The mountain path leading from Fulong Village was steep and narrow, yet in Li Guanqi's eyes, it was smooth and unobstructed.
Li Guanqi had lost count of how many times he had walked this road. Nearly anyone in the village who drank alcohol relied on him to fetch wine from town.
Going downhill was fast; by midmorning, when the sun hung high, Li Guanqi was already nearing Changxing Town.
His breathing remained long and steady, beads of sweat glistening on his forehead. Looking at Changxing Town a few li away, the corners of his mouth curled into a slight smile.
"Finally here. A good deal faster this time."
The moment the words left his mouth, Li Guanqi's figure shot forward like an arrow released from the bowstring.
Changxing Town was a sprawling market town with a population of only a little over two hundred thousand.
The street was lined with vendors calling out their wares, making the town exceptionally lively on fair days.
A young girl in a pale blue skirt peered this way and that, though the skirt had already been washed to a faded white.
Meng Wanshu carried bags of rice, flour, and oil. She had begged her parents for ages before they finally agreed to let her come down the mountain.
"Uncle, how much for these rice cakes?"
"One copper, little girl."
"So cheap? Give me three... no, make it four."
The young girl mumbled to herself, her thoughts drifting unbidden to that fellow who always came over to mooch meals.
At the thought of that little blind boy, Meng Wanshu stomped her foot in mock pique.
"Hmph! With that dog nose of his, if he smells them, he's sure to whine that I didn't buy him any."
Soon, the old man wrapped the sticky rice cakes in brown paper.
Meng Wanshu took the parcel, thanked him, and happily headed toward the edge of town.
At that moment, Li Guanqi was still four or five li from Changxing Town, completely unaware that Meng Wanshu had come down the mountain as well.
Suddenly!
A chaotic burst of startled cries came from the street behind Meng Wanshu.
She looked back to see a youth with a face as smooth as jade, dressed in an exquisite white-and-blue brocade robe, standing with a look of distaste.
With both hands behind his back, he gently waved a folding fan, his eyes brimmed with arrogance.
His brow was slightly furrowed, and whenever he glanced toward the grey-haired old man, his expression dripped with disgust.
The servants around him shielded the young master in their center, while four or five of them surged forward, overturning the old man's rice cake stall.
They stomped the steaming sticky rice cakes into a mangled mush.
The old man knelt on the ground with reddened eyes, reaching out in an attempt to protect the cakes.
"Don't... don't step on them... please don't stomp on them..."
"These... these were all freshly made!!"
Thud!
The old man was kicked to the ground by the vicious servants. One of them snarled,
"Old bastard, you think you can set up a stall without paying?"
"Don't you know our Zhao family bought this whole area?!"
The scene immediately drew shouts of condemnation from onlookers, but the rebukes quickly died away.
The servants glared menacingly at anyone who spoke up, forcing the crowd to hold their tongues.
Through the crowd, Meng Wanshu saw that the old man lying on the ground was the very vendor from whom she had just bought rice cakes.
Anger flashed across her face, but after glancing at the youth, she held back.
She remembered what the little blind boy had told her: when you're away from home, one less trouble is better than one more, and keeping your nose out of other people's business is the wisest course.
Knowing she could change nothing, Meng Wanshu sighed and turned to leave.
Yet that single turn caught Zhao Yuanlin's eye!
He had been full of resentment at being sent by his father to this godforsaken place, never expecting to run across a girl of such extraordinary bearing here.
Though only thirteen or fourteen, the maiden had already grown slim and graceful, her brows and eyes imbued with a delicate, innocent purity.
She was nothing like the vulgar playthings he usually trifled with!
"Gou San, this young master has taken a liking to that girl. Tail her!"
A servant with shifty eyes and the face of a rat glanced up at Meng Wanshu's receding figure, instantly understanding.
Judging by her clothes and the items in her hands, she clearly did not hail from any prominent family. Ordinary girls like this were the easiest to handle.
Short and scrawny, Gou San hunched his shoulders, unable to conceal his wretched sleaziness even beneath an obsequious grin.
Nodding repeatedly, Gou San offered a flattering smile. "Rest assured, Young Master, this servant will get right on it!"
The corners of Zhao Yuanlin's mouth curled up as his heart fluttered; he was already fantasizing about what would follow.
Tapping his folding fan against Gou San's head, he chuckled softly. "Do it neatly."
As he spoke, he drew a large gold ingot from his sleeve and tossed it to Gou San. "Whatever is left over is yours."
Gou San's eyes lit up, and he nodded vigorously.
"Piss off! What are you staring at? Disperse, all of you!"
Once Zhao Yuanlin had walked away, Gou San straightened slightly and kicked the old man's pushcart over with a cold sneer.
"Listen up. Three strings of copper coins a month."
"If you don't pay, don't even think about setting up a stall. Every time you set up, I'll smash it!"
His hair disheveled and appearance thoroughly wretched, the old man paid no heed to the blood on his face, wiping it away haphazardly. With a troubled look in his eyes, he spoke up,
"G-Great Master..."
"Wasn't it one string of copper coins a month before?"
"H-How... how could it jump by so much after just two days!"
Gou San pinched a piece of crushed rice cake from the dirt, shoved it into the old man's mouth, tilted his head, and said with a venomous glare,
"One string?"
"Heh, don't the brothers by my side need to eat?"
Humiliated, the old man swallowed the rice cake mingled with dirt and grit, nodding repeatedly.
"Yes, yes, yes... this humble old man understands..."
"Hahahaha, Brother Gou never lets us down."
"Lacks all sense! Brother Gou, what did the eldest young master say just now?"
Gou San smiled faintly and flashed the gold ingot before their eyes.
"Go on. Didn't they catch an old woman who trafficks people in the city a while back?"
"What was her name again? Aunt Mei? Go bring her to me."
"And someone else go find a way to stall that little girl."
Taking their orders, the men around him set off immediately.
Baring a mouthful of yellow teeth, Gou San slouched forward lecherously and licked his lips.
He had spotted that little girl earlier; if not for Zhao Yuanlin, he would have had his fun with her himself.
Still... knowing Zhao Yuanlin's temperament, it wasn't as if his brothers wouldn't get a turn!
"Hehehe, what a tender little beauty..."
Before long, Meng Wanshu noticed something was amiss. No matter where she went, people seemed to deliberately block her way.
Whichever path she took, she couldn't shake them off.
An inexplicable panic began to spread in her heart...
In a dark, dilapidated alley, Gou San frowned as he looked at the kindly-faced old woman before him.
Turning to the man beside him, he said with a scowl, "Are you sure this is that Aunt Mei?"
"She looks so damn kind and gentle, you'd never guess..."
The old woman spoke slowly in a mild tone. "Master, that is where you misunderstand."
"If an old woman like me didn't look like this... how would so many people fall for it?"
"Garnering sympathy is the very foundation of our trade."
Hearing this, Gou San broke into an amused smirk and said bluntly, "Then it's in your hands. If the job gets done, you'll be rewarded with thirty taels of silver."
At those words, a sharp glint flashed through the old woman's eyes, and she nodded profusely in agreement.
She pulled a set of ragged, foul-smelling clothes from the bundle on her back and changed into them.
She ruffled her neatly combed hair into a wild mess, rubbed her hands against the dirt—not sparing even her fingernails—and smeared grime all over her face.
Gou San stared at the old woman; the change in her demeanor was night and day.
If she had looked like the matriarch of a prominent clan before, she now looked like a matriarch who had fallen on hard times.
Even Gou San, accustomed as he was to all sorts of scoundrels and lowlifes, couldn't help giving her a thumbs-up.
Having just arrived in town, Li Guanqi eagerly hurried to the wine shop.
When a slightly portly middle-aged man saw Li Guanqi enter, he showed none of the disdain one might expect.
Instead, he called out with great warmth, "Haha, little blind fellow, it's been ages since you last came by!"
Hearing the proprietor's hearty greeting, Li Guanqi couldn't resist bantering back,
"Boss Zhao, your business must be booming lately—you've put on quite a bit of weight!"
Boss Zhao of the wine shop took no offense; if anything, he regarded Li Guanqi as a harbinger of good fortune.
Ever since Li Guanqi started coming to buy wine, business at the shop had grown better and better, expanding by leaps and bounds.
Through repeated dealings, the two had grown quite close.
Zhao Dafu brought over a dish of melon seeds and offered them. "The usual?"
Li Guanqi gave it some thought; he had promised to fetch wine for Uncle Meng as well. He replied crisply, "Four jars of sweet osmanthus brew."
Zhao Dafu nodded with a smile and hollered toward the back, "Four jars of sweet osmanthus brew for an old patron!"
At that, Li Guanqi couldn't help teasing, "Tsk, making sure to shout 'old patron'—what, afraid your clerks might water it down?"
Zhao Dafu started, waving his hands in haste.
"Don't talk nonsense! How would I dare?"
"I, Zhao Dafu, built my business on nothing but integrity. It's just a bit of banter..."
While waiting for the wine, Li Guanqi leaned against the counter cracking melon seeds, chatting casually with Zhao Dafu.
Through the gaps in the crowd, he happened to see the old man across the street picking up the ruined remains of his stall.
Seeing him, Li Guanqi couldn't help knitting his brows.
He turned to Zhao Dafu and asked in a low voice, "Old Zhao, what happened to Uncle Xiao? Why did someone flip his stall?"
Zhao Dafu sighed. He had seen the earlier confrontation clearly, as the wine shop sat on higher ground.
"Ai... don't get me started."
"Lately, these three streets were bought up by a family surnamed Zhao."
"The moment this Zhao family took over, the rent more than doubled!!"
"The shops on these streets are all thinking about whether to move elsewhere."
Li Guanqi frowned deeply, his eyes narrowing as he murmured, "The Zhao family?"
Yet he didn't dwell on it, simply listening as Zhao Dafu gave a brief account of what had just transpired.
After hearing the story, Li Guanqi couldn't help commenting,
"This Zhao family is overbearing enough. Aren't they worried you'll cancel your leases and move your shops?"
Zhao Dafu tucked his hands into his sleeves and said irritably, "Who knows?"
"Either way, I'm getting ready to relocate. I don't mind somewhere a bit shabbier—otherwise, who could bear this rent!"
"Boss, four jars of sweet osmanthus brew, all filled."
Looking at the jars, which were noticeably smaller than before, Li Guanqi couldn't help scolding, "You sly dog, you didn't lower the quality, so you cut down the quantity?!"
Zhao Dafu rubbed his hands sheepishly and returned a portion of the coins Li Guanqi had handed him.
"Aiya, I had no choice, did I?"
Snatching the money back into his hand, Li Guanqi shook the wine jar and advised, "Old Zhao, that's no way to do business."
"I'm going over to check on Uncle Xiao."
Zhao Dafu's face showed a flicker of guilt. Sighing, he turned to the shop clerk and barked,
"Swap them!"
"Ah? Swap what?"
"Swap the jars! Swap what, you blockhead..."
"Oh, oh, right, Boss, I reckon that little girl in the blue skirt watching the commotion earlier is in for big troub—"
"Shut up! Don't blab about things you shouldn't!!"
Zhao Dafu cast a wary glance around. While he dared to pour his grievances out to Li Guanqi, that didn't mean he dared cross the Zhao family!
Li Guanqi stopped dead in his tracks. Turning back to the shop clerk, he knit his brows and asked, "What girl in a blue skirt?"
"What happened?"
Chapter 4