thousand-Hand Guanyin with lingering fear and retreated to the back.

The Thousand-Hand Guanyin stared coldly at the waiter, asking in a measured tone, "Excuse me, sir, why is your meal so expensive? Please explain." The waiter, his eyes wide with fear, stammered, "Actually, I didn't overcharge you gentlemen! If you don't believe me, ask our manager. Here's what I'll do: I'll go to the back and fetch the manager!" Without waiting for a reply, the waiter tactfully retreated.

A short while later, a thin, kind-faced old man approached, wearing glasses and looking like a learned scholar. He bowed respectfully to the group, spouting a string of platitudes: "Greetings, esteemed guests! As the saying goes, 'At home you rely on your parents, when you're out in the world you rely on your friends.' I depend on you all for my livelihood. Guests are customers, and customers are God! Without the frequent patronage of our God, how could our humble shop have thrived? Alas…" Both Split in Half and Tornado were impatient; they jumped out with a loud shout and yelled in unison, "Enough with the nonsense, just tell us your prices!" The old shopkeeper smiled slightly and continued his long-winded explanation: "Paying for food is a matter of course. Trying to eat without paying is against all reason…" Split in Half and Tornado were furious, but they were like scholars encountering a soldier—they couldn't reason with him! Now the tables had turned; the soldier was the one who couldn't reason with him!