Chapter 59: The Annoying Ma Guiren
The restaurant staff quickly cleaned up the near-disaster, bowing nervously with their heads kept low before scurrying away to leave the terrace table to its dishes. Steam rose steadily from the porcelain bowls set before them, carrying the rich, savory aroma of dragon-rib broth and delicate cloud-millet porridge into the cool morning air.
They began eating in relative silence at first, the rhythmic clatter of ceramic spoons and chopsticks against heavy porcelain filling the quiet gaps of the terrace. As the meal progressed and the initial awkwardness began to fade, Ma Guiren slowly took complete control of the discussion.
"Hahaha... Little Lin couldn’t complete his first ten sales without me. He kept begging me to go with him."
With a booming voice, sweeping hand gestures, and an overbearing presence, Ma Guiren steered every topic effortlessly, dictating the entire flow of dialogue and causing the conversation to move strictly according to his own rhythm.
Lu Feng chewed his food thoughtfully, observing the fat man from beneath lowered eyelids. Inwardly, he nodded in quiet, analytical acknowledgment. Ma Guiren indeed was Lin Laifu’s senior.
The sheer contrast in how the two merchants handled a room was subtle but undeniable—where Lin Laifu relied on greasy charm, performative sweat, and quick excuses, Ma Guiren simply flattened the room with supreme confidence and sheer social momentum.
However, what secretly angered Lu Feng as the minutes dragged on was the fat man’s brazen lack of discipline. Every few breaths, Ma Guiren would pause mid-sentence, letting his piggy, greed-filled eyes wander over to steal a lingering glance at Han Lin or Ye Chenxue, and sometimes both, before letting a small, oily smile touch his lips.
Han Lin kept her dark eyes fixed on her teacup, her expression a mask of refined, chilling indifference as she ignored his gaze completely. Beside her, Ye Chenxue ate with mechanical, unnatural precision, though the faint tension in her pale jaw signaled that only Lu Feng’s lingering touch on her wrist kept her blade resting quietly in its sheath.
Ma Guiren soon shifted his attention back to the letter, chuckling loudly as he poured himself another generous cup of spirit-wine. He began discussing the finer details of the message more clearly, finally illuminating the mystery behind the pink duck that had plagued them.
As it turned out, the strange phrasing and seemingly random extortion threats in the earlier letters had actually been secret, coded messages designed specifically to draw Lin Laifu out into the open.
Lin Laifu had recognized the underlying signals immediately, which was precisely why he had spent the past week actively ignoring the duck’s arrivals, refusing to bite the hook or meet his aggressive senior face-to-face.
However, the last two deliveries had somehow miscarried. Instead of reaching Lin Laifu’s hands, the bird had landed at the guest villa, dropping its notes directly into Lu Feng’s hands. When Lu Feng replied using the alias ’The Wolf’, Ma Guiren had naturally assumed it was Lin Laifu attempting a desperate, arrogant bluff to regain footing.
Believing his old rival and junior had finally succumbed to the pressure and agreed to talk, Ma Guiren had set the meeting time and location—which happened to coincidentally align with Lin Laifu’s sudden, frantic plan to take Lu Feng and his group out to the exact same restaurant that very morning.
With the misunderstanding laid completely bare, Ma Guiren leaned back in his creaking wooden chair, his tone turning surprisingly serious as he broached his main business with Lin Laifu. He openly admitted that he was currently experiencing severe financial consequences from a high-risk trade deal he had foolishly backed a fortnight ago in the northern districts. It had taken a massive bite out of his liquid capital, and now he was plotting an aggressive strategy to get back on his feet and return even stronger than before.
That was the real reason he had hounded Lin Laifu with the pink annoying duck. Ma Guiren needed a bridge. He desperately required Lin Laifu’s personal contacts and regional influence to help him secure a crucial deal with a certain high-net-worth customer who was currently shopping around the city’s private markets.
Lin Laifu listened with a neutral face, sipping his tea slowly while weighing his senior’s obvious desperation against his own current leverage. The two merchants traded subtle jabs, market terms, and cautious negotiations, their dialogue stretching on endlessly as the sun climbed higher into the morning sky.
Lu Feng sat quietly through the long exchange, watching the tea in his porcelain cup slowly grow cold. He had sat through the grandstanding, endured the arrogant glances toward his companions, and pieced together the local market dynamics. But time was ticking, and he had far more important matters to settle before the day reached its peak.
Deciding he had granted these two scheming merchants enough of his valuable morning, Lu Feng placed his wooden chopsticks neatly across his bowl, the soft click cutting directly through Ma Guiren’s mid-sentence rambling.
Lu Feng turned his gaze straight toward Lin Laifu, interrupting the high-stakes trade talk without an ounce of hesitation.
"Master Lin," Lu Feng spoke up, his voice calm, clear, and commanding enough to instantly halt the table’s flow. "As enjoyable as this market breakdown is, we have a tight schedule today. How far have you actually progressed with the house hunting you promised us?"
The sudden interruption hit the table like a bucket of ice water.
Ma Guiren froze mid-gesture, his fat face hardening instantly. He was thoroughly stunned that a mere ’humble traveler’ had the sheer audacity to cut off a major financial discussion between senior brokers.
A flash of sharp, visible irritation swept across his fleshy features, his brow furrowing deeply as he glared at Lu Feng.
His mouth opened slightly, clearly tempted to bark out a condescending reprimand, but catching the utterly unbothered, dangerous stillness in Lu Feng’s mismatched eyes—and the deathly chill radiating from Ye Chenxue beside him—he narrowly refrained from uttering a single word, grinding his teeth in silence.
Lin Laifu, on the other hand, looked at Ma Guiren’s sour, offended face, and a small, subtle smile crept onto his plump lips. Seeing his domineering senior brother get so smoothly shut down by a young man who didn’t give a damn about trade discussions was perhaps the most satisfying part of his morning.
Clearing his throat with newfound composure, Lin Laifu adjusted his silk robes and turned fully to address Lu Feng, smoothing down his mustache.
"Ah, Young Master Lu, forgive the delay! I was actually just about to update you on that matter," Lin Laifu said, leaning forward slightly. "I have already reached out to my primary network of housing agents across the upper and central districts this morning."
He scratched his head lightly before he continued. "They just got back to me right before we departed for the restaurant, suggesting that we meet in the evening instead. That way, they will have all the keys, legal deeds, and private viewings fully arranged so we can go check out the places together without any unnecessary hassle."