The waiter was almost speechless with astonishment. Oh my goodness, no wonder he gave him two taels of silver as a tip. It turns out this guy is the salt merchant's foolish son!
This is incredible! If we could really latch onto this powerful backer, we'd never have to worry about food and drink for the rest of our lives.
He glanced at the shopkeeper, noticing he was lost in thought, and grew anxious.
This shopkeeper is such a slowpoke. He dreams of getting rich, but now that the God of Wealth has come knocking on his door, he's still hesitating. It's driving me crazy!
Those who do business like this will never get rich or make any money in their entire lives...
He hurriedly approached the shopkeeper and whispered, "Shopkeeper, this is a wealthy man, you'd better say something!"
The shopkeeper, regaining his composure, hurriedly bowed and greeted Chen Zhancai.
"I am truly sorry for your rudeness. It is an honor that Young Master Chen would stay at our humble inn. There is no rush to pay the bill; we can settle it all at once later."
He said that, but he still had some doubts. To be absolutely sure, he quickly added another question as a precaution.
"Young Master Chen, are you alone in Ningjing this time?"
Hearing him ask that, Chen Zhancai's heart sank. Oh dear, this is bad! How could he have forgotten about that before putting the eggs in the pan?
When a rich young master goes out, he is always accompanied by a large group of maids and servants, and at least two pageboys. How could he go out all alone like this?
In order to make his story coherent, he had to spout complete nonsense.
He waved his hand casually.
"No, I am a low-key person and do not want to be too ostentatious. As soon as I entered Ningjing City, I sent all the dozen or so maids and servants who accompanied me, as well as two pageboys, back home."
Seeing the shopkeeper frown, and knowing that his words were unconvincing, he started spouting nonsense again.
"Perhaps you can't understand why, given my status and position, I should be surrounded by a retinue when I travel."
But you don't know how treacherous people can be in this world. Especially when you're out and about, you have to be extra careful. If you're too ostentatious, it will attract the attention of others. It's human nature to be envious and jealous, but if you're targeted by murderers and thieves, you're doomed.
Losing money is a small matter, but losing my life is a big deal. After all, I am the only son in my family, and I cannot afford to be careless. Therefore, wherever I go, I always go alone and do not keep any attendants with me..."
After listening to his reasoning, the shopkeeper felt something was amiss, but couldn't find a way to refute it.
Although he had his doubts, he was now completely fooled by Chen Zhancai.
He nodded and bowed repeatedly, his face beaming with smiles.
"Oh, I see. Young Master Chen, please feel free to stay with us. We guarantee you'll feel right at home."
"Yes, Young Master Chen, just tell me what you want to eat or drink. I'll be there anytime, 24/7, and I'll make sure you're comfortable." The waiter was completely bewildered by Chen Zhancai's flattery, so much so that he couldn't tell which way was which.
Seeing that the two were completely taken aback by his intimidation, Chen Zhancai felt quite pleased with himself.
A good horse is good because of its legs, a good person is good because of their words; not knowing how to burn incense offends the gods, not knowing how to speak offends people.
As the old saying goes, "Good people are blessed by heaven, and noble people are always by their side."
It seems that the incense offered before departure was not in vain.
He's about to have great luck; all sorts of good things are coming his way!
That's good, let him enjoy the present moment.
When they encounter good fortune, a romantic encounter, or achieve academic success, it won't be too late to reward them handsomely...
Chen Zhancai became increasingly smug, and the more smug he became, the more he forgot himself, completely regarding himself as a wealthy young master.
He subconsciously puffed out his chest, snapped open his folding fan, and struck a pose of refined elegance.
"I've said what I should say, and I've also said what I shouldn't say. I hope you'll keep your mouths shut and not spread this around. If you reveal my family's wealth, then I'm sorry, for safety's sake, I'll have to find another place to hide."
The shopkeeper quickly expressed his sincerity, "Young Master Chen, rest assured, I may not be able to say anything else, but I am very tight-lipped. I will never reveal a single word that I shouldn't say to outsiders."
"Yes, yes, don't worry, Young Master Chen, I won't say anything out of line." The waiter nodded in agreement.
Chen Zhancai nodded in satisfaction, "Alright, alright, I'm tired and thirsty from my long journey. Quickly prepare some food and drink and bring them to my room."
"Alright, alright, Young Master Chen, please wait a moment, the wine and dishes will be here shortly."
The innkeeper hurriedly pulled the waiter out of the room. His heart was pounding with excitement. He had been running the inn for many years, and the guests were either rural students or merchants traveling all over the country. This was the first time he had encountered a wealthy young man like this.
This is an incredible windfall; if he can truly keep this rich young master happy, it could be enough to keep him busy for a year.
The waiter was beaming with joy. He touched the two taels of silver in his pocket and really wanted to kneel down and kowtow to God.
Last night I dreamt I was getting married, and today I met a God of Wealth who gave me two taels of silver right away.
At this rate, don't give more than two ounces every now and then.
If they stayed for a month, they could easily earn ten or eight taels of silver as a reward.
My goodness! This is incredible! In the past, I wouldn't have even dared to dream of such a thing.
With money, you won't have to stay up all night banging your head against the wall or crawling on the floor; you can even marry a beautiful wife...
Seeing him dawdling behind him, the shopkeeper shouted, "Hu Er, what are you doing? Hurry up and go to the kitchen to order some wine and food to be prepared!"
"Alright, alright, I'll go right away." The waiter snapped out of his thoughts, lifted his leg to head towards the kitchen, and suddenly stopped. "Manager, what kind of banquet should we prepare?"
"Is that even a question? Of course, it's the finest banquet."
"Ah? A top-class banquet! How much does this cost?" The waiter was taken aback. He knew that the top-class banquets at their Longxing Inn were incredibly expensive.
The twelve dishes were all delicious and exquisite.
The price is staggering, far beyond what the average person can afford.
The shopkeeper was so angry he gritted his teeth when he heard him say that.
"You're such a blockhead! Didn't you hear what that idiot was saying? He's the biggest salt merchant in the area. Do you even know what a salt merchant is? They specialize in selling white salt. Forget about how powerful their connections are, just look at how deep their wealth is—they're rolling in money. For them, money is like dirt; they can squander it without a second thought. Since heaven has delivered this money-spending god of wealth to our doorstep, why should we save him any money? Let him spend it like crazy!"
"Shopkeeper, you're right. But it seems like he can't eat that much food by himself. What if he comes up with a bad temper and we take the lion's share? That would be troublesome."
"Don't worry, I've run an inn for so many years, I've seen a lot and met countless people. Just by looking at that kid, you can tell he's no good. He's definitely a spoiled brat. Since he can't eat it, we'll just eat it for him."
"Yes, yes, the manager is truly brilliant. I'll go and have someone prepare the wine and dishes right away." The waiter turned and went to the kitchen.
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