The Beacon of Kyushu

The shopkeeper laughed awkwardly, "Haha, you must be joking! Our shop has rules. We always pay first and then serve the food. A wealthy god like you will definitely not break our rules and make things difficult for me, right?"

While holding the shopkeeper, Wan Jianfeng shouted to the drinkers nearby: "Hey, guys over there, is what the shopkeeper said true? Did you all pay first and then get the food?"

Most of the customers were too lazy to pay attention to him. Only one young man said rudely, "Brother, we serve the food first and pay later. He must have said that because you are dressed in rags and are nagging. He is afraid that you will just leave after eating and not pay for the food!"

An old man who was slightly older than the young man pulled his arm and whispered, "Awu, can't you change your bad mouth? We haven't paid for our food and drinks and our hotel yet. It doesn't matter if you offended the shopkeeper because of your quick words, but when we leave tomorrow, he will definitely charge us a lot!"

"Ah..." The young man looked at the old man in surprise, and after a while he said with regret: "Sixth Uncle, why didn't you remind me earlier? Now we have no choice but to admit defeat. However, I will learn from this experience and never speak nonsense again!"

The old man sighed helplessly, reached into his arms, and felt the few remaining copper coins, with an expression that was more painful than cutting his heart with a few knives, "Alas, you, what can I say to you, Uncle Six? Forget it, forget it, once the words are spoken, they are spilled, and even gods cannot take them back!"

Wan Jianfeng glanced at the shopkeeper and said with a smile: "Shopkeeper, I believe you heard what was said at that table? You have such good eyesight, but why is your brain so dull? Money is just a few broken stones if you spend it, but if you don't spend it, it's just a few broken stones. If I really wanted to cheat you, why would I wave so many stones in front of you? Are you bored?"

The shopkeeper smiled, slowly pulled back his hand, and said with a smile on his face: "Sir, please don't misunderstand me. I'm not afraid that you won't pay me, but it's getting late and I should record today's bill. If you give me the money now, I can quickly record the bill, so that I can free up time to serve you better."

Wan Jianfeng waved his hand and said, "No need. I have traveled all over the country for so many years and I am not used to paying before drinking. Right now, you only have two choices. Either serve me wine and food and I will put the money into your account. Or, don't do my business. As for how much less money you make, I have no right to control it. In addition, I have seen a lot and am an expert among experts when it comes to drinking. If you are dissatisfied and deliberately raise the price of the wine, or add water to the wine, I will report you to Kaifeng Prefecture and let the Four Thousand Years Old Punish you for fraud!"

The shopkeeper shook his head like a drum and promised: "Sir, don't worry! Even if you ask me for help, I won't lie to you! I'll serve you wine and food right away. If you are not satisfied, don't give me any money!"

Wan Jianfeng smiled and said, "Okay! Go quickly, go quickly. This young man's patience is very limited. I don't have time to talk to you." The shopkeeper hurriedly trotted to the kitchen to arrange wine and food for Wan Jianfeng.

After a long time, the shopkeeper didn't bring the food and wine, and Wan Jianfeng was getting bored waiting. He looked through the half-open door at the bright starry sky tonight. Suddenly, a young man came to the door and blocked Wan Jianfeng's sight.

Wan Jianfeng looked at the young man outside the door. He was short and thin, but his eyes were brighter than the stars in the sky. He was wearing a star-blue tight-fitting short shirt and carrying a two-foot-long ornate short sword on his back. He walked lightly, and it seemed that there was no sound at all. The young man walked into the inn. His expression was no different from that of most travelers, but his eyes were looking around, as if he was looking for something. Suddenly, his eyes were fixed on the purse in Wan Jianfeng's hand, and a smile that ordinary people could hardly detect appeared at the corner of his mouth.

If it were someone else, I'm afraid no one would notice the subtle movements of this young man. However, no matter how secretive his movements were, they could not be hidden from Wan Jianfeng, who was used to wandering around the world. Wan Jianfeng clearly saw him staring at his purse, but he pretended not to notice it. He looked at the pink wall opposite and laughed in his heart, "Haha, I was just feeling bored, so God sent a little thief to entertain me. It's a pity that you didn't ask before stealing things, who is the ancestor of thieves in the world? With your desire to steal from me, aren't you selling calligraphy and paintings in front of a saint or showing off your sword in front of Guan Gong? I want to see who is more powerful, you, a small thief, or me, a habitual criminal and martial arts master thief!"

Wan Jianfeng was thinking about it and was about to come up with a bad idea to play a trick on this little thief, when he suddenly felt someone patting his shoulder. Wan Jianfeng turned his head to look and saw that it was not someone else but the thin and small young man who patted him. He couldn't help but feel more amused.

"Brother, we haven't seen each other for so many years. Why are you here?" The young man grabbed Wan Jianfeng's hand, looking as excited as if he had met an old friend in a foreign land. "Brother, don't you remember me? My last name is Li. When we were kids and played together, didn't everyone call me Li Xiaosan?"

Throughout history, there are many people with the surname Li, and there are many who are the third child in a family. If it were someone else, and someone approached you and spoke so sincerely, you would probably mistake him for your childhood playmate. Even if there was no one with the surname Li among your childhood friends, or the surname Li was not the third child in the family, you would inevitably think that you had made a mistake and missed this old friend.

Wan Jianfeng was so smart that he would understand his trick. Under normal circumstances, he would not fall for it. But he was really bored now, so he pretended to be excited and pulled the young man to say with emotion: "Little Sanzi, we haven't seen each other for many years! When we were together before, I was a rich man and you were just a poor boy. Who would have thought that after thirty years, you have become a well-known person, while I have become a beggar. How jealous!"

Li Xiaosan comforted him, "My dear brother, you are much smarter than me, and your kung fu is much better than mine. I have managed to get to where I am now, and you will surely become rich and powerful in a few years, so don't worry."

Wan Jianfeng shook his head and sighed, "Alas, I'm in debt now. If I don't pay it back tomorrow, I'll be taken advantage of by the creditor! We haven't seen each other for so many years. I can see you for the last time today. I will die with peace of mind!"

Li Xiaosan pointed at the money bag on the table and said, "Brother, from the looks of it, there are at least ten taels of silver in your money bag, right? Isn't this amount of money enough for you to pay off your debt?"

After being asked this question, Wan Jianfeng became more depressed. "Brother, you don't know this! I fell in love with a girl in a brothel two years ago, and wanted to redeem her, but the first man in the city got there first. After he took her away, he heard that I had a good relationship with that girl, and he couldn't help but get jealous. He brought his gang to make trouble for me all day long. At first, I thought I would just muddle through. After all, my family has plenty of money, so at most I could pay him some money to make a big deal out of a small matter. But this guy was so arrogant that he extorted several huge sums of money from me one after another. Later, he said that I owed him a huge amount of money, and if I didn't pay it back, he would kill me."

Li Xiaosan hurriedly said: "Brother, why didn't you report such a serious matter to the authorities?" (End of this chapter)