Just as Jiang Yuwei had carefully selected three weapons, she prepared to ask the shopkeeper how much silver they cost.
When she turned around, the shopkeeper was nowhere to be seen. Jiang Yuwei frowned, feeling something was off. So she grabbed her weapon and prepared to go ahead to find the shopkeeper.
To her surprise, when Jiang Yuwei got to the door, she found that the back door was locked from the outside and she couldn't open it no matter how hard she shook it.
He had no choice but to shout:
"Shopkeeper, are you there? I've already picked out the weapons, open the door for me!"
Is anyone outside?
"There's nobody here!"
"Someone come here!"
"Someone come quick! Let me out!"
After calling out for a while and seeing that no one responded, Jiang Yuwei had no choice but to give up. She first put the weapon on the ground and then began to carefully examine the backyard.
The courtyard wasn't very big, and ironware and weapons were piled up haphazardly everywhere. The east wing was a kitchen, and the door to the west wing was locked, so we couldn't get in.
Jiang Yuwei walked further inside. The main house was divided into two rooms, one used as a warehouse and the other as a living quarters. Judging from the layout and messy state of the house, the shopkeeper must be an old bachelor.
Thinking of this, Jiang Yuwei felt a chill run down her spine. Could it be that this shopkeeper had taken a fancy to her and wanted to keep her confined in this backyard as his wife?
Just as Jiang Yuwei was standing in the main room lost in thought, she saw the back door be kicked open.
Jiang Yuwei peeked out and saw Constable Huang leading a group of men in from the front, shouting:
"You audacious thief, surrender now!"
Jiang Yuwei thought that Constable Huang had come to arrest the blacksmith shop owner, so she rushed out and shouted:
"Officer Huang! Did you come to rescue me? How did you know I was here? I'm telling you about that blacksmith shop owner..."
Before Jiang Yuwei could finish speaking, she saw the shopkeeper standing behind Constable Huang, pointing at her nervously and shouting:
"That's the woman! She came to my shop to buy weapons for the bandits! Officer Huang, hurry, arrest her!"
Jiang Yuwei stood there dumbfounded after hearing this, pointing at herself speechlessly:
"Me? Helping bandits buy weapons? You've got a clever way of thinking!"
As Jiang Yuwei spoke, she walked directly to the blacksmith shop owner, looked him in the eyes, and continued speaking.
"Oh, no wonder. I'd been missing ever since I picked out my weapon. Were you in such a hurry to report me to the authorities?"
The shopkeeper, pressed by Jiang Yuwei's questioning, took several steps back and stammered:
"Officer Huang, look! She herself admitted that she came to buy weapons!"
Seeing this, Officer Huang shook his head helplessly and said:
"Manager Qian, you've misunderstood. This is Manager Jiang from the Moxianzhai in North Street, not some bandit informant you're talking about."
After saying that, Officer Huang turned to Jiang Yuwei and asked curiously:
"What is Manager Jiang planning to do with all these weapons?"
Jiang Yuwei smiled as she looked at the weapons on the ground.
"To be honest, Officer Huang, things are very chaotic outside the city right now. We live in the countryside and have to travel through village roads to get to the city every day. We've already been attacked twice in just a few days."
Jiang Yuwei pointed to the weapons on the ground and looked at Constable Huang.
"I was thinking of buying some self-defense tools, but I didn't expect that Manager Qian would misunderstand."
Upon seeing this, Manager Qian quickly cupped his hands in a respectful greeting and said:
"Manager Jiang, I'm so sorry for offending you. Please forgive my rudeness and don't hold it against me. If you like these weapons, I'll give you a 10% discount. We can be considered friends after this fight."
Seeing this, Jiang Yuwei quickly smiled, picked up the weapon from the ground, and nodded, saying:
"Alright, then I'll gladly accept your offer."
Seeing that the matter had been resolved, Chief Constable Huang did not want to waste any more time, as there were still many things to do at the yamen.
So he bowed to Manager Qian and Jiang Yuwei and said:
"Now that the misunderstanding has been cleared up, I'll take my leave. If you have any more leads in the future, I'll have to trouble you to run errands for me."
After saying that, Officer Huang looked at Jiang Yuwei again.
"Manager Jiang, please be more careful when traveling on village roads in the future. Our government has taken on quite a few cases of casualties and missing persons, all of which are related to those bandits."
Jiang Yuwei nodded and watched as Constable Huang led his team away in a flurry of activity.
After settling the money with Manager Qian, Jiang Yuwei left the blacksmith shop and headed towards Moxiangzhai.
As soon as Jiang Yuwei left the blacksmith shop, a masked man sneaked in.
Upon seeing this, Manager Qian quickly closed the shop door and looked at the newcomer with a reproachful expression.
"Why did you come during the day? You might not care about your life, but I do!"
The man glared at Manager Qian and said in a low voice:
"Stop talking nonsense, do you know that woman?"
Manager Qian scratched his head, puzzled:
"Which woman? Oh, you mean the shopkeeper of Moxianzhai who just came to buy weapons?"
The man nodded and said through gritted teeth:
"That woman and her gang have harmed many of our brothers. I must teach them a lesson!"
Seeing this, Manager Qian quickly tried to persuade him:
"You absolutely mustn't cause any trouble in the city! Otherwise, I won't even be able to keep my shop! Right now, there are constables patrolling everywhere in the city. If something really happens, you definitely won't be able to escape!"
The man scoffed dismissively.
"Since when did it become your place to teach me how to do things? Have you forgotten how you vomited and spit under my knife that day?"
Upon hearing this, Manager Qian shuddered and quickly put on a fawning smile, saying:
"Oh, I'm just reporting on the situation in the city to you. Knowing your enemy and yourself is the key to victory, isn't it?"
The man slammed his hand on the abacus on the counter and said coldly:
"Stop talking nonsense, have you prepared everything I asked for?"
Seeing this, Manager Qian hurriedly nodded and bowed, saying:
"Alright, alright, please come with me to the backyard!"
The man yanked aside the shopkeeper, who was trying to lead the way, and strode towards the backyard.
As soon as he pushed open the courtyard gate, he saw the yard full of weapons, and nodded with great satisfaction. After looking around, he suddenly thought of something.
He then turned and glared at Manager Qian, saying sternly:
"Where's the spiked club I told you to prepare? Are you ignoring me?"
Seeing the man's anger, Manager Qian trembled like a leaf and hurriedly waved his hands, saying:
"No, no, no, I've already prepared it, but it was just bought by Manager Jiang... With Officer Huang there, I didn't dare say I wouldn't sell it to her. I was afraid, afraid they would suspect me..."
Upon hearing this, the man suddenly kicked the iron block beside him, grabbed a knife from the weapon rack, and pointed it directly at Manager Qian's neck.
"Damn it, you don't dare offend that bitch, but you dare offend me, don't you? You believe I'll kill you right now?"
As he spoke, the man held the knife to Manager Qian's neck, which terrified Manager Qian so much that he wet his pants.
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