Chapter 47: Lai Sanpi Causes Trouble
Chapter 47: Lai Sanpi Causes Trouble
Ye Xing looked up to see a man with a weaselly face and a gangster’s swagger. It was none other than Lai Sanpi, a well-known local thug from Phoenix Town. Ye Xing had a previous run-in with this Lai Sanpi back when Qiao’Er was trying to sell herself to save her mother.
"Lai Sanpi, what are you doing here!" Aunt Qiao asked from the side, her eyes watchful.
"Well, now. You’ve opened your doors for business, so you’re not going to welcome a customer, are you? Trying to kick me out?" Lai Sanpi sneered, his eyelids drooping as he fiddled with a mirror in his hand.
"Heh, if you’re here to buy something, then of course you’re more than welcome," Ye Xing said with a smile. His tone suddenly shifted. "But if you’re here to cause trouble, don’t say I didn’t warn you. The merchandise in this shop is quite valuable. You’ll have to pay for anything you break."
"I’m here to buy something! What the hell else would I be doing here?" Lai Sanpi yelled, casually picking up a mirror and fiddling with it.
Ye Xing was busy with customers, so he didn’t have time to deal with Lai Sanpi for the moment.
Of course, while attending to his business, he also had to keep an eye on Lai Sanpi to make sure he didn’t cause any trouble. Thugs like him were always a pain to deal with.
The shop was packed with customers and bustling with activity. Business was good.
"Hey, Boss! My shopkeeper sent me to buy ten more calculators!" Just then, a customer approached Ye Xing’s counter. He was a middle-aged man in his forties or fifties with a mustache.
Ye Xing looked up and saw it was a manager from the Jincai Money Shop. He immediately smiled. "Of course, I’ll get them for you right now!" He opened a drawer behind the counter, took out ten calculators, packed them in a bag, and handed it to the manager.
"Boss Ye, you still have more of these calculators in stock, right?"
The manager from the Jincai Money Shop asked.
"Yes, we have plenty. You don’t need to worry about our supply," Ye Xing said with a smile.
"Oh, that’s good. Our Jincai Money Shop branch in Sunset City might need a batch of these calculators as well. This gadget is so simple and easy to use. With one of these, even an ordinary person who isn’t great at math can become a master accountant," the manager from the Jincai Money Shop marveled.
"Here, this is three one-hundred Gold Coin gold tickets. Boss Ye, I’ll be on my way now. Come visit us at the Jincai Money Shop when you have time!" The manager took the bag of calculators, paid, and left.
Gold tickets were a form of currency on the Martial Arts Continent, all in high denominations. The lowest value was a gold ticket worth ten Gold Coins. The most common gold tickets came in three denominations: ten, fifty, and one hundred Gold Coins. The one-hundred-Gold-Coin ticket was slightly larger than the fifty, with a larger, gilded number on it. Of course, besides these common denominations, there were bills of even greater value. For instance, tickets worth a thousand Gold Coins, ten thousand, and even up to a hundred thousand or a million Gold Coins existed. However, these massive denominations were only used by major powers or the upper class. Ordinary people, even Martial Artists, generally didn’t possess that much wealth.
’Son of a bitch, he’s raking it in! What the hell is that thing? Three hundred Gold Coins just like that. That’s faster money than I could make by stealing or robbing!’ Lai Sanpi’s eyes were filled with insatiable greed, staring unblinkingly at the gold tickets in Ye Xing’s hand.
After selling the ten calculators, Ye Xing immediately put the three gold tickets into his pocket.
Suddenly—
CRASH!
The sharp sound of shattering glass suddenly rang out.
Everyone in the store turned to look and saw that a mirror had slipped from Lai Sanpi’s hand, smashing to pieces on the floor.
"Lai Sanpi, you broke our mirror!" the little girl, Qiao’Er, cried out angrily. She was in charge of the mirror counter. Since most of the customers for mirrors were women and they didn’t sell as quickly as the lighters, the counter was easier to manage. That was why Ye Xing had put her in charge of it.
Lai Sanpi’s eyes darted around. Deciding to play the victim, he snapped, "What kind of shoddy mirror is this, little girl? The quality is terrible! What a piece of junk!"
"No one else has broken one! You’re just clumsy. You broke the mirror, so you have to pay for it!" Qiao’Er said.
"Pay for it? My ass! You want me to pay for this piece of junk? In your dreams," Lai Sanpi sneered. He picked up another mirror and, ’accidentally’ let his hand slip. With a CRASH, the mirror shattered on the ground.
"Oops, another one broke. Haha, I didn’t do it on purpose. But everything in this shop is such junk. The quality is terrible. I’m not buying a thing," he said, then turned to walk out.
"Stop right there! You’re not leaving until you pay for what you broke!" The little girl, Qiao’Er, ran up and blocked his path, her large eyes glaring at him furiously.
"Pay this!" Lai Sanpi snarled with a vicious grin, raising his hand and slapping the little girl, Qiao’Er, hard across the face.
SMACK! A bright red handprint instantly appeared on Qiao’Er’s face. The force of the slap sent her small body stumbling backward onto the ground.
The little girl clutched her cheek, a fiery sting spreading across her skin. Her eyes turned red as tears welled up and began to stream down her face.
"Lai Sanpi! You’re courting death!"
Inside the shop, Ye Xing’s expression turned icy as he shot forward.
It had all happened too suddenly. Qiao’Er had been at the mirror counter near the entrance, and by the time Ye Xing saw Lai Sanpi move to strike, it was already too late to stop him.
"What? You wanna fight? Heh, I eat Demon Beast Meat every day and practice Internal Cultivation Methods. You really think I can’t handle a punk like you?" Lai Sanpi sneered, rolling up his sleeves and brandishing his fists, his gaze mocking the rapidly approaching Ye Xing.
Seething with rage, Ye Xing had already begun circulating his True Qi. In the span of just two breaths, he was in front of Lai Sanpi.
He lifted his leg and kicked, the motion incredibly fast.
The air whistled as a whip-like kick lashed out, striking Lai Sanpi squarely in the stomach.
THUD!
Fear filled Lai Sanpi’s eyes. He had only half-swung his fist when a sharp pain erupted in his abdomen. Ye Xing’s kick sent him flying backward like a discarded sack, launching him out of the storefront and onto the street outside, where he landed with a heavy thud.
The street was bustling with horse-drawn carriages and a steady stream of pedestrians. Being a prosperous district, the commotion immediately drew a crowd of onlookers.
’Such incredible strength! Could this kid already be a Martial Artist?’ Terror filled Lai Sanpi’s eyes. Clutching his stomach, he scrambled up from the ground, ready to flee. Suddenly, he felt his collar tighten as someone grabbed him from behind.