A smile can topple a city

Chapter 7

Hmm, so who's plotting against whom?

Ye Xiao was momentarily confused, but quickly stepped forward happily, intending to sign the contract of servitude.

Xiao Xun pulled Ye Xiao aside: "Boss...really...sold it cheaply?"

Ye Xiao whispered, "Selling it cheaply makes it easy to redeem...we can get a free meal and also keep an eye on this suspect..."

Xiao Xun muttered, "Then, what's the difference between that and being sold into a brothel?"

Ye Xiaobai said to him, "The jobs we do are different..."

Watching the two sign and seal the document, the man's face relaxed, and he took out a large ingot of silver and gave it to the waiter.

The waiter kept kowtowing: "Thank you so much, sir, for your generosity... If these two rascals had run away with the money, the manager would have deducted it from my wages... I would have worked for free for several years..."

The three people in front of him all turned pale and became furious.

After receiving the change, the man led the two out the door.

"Uh, sir... could you buy me some decent clothes? I'm dressed so shabbily... and I'm freezing..."

The man stopped and turned back, saying coldly, "Two things. First, from now on, call me master."

Xiao Xun gave an awkward smile.

“Your master’s name is Luo Qingcheng,” the man continued.

"My name is Xiao Xun, and her name is..." Xiao Xun quickly introduced himself.

"What kind of formal name does this servant want? I'll give you two names: one is 'Dog,' and the other is 'Cat.' How about that?"

Xiao Xun was stunned, then shook his hand in displeasure.

Ye Xiao, with great composure, held back her smile, but still jumped up when she heard Luo Qingcheng's next words.

"Secondly, your master is actually penniless. All he has left is this small wad of cash. From now on, our food, clothing, and shelter will depend on you earning money through hard labor..."

stingy and vicious master

"Boss, we've suffered a huge loss this time," Xiao Xun said in a low voice, though he remained relatively calm and composed.

Suffering a great loss doesn't necessarily mean your situation will get worse.

They were penniless and suffering from hunger and cold.

Now I can eat my fill, have a little money, and even my clothes are better than before.

Luo Qingcheng still took pity on Xiao Xun and gave him some of his old clothes.

Clean and warm, the fabric is soft and comfortable.

It just doesn't fit.

Luo Qingcheng was tall for a man, but he was still a head shorter than Xiao Xun.

In addition, Xiao Xun was sturdy, so Luo Qingcheng's old clothes looked a bit short and tight on him.

“I’m taller than you.” Although uncomfortable, Xiao Xun managed to sense a sense of superiority.

"Oh." Luo Qingcheng showed no envy.

Everything is bigger than yours.

"Not necessarily." A cold glint flashed in Luo Qingcheng's eyes.

"that is."

“Big oaf…no wonder he can only be a slave…perfect for hard labor.” Luo Qingcheng said coldly.

A string of small coins.

What to eat is a problem.

Xiao Xun ran the entire street and returned happily to report.

There's a flatbread shop on the street that sells a very sturdy, coarse flatbread.

It smells delicious, and at ten coins for three, it's the most affordable snack on the entire food street.

"Agou, go buy three," Luo Qingcheng ordered.

Xiao Xun counted out ten coins.

"You spendthrift! Buying cakes one by one... that should only cost nine coins!" Ye laughed and scolded him, snatching back the one coin.

Although I never expected that the person I had gone to such lengths to get close to was a penniless man, since it was a fait accompli, we still needed to stick together.

Xiao Xun made three rounds of awkward trips back and forth. On the third trip, when he asked the short, kind-looking owner of the pancake shop for a pancake, he was so embarrassed that he didn't dare to lift his eyelids.

Fortunately, the man was genuinely kind and looked at Xiao Xun with sympathy before quickly choosing a large flatbread.

Three flatbreads, one for each person, just enough to make them half full.

Ye Xiao generously shared half of the flatbread with Xiao Xun.

Xiao Xun was moved to tears.

“One person, one salary, is inherently unreasonable. Just like in the previous dynasty, Dongfang Shuo, who was nine feet tall, received the same salary as a three-foot-tall dwarf… The dwarf died of overeating… Dongfang Shuo starved to death…” Ye Xiao comforted him with these words.

“That makes sense. To Emperor Wu, Dongfang Shuo is just like a dwarf, someone to amuse and entertain. Their salaries are naturally the same. Ah Gou is tall and big, but in terms of usefulness, he's not as good as Ah Mao, so he should eat even less.” Luo Qingcheng said bluntly.

Xiao Xun, extremely frustrated, slipped aside to eat a pancake.

After finishing his meal, Xiao Xun saw Ye Xiao fiddling with a long rope.

"Boss, what are you doing?"

"Get ready...we'll need it for street performances later."

"Selling...entertainment?" Xiao Xun's eyes widened.

"Sitting idly by and eating away our savings... we don't know where our master is going... so we should prepare for the future... lest we really starve to death."

"Are you sure... you want to follow a penniless guy? There's no future, no prospects... I want to send a message back... to find someone to ransom us..."

Ye Xiao pondered for a moment, looked around to make sure no one was watching, and whispered in Xiao Xun's ear, "Do you want to solve that case? This person is extremely suspicious. He wears a mask, knows martial arts, and just happened to appear at Tianbao Inn... Also, remember that live carp that was thrown in? When I caught him that day, I smelled fish on him..."

An open space in the middle of the street.

Ye Xiao tied ropes to two tall trees and, quite familiarly, recited a set of clichés commonly used by those who roam the martial arts world.

The performance begins.

He flipped over and jumped onto the rope, leaping and bounding around on it, and performed a set of punches.

She has a good foundation in light-footed skills and her punches and kicks are also quite flashy. She's not very effective in fighting, but she looks beautiful, like a butterfly flitting among flowers, dancing gracefully on a thin rope.

The audience cheered continuously, and coins were thrown all over the ground.

Luo Qingcheng leaned lazily against a tree, trimming his nails with a delicate little knife.

His gaze swept over Ye Xiao, who was twirling on the rope, and he showed a slight surprise. This little girl was not simple. Although her kung fu was far inferior, she seemed to have never seen anyone who could match her in terms of her meticulousness and intelligence.

Despite his young age, he seemed quite familiar with the stories and rules of the martial arts world.

Who exactly is she?

"...The next program is breaking a boulder on one's chest..." Ye Xiao's clear voice drifted over from afar.

"The boss is going to break a boulder on his chest!" Xiao Xun exclaimed in surprise.

"Her? Her chest is flat enough... but performing the 'breaking a boulder on her chest' act... I'm afraid her chest will cave in." Luo Qingcheng mocked maliciously. "I bet the one who'll be performing this act is you, you big oaf..."

"I'm not a big, dumb idiot!" Xiao Xun snapped.

He quickly lost his temper.

Because they heard the audience cheering wildly: "Big dummy! Give us one! Big dummy! Give us one!"

"My mother always taught me not to venture into dangerous places... Breaking a boulder on one's chest is too risky." Xiao Xun resolutely refused Ye Xiao's request.

With a sneer, Luo Qingcheng chuckled coldly from the side.

"I gave you half an extra pancake! You don't want to work? There won't be anything to eat next time..." Ye Xiao's expression changed.

The threat worked.

Xiao Xun walked sullenly into the arena, deeply realizing the truth that "he who eats another's food is bound to him."

Lying on the ground, Ye Xiaozhen moved a huge rock and pressed it against his chest.

He quickly rallied his strength, but then he saw Luo Qingcheng swinging a hammer onto the field, and he immediately lost his breath.

Luo Qingcheng revealed a vicious and bloodthirsty look, coldly staring at Xiao Xun as if looking at prey, and slowly swung the hammer.

“Master…Master…I will definitely work hard and not be lazy in the future, tighten my belt and not eat…I am a useful person…Master…” Finally breaking down under Luo Qingcheng’s gaze, Xiao Xun immediately lowered his posture and begged.

Luo Qingcheng remained silent, then struck down with the hammer with a loud crack.

The noise in the entire venue disappeared instantly.

In the quiet, I could hear the call of a golden oriole in the distance.

Xiao Xun stood up in a daze, and in surprise brushed the powder off his body.

That huge rock has been reduced to dust!

I didn't feel anything at all...

The surprised look gradually turned into fear as it shot towards Luo Qingcheng, who had already calmly walked away and leaned against a tree, as if nothing had happened to him.

A thunderous cheer broke the silence, and coins rained down, accompanied by shouts of "One more!"

Amidst the cheers of the crowd, Xiao Xun seemed to see golden light shimmering everywhere, and he became excited, lying down on the ground again.

"No! Third brother... are you... are you hurt..." Ye Xiao was obviously also frightened by this bizarre scene, and ran over with a sob in her voice.

Unfortunately, the cold-blooded Luo Qingcheng didn't give her a chance to stop him. He quickly moved another boulder and swung the hammer with lightning speed.

With a bang, the stone shattered into dust once again.

Xiao Xun got up again unharmed, and copper coins rained down from the sky once more.

Ye Xiao finally understood what was going on, and happily ran over, praising repeatedly, "Third brother! So your internal strength is so powerful! That's great! Although you're a little slow-witted, at least you still have the courage of a warrior..."