"However..." the shopkeeper hesitated, unable to finish his sentence.
"If you don't believe me, shopkeeper, feel free to take it and have it tested. I'll wait for you here, so don't worry," Li Chang'an said, noticing his doubts.
Seeing his confident demeanor, the shopkeeper stopped testing him and instead cupped his hands and said, "It's not that bad. I've traveled all over the country, so I have some sense. Just consider it twelve taels of silver."
Li Chang'an nodded, took out fifteen gold ingots from his pocket, and handed them over.
"This is enough to pay your bill. Exchange the rest for silver so we can eat at the inn."
Looking at so much gold, the shopkeeper couldn't help but ask, "Sir, are you really so comfortable entrusting your gold to us?"
After all, it takes some time to get all the items. Usually, a deposit is paid first, and the remaining balance is paid in exchange for the goods once they are all in stock.
He had never met anyone like Li Chang'an in his life who would pay upfront.
Li Chang'an smiled and said to him, "Since I have the ability to give it, I have the ability to take it back. Shopkeeper, you may want to give it a try."
Seeing his expression, the shopkeeper couldn't help but wonder who this important person was.
"You're joking, you're joking. This is the receipt. Rest assured, sir, we will have everything you requested ready by evening, and you can come and collect it."
The shopkeeper wrote a note and handed the change to Li Chang'an along with it.
After Li Chang'an left, he took the gold to the money shop to see if he could exchange it for silver. After all, it was 180 taels of silver, and he dared not be careless.
The livestock market was located in the cattle and horse market west of the city.
To get through the entire inner city, Li Chang'an wandered around aimlessly as he made his way.
His spending habits are not as conservative as Xiong Er's.
I walked and bought things along the way, wanting to buy everything I saw.
This winnowing basket is nice, this box is pretty, I've never eaten candied hawthorn before, this thing is dark and looks strange, I'll buy one to study it.
Xiong Er and the others wanted to offer some advice, but they didn't know how to start.
Although they felt it was inappropriate for their son-in-law to spend his own money, they couldn't say anything about it.
Before long, each villager was carrying a lot of things, while Su Xiao had a string of candied hawthorns in her left hand and a large sugar figurine in her right, her face beaming with joy.
The shop owners in the market all looked at them with exceptional enthusiasm.
Li Chang'an doesn't like haggling, so he prefers shopping at supermarkets and will pay whatever price is offered.
Who wouldn't like such a sucker?
Around noon, Li Chang'an spotted a familiar-looking inn – Tongfu Inn.
He led Su Xiao and her group inside with great interest, and they happened to be hungry as well.
"Oh, sir, what would you like to eat?" The waiter was very enthusiastic, and with a white cloth draped over his shoulders, he welcomed Li Chang'an and his party inside.
After serving several cups of hot tea, the waiter began to introduce the dishes: "Our restaurant offers West Lake Fish in Vinegar Sauce, Braised Pork Knuckle, Braised Pork Belly with Preserved Mustard Greens, and various noodle dishes. What would you gentlemen like to eat?"
Li Chang'an glanced at the menu, too lazy to study it: "Bring one serving of each of the dishes you just mentioned, plus seven or eight signature dishes. Rice will be charged per person, one large bowl per person."
"Alright, sir." The waiter called out and then turned to the counter, saying, "Scholar, West Lake Fish in Vinegar Sauce, Braised Pork Knuckle, Braised Pork Belly with Preserved Mustard Greens, and eight more meat dishes to serve to the gentlemen at table number two."
His voice was loud and clear, as if he wanted everyone to know that a table of generous guests was sitting there.
Sure enough, many people looked over when they heard someone ordering food so extravagantly.
Among them was the arrogant groom from yesterday.
Standing in the private room on the second floor, he immediately recognized the scholar who had blocked his way yesterday.
The coachman sneered inwardly. "You bastard, you made me get scolded by the steward yesterday. Now that our young master is here, how can we let you act so arrogantly?"
He stepped forward and said to a fat, big-eared young man, "Young master, the scholar who ordered the food just now was the one who stopped our carriage."
The young man glanced down at Li Chang'an and said, "Is this the poor scholar you said extorted a string of cash from our family?"
According to the coachman, Li Chang'an became a poor scholar who didn't even own an oxcart. He blocked the road on the official road, refusing to let them pass and demanding a toll of one string of cash.
If the steward hadn't been so weak-willed and given him a string of cash instead of taking action, he would have definitely taught Li Chang'an a lesson.
The young master was furious. What kind of lousy scholars were they? They were all a bunch of poor beggars.
He immediately took a few servants and went downstairs.
"Oh my, where did this poor scholar come from, running around here pretending to be a big shot?"
Before you even see him, you hear his voice.
Li Chang'an looked up and saw the coachman from yesterday following behind a fat man, speaking in a strange and smug tone.
Although the coachman saw that Li Chang'an was still dressed in his usual splendid clothes, he was not afraid at all now that Li Chang'an had a powerful backer, and he acted like a fox borrowing the tiger's power.
The fat man grabbed a chair, and his excess fat bulged out from the gaps between the chairs.
Its fat, greasy appearance made him feel nauseous even before he started eating.
The customers around Li Chang'an got up to pay their bills, somewhat intimidated by the fat man.
"Fatty, you and your lackeys are ruining my appetite." Since the visitors were hostile, Li Chang'an felt there was no need to be polite.
The fat man was furious; he hated being called fat more than anything in his life.
He's strong, not fat.
"What the hell are you saying? This is my young master, the eldest son of the Guo family. His father is Lord Guo, the city garrison commander of Lingnan City. How dare you be disrespectful to my young master?" Before the master could even react, the lackey bit first.
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