Chapter 88: Failing To Take Advantage Makes You A Bastard
Little Ear blushed, “Big Brother Cao, please rest assured, Han Lu is quite sensible. She was the one who told me not to bother you about this matter.”
“And you can rest assured, she and I are just playing around. As a well-known man on Tianqiao, how could I, Lian Cuihua, let a procuress control me?”
Cao Weida glared at him, “I think you’ve already been controlled! A few sweet words bewitched you?”
“You think she doesn’t want you to tell me because she’s really concerned about you? She’s playing mind games with you!”
“You’re my brother. If you stand up for her and end up suffering, how can I truly ignore you?”
Little Ear lowered his head in shame. He was loyal, a good brother, and righteous!
Therefore, he had also gathered a group of brothers to follow him.
He usually liked to reason things out, being straightforward. While his mind wasn’t dull, he was truly not good at these twists and turns.
When Cao Weida reminded him of this, driven by his instinctual trust in Cao Weida, he immediately believed him without hesitation.
Thus, after feeling ashamed, he immediately said indignantly, “Big Brother Cao, that bitch dares to scheme against you! Just wait, I’ll take my brothers and go settle the score with her right now!”
“Come back here!” Cao Weida said, both exasperated and amused.
Little Ear was involved in Jianghu, always busy with Jianghu affairs or handling matters among brothers. Consequently, he didn’t have much energy or opportunity to consider marriage.
In addition, he was generous, righteous, and highly valued ‘reason.’ This shows he was a stubborn and straightforward person, with his concept of marriage not weighing as heavily as brotherhood and Jianghu ethics. To be precise, he was somewhat slow regarding marriage.
In fact, this phenomenon wasn’t exclusive to Little Ear; many people in this era were delaying marriage and childbirth for various reasons.
Also, due to less contact with women, his ears were naturally more prone to being swayed.
Han Lu was a seasoned woman from the places of pleasure, incredibly skilled at serving men and adept at sweet talk. Little Ear, a tender sprout, was no match for her.
“It seems I still need to arrange for Little Ear to start a family as soon as possible. This matter will require Third Sister-in-law’s help. Oh, and Master Duo, I’ve been urging him to find a wife for a long time, and there’s still no sign of it. This won’t do,” Cao Weida thought.
He couldn’t control others, but Little Ear was his brother, and Master Duo was like an elder brother in his heart. He absolutely could not stand by and watch them remain bachelors.
“Although Han Lu used some schemes, she was still sensible and didn’t have excessive desires. She didn’t really scheme against me.”
“For a woman running a business, surrounded by wolves and tigers who want to devour her at any moment, it’s impossible not to use some cleverness.”
“I’m telling you this only so you can always be vigilant and not be exploited. If not Han Lu, won’t there be others who want to play mind games with you?”
“As long as Han Lu is sensible and obedient, everything will remain as usual. You should enjoy your gentle embrace and do what you need to do.”
Little Ear tentatively asked, “So we’ll just let her off the hook like this?”
“What ‘letting her off the hook’? I’m not some bandit or bully,” Cao Weida cursed with a laugh. “Don’t think I can’t see you’re still a little reluctant. What, are you so infatuated that you’re out of your mind?”
“As expected, women from places of pleasure know how to serve. Be careful, don’t end up draining your health completely.”
Little Ear chuckled sheepishly. He was indeed somewhat reluctant to part with Han Lu, as her service skills truly made him linger.
“Big Brother Cao, her kung fu is really something. How about I arrange something for you, so you can enjoy it too?”
“Just forget it. Our brotherhood is enough. I don’t intend to develop into brothers-in-law!”
Brothers-in-law?
Little Ear was stunned for a while before realizing what it meant, and then he burst into laughter.
*Slap!*
He immediately received a kick to the backside, and Cao Weida’s amused curse echoed in his ears, “What are you laughing at? Go to work now!”
“Alright, I’m going,” Little Ear grinned widely and trotted off.
The shopkeeper was a middle-aged man in his forties, wearing a long gown and jacket that exuded a unique cultural charm of the era.
His hair was neatly styled and smooth, and his skin, unlike that of commoners, was not weathered and rough, indicating a life of comfort.
However, the shopkeeper’s expression was grim at the moment, his spirit listless, clearly indicating he hadn’t had an easy time recently.
When he learned someone wanted to buy his shop, he first couldn’t believe it, then hesitated, and after considering it carefully, he couldn’t bear to cheat someone. He reminded, “Mr. Cao, to tell you the truth, you buying my shop is like saving my life. But I can’t cheat you either.
Western Hegemon Master Fu has his eye on this shop. He’s already made it clear that anyone who dares to take it over will have trouble with him.”
Tsk, endearingly foolish.
Cao Weida sighed inwardly. In such chaotic and cannibalistic times, people like him were too easily taken advantage of.
But he had to admit that people like this were never disliked, regardless of the era.
At least he didn’t dislike him; he even admired him.
“Thank you for your warning. I’m aware of all this. You just sell your shop; you don’t need to worry about the rest.”
Upon hearing this, the shopkeeper thought, “Well, this gentleman also has backing. What else can I say? I’ll just sell it.”
Gritting his teeth and stomping his foot, he said, “Then thank you, Mr. Cao. How about this: you give me fifty-five thousand silver dollars, and this shop will be yours.”
Oh, is this a clearance sale?
Cao Weida was surprised. The shop’s location was undeniably excellent, otherwise, the scoundrel Fu Decheng wouldn’t have taken notice of it.
The area was also quite large, occupying a full two mu!
Beiping was in a period of occupation, prices soared, and housing prices also increased significantly compared to before the war.
This area wasn’t the most prosperous part of Beiping, but the price per mu exceeded eighty thousand silver dollars. Two mu would be one hundred and sixty thousand silver dollars.
After his two transactions, plus some expenses, he had about one hundred and ten thousand silver dollars left.
Adding what he acquired through “zero-dollar shopping” by killing people during this period, he had about one hundred and thirty thousand in total.
He had expected that even with some price reduction due to Fu Decheng’s pressure, a reduction of twenty thousand silver dollars would be good.
He had already prepared to either borrow some money or settle part of it with gold.
He never expected the shopkeeper to be so generous, offering a rock-bottom price right from the start!
Was he trying to get rid of hot money?
The shopkeeper clearly saw Cao Weida’s surprise and sighed helplessly:
“To be honest, I bought this shop for twelve thousand silver dollars, and even then, I felt I got a great bargain and was secretly happy for a long time.”
“But after the shop opened, the troubles never stopped. I thought I’d make some money, but instead, I lost quite a bit.”
“Western Hegemon Master Fu spoke to me, saying he wanted to buy my shop for fifty thousand silver dollars. Wasn’t that trying to ruin me!”
The shopkeeper’s face was filled with indignation. It was clear he had been holding back a lot of anger recently. He continued indignantly:
“I’ve realized it. We can’t fight him, and we can’t afford to offend him, but can’t we at least avoid him?”
“I’ll sell the shop and leave Beiping directly!”
“He wants to buy my shop for fifty thousand silver dollars, right? I’ll sell it for fifty-five to spite him!”
“.”
Well, this one was quite hot-tempered.
It would be foolish not to take advantage of a good deal. Cao Weida didn’t feel he had wronged him or was being impolite.
To put it bluntly, even fifty-five thousand silver dollars would be enough for him to live without worry for several lifetimes. It wasn’t his place to pretend to be compassionate.
As for Fu Decheng… heh, bring it on!
“Alright, bring the contract. Let’s trade!”
Fu Decheng, oh Fu Decheng, I should thank you. Otherwise, where would I have found such a great bargain!
Cao Weida, who had struck a great bargain, was overjoyed, but someone else was not so happy.
“Damn it! Who is it again! Who dared to ruin my good deed!!” On the third day, upon receiving the news, Fu Decheng was furious. He felt that things had been going poorly for him recently.
First, Kui Biao was beaten, then Xiaguang Garden didn’t work out, and now the shop he had his eye on for a long time was snatched away by someone else!
Did everyone think that just because he, Fu Decheng, hadn’t acted in a while, any cat or dog could come and take a bite?!
He was never a good person. He had always been the one to take advantage of others. When had he ever suffered such a great loss?!
“Ah Biao!”
“Master Fu, you command,” Kui Biao said respectfully, slightly bowing.
“Go and give Company Commander Wu a message. Tell him to ‘take good care’ of this new master!”
“Understood, Master Fu. I’ll go right away.”
Unaware that trouble was brewing for him, Cao Weida was comfortably squinting in the sun on a lounge chair. Du Shiniang was affectionately feeding him lotus seed soup, a constant smile on her face and her eyes full of deep affection.
Du Shiniang was extremely satisfied with her current life.
Although Master had more than one woman, she didn’t mind at all.
For one thing, Master could keep her well-fed, and she couldn’t handle him alone anyway.
More importantly, this life of having food and drink served to her was something she had never even dared to dream of before.
She no longer had to wake up each day and wonder what her future would hold, nor did she have to endure the harsh basic training for actors under the Class Leader’s coercion.
All she needed to do was serve Master wholeheartedly, not anger him, and learn more ways to please men. Then, this easy life would continue comfortably.
She never dared to imagine that such a good life could fall into her lap.
It’s just that some of Master’s positions were too embarrassing, and they also required strong flexibility in the waist.
Hmm… she would focus on training her waist from now on. She had to serve Master comfortably, and perhaps give him a child or two later. Then, her future would be secure.
Just as she was thinking, she heard a knock at the door. She gave a look to the hired wet nurse.
The wet nurse quickly opened the door. Cao Weida looked over and then smiled as he stood up, saying, “Oh, Shopkeeper Zhao, bosses, it’s you! Please come in quickly. Shiniang, serve good tea.”
