Chapter 208: I Have to Trick You!
Chapter 208: I Have to Trick You!
The Old Dragon King waved his hand and said, “Why did we talk about this?”
Returning to the point, the Old Dragon King said, “Anyway, if Mr. Chen wants to find treasures, I don’t have any here.”
Chen Changsheng came back to himself and asked with a laugh, “Really none, or just pretending?”
“You’re asking what you already know, aren’t you?”
The Old Dragon King waved his hand and said, “I have always been the one tricking others; no one can trick me.”
Chen Changsheng smiled warmly; it seemed the Old Dragon King had lots of treasures.
If he couldn’t get something out of him by trick, Chen Changsheng wasn’t going to give up. Who let this Old Dragon King always stop talking halfway and be annoyingly mysterious?
“Fine then.”
Chen Changsheng said, “I will make other plans. But since I’m here, I haven’t seen much of this Tongtian River yet. It’s a good time to go around.”
The Old Dragon King heard this and gave a dry laugh. “Mr. Chen, feel free. I have some matters, so I won’t stay with you.”
As he said this, the Old Dragon King got up and left.
Chen Changsheng did not stop him but said with a laugh, “I will come to the Dragon Palace to drink wine with the Dragon Lord another day.”
The Old Dragon King halted his steps and said sheepishly, “Easy for sure.”
He turned around and muttered to himself.
This Chen Changsheng was surely coveting his treasures! For sure!
And from what he meant, if he couldn’t get the treasures, he planned to stick around here.
What on earth to do?
The Old Dragon King couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. He thought if he couldn’t deal with him, he would hide. At worst, he would stay in the Dragon Palace and avoid meeting anyone.
Chen Changsheng stood up to leave.
But he saw the waiter from the Wine Tavern come up and block his way.
“Hey, sir, you haven’t paid yet?”
Chen Changsheng was stunned and asked, “Didn’t he pay just now?”
“Not given,” the waiter said. “Aren’t you with that old man, sir?”
Chen Changsheng heard this and smiled helplessly. “So I was tricked…”
Probably the Old Dragon King didn’t expect that Chen Changsheng didn’t even have a penny on him.
The waiter said, “Probably he forgot. Sir, how about you settle the bill? You don’t look like someone short of money, and this is a small business.”
Chen Changsheng stroked his chin and said, “But I didn’t bring any silver this time when I left home. Can I owe it?”
The waiter was taken aback; he hesitated and was about to speak but held back.
The one who just left and the one in front didn’t seem short of silver, but if he really was a lord from a big family, they didn’t dare to offend him.
Stuck in the middle, the waiter said, “Well, sir, how about you wait? I’ll go get my manager.”
“Good,” Chen Changsheng nodded in agreement.
The manager of the Wine Tavern was a thin man who looked young, nothing like a manager but more like a waiter.
Manager Zhou stepped forward with cupped hands and said, “My surname is Zhou. I haven’t asked for your honorable name yet.”
Chen Changsheng replied, “I am Chen Changsheng. I forgot to bring silver this time. Manager Zhou, can I owe the debt? I will come back another day to pay.”
Manager Zhou nodded and said, “I can trust your character for sure. But that jug of wine wasn’t cheap; it’s a small business. How about you leave something valuable here?”
Chen Changsheng thought about it; he didn’t have anything valuable on him.
He then asked, “How much was that wine?”
“One tael of silver,” Manager Zhou said.
“Indeed not cheap.”
Chen Changsheng hadn’t expected that jug was worth a tael; back then, two large jars of Autumn Moon Brew were only four taels.
Chen Changsheng took the Wine Gourd from his waist and said, “To be honest, I have nothing of value on me; only this Wine Gourd stays with me all the time. Can I mortgage it here?”
Manager Zhou looked at it and was troubled; this gourd sure didn’t look worth one tael. But after thinking, he agreed.
“This… well, that could work too.”
That was all that could be done. Mainly, that gentleman looked clean and proper, and spoke elegantly, so he trusted him this once.
“Sorry to trouble you, Manager Zhou.”
After leaving the gourd, Chen Changsheng said, “I will come back another day to redeem this gourd.”
“Mr. Chen, take your leave slowly.”
Manager Zhou saw him off out of the Wine Tavern. Seeing heavy rain outside, he said politely: “With such big rain, sir, how about you take an umbrella?”
Chen Changsheng halted his steps, looked at Manager Zhou, and laughed: “How can I accept that?”
Seeing the smile on that gentleman’s face, Manager Zhou immediately wanted to slap himself.
Now it was good; he would lose an umbrella.
But he wasn’t stingy; he told the waiter to bring one over.
Chen Changsheng took the umbrella and said, “The Manager is a thoughtful man; I won’t thank you much. When I redeem the gourd, I will return this umbrella too.”
Manager Zhou nodded with a smile. “Just words from you are enough, Mr. Chen.”
Chen Changsheng opened the umbrella and walked into the rain.
Manager Zhou stood at the door watching the man go into the misty rain.
He sighed and patted his own face. “My big mouth…”
The waiter smacked his lips and said, “Manager, will he truly come back to redeem that Wine Gourd?”
“Who knows?”
Manager Zhou sighed. He looked at the Wine Gourd in his hand and said, “He probably will.”
Intuition told him that gentleman shouldn’t be someone who didn’t keep his word.
After Chen Changsheng left the Wine Tavern, he walked around nearby with the umbrella.
The rain got heavier; drops splashed on the oil-paper umbrella with crackles. Chen Changsheng couldn’t find a place to rest for a moment and only kept walking forward.
He had planned to go into the market, but lifting his gaze, he saw a pavilion by the river—it was a good place to shelter from the rain.
Chen Changsheng walked toward that pavilion.
After entering the pavilion, he put away the oil-paper umbrella and set it aside.
Chen Changsheng looked at the Tongtian River and said with a laugh, “Originally, I still thought of finding other ways elsewhere. Now it seems I have to trick you.”
But right now, it was best to think about how to get back the Wine Gourd first.
He remembered before at the river mouth, with a fisherman—when fishing counted as boat money.
Chen Changsheng touched his chin and said, “More fish in heavy rain; it’s perfect timing.”
Chen Changsheng looked at the bamboo forest by the river and stretched out two fingers. He said, “Come.”
A bamboo of the right thickness fell into his hand. Then Chen Changsheng lightly tapped it; a ray of Golden Light turned into a thread and wrapped around the bamboo.
He sat cross-legged in that pavilion and cast the fishing rod.
On the river, wind and waves were strong; the pavilion sheltered from rain but didn’t stop the wind. Yet after Chen Changsheng sat down, the big wind avoided that spot.
Raindrops splashed on the river surface, making fog. Seen from afar, it was a misty view, hiding the waves.
At the riverside pavilion, only a gentleman sat cross-legged, unmoving.
The long bamboo in his hand, blown by wind and rain, also did not sway.