"No, how could this be a duck neck? It looks more like a rat's head! The teeth, the eyes, and the lingering fuzz—how could you lie like that?!"
The old master pointed at the rat's head on the table, trembling with rage.
His voice was loud, attracting many guests to come and see what was going on. They looked at the rat head on the table and started discussing it.
"Could this thing really be a rat's head? I just ate a plate of Five-Flavor Duck, and I didn't really look at it while I was eating. Could it have had a rat's head in it too?"
Listening to their discussion, Lu Wei, with the idea of minimizing the problem, smiled and said, "Sir, this is indeed duck neck, but after you finish eating the meat on top, it looks like a rat's head."
His words were echoed by many of the other customers: "How could such a large restaurant possibly sell inferior goods? Their reputation is worth far more than this little bit of meat."
Hearing this, Lu Wei pressed his advantage and said, "Sir, how about I serve you a fresh serving of this dish? Is that alright?"
The old scholar looked around at the guests, all saying that the rat's head on the table was a duck's neck, and his competitive spirit surged up.
He grabbed the rat's head on the table and began to show it to the guests next to him: "This isn't about changing the dishes. This is clearly a rat's head. Look closely, how could this thing be a duck neck?"
"I don't want you to change the dishes, I want fairness."
"That's right, that's right. My grandfather is a scholar, he doesn't need your food. You have to kneel down and apologize to us."
The old master's family members also spoke up to support their own, and his granddaughter even stood with her hands on her hips, repeatedly calling him a lowly commoner and kneeling down to apologize.
The restaurant suddenly became lively.
Lu Wei, along with several waiters, started arguing with the old master's family, each insisting on their own version of events. One side said it was duck neck, the other said it was rat head.
Seeing the old man with the rat-headed head who insisted on admitting his guilt even in death, and that woman who weighed over 200 pounds, standing with her hands on her hips angrily cursing herself as a lowly commoner, Lu Wei's eyes also turned fierce.
"Stop arguing. Since you insist that this is a rat's head, then let's take this thing to the government and have them judge whether it's a rat's head or a duck's neck."
As he spoke, he gave a wink to the waiter behind him. The waiter looked at him, nodded, and ran out of the restaurant.
"Fine, let's go to the government then. I refuse to believe that the government can mistake this rat's head for a duck's neck."
The old scholar was very confident. Before he came to Jiangnan, he had heard that it was a paradise for scholars and that the officials in Jiangnan treated scholars very well.
The local people greatly admire and respect scholars.
Therefore, he believed that as long as he revealed his identity as a scholar, he would definitely receive fair and just treatment when the officials from this area came.
Even if there really was duck neck on the table, those officials would still call it rat head, because they were scholars.
What's more, this thing really is a rat's head.
A short while later, a waiter from the restaurant led several constables in.
"What happened? What happened?!"
When the waiters from the restaurant arrived with the constables, some people who often traveled the martial arts world looked at the old master's family with a hint of pity.
When the old master saw the constables approaching, he immediately waved his hand and addressed them.
"Come here, you constables, come and judge this matter."
"When I was eating at this shady restaurant, I actually found a rat's head in my food. The restaurant not only denied it, but also tried to frame me, insisting that it was a duck neck."
"Look, is this duck neck?"
"That's right, that's right. My grandfather was a scholar, how could he not be able to tell the difference between a rat's head and a duck's neck?"
The old man and his family pointed at the rat's head on the table and complained to the head constable, hoping for the justice that was about to be served.
Lu Wei glanced at him disdainfully, drew a fan from his waist, and said sarcastically, "Old man, whoever speaks first isn't necessarily right."
After saying this, he cupped his hands in a salute to the head constable and said with a smile, "This humble brother greets Brother Zheng, I..."
"Hey hey hey!"
The head constable looked somewhat displeased and waved his hand at Lu Wei: "When doing things, you should use official titles and not make connections randomly. People who don't know the situation might think we have some shady relationship."
Some people in the martial arts world rolled their eyes when they heard what Constable Zheng said.
This nonsense is only good for fooling honest people.
"Look at my mouth!"
Lu Wei gave himself a light slap, then said with a forced smile, "Officer Zheng, this old man is here to cause trouble. This is clearly a duck neck, but he insists it's a rat's head. He came to our restaurant and made a scene, damaging our reputation and scaring away our customers."
"I didn't, you're lying!"
The old master seemed to have suffered a great injustice, and his whole body trembled.
His life had been smooth sailing, and after passing the imperial examination, he was adored by the entire village. He had never suffered such a great injustice before.
"Silence! Whether this is nonsense or not, this constable has the final say. Who gave you the right to interrupt?"
Constable Zheng gave a cold shout, which displeased the old scholar: "How dare you speak like that, you little constable? I am a proper scholar who passed the imperial examination. According to the rules, you should bow to me."
The old scholar's granddaughter also looked disgusted: "A bunch of stinky men. Don't think you're so great just because you're wearing official robes."
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