“Waiter, food!”
Xiang Xi brought Liu Ersha and strode into Feiyun Pavilion.
The waiter in the main hall turned around and saw that the two were dressed rather poorly. He immediately looked down on them.
“Go, go, go! Feiyun Pavilion only serves distinguished guests, not poor people like you!”
Xiang Xi blinked.
Looks like Feiyun Pavilion had quite an attitude.
But she wasn’t going to argue with a mere waiter. She waved at Liu Ersha.
“Ersha, take out the money pouch.”
Bang!
Liu Ersha directly slammed the money pouch on his back onto the table.
They had sold more than 260 pounds out of the three hundred-plus pounds of eels that day, making a total of more than 5,200 copper coins.
After deducting the money spent on seasonings and jars, as well as the 500 copper coins they had just paid in compensation, there were still at least 4,500 copper coins in the pouch. That was more than sixty pounds!
The impact nearly caused the table to fall apart.
The waiter was stunned at first, then immediately put on a smile and bowed obsequiously.
“Please, sit down! Two distinguished guests! Tea, quickly!”
Xiang Xi couldn’t help marveling at how thick-skinned this fellow was, how quickly he could change his attitude, and how flattering he could be.
But as the saying went, this was his skill.
Making a living through one’s own abilities wasn’t shameful.
“What would the two distinguished guests like to eat?”
“What delicious dishes do you have here?”
“Oh, we have plenty,” the waiter said. “Braised pork, steamed chicken, steamed ribs with rice flour, sweet-and-sour fish…”
“All right, all right.”
Are you reciting the entire menu to me?
“Bring me everything you just mentioned!”
“Huh?”
The waiter thought he had misheard.
He had seen wealthy and extravagant customers before, but never anyone this extravagant.
“Twelve large dishes for the two distinguished guests!”
This was called announcing the dishes.
The purpose was to make customers who ordered expensive or numerous dishes feel proud, while making those who ordered less feel embarrassed enough to add another dish or two.
This shout indeed attracted the attention of the surrounding customers and even caught the attention of Manager Qi behind the counter.
The people he had sent to cause trouble hadn’t returned yet, so Manager Qi naturally didn’t know that Xiang Xi and Liu Ersha were the ones selling eels at the street corner. He was still quite pleased with himself.
Many customers today had brought their own eels, causing the restaurant to sell considerably fewer dishes, especially the expensive ones.
Fortunately, two gullible spendthrifts had come along.
The money they had lost today would all be earned back now, wouldn’t it?
Before long, one plate of expensive dishes after another was brought to the table.
Xiang Xi didn’t hold back either. She called Liu Ersha over and started wolfing down the food.
Although Xiang Xi’s cooking was delicious, the restaurant’s food was delicious too. And everything was meat!
How could Liu Ersha not eat to his heart’s content?
A chicken in his left hand, a duck in his right, and two pork rice cakes stuffed in his mouth…
The two of them ate like a whirlwind, devouring everything on the table.
Not even the oily broth was left behind. Liu Ersha mixed it with rice and ate it all.
“Are you full?” Xiang Xi asked.
“Yes.”
Good. As long as he was full.
Now that they were full, it was time to get to work!
“Ersha, your stomach hurts.”
Liu Ersha: “…???”
“Wifey, my stomach doesn’t hurt…”
“I say it hurts, so it hurts!”
“But it really doesn’t—”
“I’ll count to three. Does it hurt or not?”
Liu Ersha shrank his neck in fright.
“It hurts, it hurts! Ow, my stomach hurts!”
Liu Ersha didn’t even know what pretending to be sick meant. If his wife told him to have a stomachache, then he would have a stomachache.
After all, there was no way to mess with his wife’s fearsome authority.
So he recalled what he looked like when he really had a stomachache in the past, lay down on the floor, and began rolling around.
“Ow… my stomach hurts so much! Ow… it hurts! I’m dying from the pain… Ow…”
The two of them had already attracted quite a bit of attention, and now Liu Ersha suddenly started making a scene, causing everyone in the main hall to turn and look again.
Manager Qi behind the counter, however, darkened his expression.
He immediately saw through Xiang Xi and Liu Ersha’s plan.
They were pretending to be sick so they could eat without paying!
He had been running a restaurant for more than twenty years and had seen plenty of tricks like this.
People like them just needed a beating to behave.
If one beating wasn’t enough, then give them two!
“Waiter!”
“Coming, Manager!”
“Go get everyone!”
“Got it!”
The waiter immediately ran to the back courtyard and brought over everyone available—the errand boys, kitchen helpers, carriage drivers, and others.
More than a dozen people came over.
Among them was the crooked-nosed man who had caused trouble at Xiang Xi’s stall.
When he saw that Xiang Xi and Liu Ersha were the ones making trouble, he was immediately dumbfounded.
Weren’t these two cowards before?
How had they suddenly become so bold as to come and cause trouble at Feiyun Pavilion?
Xiang Xi also spotted him and gave him a meaningful smile.
Kid, see that?
Now this is what you call professional!
Once everyone had gathered, Manager Qi didn’t waste any time.
“Beat them!”
“Get them!”
More than a dozen men charged toward Liu Ersha like a pack of wolves and tigers.
Although Liu Ersha was a fool, he knew these people were trying to beat him up. He immediately jumped up from the floor like a rabbit.
“Wifey…”
They were already trying to beat you up. Why were you still calling for your wife?
“Beat them!”
“Yes!”
Liu Ersha grinned.
He had been waiting for those words all afternoon.
He could finally beat people up!
“AAAAHHHH!”
With a strange roar, Liu Ersha charged toward the dozen or so men.
His arms were as thick as a calf’s, and he swung them at anyone he saw!
His fists were as big as rice bowls, and he smashed them into anyone in his way!
The workers at Feiyun Pavilion had never encountered such a reckless brute before. They were beaten back again and again.
Seeing that things weren’t going well, Manager Qi shouted anxiously,
“Several of you, grab him together!”
Several men immediately wrapped themselves around Liu Ersha’s arms and legs.
But it was completely useless!
Liu Ersha had two men hanging onto him and still charged around effortlessly.
The tables and benches around them suffered the consequences.
Bang! Crash! Clatter!
They were overturned everywhere, and the unfinished dishes and half-drunk wine on the tables were all smashed onto the floor.
The customers eating in the main hall were so frightened that they ran for their lives.
What if they accidentally got hurt?
And if they ran away, they wouldn’t have to pay for their meals either!
The customers in the private rooms upstairs heard the commotion and also rushed out to watch the excitement.
Seeing that so many people still couldn’t defeat Liu Ersha, Manager Qi’s eyes shifted and another idea came to him.
“Two of you, go grab that woman!”
The crooked-nosed man had wanted to do this for a long time.
In his mind, Xiang Xi was nothing more than a soft target.
When he had gone to cause trouble at her stall, she had even smiled and handed over money!
So he went around Liu Ersha, stepping over tables and benches as he charged toward Xiang Xi.
This was the first person who had dared to attack Xiang Xi since she came to this world.
She truly admired the crooked-nosed man’s courage!
Come on, come on.
This young lady will show you what a world-class assassin can do!
Eye poke!
She casually jabbed forward with two fingers, and the crooked-nosed man practically brought his eyes right onto them himself.
“AAAAH!”
The crooked-nosed man let out a miserable scream and stumbled backward while covering his eyes.
Then his foot slipped on the oily broth on the floor, and he crashed onto his back.
“Hahaha! So useless!”
The other man didn’t dare approach after seeing that. He grabbed a long bench nearby and swung it at Xiang Xi.
Xiang Xi’s expression darkened.
Using a bench to hit a woman?
That was completely against martial ethics!
She lightly jumped and landed on the table behind her.
The man’s bench struck nothing.
Xiang Xi seized the opportunity, pounced forward, and mounted him from behind.
Eye poke!
Twin Winds Through the Ears!
“AAAAH!”
Heh.
Another one blinded.
Manager Qi hadn’t expected Xiang Xi herself to be this formidable.
His eyes shifted again as another idea came to him.
“Quick! Go to the kitchen and get a knife!”
Xiang Xi’s eyes widened.
Damn, this old bastard was even more shameless!
Weren’t they supposed to be fighting with their bare hands?
How could he use a knife?
This old bastard was the most underhanded of them all, hiding behind everyone and constantly coming up with dirty tricks!
She dashed forward and lightly jumped over the counter.
Manager Qi was so frightened that he nearly wet his pants.
He couldn’t escape, so he could only duck his head beneath the counter.
Xiang Xi grabbed him by the ear and hauled him out.
She slammed his head onto the counter, picked up the abacus beside her, and vigorously rubbed it across his face.
Rattle—
“Ah…”
Rattle, rattle—
“Ah…”
Before long, Manager Qi’s face looked as though it had been run over by a cartwheel, covered in deep marks from the abacus beads, with blood pouring from his nose like a mountain spring.
“Miss, spare my life… Miss, spare my life…”
Xiang Xi sneered.
Now you know how to beg for mercy?
When you had people smash my stall, would begging for mercy have helped me?
She grabbed Manager Qi by the hair, lifted him up, and slammed his face against the counter.
Bang!
Manager Qi’s face made intimate contact with the counter from every possible angle.
“Keep calling! Keep calling!”
“Miss, please—”
“I’ll spare your sister!”
Bang! Bang! Bang!
After several more blows, Manager Qi’s face looked as though it had been flattened by a stone roller.
His entire face was covered in blood, horrifying everyone who saw him.
How could this young woman be so ruthless?
Someone was afraid Manager Qi would be beaten to death and shouted,
“Quick, go get the constables patrolling the streets!”