Chapter 18: Help
Editor: Atlas Studios
Mu Yangling was overjoyed. “Then help me look after the cart.” Mu Yangling ran to find her father.
Mu Shi was sweating profusely as he negotiated with the itinerant merchant, hoping that the other party could raise the price a little. The other party said arrogantly, “I can only offer you this price at most. If you want to sell it, sell it. If not, leave quickly. Don’t get in our way of conducting business.”
Though displeased, Mu Shi still squeezed out a smile and said, “Sir, this price is really too low. You’ve seen my leather goods. The quality is much higher than others…”
Upon running over, Mu Yangling saw the other party gazing at her father arrogantly and could not help but be furious. She ran forward and grabbed her father, then snorted coldly and said, “Father, we’re not selling it to him. Even if he wants to buy it, we’re not selling it to him. Let’s go.”
“Ah Ling!” Mu Shi grabbed his daughter’s hand and frowned at her.
Mu Yangling said, “Father, you were the one who taught me the importance of perseverance. Their bids were unkind to begin with, even though you spoke to him so politely. What’s the meaning of this? There are so many merchants in Mingshui County. Surely he’s not the only one? Even if we don’t manage to sell the goods in Mingshui County, there’s still Xingzhou Prefecture.”
The incredibly strong Mu Yangling simply pulled her father and left. Angered by Mu Yangling’s words, the merchant was about to lash out at Mu Yangling when she glared at him fiercely. The surrounding onlookers also stared at the itinerant merchant. As a foreigner in a foreign city, the itinerant merchant could only temporarily suppress his anger and watch Mu Yangling and her father leave.
“Father, I never meant to sell the goods to them in the first place. Why did you beg him?” Mu Yangling’s heart ached for her father.
“If I don’t sell it to them, who can I sell it to?”
“There must be sects among the merchants. We just have to find out the factions between them. When the time comes, I’ll be the one to sell it to them. I asked you to inquire about the price so that we can have more confidence when negotiating the price later. However, there’s no need for that now. I just ran into two good people. They’ll help us introduce the owner later.”
Mu Shi was startled. “Could you have encountered a fraud?”
By then, Mu Yangling had already dragged her father to Qi Haoran. She didn’t have time to explain and only introduced, “Father, this is Young Master Qi, and this is Young Master Fan. I helped them yesterday, so they want to introduce the owner to us. Young Masters, this is my father.”
Qi Haoran and Fan Zijin bowed and smiled. “Uncle Mu, I’ve already asked someone to call the owner over. Why don’t we find a place to sit down first?”
Seeing that they were dressed gorgeously, Mu Shi heaved a sigh of relief. He looked around and said in embarrassment, “Young masters, why don’t we sit at the tea stall?”
“Sure.” Fan Zijin smiled and walked in front with Qi Haoran.
The four of them walked towards the nearest tea stall and only asked for a pot of tea.
Mu Yangling looked at the two people who kept looking over diagonally and smiled. Those two were probably Fan Zijin and Qi Haoran’s guards, right? Judging by how they were bold and unrestrained in their actions, Mu Yangling guessed that they were in the military.
With this thought in mind, Mu Yangling picked up the teacup and downed it in one gulp.
However, Qi Haoran was very interested in Mu Yangling’s martial arts skills. “Miss Mu, you were so swift and strong just now. How did you train?” Qi Haoran looked at Mu Yangling’s hand with bright eyes. If not for the fact that there should be a prudent reserve between the sexes, and that her father was present, he really wanted to hold Mu Yangling’s hand and study it properly.
One had to know that Qi Haoran had been practicing martial arts since he was young and he had always been considered pretty skilled in martial arts all along. He was the same age as Qi Haoran and rarely encountered an opponent who could rival him, even among those two or three years his senior. Yet, the other party had easily grabbed his wrist just now and even made his arm slightly numb. How could Qi Haoran not be curious?
Mu Yangling replied casually, “Well, I’m born with great strength.”
Qi Haoran stared at the nine-year-old girl in disbelief. “It’s fine if you don’t want to tell me, but why is there a need to fabricate such a lie?”
Fan Zijin couldn’t help but tug at his good friend’s sleeve, thinking he should have kept these words to himself and not said them out loud. Fan Zijin smiled apologetically and said, “Miss Mu, don’t mind him. Haoran has an upright and straightforward personality. He didn’t mean to offend you.”
Mu Yangling glanced at Fan Zijin and felt that the other party had a tendency to overthink things. By Fan Zijin’s words, did he mean that Qi Haoran was straightforward and broad-minded, while she was a scheming and petty person who deliberately hid things from them?
Mu Yangling said seriously, “Young Master Qi, I’m not lying to you. I truly was born with it.”
Mu Shi nodded repeatedly and said with a silly smile, “Young masters, my daughter didn’t lie to you. Because my ancestor was born strong, I’m also strong, and my daughter is naturally stronger than others. Before I left this morning, I instructed her to be careful outside, so she might have been too nervous just now. When Young Master Qi suddenly went to pat her, she must’ve lost control of her strength.”
Fan Zijin glanced at Mu Shi’s firm muscles under his clothes and then at Mu Yangling. Imagining the appearance of a grown-up Mu Yangling, he shivered. He hurriedly smiled and said, “That’s true. Haoran and I misunderstood.”
Qi Haoran opened his mouth, but when he saw Fan Zijin winking at him, he could only stop talking. However, he was actually still unconvinced.
He knew his own kung fu very well. Even if his big brother exchanged blows with him, he could still withstand more than a hundred moves. Just now, when Mu Yangling grabbed his hand, she grabbed his lifeline directly. Her strength was so great that he could not utilize any strength. He simply could not believe that anyone could be born with such great strength.
Qi Haoran sized Mu Yangling up from head to toe, feeling very envious. At merely nine years old, she already possessed such martial prowess, many levels higher than his. If only he could take a look at the other party’s internal cultivation technique.
Qi Haoran was drooling in his heart, but on the surface, he flattered Mu Yangling. He kept thinking that if he could gain her favor, he might be able to watch her practice martial arts.
Mu Yangling was also very pleasant to Qi Haoran. It was obvious that he was a rich and powerful person. If they became friends, perhaps their family’s leather goods would not be constantly undervalued in the future.
Fei Bai, who had gone to bring the owner over, couldn’t help but smile when he saw the two young masters talking and laughing with the little girl. He brought the owner forward and bowed. “Fourth Young Master, Young Master Zijin, the owner is here.”
Owner Zhang hurriedly stepped forward and bowed. He smiled and said, “Greetings to the two young masters. I wonder what the two young masters want to buy. I’ll bring the two of you to take a look now.”
Fan Zijin closed his fan and said with a smile, “Owner Zhang, you’re too polite. We brothers don’t really wish to buy anything. We just have something to ask you.”
“Young Master, please go ahead and ask. I will definitely tell you everything I know.”
“I saw that the merchants in this area are all buying leather goods. Logically speaking, different merchants should be offering different prices. Why is it that every merchant offers the same price?”
Owner Zhang smiled and said, “Young Master, you might not know this, but the quality of leather goods varies. Everyone knows how much something is worth. Therefore, the price is naturally similar. The market is afraid that these itinerant merchants will deceive the local people, so it has set a range and the prices can only fluctuate within this range. This way, the people won’t suffer too much losses and the merchants will also be able to buy goods.”
“Oh? Then can you guarantee that fine goods will fetch a good price?”
“Of course.” Owner Zhang said proudly, “With patrolling officials in the market, there is no possibility of price oppression.”
Fan Zijin pulled out a fox fur from the cart and asked him, “In your opinion, how much is this fox fur worth?”