Chapter 78

More than a decade ago, when a wave of ghouls broke out in the eastern suburbs of Zhongsu Town, the biggest casualty, in terms of assets, was the town's mayor, Heng Batong. Of the hundreds of acres of land infected by the ghoul poison, most belonged to him.

As luck would have it, Yongan Farm is backed by the city wall to the east, and its three sides, north, south and west, are all Hengbatong land.

If Anrou hadn't become wealthy and secretly developed a farm, she could have easily taken over these unattended plots of land. However, she had become a thorn in Hengbatong's side, so if they wanted to expand, they had to first obtain the land deeds.

This game has a pretty good understanding of property rights, as evidenced by the fact that Heng Batong led his troops to seal off the Yongan Hotel instead of just robbing it.

In the afternoon, after successfully purchasing several shops, An Rou arrived at the mayor's mansion. Before she saw Heng Batong, Miss Heng rushed out first.

"An Rou! Where have you been these days? I went to the Yong'an Restaurant and the bun shop several times and couldn't find you!" Heng Bobao was both happy and complaining, pouting. "Manager Jin said you were at the farm. Is that the one in the eastern suburbs? You didn't even invite me over!"

An Rou smiled and said, "It's not that I don't want you to go, it's the mayor who doesn't want you to go, right?"

When Shopkeeper Jin went to the farm to settle accounts, she mentioned that Heng Bobao had come to see her. Later, she mentioned that Miss Heng had been grounded by the mayor for frequenting the Wing On Restaurant.

An Rou, considered a mortal enemy by the mayor, naturally longed to maintain her relationship with Heng Bo Bao, so she asked the shopkeeper Jin to send her pickled fish from time to time. Whenever the restaurant launched new side dishes, she would be the first to try them.

As expected, Heng Bobao was very dissatisfied with his father: "Hmph! Don't mention my dad. He also opened Yong'an... I'm not talking about your Yong'an. Anyway, you know, that crappy little copycat shop... I'm so fed up with him. Hmph, it's so embarrassing!"

Paopao rarely looked her in the eye: "Oh, Miss Heng is quite sensible."

The two of them didn't meet each other often, but every time they met, they were like a misunderstanding and nothing went right between them.

Heng Bobao was also very sharp-tongued. He squinted at him and said, "Nothing special. What do you mean? Am I unreasonable?"

Paopao took a deep breath and tightened his face.

Which young man doesn't want to be handsome, elegant and suave? However, Heng Bobao hit the nail on the head and gave him the nickname "ordinary".

The most important thing is, NPCs don't lie! Heng Bobao said he was mediocre, which meant that in her eyes, he was really mediocre!

Every time Paopao heard this, he felt like vomiting blood in his heart. If it weren't for the fact that the other person was a woman, he would have shoveled her away with a shovel!

Paopao self-hypnosis: I am a player, I am a player, I will not argue with NPCs.

After the two stopped arguing, An Rou took Heng Bobao's hand and said with a smile, "The Yong'an Restaurant is doing well, and other restaurants will follow suit sooner or later. The mayor just moved faster than them. There's nothing shameful about it."

Heng Bobao was stunned. "An Rou, are you really not angry? I was worried that you would ignore me because of this."

"How could that be? I can't thank the mayor enough. If he hadn't sold the restaurant to me, there wouldn't be Yong'an Hotel today." An Rou said, glancing at the corridor inadvertently.

Heng Batong had arrived a long time ago and stopped behind the door with the housekeeper, eavesdropping on their conversation.

Heng Bobao was completely unaware and breathed a sigh of relief: "I was worried that you would come to find Dad to accuse him. Fortunately, it's okay... But, An Rou, what do you want from my dad?"

"Of course it's a matter of reciprocity. Thank you, Mayor!" An Rou said.

"Oh? Tell me, how do you thank me?"

Heng Batong walked in, his face neither good nor bad. An Rou's words must have dampened his anger. At least, he didn't immediately order the soldiers to drive them away.

"Dad!" Heng Bobao swooped over like a bird and took his arm. "That restaurant was about to close down. An Rou was able to turn it around on her own. How can Dad have the nerve to accept a thank-you gift!"

An Rou secretly curled her lips.

Miss Heng really doesn't know how to talk. How can she slap her own father in the face like this in front of outsiders? Doesn't this clearly say that Heng Batong is incompetent?

Well, I wanted to ease the conflict with Hengbatong, but now it’s all in vain.

Sure enough, Heng Batong blew his beard and glared: "What do you know?! You little girl, why are you butting in? Get out!"

This was the first time Heng Bobao had heard such harsh words from her father. She was stunned for a moment, and her eyes suddenly turned red. However, her spoiled and stubborn nature had emerged, so she snorted loudly, wiped her eyes, and ran out.

Heng Ba Tong immediately regretted it. The person had run away and there was no chance to comfort her. It was natural for him to put the blame on An Rou.

An Rou rolled her eyes and decided to get straight to the point, tilting her head towards Paopao.

Paopao took a step forward and said, "We want to buy the wasteland in the eastern suburbs that belongs to the mayor."

"Buy land?" Heng Batong sneered, then stopped laughing. He turned to the housekeeper and asked, "Do you still have land in the eastern suburbs?"

I even forgot about it myself.

The butler replied in a low voice, "It's the area where the ghouls were. It's been abandoned for more than ten years."

Heng Batong suddenly realized something, a shrewd light flashing in his eyes. His anger faded, and he calmly sat down on the sandalwood chair. "I heard you built a farm in the eastern suburbs? That land has been abandoned for so long, no one can grow anything there. How did you manage to grow anything?"

Paopao: "The mayor won't have to worry about this kind of thing."

Heng Batong took a sip of tea and raised his eyelids to look at him: "God's Chosen One? So what if he's God's Chosen One? Do you think I'm afraid of you?!"

With a loud bang, the tea bowl smashed to pieces on the ground.

The Yong'an Hotel had just been completely destroyed by the Chosen Ones yesterday. Not only had hundreds of thousands of gold spent on renovations gone down the drain, but Heng Batong was also furious. Now, he was taking his anger out on Paopao.

Paopao was young and immature after all, and she didn't expect him to lose his temper so quickly, and was at a loss for a moment.

An Rou walked forward and sat down leisurely. "Why is the mayor so angry? Since the mayor wants to know, I'll tell you straight away. Of course, I can't grow anything on my own. That piece of land is just a waste of money."

"Eat money?"

An Rou took out her handkerchief and unfolded it, revealing a handful of soil tainted with the ghoul's poison. Paopao walked over and placed a gold coin on top. In the blink of an eye, the black soil lightened in color, and the faint fishy odor vanished.

Heng Batong could not see the light screen, but he felt that the methods of the man of destiny were miraculous.

"To remove the ghoul poison from a small handful of soil like this would cost one gold coin. So, a palm-sized piece of wasteland would cost 100 gold coins, and a whole acre of land..." An Rou slowed down her speech, "it would cost 100,000 gold coins."

Heng Batong was horrified: "100,000?"

In the territory of Lengbing City, the market price of an acre of farmland is no more than 20,000 gold.

Of course, he didn't know An Rou was playing a trick. The smallest unit of gold coin was 1, so whether it was a handful of soil or a grain of sand, as long as you wanted to purify it, the minimum amount was 1 gold coin.

In fact, it only costs more than 10,000 gold to purify one acre of land - An Rou raised the price tenfold.

An Rou's smile was sincere. "I really want to thank the mayor, but he's a selfless person and naturally won't accept a thank-you fee directly. Knowing that he still has nearly 50 acres of unused land, I came up with this desperate measure. I want to buy it for 2,000 gold per acre as a small token of my gratitude."

2,000 gold, 50 acres, a total of 100,000 gold.

Hengbatong has many businesses, and those wastelands are completely worthless assets, which he has long forgotten. 100,000 gold dropped from the sky, it would be a lie to say that he is not tempted.

But Hengbatong has suffered losses.

Fuxiang Restaurant used to be a mess, right? Not only was it unprofitable, it was losing money every day, worse than a wasteland. And what happened? Once it fell into An Rou's hands, it transformed from a humble chicken into a phoenix, laying golden eggs every meal.

His hesitant expression turned cold, and he said shamelessly, "You want to buy it? Sure, 100,000 gold per acre, as much as you want!"

Even the housekeeper was shocked: "Master, those lands are rotting anyway, why not..."

"Do you have the right to speak?!" Heng Batong glared at him.

The butler shut up, stepped back, and gave An Rou an apologetic look.

As soon as An Rou entered the house, she stuffed him a large red envelope and explained her purpose. The housekeeper was generous and willing to help. Otherwise, with the attitude of the soldiers at the door, An Rou was afraid that she would not even be able to cross the threshold of the mayor's mansion.

Unfortunately, An Rou’s second backup plan didn’t come in handy.

Heng Batong is a very greedy person.

An Rou was thinking about how to respond when Paopao couldn't help it. He walked up and slapped the table, scaring Hengba so much that he shuddered.

"You're going too far, aren't you? Who can come up with 5 million gold?! Let me ask you, you've been corrupt and taking bribes for half your life, can you come up with that?!"

Heng Batong's expression changed immediately. His original intention was to test An Rou's sincerity. The higher the price she was willing to pay, the more she wanted to buy it. The more she wanted to buy it, the more likely it was that there was something fishy going on.

But Paopao didn't care and just dumped a basin of shit on him, which made him so angry that he forgot his original intention.

Heng Batong pointed at Paopao's nose with trembling fingers: "You, you, you are so bold! Someone come here!"

His favorability towards Paopao plummeted to "hostility".

An Rou had asked Paopao to accompany her, hoping to leverage the power of the Chosen One during the negotiations. Paopao knew what was going on, and upon hearing this, he snorted in disdain and immediately drew his weapon.

It wasn't the Red Bone Burial Shovel, but the Green Punishment Knife—the weapon Qin Wudi had dropped before his sudden wealth devoured him. It had been shattered to pieces by Chizen Ichiming, and An Rou had spent a fortune to have it restored at a pawnshop.

The Punishment Knife is three levels higher than the Bone Burying Shovel. It was the gift that An Rou gave to Paopao when he was promoted to Silver.

The punishment knife was as long as a ruler, soft and flexible. It instantly reflected the light of water all over the room, making people feel cold all over.

An Rou frowned, realizing something was wrong.

Heng Batong was trembling all over, not out of fear, but out of pure anger. In other words...

As the thought came to mind, a figure flashed in quickly, stopped in front of Paopao, stretched out two fingers, and clamped the blade of the penalty knife.

The water light solidified.

It turned out to be Tang Lang!

No wonder Heng Batong is not afraid at all.

"Boss Tang, this man actually dared to commit a crime in front of me. Catch him, regardless of life or death!!!" Heng Batong roared behind him.

"...What do you mean by murder? Which eye of yours saw me committing the crime? Can't I even take out my own weapon and let you see it?!"

Facing a player whose level was so much higher than his own, Paopao couldn't help but wilted. Even with a green weapon in hand, it was no match for Tang Lang. Furthermore, with his energy level, his energy wasn't enough to activate even a few stages of the Punishing Blade skill.

Fortunately, Tang Lang did not take action directly. His playful eyes lingered on Paopao's face for a while and then fell on An Rou.

"Boss An, you are quite capable to be able to train the Destiny One into a loyal dog."

"Who are you saying is..." Paopao was about to refute, but when he met Tang Lang's eyes, he dared not say a word.

Then, he heard his boss laugh softly, the sound as sweet as a silver bell.

An Rou looked Tang Lang in the eye and said sincerely, "How can I compare to the mayor, who manages the Yinlai Gang so well?"

Tang Lang's face turned cold. This sentence was equivalent to calling him and the entire Yinlai Gang the mayor's dogs.

This kind of sarcasm would be fine if heard from other players, but the person in front of him was an NPC, an NPC who, according to the game settings, would not lie.

Even the NPCs think of him like this?

Or was it because An Rou was the most special of the NPCs? Not only was she courageous, but she was also incredibly intelligent?

An Rou stopped looking at him. She stood up and looked down at Heng Ba Tong.

"I hope the mayor will reconsider this deal. I really can't come up with 5 million gold. After all, even our Yong'an Restaurant can't make 100,000 gold per meal."

"Run, run, let's go."

Paopao finally came to his senses. His boss was a top player, no worse than Tang Lang! What was there to be afraid of?

He gave Tang Lang a provocative look, put the penalty knife back into the weapon inventory, and followed An Rou out.

Heng Batong was furious—he couldn't make 100,000 gold from a single meal?! He only sold the restaurant to An Rou for 140,000 gold!

This woman was clearly trying to anger him!

"I won't sell them, no matter how much money you offer!" Heng Batong yelled at An Rou's back, reaching out to push Tang Lang, causing him to stumble. "Go! Capture them, no, kill them for me!"

His roar suddenly stopped, and the look in Tang Lang's eyes when he looked back at him made a chill run down his tailbone.

I got too angry accidentally and forgot the boundary between myself and the Chosen One.

That was the invisible boundary between the imperial court and the underworld, a boundary that could be shifted between the two, but never crossed. A knight-errant used force to break the law, and with the power of the one destined by heaven, it would be easy to kill him and then escape.

Heng Batong swallowed his saliva.

Fortunately, Tang Lang's murderous gaze only lasted for a moment, and then he smiled normally and nodded gently: "Yes, Mayor."

He really had the intention to kill.

However, it has long been confirmed that An Rou is a special NPC, and no matter whether Ou Li or Yin Lai is in charge of Zhongsu Town, she cannot be killed.

The one he wanted to kill was Paopao.

No one in the world would do anything without profit. Why would Paopao, a player, so devotedly follow an NPC? It's all for the quest! Otherwise, how could Paopao, a low-level player when we first met him, possibly be able to afford a green weapon in such a short time?

Who knows how many clues he found and how many tasks he completed by following An Rou!

An Rou wants a Chosen One as her bodyguard? Sure, she can choose from thousands of Yin Lai's men. If she's not satisfied, Tang Lang can take the lead himself!

The master player performed the Wind Step, leaving only a shadow in the air.

But the afterimage was stopped outside the gate.

"Minister Li," Tang Lang said, his murderous aura disappearing as he put on his usual smile. "What a coincidence! It's been a while since I've seen Minister Li here. Are you here to see the mayor?"

Captain Li pretended not to notice his abnormality and smiled, "That's right."

The Ouli Guild had spies stationed in the mayor's mansion, and he was notified the moment An Rou entered. If it were just An Rou meeting the mayor, even if he was aware of the conflict between them, Captain Li had no intention of intervening.

But the spy said that Tang Lang also went in just before An Rou arrived.

When Captain Li arrived, he happened to see Paopao using his mobility skill to hastily leave with Anrou. It seemed they had a conflict with someone in the mansion.

He waited for the opportunity and indeed saw Tang Lang chasing him.

Fortunately, otherwise the consequences would be disastrous.

Captain Li's heart was in turmoil, but he remained calm on the surface. "I suddenly remembered that we haven't been together for a long time. How about a drink?"

Tang Lang: "Isn't Minister Li looking for the mayor?"

"With such a big house here, the mayor can't run away." Li Duozhi said with a hint of meaning.

Tang Lang looked into the distance silently and nodded.

That guy is lucky.

-

An Rou drove all the way to the intersection of Wangliu Third Street. Seeing the crowded Yong'an Hotel, she breathed a sigh of relief and stopped the car.

She glanced in the rearview mirror.

The master's speed was much faster than the antique car. If he hadn't caught up at this time, he must have given up. I don't know if he changed his mind, or if he realized that An Rou had deliberately gone to the restaurant where there were many players, making it difficult to attack her.

Paopao was puzzled: "Boss, why are we running?"

An Rou: "Didn't you notice Tang Lang's murderous intention?"

"I feel it, it's so obvious." Paopao said, "But boss, you're a super god, number two on the destiny list, so why are you afraid of a mere great god?"

An Rou: "..." Who said I was Princess Ban Yue?

It’s all my fault that I tried to scare Paopao at the beginning, which led to his misunderstanding. Now, the child has already believed it.

Seeing An Rou staring at him without saying anything, Paopao scratched his head and suddenly realized: "Oh, I see. The boss is playing a big game and doesn't want to reveal his identity because of such a small matter!"

An Rou: "..." What the hell do you know? ?

Paopao's thoughts were jumping around. He thought he had figured it out, so he skipped over the whole thing and said worriedly, "Boss, Hengbatong won't sell the land. What should we do? How about we move to another place?"

According to him, nearly half of the wasteland in the eastern suburbs didn't belong to Hengbatong. Ownership was fragmented, and with a few days of searching, he could always buy some land. The only problem was that it couldn't connect to the existing farms; it was separated by Hengbatong's land.

"Just think of it as opening a branch. Wing On is the headquarters," said Paopao.

An Rou held the steering wheel, pondered for a while, and sneered: "No, I want the fifty acres of land in Hengbatong."

"Why do you want it? Even if Hengbatong is willing to sell it, one acre of land is 100,000 gold... Boss, that's 5 million gold!"

"100,000 gold?" An Rou sneered. "If he won't sell at 2,000 gold an acre, then he won't get even 2,000 gold."

Paopao was stunned. "Uh, the boss wants to...rob us? It's not impossible, but Heng Batong is the boss of all the NPCs in Zhongxu Town, and his administrative connections extend all the way to the first-level districts and the central city. If he makes a fuss about this... well, there's still Tang Lang.

"Boss, Tang Lang is on Hengbatong's side. If we forcefully seize the farm, not only will it expose the farm, but your identity as well..."

Paopao wiped his palm across his throat: "Should we kill Tang Lang first?"

Before he could finish his words, a chestnut hit his forehead.

An Rou looked surprised. "How come you're so imaginative with your little brain? Haven't you learned a single sentence in class? - Simple things are complicated, what's the next sentence?"

"Do complicated things simply?" Paopao covered his forehead. "What do you mean?"

An Rou reluctantly asked again, "What kind of business are we running?"

Paopao stared blankly at the busy Yongan Restaurant: "Eating fish?"

-

Behind the hotel's front desk is a small, unassuming door, leading to the staff lounge. Two figures are enveloped in a warm yellow light.

Originally, Paopao had planned to take a break from eating fish today and log off early to go home for dinner, but he encountered an unexpected overtime, so he hurried back home in the afternoon and got back online before dinner.

An Rou sat on a long wooden bench, half tilting her head back with a blank gaze.

After a moment, she looked away and was about to speak when there was a knock on the door.

Shopkeeper Jin: "Boss, Butler Liang is here."

Butler Liang is the butler of the mayor's mansion. With a gleam in his eyes, he was invited into the lounge by Manager Jin. When he saw An Rou's smiling face, he wanted to say something but stopped himself several times.

It seems that Hengbatong sending him here is not a good thing.

An Rou broke the awkward atmosphere: "Has the mayor changed his mind?"

"Yes..." Butler Liang laughed awkwardly, "The master said he could sell the land to Boss An, but he doesn't want money, just..."

"Wing On Hotel?" An Rou interrupted.

"...Boss An is as good as a god."

An Rou sneered. Heng Batong was still brooding over the fact that he had sold the restaurant at a loss, and wanted to withdraw the deal as soon as he got the chance.

Is Yong'an worth 5 million gold? Based on the current daily income of 100,000 gold, it would be earned back in less than two months. Of course it's worth it. But without An Rou and the quest clues, how can I earn 100,000 gold a day?

The most valuable thing is not the restaurant itself, but the goodwill, the reputation that An Rou has painstakingly created.

Butler Liang had just received a red envelope from An Rou and had not been able to say anything to her. He was already feeling guilty, and when he saw her sarcastic expression, he became even more unsettled.

"Business is a matter of mutual consent. If Boss An doesn't agree, I'll go back now..."

"Tell Heng Batong," An Rou interrupted him again, "Of course he's not selling the restaurant. Instead, he has other loss-making businesses. As always, An Rou is happy to accept them. Just passing on the message, okay?"

"……sure."

Since NPCs cannot lie, as soon as Butler Liang returned to the mayor's mansion, he reluctantly repeated An Rou's words verbatim, which made Heng Batong so angry that he threw the tea bowl.

"Loss-making industry? Does she think I'm a brainless mediocrity?!"

Thanks to the mayor's reputation and power, although Heng Batong's business is not as popular as An Rou's, it is not at a loss.

Because of this, he was obsessed with the former Fuxiang Restaurant and continued to make up for the losses for many years without any belief. It was not until his wife Leng Hanli had a quarrel with him because of this that he reluctantly sold it at a discount.

As a business owner, Heng Batong was very confident before he met An Rou.

But after meeting An Rou, he fell twice in succession at the Yong'an Hotel and the Yong'an Hotel, and was covered in dust.

Heng Batong gritted his teeth and said, "Let those 50 acres of land rot. Want to buy it? No way!"

-

"Hongyun Hotel, Hongyun Commercial Bank, and Great World—these three places all have high costs and are Hengbatong's most profitable businesses. Of course, after today, they'll all be a thing of the past."

In the lounge, An Rou instructed Paopao, "I've already issued instructions to Wang Da and Zhang Da, and they'll be here soon. Remember, you only participate in the first half of each mission. Eating the fish carcasses and the rewards are not the main focus this time."

"Understood!" Paopao nodded vigorously, rubbing his hands together, "The key is to make Heng Batong so painful that he can't sleep!"