Chapter 242 — Something Was Overlooked

Wei Zhao's "skills" were not bad — that much Sun Jingyan actually believed. The heir of the Wu family of Tie Shou, renowned for the speed of their hands, had fallen to Wei Zhao, and that alone was proof enough of how formidable he was.

Formidable or not, Sun Jingyan simply could not believe that Wei Zhao's shifu-uncle was the world's greatest thief. If he really were the world's greatest thief, Wei Zhao would not be scraping by in a small city like Songshan, accepting a fee of a mere thousand yuan... Was that not just a little too shabby?

The world's greatest thief — how wealthy would such a man have to be?

And besides, the shifu-uncle was a master thief, but the shifu was not — what kind of bizarre sect was that?

So Sun Jingyan instinctively dismissed Wei Zhao's words as boasting.

"All right, if you're certain — if you take half of their price as your fee, then I can agree!" Sun Jingyan said. "But you can't go back on your word!"

Wei Zhao frowned. Looking at the somewhat peculiar expression on Sun Jingyan's face, he could not help but feel suspicious — could there be something off about this? But thinking it over carefully, nothing seemed particularly wrong.

Was the price the other party had offered actually very low? But that was impossible — if the price were not high, why would Sun Jingyan go to such lengths to seek him out instead of someone closer at hand? And offer him a high price besides?

Although Wei Zhao vaguely sensed there was a problem somewhere in all this, for the moment he could not put his finger on exactly what it was.

"Hey, are you going to agree or not?" Sun Jingyan was growing impatient now. "Little Junjie, you may be younger than me, but you're still a man — and a true man's word, once spoken, cannot be taken back. A gentleman's promise is a promise; even a team of four horses cannot overtake it!"

"Heh... fine, I won't go back on my word! Whatever price they name, I'll take half!" Wei Zhao said, somewhat helplessly. He had indeed said those words himself, and to go back on them now really would not sit right.

"Good, you said it!" Sun Jingyan was rather excited that Wei Zhao had actually agreed. "Come on, let's eat first — we can talk while we eat. I'll take you somewhere good!"

Watching Sun Jingyan's boundless excitement, Wei Zhao's heart sank, and he became all the more convinced that something was definitely wrong here. He just could not tell what it was he had overlooked... But since he could not figure it out, Wei Zhao stopped trying. At worst he would do the job for nothing — stealing a few documents was no great hardship.

Sun Jingyan's so-called "good place" turned out to be a street-food stall on the snack street, which left Wei Zhao somewhat speechless. He had assumed Sun Jingyan would take him to some classier restaurant.

Sun Jingyan parked the car at a *** parking spot off to the side — which in truth was just a stretch of curb with no no-parking sign. She led Wei Zhao out of the car. "This is the place — authentic mala skewers, really delicious!"

"..." Wei Zhao was at a loss for words, but... he actually did rather like this stuff.

"Boss, bring us a small basin!" Sun Jingyan, clearly a regular, asked the mala-skewer vendor for a small basin, then began picking skewers out of the cart, saying to Wei Zhao as she did: "Grab whatever you like! We'll settle up by the number of skewers at the end."

Wei Zhao smiled and began filling the basin with skewers alongside Sun Jingyan. In no time, the basin was full.

The two found an empty table and sat down, and Sun Jingyan started adding seasoning to the skewers.

"Time to pay up, time to pay up!" Wei Zhao and Sun Jingyan had barely settled into their seats when several burly men strode over and barked at the mala-skewer vendor.

"Brother Scarface, didn't you just collect a few days ago..." The vendor's expression changed the moment he saw them, and he hurried over with a fawning smile.

"A few days ago? A few days ago was Brother Niu's mother's birthday — that was your gift money. Today's is the protection fee!" one of them, a scar-faced man in a tank top, said impatiently.

"This..." The vendor's face froze. He knew well enough that this was likely a con, but a man under another's roof must bow his head. This Scarface was a local thug who made his living collecting protection money from the snack street.

"Hurry it up, don't dawdle — what, you don't want to run this place anymore? Want us brothers eating and drinking here for free every day?" Scarface threatened. As he spoke, he casually picked up a mala skewer from Wei Zhao's table, shoved it into his mouth, and tossed the stick back onto Wei Zhao's table.

"Hey, if you eat it, don't throw it there — we'll be paying for that later." Wei Zhao frowned and spoke to Scarface.

"Huh?" Scarface was taken aback. He hadn't expected this customer to have the nerve to talk to him like that. He turned his head, ready to start cursing, when his eyes suddenly landed on Sun Jingyan sitting with Wei Zhao. His eyes went wide on the spot, and a lewd grin spread across his face. "Well, in that case, Big Brother here's treating! Let's all eat together — you boys, bring your chairs over!"

With that, Scarface plopped himself down in a chair right next to Wei Zhao and Sun Jingyan, and looked at her. "Little sister, my treat — eat whatever you like. How about we have a little liquor?"

Sun Jingyan frowned slightly. She hadn't expected Wei Zhao to be such a troublemaker. These men had come to collect protection money; once they'd collected it, they'd have been on their way. Even if they grabbed a skewer of mala chuan, the owner would know well enough not to count it against them. But Wei Zhao had to go and open his mouth, and now he'd dragged this jinx right over to their table.

"Did I say you could sit here? Do I even know you?" The moment Wei Zhao saw this creature leering at Sun Jingyan, he was done keeping quiet. She was, after all, the employer about to hand him money — and you're going to hit on her right in front of me?

Besides, Wei Zhao might not like meddling in other people's business, but this wasn't other people's business. Scarface had planted himself at this table because of what Wei Zhao had said. Naturally, Wei Zhao wasn't about to indulge him.

"Who the hell are you?" Scarface turned, ready to shove Wei Zhao. He'd long since found this brat an eyesore, and was looking for an excuse to make him give up his seat — well, now the excuse had walked right up to him.

"Smack!" The answer Scarface got was a resounding slap across the face. That morning Wei Zhao had just finished beating Zou Ruoming, and hadn't gotten his fill — with Wang Zhifeng around, and so many eyes on them, he couldn't rough Zou Ruoming up too badly. But now there were no such scruples, and so he slapped Scarface so hard that half his face swelled up like a steamed bun, puffing out in an instant.

"What I hate most is people cursing my mother!" Wei Zhao had never had a mother since he was small, so he was deeply sensitive about anyone bringing her up.

"You... you dare hit me?" Scarface stared at Wei Zhao in disbelief. Along this food street, he was a man who walked around as if the road belonged to him. Never mind being hit — nobody even dared raise their voice at him. So Wei Zhao's slap knocked Scarface clean senseless...

"Get lost." Wei Zhao shot Scarface a look of contempt. He rather looked down on types like him — collecting protection money was one thing, but stepping out to hit on women besides?

"You got a death wish? Still wet behind the ears and already out here acting tough?" Scarface was so angry he almost laughed. He seized a bottle of liquor from the next table and hurled it at Wei Zhao. "Acting tough takes real strength — not fantasy!"