Guided by the bald waiter, the crowd's enthusiasm returned, but some still said, "But... five taels of silver is too expensive!"
"Yes, how about a discount? One or two taels?"
"hehe."
The bald waiter sneered and remained silent.
"If one ounce isn't enough, then two ounces will do!"
"Two ounces won't do, but three ounces should be fine, right?"
"..."
If Mu Qingren and others were to participate, these scholars and talents would naturally want to join, but the five taels entrance fee was simply too high for them—with that money, how long could they enjoy themselves?
But in order to see the three fairy maidens, they had to participate, so they bargained there.
But the bald waiter had no intention of lowering the price. He snorted and said, "Five taels of silver for the entrance fee. Less than that, no discussion!"
"Uh~"
"Don't you think about it? Before Pavilion Master Mu was the Pavilion Master of Wuxian Pavilion, she rarely showed her face. Who among you has ever seen her? And then there's Garden Master Wang, who has always been in charge of the Wuxian Garden in Jingzhou. Even if you go to Jingzhou, you might not see her! And then there's Miss Zhou. Apart from working at the cloth shop, when has she ever participated in a poetry gathering? Such a rare opportunity naturally cannot allow everyone to enter the building to participate in the poetry gathering. Otherwise, how could this building accommodate so many people?"
So, if you don't have money, there's no need to crowd around here. Go wherever you want. If you can afford the entrance fee, you can naturally go in and catch a glimpse of the three fairy-like women. And if you have the ability, winning their hearts isn't impossible!
"..."
A moment of silence followed, as everyone clearly weighed the pros and cons.
At this moment, the bald waiter added fuel to the fire: "What, you don't actually think that Pavilion Master Mu, Garden Master Wang, and Miss Zhou aren't worth five taels of silver? It's you, you, and you again! I'll remember you all so I can tell them later that you think they're not worth five taels of silver!"
"It wasn't me!"
"It wasn't me either!"
"Aren't any of the three, including Pavilion Master Mu, worthless?"
"..."
Everyone waved their hands repeatedly, drawing a clear line between themselves and the group.
The bald waiter, knowing that he had said enough, chuckled and said, "There's one more important point: if you're talented, this five taels of silver won't be wasted! Because today's riddle-guessing activity comes with prizes. If you can guess one correctly, the reward will be several times the entrance fee!"
"Aww!"
Under the dual stimulus, everyone became invigorated.
"Alright, those who want to participate in the poetry gathering, prepare five taels of silver for the entrance fee, line up in order, and get ready to enter! As for those who don't have money, don't bother loitering around here, you won't get in anyway!"
The bald waiter's last sentence not only made the wealthy scholars want to participate in the poetry gathering, but even those who didn't have much money gritted their teeth and squeezed out five taels of silver!
For a time, the area outside Juxianlou was extremely crowded.
...
"Manager Hu, you're truly amazing!"
"Five taels of silver for admission? Brilliant!"
"Based on the number of people who usually attend the Lantern Festival Poetry Gathering, there should be at least two hundred people, which would amount to one thousand taels of silver!"
"As expected of Manager Hu, I couldn't have such courage!"
"..."
In the private room on the second floor of Juxianlou, four people were still sitting: the heir of the Yu King, the owner of the Qu family cloth shop, the man in official robes from before, and the last one was Manager Hu of Juxianlou.
Manager Hu waved his hand and laughed, "It's nothing, nothing! The rest of the money still has to be split equally with Zhou's cloth shop. Although it's not much, I'm still not happy about it, so I resorted to this tactic, hehe..."
"Clang clang clang!"
Just as Manager Hu finished speaking, there was a rapid knocking on the door.
Who is it?
The crowd had just started to arrive, and the waiter wouldn't come knocking on the door so early, so Manager Hu frowned.
"It's me, Zhou Ziqiong."
"..."
The people in the room exchanged glances. Master Qu stood up and then hid in the side room. Manager Hu put away his tea set.
After doing all this, he walked over and opened the door. Seeing Zhou Ziqiong standing outside with a frosty expression, he asked with a smile, "Is there anything I can help you with, Miss Zhou?"
Zhou Ziqiong greeted the Prince of Yu and the others inside the room, then said indignantly, "Didn't we agree that we would only collect money when we were guessing the lantern riddles? Why are we even charging to enter Juxianlou now? Manager Hu, isn't this a bit unethical of you?"
"hehe."
Manager Hu sneered, "Rules? What rules? I did tell Miss Zhou that I would charge for the riddles, but I didn't tell her that I wouldn't charge for entry."
"you--"
"So, this matter of collecting entrance fees is a private matter of our Juxianlou, and has nothing to do with Zhou Family Cloth Shop or Miss Zhou. Therefore, Miss Zhou doesn't need to worry about the entrance fees we collect!"
"I—I didn't even think about it!"
Zhou Ziqiong was so angry that she trembled all over.
"Since Miss Zhou isn't worried about it, why are you so agitated? Are you afraid that no one will come to the poetry gathering, and all these prepared riddles will be wasted? Hehe, then Miss Zhou has nothing to worry about! Look at how many people are queuing downstairs; they can't wait to come in!"
Manager Hu laughed twice, extremely pleased with himself.
Zhou Ziqiong's face remained unpleasant. She wanted to say something more, but seeing that Manager Hu was completely unfazed and determined to collect the appearance fee, it was no use for her to say anything.
He simply snorted coldly and left the house, preferring to stay out of sight.
After Zhou Ziqiong left, Manager Hu locked the door, and Master Qu also came out of the suite. The group looked at each other and laughed.
"There really is a Manager Hu!"
"..."
...
At that moment, the area downstairs was indeed bustling with activity.
Everyone was queuing up to pay the admission fee, and there were people shouting and scolding those who were slow and cutting in line. Jing Zhe looked around and saw that it was the same people who had been making the most noise about leaving earlier.
It's hard not to feel a little ironic.
Jing Zhe and the others waited in line for a while longer before it was finally their turn.
"Hey bro, it's us. We want to go inside."
The bald waiter looked up and realized it was Jing Zhe.
"Oh, so it's you, young master!"
Then he held out his hand: "Pay up!"
Chen Jiannan, who was standing next to him, immediately became unhappy: "We've already paid several hundred taels of silver, and now we just want to go back and rest. Why can't we come in?"
What Chen Jiannan said was true. It was really inappropriate to pay to stay at a hotel and then be barred from entering.
The bald waiter wasn't embarrassed at all: "You paid to stay here, but you've already left, haven't you? Who knows if you'll go back to your rooms to sleep or go straight to the Lantern Festival Poetry Gathering after you come back in!"
To prevent you from attending the poetry gathering, we need to charge an attendance fee! If you don't pay, you can wait until the gathering is over before entering the building!
The bald waiter did it on purpose: You think you're rich? Then take it out!
"Fine, give it to him!"
Jing Zhe said calmly, but his eyes narrowed: You have the ability to take it, but I'm afraid you won't have the ability to keep it later!
————
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