Chapter 27

Birthday Invitation

When Tang Yingying heard my tattling, she reacted quickly, showing that she was quite perceptive.

"Director Liu, is that true?"

Her witty remark.

She had turned me from a servant into the Director of the Tang Clan.

We seemed to have good chemistry.

"Yes, Miss. This is the second time."

I could see the corners of Tang Yingying's mouth twitching in response to my answer.

She soon fixed her twitching lips and asked sharply,

"Why have you made the Tang Clan's inn a mess twice?!"

The one-armed man stammered in response,

"Well... to settle a grudge at the place where it began..."

'Oh, my neck. You came again for such a ridiculous reason?'

As I was grabbing my neck in disbelief at their absurd explanation, Tang Yingying's clear voice rang out,

"To think that the Tang Clan's secret inn has been messed up twice for such a trivial reason. For the sake of the Tang Clan's dignity, I'll have to kill everyone to keep them quiet. Hmph!"

'Oh. Reset!'

In short, these local thugs, who were not even of national caliber, had messed up a Tang Clan business, damaging their dignity, so she was going to kill them all to make it as if nothing happened.

After declaring the reset in a cold tone, she raised one hand and wiggled her fingers.

Then the six Tang Clan warriors she had brought with her spread out around her and started pulling out some ominous tools from their sleeves.

The Tang Clan warriors, with their determined gazes, pulled out very dangerous-looking items like needles, daggers, and throwing stars.

Indeed, they were worthy of being the Tang Clan's hitmen, pulling out throwing weapons for a sword fight.

If they were the enemy, I would have called them cowardly, but their character was always a reliable asset to our side.

When Tang Yingying's delicate eyebrows furrowed and her warriors exuded a menacing aura, the thugs quickly cowered.

"Poison Scorpion, wait! The brothers are not at fault! Everything was due to the grudge between me, Yang Guangcheng, and that guy, Gou Cheng. We will pay with our lives. Please let the brothers go!"

"That's right. Even if we didn't know, messing up the Tang Clan's inn twice has damaged their dignity. We will pay with our lives. The brothers will keep the secret!"

The one-armed man and the one-eyed man pleaded desperately to Tang Yingying, then raised their swords and daggers to their necks with determined looks.

Tang Yingying did not stop them.

I rushed forward to stop them, shouting,

"Hey, hold on!"

'Ah... these guys... really...'

Trying to escape to the afterlife without taking responsibility.

This was absolutely unacceptable.

If they slit their own throats, the arterial blood would spurt out like a fountain with each heartbeat. Who would clean that up?

If I made the pitiful one do it, he would faint immediately, and I would have to clean it all up.

This was absolutely unacceptable.

Moreover, what value did their lives have that they would end them?

What about my compensation?

I had received about twenty taels of silver earlier, but that was only for the physical damage to the inn.

There was still the compensation for mental distress and consolation money.

And our pitiful one had also suffered mental distress, so we should take care of him as part of employee welfare.

Surprised by my actions, Tang Yingying's flustered voice came from behind.

"Why, why are you doing this, Director Liu?"

I explained my sudden actions to her.

"If we deal with them all here, the authorities will find out, so it's not a good idea. Moreover, the value of these two lives is not enough to settle the silver debt or the grudge. Besides, the decision to dispose of them is yours. How dare they unilaterally inform you of their decision, ignoring your dignity!"

Tang Yingying's pupils gradually dilated at my words.

The two men who had tried to end their lives also trembled and shouted in a very humiliating voice,

"Ah! Such an insulting statement..."

"Are you saying you won't even allow us to end our lives?!"

The thugs fell to the ground, shedding tears of frustration.

Tang Yingying looked at me with a surprised face for a moment, then asked with a look of uncontrollable interest,

"Then how do you plan to silence them, Director?"

After living in the Song Dynasty for a while, I realized that the driving force behind these guys' actions was 'dignity.' No matter how kind an action, if it ignored their dignity, they would become enemies. No matter how bad an action, if it upheld their dignity, they would become benefactors.

To silence them, I needed to make it so that if they opened their mouths and revealed today's events, their dignity would be damaged.

"This is how we do it."

I shouted and ran into the still intact kitchen, coming out with a basket.

When I suddenly appeared with a basket, everyone looked confused.

Tang Yingying also looked at me with a puzzled expression, wondering what I was going to do with it.

I walked in front of the thugs with the basket and shouted loudly,

"Everyone, put all the iron coins and silver you have in here. Don't hide anything. If you're caught hiding, you'll have a fun time with the Tang Clan warriors. Come on."

Everyone was confused, and the thugs started to take out silver and iron coins from their sleeves as I passed by, looking dazed.

I continued to collect the money, questioning the suspicious ones.

"Really nothing hidden? If it comes out later, one iron coin is one punch from the Tang Clan warriors."

I intimidated one of them, and he carefully took out another silver coin from his inner pocket.

I glared at him.

"N-no, really, nothing else..."

After going around once, I roughly checked the jingling silver and iron coins in the basket. There were about forty taels of silver, which was quite a lot.

When my strange actions were over, Tang Yingying, unable to contain her curiosity, asked,

"What will you do with this now?"

I smiled at Tang Yingying and said,

"Miss, we have about forty taels of silver here. There are about twenty of them, so that's two taels per person. One tael of silver is the price of a pig. So, by giving them the price of two pigs, they save their lives. How could they be ashamed to go around saying their lives are worth two pigs?"

Tang Yingying, the Tang Clan warriors, and the thugs, who were trembling with humiliation, all had their eyes wide open in surprise, exclaiming 'Oh!'

The twenty thugs' mouths opened simultaneously, and they shouted,

"Just kill us!"

And Tang Yingying's small voice was also heard.

[That's why, Zhuge...]

***

After the thugs, who had turned pale, all disappeared, I inspected the inn.

Despite their anger, they had destroyed the inn relatively evenly in a very short time, as if to show that they would do their job properly.

I had the inn cleaned with a happy heart.

It was because I had received sufficient compensation, which was enough to make the victim happy.

Compensation should start with the most valuable form of reparation.

That's why there is compensation in a capitalist society, and the most valuable thing in a capitalist society is capital, which is money.

I was satisfied because I had been generously compensated with what I considered most valuable.

'How dare they try to settle with something as worthless as dignity.'

The pitiful one, who had been shocked, regained his senses and brought his siblings to clean the inn while I went to the annex to talk with Tang Yingying.

"I was too busy earlier to greet you properly. Let me introduce myself formally. I am Liu Qingyun."

I bowed to Tang Yingying before sitting down. She then introduced herself.

"I am Tang Yingying of the Tang Clan. The current head of the Tang Clan, Poison Rain Tang Ziyun, is my father."

"Such a distinguished daughter of the Tang Clan. I am grateful for your life-saving grace. Miss."

"But you said you came at the request of the Zhuge family. Could it be because of the 'ceremony'?"

Since the head of the Zhuge family, Zhuge Tian, had said he would send someone for the ceremony when we parted, I asked if that was why Tang Yingying was here, but it wasn't.

"No, it's for another matter."

"Then what matter?"

When I asked what matter, she carefully took out a letter from her sleeve and pushed it towards me.

"It's for the birthday banquet to celebrate the 80th birthday of my grandfather, Poison King Tang Feiling. Uncle Zhuge Tian, representing the Zhuge family, asked you, Liu Qingyun, to attend on his behalf. He had to leave for Hubei recently because he... has to prepare for the 'ceremony' and can't stay until then. He said it's good to experience major and minor events as a family member..."

'The 80th birthday banquet of a retired boss?'

I was briefly suspicious of the sudden invitation to the Tang Clan's birthday banquet, but upon reflection, it was all arranged for me.

Indeed, they were the descendants of that person, so their thoughtfulness and consideration were exceptional.

Since I was doing business in Sichuan and the Zhuge family's base was in Hubei, it seemed to mean that I should establish a connection with the Tang Clan, who could provide direct help.

Earlier, when Tang Yingying had shouted, 'What are you doing in Sichuan?' and the thugs had wet their pants, it was clear that I needed to get along with the Tang Clan as much as possible to do business in Sichuan.

Moreover, since she called Zhuge Tian 'uncle,' it seemed that my connection and the head of the Tang Clan were sworn brothers.

If I just established a connection, I would be a brother's brother, right?

'This is what it means to expand connections through the normal route, I guess.'

I answered her proposal with a happy voice.

"Yes, I should definitely attend such a joyous occasion."

"Then, I will escort you to Chengdu, where the Tang family is located."

She bowed to me carefully and lowered her head.

When she raised her head, she was a completely different person.

"Now that I've finished the task my father gave me, don't we have some business to settle between us?"

Suddenly changing her expression, she spoke with a curious look, like a cat.

"Business?"

'!'

I immediately understood what she meant from her eyes.

She was asking for a tip for her help.

They say a promising tree is recognized from its leaves, and she was already taking care of tips as the daughter of a local gangster.

The future of the Tang Clan was indeed bright.

'Damn, the rich really do have more.'

I carefully put my hand into my chest pocket, where the silver I had collected was, and trembling, took out ten taels of silver and pushed them towards her.

She frowned at my actions.

'Ah... that's too much!'

Given that it was the Tang Clan, her ruthless appearance.

'They call him Hero Poison Rain Tang Ziyun. He really has a good daughter! Whoever takes her, she's so thrifty!'

I cautiously took out another ten taels of silver from the money bag and added it to the first ten.

I couldn't give any more.

I looked at her with a meaningful glance, indicating that I couldn't give any more.

She then said with a look of disbelief,

"Who asked for money?"

"Then, what?"

"Uncle said to keep my identity secret for the protection of the Confucian scholar until the ceremony. Just call me Qingyun."

'Keep my identity secret? Ah! Is it because of the martial world's silver relationships?'

It seemed she was worried about being 'wiped out' before officially becoming a connection.

"Sure, call me whatever you like."

When I answered reluctantly, Tang Yingying said in a slightly embarrassed voice,

"Sir, what was it that you... homemade noodles? Factory noodles? Uncle said they were so delicious, and I really wanted to try them. Since I helped today..."

She trailed off.

'Ah!'

It was natural to treat a benefactor to food. I shouted at Tang Yingying,

"Hey! How can you say such a thing?!"

"Really?!"

She looked at me with wide eyes in surprise.

"I, Liu Qingyun, am a man who knows gratitude. I'll make you eat until you burst today!"

Tang Yingying's eyes were filled with joy.