Book 16: Chapter 70
The only viewer who was not confused was Ming Feizhen. He did not want to hurt just Hua Yumeng; he wanted to hurt the two young masters, too. To be fair, they had no intention of sabotaging him. To the contrary, they wanted to ingratiate themselves with him. They knew the adept was not travelling incognito for adopting sons. There was a problem, though. How were they to divide the amount of contribution if they hit him at the same time? It would be ridiculous for him to be a father to both of them, would it not? Thus, the most appropriate tactic was to take out the opponent first so that they could ensure their adoption. Never did they think their rival would think of the same ploy and give all the glory Ming Feizhen never wanted to him.
Since Ming Feizhen had his hearing turned up to maximum capacity, he heard the banker’s thoughts – it was not a bad thing to help Song Yanluo win, but the money did not go into his pockets. No matter how much he wanted to leave or go beat up the two, he had no legitimate excuse to leave the ring. That said, Proprietor Chen had even less of an excuse to leave the ring.
Proprietor Chen showed why he was one of the most successful businessmen in Hangzhou when he approached Ming Feizhen without any animosity. “Your name will soon be known throughout Hangzhou. There will be a big banquet tomorrow and moon gazing event at Moonward Pavillion for you. Remember to come.”
Even though he could hear all the curses aimed at him and the two families’ – and their allies – shouting at each other, Ming Feizhen continued searching for Hua Yumeng. Unfortunately, there was no trace whatsoever. He was sure that Hua Yumeng did not appear again, which implied that Hua Yumeng was not utilising his true qi. In that case, he was not going to show himself again. That said, knowing Hua Yumeng’s habits, he was guaranteed to show up as long as Ming Feizhen stayed by the target’s side, so there was tomorrow night. Hence, Ming Feizhen replied, “Does Moonward Pavillion refer to the tallest building here? Is that building not called Jade Moon Pavillion? Has the name changed the last few years I was gone?”
Proprietor Chen’s eyes flew open. “Y-you are…”
Seven years ago, Proprietor Chen’s business had yet to rise to the top of the cuisine food chain, and he wanted to invite some notable guests to elevate his business as part of his growth plan. Alas, only undesirable guests visited. Even Eagle Broadswordman and Wolf Swordsman were unwilling to yield; they had just joined Night Fortress at the time and demanded an exorbitant 200 taels per showing, not to mention they had to be invited together. They also refused to participate in the ribbon-cutting ceremony as well as demanded staff pick them up and escort them home. Consequently, Proprietor Chen spent a large sum to host a relatively famous individual’s birthday banquet.
The aforementioned guest’s birthday was still months away, but he paid enough, and modifying one’s birth date was nothing rare. Regrettably, the customer was a handful. The uncultured customer hosted ten banquets over the course of ten consecutive days, refused to leave, assaulted anyone who tried to stop him and demanded ownership of half of the business. Despite knowing what the barbarian was plotting, Proprietor Chen could only watch his clerk be assaulted daily, watch the barbarian barge into rooms under the disguise of being intoxicated and even barge into his daughter’s room.
At the same time all that took place, Proprietor Chen caught a young man attempting to dine and dash, but he let the young man go since he had a distinctly-dashing appearance. The honest-to-a-fault young man was forced to leave a valuable and then return with payment; however, he sincerely explained that his family back home was poorer than him who was wandering outside, although he was happy to leave a valuable item. The young man snatched a brush from a scholar next to him and, without dipping it into ink, wrote on the wooden table “White Jade Moon”. The hairs were obviously too soft to deal harm, let alone carve text onto a wooden table, yet they were perfectly displayed on the table as if he wrote on paper. Proprietor Chen had yet to snap back to reality and pick up his jaw from the floor after the young man departed.
As impressive as the writing was, it attracted all sorts of people. One person criticised the lack of strength in the writer’s hand. Another criticised the lack of style. One person jumped onto the table and stomped on it to see if the table was made out of flour. Two days later, everyone who desecrated or insulted the table over the last two days returned to apologise. Those who sabotaged the business after being invited acted as if they had sobered up all of a sudden. Not only did they speak cordially, but they even compensated all of their expenses and damages by twice the amount. The unbearable customer left, then returned with a broken leg and loudly announced all of his misdeeds while he was a customer, and then he listed off all of his lifetime’s misdeeds before leaving, never saying a word to anyone in the process.