Song Liyun wasn't afraid of drinking. Even if she brought all the wineries in Qili City, she wouldn't worry about getting drunk. She could even drink these people to death.
However, these people's purpose was clearly not to drink.
"Get out of the way!"
Song Liyun slowly clenched her fist, a silver light flashing in her palm. This was a restaurant, and she didn't want to cause trouble.
But they are not afraid of trouble. With just a little manipulation, they can teach these people a lesson without them even realizing it.
Han Ming was being dragged along by Min Gande. Seeing Song Liyun being humiliated, his eyes turned red and he roared, "Min Gande, I'll curse your ancestors! If you have a grudge, come at me! What kind of show of power do you have by using a woman?"
As he spoke, he flicked his arm, leaving the drunken Min Gande aside, and then slapped away the people blocking Song Liyun with both hands.
Still not satisfied, Han Ming turned around and punched Min Gande in the face as he was about to stand up.
With a "thud," Min Gande couldn't dodge and was punched in the face by Han Ming. He screamed in pain and crashed into the wall with a dull thud.
At this moment, the people inside the house came out upon hearing the noise and surrounded Han Ming and Song Liyun.
Beside him, the self-righteous fellow was already terrified.
In exchange for a reward of twenty coins, he took it upon himself to replace the dishes that Song Liyun had ordered and prepared with the dishes and gave them to Master Min.
He thought he could easily fool these two country bumpkins with other dishes, but he didn't expect them to refuse.
Moreover, Master Min not only knew that woman, but he also tried to get her to drink with him, and now look what's happened, they've started fighting.
No matter how daring a guy is, he's unwilling to risk his livelihood for the rest of his life.
If the manager finds out about his reckless behavior, he will not only be kicked out of the restaurant, but he will also surely lose his leg.
"Fourth Master, Fourth Master!" The waiter rushed over, knelt down before Min Gande, and kowtowed repeatedly. "Fourth Master, calm down, calm down!"
The landlord is in the backyard today; it wouldn't be good if he found out.
Upon hearing that the owner of Tianxianglou was in the backyard, Min Gande frowned, and his drunkenness subsided considerably: "Since the master is here, let's not disturb his peace. Han Dashan, you owe him this drink; you'll have to drink it next time!"
He said this through gritted teeth.
He couldn't swallow his anger; he was the one who got beaten.
Anyone present who wasn't a fool knew that the next time the two met, it wouldn't be wine, but a knife.
Since Min Gande had made a tough statement and backed down gracefully, Song Liyun didn't want to cause any more trouble.
He hurriedly went downstairs, paid the bill, and left, without even waiting for the groceries he had brought for Song Zhenping and his sister.
After spending the night at the inn, Song Liyun began a shopping spree as soon as the shops in the market opened the next day.
This time, she bought steamed buns, dumplings, and pastries, buying as many as she could, and bought out all the fried dough sticks, shortbread, and twisted dough sticks that had just been put out to sell.
Han Ming followed along, pulling his cart, and saw Song Liyun carrying a large basket, constantly going in and out of the shops and stalls.
Finally, the cart was filled to capacity.
She bought these things as basic necessities; they looked heavy and plentiful, but they weren't actually very valuable.
Having spent sixty taels of silver—only a small portion of the money for the carpet—and with the items secretly moved into her spatial storage piled high, Song Liyun finally gave up.
Wiping the sweat from her brow, Song Liyun handed Han Ming a bag of steamed buns filled with braised beef and whispered, "Fill your stomach first, then we'll leave the city."
As he spoke, he glanced at a shop not far away, where people were pretending to buy things.
It was already midday, and people were coming and going all around. Song Liyun still noticed something was wrong; she and Han Ming were being watched.
Perhaps it was his generosity in buying things that attracted the thieves, or perhaps it was revenge for the grudge between Tianxianglou and Min Gande last night. In any case, there were two people following him around at this moment.
Han Ming also sensed something was wrong; he even saw an old acquaintance: "Boss, we need to be careful. Min Gande is definitely up to no good."
Song Liyun snorted. When she returned to the inn last night, Han Ming told her about Min Gande.
Min Gande used to work at a gambling den in Suijin Town. After escaping the disaster, he left Suijin Town for Qili County.
Before this, he had come to Broken Gold Town several times to invite Han Ming to work with him.
They didn't say what they were doing, but judging from yesterday's performance, they weren't on the right track.
He also had a few underlings with him, so he must be doing quite well in the county town.
Han Ming originally planned to work as a manager for his employer for the rest of his life, then get married, have children, and live an ordinary life. It was only by chance that he arrived in Broken Gold Town.
Then this misfortune struck again, and he wanted to stay alone in Suijin to wait for death. He didn't want to live a life of uncertainty and wandering again, so he refused Min Gande's offer.
As for going to the Song family to steal things with Kim Sam-jung, it was indeed because they had run out of food.
Knowing that someone was watching her, Song Liyun still bought a basket of candy and pastries before leaving the city with Han Ming.
At the city gate, their large cartload of goods encountered trouble again, as the guards suspected them of being merchants because of the sheer volume of goods.
Fortunately, after a thorough search, all that was found were grains, cloth, cotton goods, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, tea, snacks, and children's toys—a wide variety of items, which didn't seem like a business.
Even after confiscating the two jars of wine, Song Liyun was still made to pay an additional 100 wen in taxes before being allowed to leave.
After finally managing to escape, Song Liyun couldn't help but complain as she walked a long way away: "No wonder Boss Mu is willing to stay in Suijin Town to resell some second-hand goods instead of coming to Qili County to do business. He's been skinned alive after going in and out of the town twice."
Speaking of this, she recalled Wan Chun's leather goods shop's illicit dealings.
The imperial merchants don't pay any taxes and can still monopolize the market; I might really have to go into business in the future.
Han Ming's wine had been stolen by those two constables. He was furious and didn't want to say anything. He just pulled the cart and ran, shouting, "Master, let's go back quickly!"
The Northwest is vast and sparsely populated. There isn't even a large village along the more than 30-mile road from Qili County to Suijin Town. If something happens on the road, you might not even be able to find the body.
Song Liyun helped push the bicycle, smiling faintly, "What's there to be afraid of? You have a path to heaven but choose to walk into hell when there's no way out..."
Han Ming tightened his grip on the cart, and after a moment he said cautiously and aggrievedly, "Master, I already know I was wrong!"
Song Liyun froze for a moment, then burst into laughter: "I misspoke, I misspoke, I wasn't talking about you!"
She had said the same thing when she teased Han Ming and Jin Sanzhong that day, which Han Ming remembered and now misunderstood as her saying that he was stealing.
Hearing Song Liyun's apology, Han Ming chuckled along. Although his boss was a woman, she was very easy to get along with.
He was willing to follow Song Liyun because his employer loved to eat her food.
I ate roasted lamb chops last night, and this morning I had big white steamed buns. I also have a meat pie in my pocket.
The road was quiet, except for the two people talking and laughing, and the sound of wheels rolling over gravel could be heard from afar.
In a roadside grove of trees, Min Gande was leading four men to take shelter from the wind.
Even so, the biting wind still made them shrink back.
Min Gande stamped his feet impatiently to warm them: "Damn it, is this guy dead in the city and never coming out again?"
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