Money was a good servant, but sometimes it could become a bad master. -- bacon
Zi Yu is the one who makes a mistake in judging people by their appearance. Zai Yu is the one who makes a mistake in judging people by their words. --The Analects of Confucius
Just as Mu Weizhou was thinking about this, two people walked out of the Money Gang's stall. One of them was not tall, about fifty years old. His chubby round face was full of smiles, making people feel close to him at first sight. Han Chao and the other members of the Money Sect were at a loss for what to do with Dou Xian. When they saw the fat old man come out, they gathered around and bowed."Little shopkeeper, these people's pawn tickets have expired, but they are deliberately causing trouble here. What do you think we should do?”
The fat old man did not even look at him. He walked in front of Dou Xian with a smile and said,"This brother, this old man Jia Di is the little shopkeeper of the Money Gang. Money Gang has always followed the rules when doing business. Your pawn ticket has expired and the house has already changed hands. If this official has any objections, you can report it to Henan Yin. If you continue to make trouble here, this old man is willing to accompany you according to the rules of Jianghu. Haha."
Mu Weizhou listened to the old man's words and thought to himself that this person was really powerful. These few words not only gave Dou Xian a warning, but also made the surrounding crowd feel that the Money Gang was not to be trifled with. Although he said it with a smile, the meaning in his words was very sharp. Especially the fat old man's neither servile nor overbearing attitude, which was full of threats, made the onlookers who were originally discussing shut their mouths. Mu Weizhou heard the Jianghu people beside him whisper that this fat old man was one of the small shopkeepers of the Money Gang, Jia Di. The two shopkeepers and four waiters of the Money Gang were well-known in Jianghu. Not only were they highly skilled in martial arts, but they also knew how to do business. They had spread the Money Gang across more than half of the stalls in the Eastern Han Dynasty and managed them in an orderly manner. Many people had never seen it before.
The big and small shopkeepers were two brothers. The big shopkeeper was the eldest brother, Jia Tian, who was good at using a golden abacus. The small shopkeeper was the brother, Jia Di, who often used a silver abacus. Ten years ago, these two people used only half a month to clean up the bad debts that the Money Gang had accumulated for many years. Moreover, it was rumored that they killed the Taihang Five Heroes who refused to pay back the money overnight. Due to the lack of evidence, the government still classified the case as an unsolved case. From then on, the two of them were hired by the Money Gang as the "big and small shopkeepers" of the Money Gang. Everything in the gang was handed over to the two of them to manage. Over the years, the two of them had also earned the nickname of " all-conquering " in the pugilistic world by relying on their brilliant business skills. It could be said that the two of them had contributed greatly to the rapid development of the Money Gang over the years.
Although Dou Xian wasn't a Jianghu person, he was intelligent and knew how to read people. Hearing the fat old man's words and seeing his actions, Dou Xian immediately knew that this person was not to be trifled with. He hurriedly pulled Dou Jing, who was about to flare up again, and raised his head."Shopkeeper Jia, are you saying that we must alert the authorities?”
Jia Di didn't even look at him. With a face full of smiles, he took out a silver abacus from his bosom. As he pulled the counting plate, he said in a relaxed manner,"Sir, this old man is more willing to settle this with you according to the rules of the martial world.”Then, he suddenly raised his head and stared at Dou Xian.""Because it saves me a lot of trouble!"
Although it was already early summer, Dou Xian felt a chill run down his spine when he was stared at by this pair of eyes. It was as if two cold lights were shooting out from the fat old man's eyes. Dou Xian thought that if he continued to tangle with them, he would definitely suffer losses, so he looked at the surrounding people and said,"Fellow villagers, the Money Gang is using their power to bully others. Dou Xian will definitely not let this matter rest. At this moment, I would like to ask all of you to be witnesses. In the future, when Dou Xian reports this to the government, I hope that all of you can be witnesses!”After saying that, he cupped his hands and gestured for his brothers to prepare to leave.
The fat old man did not say anything when he saw that they were about to leave, but Han Chao jumped out and stood in front of the five of them. He said with ill intentions,"Dou Xian, are you leaving just like that? What about Dou Jing pulling my clothes just now?”
Dou Xian looked at Han Chao, then turned to look at Jia Di, who did not say anything. He knew that they were looking for trouble, so he said,""Han Chao, what do you want?"
"How is it? You have to apologize to me today and compensate me for my losses. Otherwise, we won't let this go!" With Jia Di backing him up, Super Han acted shamelessly.
Before he could say anything, Dou Jing could not hold it in anymore. He took two steps forward and pointed at Han Chao."Han, you want our Dou family to apologize to you? In your dreams! Remember, Grandpa Dou will make you crawl to him and apologize sooner or later.”
Dou Jing's words immediately intensified the conflict between the two sides. The reason Han Chao had jumped out on purpose was to humiliate the Dou family in front of everyone so that everyone would know that the Han family's status was now higher than the Dou family's. Jia Di did not stop them because he wanted Han Chao to pick a fight and find an opportunity to teach Dou Xian and the others a lesson. Because today was a special day, he wanted to let the onlookers know what the outcome of the entanglement with the Money Gang would be. In his opinion, this was a very good opportunity to advertise.
When Han Chao heard Dou Jing's words, he flew into a rage out of humiliation. Without even greeting him, he swung his fist at Dou Jing.
As soon as Han Chao made his move, the onlookers who had been waiting to watch the show immediately cheered. However, they were greatly disappointed with Dou Jing and Han Chao's 'show'. The two's scuffle was at the level of a village bumpkin, and their routine was the legendary Bastard Fist and Anti-Bastard Fist. When the two of them started fighting, there were even more people watching. This square was located in the center of the city, and the traffic immediately came to a standstill. The officials in charge of the daily order of the market knew that the two sides of the fight were the Dou family and the Money Gang. They definitely could not afford to offend them, so they arranged for them to go to the North Gate to check on taxes.
Although Dou Jing's martial arts skills were low, he still had a ruthless heart. During the scuffle, he would give the other party a kick even if he had to take a punch in the face. Before long, he had Han Chao riding on his back. When the gang members who were with Han Chao saw this, they immediately joined the battle. The rest of the Dou family were afraid that Dou Jing would be at a disadvantage, so they naturally went up to him. As a result, the one-on-one fight turned into a group fight, and the scene became even more chaotic.
Mu Weizhou wanted to go up and help, but he thought that if he stood up so rashly, it would be a little unjustified. In addition, he also observed that the five Dou brothers had already firmly gained the upper hand, especially the woman with the veil. Her hands seemed to have some shallow skills, and at every critical moment, she would always use the same clever move to resolve her difficult situation. Mu Wei was still watching when he suddenly saw a figure flash in front of him. The fat old man had made his move. With a few ups and downs, he turned around and forced both sides of the scuffle out of the circle. Those with poor eyesight at the side actually did not see clearly how Jia Di did it. At the same time, the surrounding crowd let out two cries of surprise. Why were there only two 'wah'? It turned out that when Jia Di separated the two sides, he had also conveniently pulled off the woman's red veil. When the red veil fell to the ground and the woman's face was revealed in front of everyone, those who saw it couldn't help but cry out.
Mu Weizhou had noticed Jia Di's movement. Seeing him take a few steps back and forth, easily separating the dozen or so people who were fighting, he couldn't help but secretly praise Jia Di's good kung fu. Because he was more focused on Jia Di, he didn't see the woman's face clearly. By the time everyone had exclaimed, he had also seen it and couldn't help but exclaim. Therefore, the first two " wah " was made by everyone, and the last one was made by Mu Weizhou alone.
Mu Weizhou had never thought that there would be such a beautiful woman in the world.
The woman was more than six feet tall. Her hair was tied up high, and she didn't wear any makeup. She had almond-shaped eyes, small cherry lips, a nose like a hanging gallbladder, smooth skin, and pink cheeks. She was wearing a light pink silk dress with red edges, and golden threads ran along the cuffs and hem. Although he did not look old, he exuded a mature and generous aura.
As an " old man with two thousand years of experience," Mu Weizhou felt that no woman in his impression could compare to the woman in front of him. Occasionally, a natural beauty flashed across his mind, but it was completely different from the woman in front of him. On the other hand, Liu Qingping felt that she could be on par with her. However, in Mu Weizhou's heart, Liu Qingping was more of a " good brother." As for the woman in front of him, Mu Weizhou only had four words in his heart-she was extraordinary!
Jia Di also seemed to be stunned by the woman in pink. He cupped his fists at her and said,"This lady, this old man Jia Di. But what is your relationship with the Mo Sect?”
The woman in pink bowed slightly to Jia Di and said slowly,""Hello, Shopkeeper Jia. Dou Tao didn't understand what you meant by the Black Sect.”Jia Di saw that she was polite, neither servile nor overbearing, and nodded slightly."May I know from whom did Miss Dou learn the 'Gentleman's Non-Offensive' move?”Dou Tao replied,"Oh, that's what you're talking about. When Dou Tao was young, she had a fortuitous encounter with an old man. Why is this move called 'A Gentleman's Non-Offence'? Is it the martial arts of the Jet-Black Sect?"
It turned out that Jia Di had seen through Dou Tao's exquisite move at a glance just now. He knew that this move,"A Gentleman's Non-Offense", was one of the moves of the "Three Three Divine Techniques" of the Mo Sect, and it was a secret that had never been passed down to the previous sect masters of the Mo Sect. The Jet-Black Sect was a famous orthodox sect in the martial arts world. Like the Confucian Sect, it had existed for several hundred years. Although their current strength was inferior to that of the Peace Path and the Money Gang, there must be a reason for them to be able to survive for a hundred years. The Money Gang would inevitably have dealings with the Jet-Black Sect. Although Jia Di did not care about the Dou family, he was afraid that Dou Tao had too deep a relationship with the Jet-Black Sect and would cause trouble. After hearing Dou Tao's words, he knew that she did not have much to do with the Jet-Black Sect, so he did not take her to heart anymore. However, Dou Tao's appearance was refined, her manners were polite, and she treated him like an old man, so she won Jia Di's favor, so she said,"Miss Dou, you are acting atrociously at the entrance of the Money Gang. As the shopkeeper, this old man definitely can't sit idly by. Seeing that there was a reason for this, why don't you apologize in public and this old man will pretend that nothing happened? What do you think?”From Jia Di's point of view, the reason why he was able to handle this matter like this was not only because of the Jet-Black Sect, but also because he wanted to give this young lady in front of him a way out. Jia Di was an experienced person and a person who had seen all kinds of beauties. If Dou Tao was someone else, she would have been injured and fallen to the ground. However, Jia Di could not help but want to give this little girl a chance.
We have to say that some people are born with charm. When some people saw that others were easily accepted and liked by others, they would feel incomprehensible and even feel indignant. They thought that everyone was equal and questioned why they could not be treated equally. One had to know that this was the manifestation of human instinct. Unless one day, human sociality completely overcame this instinct. However, would people at that time still have the rich emotions that people now have? Of course, a person's charm was not simply based on their appearance. There were countless examples of people who looked good on the outside but were rotten on the inside.
When Dou Tao heard Jia Di's words, she glanced at Han Chao and the others standing beside him and smiled."Manager Jia, logically speaking, we should respect your words. However, this had a deep origin, so it was difficult for the Dou family to comply.”
When Jia Di heard Dou Tao say this, his eyes flashed. He pulled the abacus in his hand and said with a smile,"Oh? Is Miss Dou not giving this old man face?”
Mu Weizhou saw his eyes flickering and knew that things were not good. He knew that Jia Di was angry and could hurt people at any time. He couldn't help but worry for Dou Tao and secretly made preparations to stop Jia Di from hurting people at any time.
Dou Tao's expression did not change. She met Jia Di's gaze and smiled, saying,"Old man, why do you say that? A real man looks up to heaven and earth. He only needs to act with a clear conscience. How can the word face be used to bear it. The right and wrong between us are regulated by the Han family's laws. Although the Money Gang was famous in the martial arts world, they were still subjects of the Han family. I heard that this shop even has the Fuma's shares, then shouldn't it be even more righteous to protect the Han family's laws?”
Dou Tao's words made the surrounding people nod their heads, but Jia Di seemed to not have heard it. What he was more concerned about now was that the little girl in front of him ignored his words. Jia Di raised his head and said with a smile,"Little girl, don't blame this old man for being impolite!”As he spoke, he took a step towards Dou Tao.
At this moment, eight out of ten people who were watching the show were sweating for this girl. Mu Weizhou knew that Jia Di was about to make a move and was about to jump into the circle to stop him when he suddenly saw a white-clothed youth rush into the circle and spread his arms to block Jia Di and Dou Tao.
The appearance of the youth made everyone feel surprised. Everyone had seen how Jia Di easily stopped the group fight just now. Although they felt that Dou Tao was doomed, who was not confident in defeating Jia Di and dared to stop her? Seeing the white-robed youth standing between the two of them, the audience's interest was piqued.
The young man was about fifteen or sixteen years old. He was about seven feet and five inches tall. He had silk-like eyebrows and phoenix eyes. He had a square face and big ears. His forehead was wide, his cheekbones were slightly prominent, his nose bridge was high, his lips were red, and his teeth were white. He had a gentle and steady appearance. The young man had a white turban over his head, a white sachet hanging around his neck, and a piece of suet jade hanging from his white belt. Even his shoes were white. Coupled with his fair skin color, he looked like a piece of unpolished jade.
Jia Di was very surprised by the youth's appearance. When he saw that his feet were floating and his arms were spread out between him and Dou Tao, he knew that this person definitely did not know martial arts. The young man's posture was no different from exposing all his vital points in front of him. Jia Di frowned slightly and immediately said with a smile,""Where did this kid come from? What do you want?”Jia Di had a smile on his face, but his tone was full of threat.
The young man kept his hands open and said sincerely,""I…I want to stop the fight. Elder, what this lady said just now makes sense. I think, I think you shouldn't have hit her. the master said,"the virtue of the village is the most beautiful." the tseng-zi said,"the way of the master is nothing more than loyalty and forgiveness.'Although we can't compare to saints, we can try our best to learn.”
Jia Di almost laughed when he heard his words. He thought to himself, Where did such a bookworm come from? He doesn't know any martial arts and still wants to come out and stop the fight. He really doesn't know what death is. However, he thought that this person did not know martial arts and there were many onlookers. If he were to rashly slap him and news spread, it would not be good for him or the Money Gang. With a thought, he circulated his internal energy and slapped the stone lion at the door. With a bang, stone fragments flew out and the stone lion's head was smashed into pieces by his palm. Then, he turned his head and looked at the young man with an unchanged expression."Kid, the matters of the martial world have nothing to do with the Saints. If you want to stop the fight, is your head harder than this lion's head? This has nothing to do with you. You can stand aside.”
Mu Weizhou saw that Jia Di had sent the stone lion flying with a single palm strike, and only then did he know that Jia Di's kung fu was impressive. He had underestimated him just now. He couldn't help but feel lucky that he didn't act rashly just now. Looking at the white-robed youth in front of Jia Di, he couldn't help but worry for him.
When the white-robed youth saw Jia Di smash the stone lion with a palm, he panicked and retreated two steps in fear. He turned back to look at Dou Tao and saw that Dou Tao's eyes were filled with concern. He immediately straightened his chest and said to Jia Di with his arms open,"My, my head is not as hard as a stone lion, but Confucius said that if you don't do what is right, you won't have courage. So, so I can't stand aside.”
Mu Weizhou listened from the side and felt a trace of admiration for this pedantic youth. The young man looked weak, but he dared to block Jia Di's way. His life was in danger, but he still held the path of a saint in his heart. It was really rare.
At this time, Liu Qingping poked him with her finger and whispered,""Brother Mu, can you beat Jia Di?”
Mu Weizhou glanced at her and saw Liu Qingping's worried expression. He replied,""I might not be able to beat him. Why?"
"Then what should we do? We must think of a way to save this 'fool.'”Liu Qingping said anxiously.
"Idiot? Are you talking about this young man in white?”Mu Weizhou asked.
"Yes! It was him. She did not expect him to run out. He did not know any martial arts and still wanted to save her. You're really too stupid!" Liu Qingping answered while thinking anxiously.
Mu Weizhou saw the concern on her face and asked softly,"Qingping, you know him? Who is he?"
Liu Qingping glanced at him and stammered,""He's…um, he, he's a good friend of mine.”
"Oh ~" Mu Weizhou dragged out his voice and said with a smile,"I understand, your good friend." Don't worry, Brother Liu, even if I have to risk my old life, I will help you save him.”
Liu Qingping didn't look at him. She stomped her foot and said,""Nonsense! What's the point of saving him and sacrificing you? Aiya, Big Brother Mu, stop joking. Hurry up and think of a foolproof solution.”
Liu Qingping's words made Mu Weizhou very happy. In his memory, other than his parents, no one else had thought so highly of him. Mu Weizhou looked at Liu Qingping's helpless expression and knew that she had blurted out her words without any intention of trying to please him. But how could there be a foolproof solution in this world? People's pursuit of the so-called foolproof was just to satisfy their own safety needs. In fact, Mu Weizhou had already decided to step forward to save him. The young man's words of doing a good deed had made Mu Weizhou feel like he was being enlightened. If a weak scholar could do this, he would be inferior to others if he was still overcautious. Moreover, although he knew that it would be difficult for him to defeat Jia Di with his martial arts, he felt that it would not be so easy for Jia Di to defeat him. Moreover, if he could save Liu Qingping's good friend, not only could he resolve Liu Qingping's worries, but he could also return Liu Qingping's favor. It would also save him from feeling that he owed Liu Qingping something. In fact, Mu Weizhou had another reason to stop Jia Di. He was willing to help Dou Tao out. He felt that it was his duty and did not need a reason. However, he deliberately didn't think about it.
Thinking of this, he whispered to Ban Chao," Keep an eye on Qingping ", then pushed through the crowd and walked into the circle.
Jia Di was annoyed by the white-robed youth and decided to restrain him first and throw him aside. After dealing with the troublemakers, he would deal with them. Just as he was about to make his move, he saw Mu Weizhou swaying from the crowd to stand in front of him.
As Mu Weizhou walked out of the crowd, the onlookers started discussing," Another young man!"" This young man is quite spirited!"" This is the guy who deliberately made a 'wow' just now to attract the attention of the girls!"
Mu Wei walked straight to the white-robed youth, cupped his fists, and said,"Hello, brother. I am Mu Weizhou. Your good friend asked me to call you home.”As he spoke, he pointed in Liu Qingping's direction.
The teenager in white looked in the direction Mu Weizhou was pointing at. When he saw Liu Qingping, he was especially happy and greeted,""Aiya, Sister Ping, why are you here too? Come and help me stop the fight."
Liu Qingping knew that Mu Weizhou had walked into the circle just now. By the time she wanted to pull him away, it was already too late. Seeing the youngster greeting him, he parted the crowd and walked in.
When the youth saw Liu Qingping leading Ban Chao and the Wei family's Ban over, he was extremely happy. He thought that with so many people coming to help, this fight would not happen. When Liu Qingping approached him, he opened his arms and turned his head.""Sister Ping, it's great that you're here. Quickly think of a way to talk to this old man and ask him not to make things difficult for these five people.”
Liu Qingping held his arm and said in a half-intimate and half-reproachful tone,""You fool, why are you here? You don't know any martial arts at all and you're even trying to stop a fight. Do you know how dangerous this is?”Then, he specially sized up Dou Tao and nodded at her.
Mu Weizhou felt a little upset when he saw that the young man was being very intimate with Liu Qingping instead of paying attention to him. At this moment, Jia Di was probably the one who felt worse than him. He had originally planned to teach the Dou family a lesson in public to prevent others from coming back to the Money Gang to make trouble in the future. However, he did not expect to be interrupted time and time again. He could not help but feel depressed and said angrily,"You kids, this is not the place to talk. Do you know that the Money Gang is doing something?”
Hearing this, Mu Weizhou continued in a somewhat annoyed manner,"Shopkeeper Jia, when good friends meet, it's inevitable to exchange pleasantries!”
When Liu Qingping heard this, she couldn't help but laugh. She said," Let's move aside and let my friend handle this matter." She pulled the young man in white to the side.
"What did you say?" Jia Di was originally depressed, but after being choked by Mu Weizhou, he was instantly filled with anger, and the smile on his face seemed to have forgotten.
Mu Weizhou used his peripheral vision to observe Dou Tao, who was standing at the side, and found that her attention was coincidentally on him and Jia Di. He couldn't help but feel delighted. Thus, he cleared his throat and said loudly,""Shopkeeper Jia, you are famous in the martial world and are highly respected. There's a saying that adults don't remember the mistakes of villains. They should forgive people when they can. They should just nod their heads when they kill people…Ah…Why don't you stop making things difficult for them?”Mu Weizhou wanted to show off in front of Dou Tao, so he used almost all the words that he could think of to show off in this situation. Although he didn't think much of it, the people who heard it felt that it was a little illogical and didn't seem to be close. At this moment, half of Mu Weizhou's thoughts were on Jia Di, and the other half was on Dou Tao. Although he looked at Jia Di, he was paying attention to Dou Tao's reaction when she heard his words.
As expected, when Dou Tao heard such incoherent words, she could not help but cover her mouth with her sleeve and chuckle.
When Jia Di heard this, he had a different feeling. He thought that Mu Weizhou was openly provoking him, so he forced a smile and said,"Oh? Was this little brother trying to stand up for others?”
Normally, Mu Weizhou would have said something that would give him a lot of leeway. After all, it was better to avoid trouble. However, Mu Weizhou's hormones were soaring, especially when he thought of Dou Tao looking at him. He said directly,"I don't dare to stand out. However, everything had to be reasonable. Whether it was Shopkeeper Jia or the Money Gang, they couldn't bully others, right?”
Ever since Jia Di became the shopkeeper of the Money Gang ten years ago, he had never been provoked like this. Moreover, he was still a young child. The smile on his face became even stronger as he said,"Doll, I think you're courting death." He knew that Mu Weizhou definitely knew martial arts. Of course, even if Mu Weizhou did not know martial arts, Jia Di would not spare him at this moment. What Jia Di needed now was to win face in front of so many people and quickly end this matter.
Mu Weizhou knew that he would make his move soon, and that it was useless to say anything. He thought that if he fought with Jia Di barehanded, he would definitely not be his opponent. Only by relying on the exquisite Tao Le Sword Art to deal with him could he not be defeated. Hence, he turned around and walked in front of Dou Tao. He cupped his hands and said,"Lady Dou, I am Mu Weizhou. I would like to borrow your sword, is it convenient?”
Mu Weizhou and the others had come out to play, so they did not bring their swords. Because of the sudden turn of events, the Wei family's class had placed their swords on the carriage. On the other hand, the five Dou brothers each held a treasured sword.
Dou Tao felt a little awkward when she saw Mu Weizhou borrowing her sword in public. She wanted to say something, but she didn't know what to say. She nodded with a flushed face and handed the sword to him.
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]