Chapter 60: Pranks
Hearing the student’s question, Xiao Yanci’s face showed bitterness and reluctance.
"You gentlemen may not know, my family was once wealthy, but unfortunately we encountered a tyrant who ran rampant. Not only did he forcibly seize our property, but he also wanted to sell us as slaves. My parents died by crashing into a pillar in prison. I’m barely surviving not because I’m afraid of death, but because I carry a blood feud. I can’t face my deceased relatives with shame without avenging them."
"Who is this tyrant, acting so lawlessly and disregarding the king’s laws?" Several students felt a shared sense of indignation.
"I haven’t mentioned today’s events to anyone, so I ask you, gentlemen, to forget what you’ve heard here and not tell others. That tyrant has people behind him, people we common folks can’t afford to provoke. If these words reach their ears, it might bring a fatal disaster upon you all."
The students’ faces changed dramatically, not daring to continue the topic.
Su Yaoguang’s hearing was excellent, and she heard their conversation clearly.
As his wife in his previous life, Su Yaoguang had no idea that Xiao Yanci harbored such a deep vendetta. Whether it was real or just a deceit to fool others, she could not discern.
Zhang Zhaodi divided the two chicken legs between Su Yaoguang and Zhou Wangshu, then gave a duck leg to Jiang Jing.
Jiang Jing immediately gave the other duck leg to Zhang Zhaodi, saying sweetly, "Mother, if you don’t eat, none of us will."
Zhang Zhaodi shouted, "Eat up, everyone eat. There’s so much meat, we should all eat more."
Those students listened to the commotion on this side, their eyes full of disdain.
"This First Restaurant now entertains just about anyone."
From their perspective, Zhou Wangshu was perfectly blocked, so they did not see Zhou Wangshu’s figure.
Xiao Yanci, from the moment he entered, saw him. However, when those students steered the conversation towards Zhou Wangshu, he did not intervene.
"That Zhou fellow is from the same village as you, I heard he even sold himself to become the live-in son-in-law of a village girl. Tsk tsk, truly a disgrace to us men. Such a person even dares to come to the academy, become our classmate, I feel ashamed to be associated with someone like that. Brother Xiao, you’re like a cloud, while he’s like mud."
"I heard he was only worth ten cents, haha... Is it that the village girl is too poor, or is he too worthless? Ten cents can’t even buy a pound of meat, but it bought a living person."
"A few days ago, while I was away, I heard the village girl came to the academy, did you see her?" The person asked, seeing the others shake their heads, then turned to Xiao Yanci, "Brother Xiao, you’re from the same village, surely you’ve seen that village girl, how does she look?"
"I haven’t noticed," Xiao Yanci replied indifferently.
"How many beautiful women can there be in rural areas? No need to say, certainly she’s as ugly as Wu Yan. That Zhou’s only redeeming feature is a face that’s passable, using it to sweet-talk women into spending money on him."
Zhang Zhaodi slapped the table and stood up.
Zhou Wangshu held Zhang Zhaodi and gently said, "Mother, don’t be angry, it’s not worth it."
As soon as Zhou Wangshu’s voice emerged, those students immediately froze.
However, hearing his attempts to calm the situation down, their eyes grew even more contemptuous, taking him even less seriously.
"Some people are just guilty!" The tall and skinny student with a horse face said sarcastically.
Jiang Jing angrily said, "What kind of scholars are they, truly bringing shame to the scholarly world. Who do they think they are, constantly spouting disdainful words about rural people, when they’re worse than gossiping women."
At this moment, a tall and robust man passed by in front. As the man passed by Xiao Yanci’s table, his knee hurt suddenly, and he lunged towards Xiao Yanci’s table.
Crash, the dishes on the table were knocked over by the man, all the broth and soup spilled onto Xiao Yanci and several of the students.
The incident happened too suddenly, and they didn’t have time to react. The dishes had just been cooked and were still hot, causing them to scream in pain as it spilled on them.
The shopkeeper and the waiter rushed over at the sound.
"Dear guests, are you alright?" The shopkeeper and the waiter helped Xiao Yanci and the others up.
The man got up, grabbed one of the students by the collar, and yelled with fierce eyes, "Did you trip me?"
"I didn’t, clearly you’re the one who toppled our table. How can you be so unreasonable?" The student said angrily.
"I was walking just fine, if you hadn’t tripped me, would I have fallen?" The man insisted, "What, trying to blackmail me?"
"I didn’t, I... Brother Xiao, you can prove I didn’t trip him." The student looked at Xiao Yanci.
Having just changed into his clothes, only to have them dirtied, Xiao Yanci was in a bad mood. Coupled with the scalding broth, he had several burn marks on his body.
At this moment, he naturally stood with the students against a common enemy, even if he didn’t know if the student had tripped the man or not, he could only say it didn’t happen.
"Brother, we were sitting here nicely, both feet under the table, how could we have tripped you?" Xiao Yanci said seriously, "You overturned our table, and we hadn’t touched any of the dishes, so you’ll have to cover the cost. Additionally, we all have burns, so you’ll need to cover the doctor’s fees and medical costs as well."
"Still say you’re not trying to blackmail me?" The man let go of the student’s clothes, throwing a punch at Xiao Yanci, "Dare to blackmail me, I’ll teach you a lesson today."
The shopkeeper and the waiter quickly intervened.
"Boss Li, please calm down, Boss Li, please calm down. Let’s talk this over. How about this, let’s void the bill for this table, let’s void it."
"Why void it?" Su Yaoguang pointed to the student’s direction and said, "I saw with my own eyes that it was him who tripped."
The student glared and cursed, "You’re lying, I didn’t trip him. You woman are truly vicious, framing people here."
The man named Li, seeing someone testify for him, raised his voice even more, "I knew it was you, little rascal, playing tricks. What, can’t pay for the meal, so you want me to take the fall?"
"I didn’t trip you, she’s talking nonsense. She has a grudge against us, deliberately kicking us while we’re down. Shopkeeper, you have to stand up for us!"
The shopkeeper may not dare to offend the man, but he certainly didn’t think much of a few poor students.
He said unpleasantly, "I say, Student Zhang, if you eat, you have to pay. Just because you don’t want to doesn’t mean you can use such tricks to blackmail others! Boss Li is a well-known figure here, you can’t falsely accuse him without considering if his dozens of men would agree."
"I didn’t, I didn’t..." The student was exasperated, looking towards Xiao Yanci, "Brother Xiao, I’m truly being wronged!"
An audience gathered to watch the commotion. Xiao Yanci saw that the shopkeeper and the man named Li were holding onto them tightly, and with a scheming and treacherous woman deliberately slandering them, they wouldn’t gain any advantage even if they took it to the government office today, they could only accept their loss.
"How much? I’ll pay." Xiao Yanci said with a cold face.