Chapter 1980 — An Apology
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
"The boss misspoke just now — it's five hundred thousand!" the burly man behind Wei Zhao suddenly spoke up. "Five hundred thousand, not a cent less. Hurry up and pay, so you don't make things hard for us."
Hearing the burly man's words, the stall owner's heart leapt with joy. He knew that even if he got the five hundred thousand, he would probably have to split half with these two, but twenty-five thousand — no, two hundred fifty thousand in his own pocket was still far more than the fifty thousand from before. So he said at once, "Yes, that's right, five hundred thousand. I misspoke earlier."
"Five hundred thousand, eh? Heh. You mean that if I give you five hundred thousand, this cauldron is mine?" Wei Zhao hefted the cauldron in his hand and asked.
"Naturally!" The stall owner nodded.
"Oh. Well, since it's mine, then I can dispose of it however I like." As he spoke, Wei Zhao squeezed with his hand — and the cast-iron cauldron, sturdy beyond compare, proved in his grip not even the equal of mud. It was crushed into a lump of iron, which he tossed onto the table with a thud. "Your cauldron is of such poor quality, and you claim we broke it? It dents at a single squeeze, and you dare ask five hundred thousand?"
"Ah!" Seeing Wei Zhao suddenly crush the cauldron into a lump of iron, the stall owner was struck dumb, unable to utter a word.
The two burly men behind Wei Zhao, however, changed color. They were local thugs of a nearby gang, it was true, but that gang had a formidable fighter of the early Yellow Rank presiding over it. Crushing the cauldron to pieces — that man could do it too, but he was the strongest existence in the whole gang, one whom even the gang leader treated with a measure of respect.
Yet this young man before them possessed such strength as well — how could the two thugs not be shocked? They were no fools. What Wei Zhao had just displayed was plainly deliberate; if the two of them failed to read the room now, they would likely be beaten.
A ruthless man whom even the gang leader held in esteem — how would they dare offend him?
"We failed to recognize your eminence. You two must be scions of some great family. We gave offense just now — our apologies!" One of the burly men hastily cupped his hands toward Wei Zhao, then tugged the other man away.
The other burly man shot the stall owner a look and lowered his voice. "Old Wang, did you get it wrong? How could these two young gentlefolk deliberately damage your worthless cauldron? It's a fifty-yuan piece of junk — breaking it was doing you a favor..."
With that, the two hurried off. They had given the stall owner their hint; if he was not sharp enough to take it, and managed to offend someone, that was beyond the power of two petty thugs to fix.
In truth, the moment Wei Zhao crushed the cauldron, the stall owner knew he had kicked an iron plate. Then, seeing the reaction of the two thugs, he grew frightened indeed. So these two were ruthless characters — had he known, he would never have tried any extortion!
"Haha, that was only a joke just now. This cauldron is fifty yuan, a trifle, not worth mentioning..." In the blink of an eye, the five-hundred-thousand-yuan cauldron had become fifty yuan, yet the stall owner's expression was perfectly natural, as though he had never mentioned five hundred thousand at all. "The reason I called you two back was actually to apologize. These cauldrons are all replicas; my claiming they were Ming dynasty was nonsense. To show my regret, please, take a few cauldrons, whichever you like!"