Martial Arts Crossover: My Wife is the Top Scholar

Chapter 357 I'm terrified of being poor! I didn't dare spend a single penny!

Guo Dalu is not a vengeful person.

Although he was so angry with Li Zhaoting that he rolled around in bed three hundred times and couldn't sleep most of the night, he stayed up late studying the boxing manual, reading it hundreds of times in a row.

However, when Li Zhaoting brought Guo Dalu to Mai Laoguang Roast Meat Shop and ordered two crispy roast ducks and a honey-glazed roast goose, his anger subsided by 98%.

When Li Zhaoting gestured for Guo Dalu to eat first and to feel free to use his chopsticks, Guo Dalu felt that Li Zhaoting was indeed his benefactor, and that he could even become his godfather.

Mai Lao Guang Roast Meat Shop is the best-tasting and most carefully selected cooked food shop in the area. The shop has no waiters; the owner, chef, waiter, and accountant are all handled by Mai Lao Guang. There are no waiters, and he doesn't even have a wife at home.

Mai Laoguang isn't very old, only in his fifties. With such excellent skills and such a thriving business, countless matchmakers have come knocking on his door, hoping to find him a companion.

Many young widows in the town were eyeing Mai Laoguang.

Mai Laoguang only makes money, not money. With such a good business as his roast meat shop, he must have saved at least eight or nine hundred taels of silver. If you marry Mai Laoguang, you won't have to worry about the rest of your life.

Unfortunately, Mr. Mai was a loner by nature and valued money highly, so he was reluctant to spend a single penny.

I prepare roast duck, cartilage, and roast goose on time every day.

Two meals a day, the staple food is rice porridge, and the dishes are leftovers from the guests. Although the roast duck makers are already tired of roast duck, there is no need to be so stingy.

Who is a matchmaker?

A fluent and articulate old woman in her fifties.

These kinds of people are best at spreading rumors and gossip.

When all the matchmakers were politely turned down by Mr. Mai, and he didn't even get a bowl of tea or a duck neck, rumors about Mr. Mai quickly spread throughout the town.

Mai Laoguang doesn't care about rumors.

Mai Laoguang only cares about business.

In fact, his service attitude was very poor. The restaurant only had a handful of dishes such as roast duck, roast goose, cartilage, char siu, and cured meat. However, his roast duck was so delicious that people could overlook the service attitude.

Guo Dalu only cares about food, not attitude.

Attitude doesn't put food on the table.

Guo Dalu is a person of great principle in his conduct and work.

The same applies to eating duck.

I will never gnaw on bones when there is meat.

Never eat the meat first if there is still skin.

Soon, Guo Dalu finished eating the greasy duck skin and duck fat, revealing the tender duck meat.

Guo Dalu felt that a roast duck without crispy skin was like a fifty-year-old woman, completely unappealing, and he wanted to use this to retaliate against Li Zhaoting's trickery yesterday.

Li Zhaoting ordered a honey-glazed dipping sauce, sprinkled it lightly on the duck leg, and took a big bite.

"Li the fortune teller, you've struck it rich?"

Guo Dalu's mouth was stuffed full of honey-glazed cartilage.

At the roast meat shop, roast duck is cheap, while roast goose is the most expensive.

People usually eat crispy roast duck to satisfy their cravings and replenish their energy; they have never bought roast goose.

Li Zhaoting took out a gold ingot.

"When I went out to do business today, I found two gold ingots. Money found is not money. Unexpected wealth is often a disaster. I must spend it as soon as possible. Eat whatever you want. Today it's my treat. I'll treat you to all the food in the streets and alleys."

"How many people are still in the family?"

"It seems you really need to replenish your body with oil and nutrients. You haven't been eating anything good for a long time, and your brain is deteriorating!"

"Even though you're treating me to dinner, you can't insult my intelligence. How could I be mentally degenerate?"

What did I just say?

"You said that when you went out to do business, you found two gold ingots, but the money you found wasn't real money..."

What's in my hand?

"Gold ingot".

"How many?"

"One ingot is worth about thirty taels."

"do you understand?"

"You're just spouting nonsense, you quack! No wonder you're a half-immortal, I'll eat you out of house and home..."

Guo Dalu had been somewhat reserved, worried that he would eat Li Zhaoting out of house and home. But since the money he found wasn't really money, and such a large gold ingot was far too much to eat even if he ate his fill of meat, he still couldn't finish it all.

Guo Dalu did not suspect that Li Zhaoting was a thief.

Li Zhaoting didn't have the "smell of a thief".

To put it bluntly, with that face, if he ever goes broke and becomes so poor that he has to steal money, he could easily use his pretty face to hook up with a rich woman. Guo Dalu has never seen such a handsome man before, no wonder the female镖头 (bodyguard/escort) couldn't resist!
Mr. Mai, beaming with joy, brought over the meat.

There was only meat, no wine, and no steamed buns.

Old Mai doesn't sell the last two items.

If you want to eat it, you can buy it elsewhere, which makes Mai Laoguang's reputation very strong. Staple food shops and liquor stores that rely on him for their livelihood are very grateful to Mai Laoguang.

They were afraid that one day he might have a sudden change of heart and set up steamers, wine jars, and cold dish platters in his roast meat shop. Given the reputation of Mai Lao Guang Roast Meat, these shops would collapse instantly.

A short while later, three outsiders arrived.

A tall, thin man, resembling a stick, was nicknamed "Stick" or "Clamping Stick." Judging from his name, he was a government official.

The "cage" is the most commonly used instrument of torture; any criminal who falls into his hands will be beaten.

This beating wasn't for the trial, but to extort money from the criminals. If the criminals had no money, they would ask their relatives for it. If the relatives couldn't give it, they would break their legs as a warning to others.

It was dressed in a magnificent golden robe, with an exceptionally large nose that took up a third of its face, but a very, very small mouth, resembling a golden retriever.

His nickname was "Golden Lion," and he was also a member of the public sector.

The last one was a swordsman dressed in black robes, carrying a bizarre sword that was nearly five feet long. He exuded a vicious killing intent, and the sword seemed to emanate blood.

The man in black robes was not a notorious bandit, but rather an assistant hired by the two constables to capture Feng Qiwu.

Feng Qiwu was a notorious bandit who rarely acted, but when he did, he would commit ten major crimes, taking tens of thousands of taels of gold. He liked to devour the entire band, skin and bones, in one gulp.

Other thieves steal valuable items or real gold and silver, but Feng Qiwu takes everything and leaves no one alive in his wake.

Real gold and silver, jade and jade artifacts, calligraphy and paintings, porcelain, silk and satin, rare medicinal herbs, even the copper coins of maids, servants and grooms, the chicken legs secretly hidden by cooks, and the black and yellow dogs guarding the house—Feng Qiwu didn't let any of them go.

Feng Qiwu rarely killed people himself, but his ruthless approach of leaving no one alive caused many people to go bankrupt, driving them to suicide by drowning, hanging, or jumping off cliffs.

There are many greedy bandits, but few are as fond of money as Feng Qiwu. Feng Qiwu doesn't earn money to spend or indulge in debauchery.

He did it for appreciation.

Phoenix's greatest joy was admiring the gold and silver jewelry he had stolen, listening to the clinking of white jade and jadeite, and hearing the sound of large and small pearls falling onto a jade plate.

He likes to hold gold in his mouth and quietly savor its taste. Even if you gave him a hundred stunningly beautiful women, Feng Qiwu would not be tempted.

The phrase "凤栖梧" should be "凤妻吾".

Just like Huo Xiu, he doesn't need a wife; gold and silver jewelry are his wives, and he himself is his own wife.

Feng Qiwu had been captured before. He was captured by a clamp, which was used to torture him for over half a month in order to extract money. Feng Qiwu endured it without saying a word. When the clamp was relaxed, it used a wire saw hidden in the back door to cut through the shackles.

This is a common way to escape from prison: order a wire saw in advance, wrap it in paraffin wax, hide it at your back door, or swallow it to escape the police's search. In the middle of the night, secretly cut the shackles, cut open the iron bars of the window, and use the art of contortion to escape.

Bandits of Feng Qiwu's caliber are always kept in single cells, which makes it easier for constables to extort money from them and also makes it easier for him to escape. This is a special kind of prison game.

Unfortunately, he lost the bet with the clamp.

As a result, Jia Gun was held accountable by the imperial court and completely lost his chance for promotion. He hated Feng Qiwu to the core and kept investigating Feng Qiwu, eventually tracing his way to this small town.

More than ten years have passed since Feng Qiwu escaped. Feng Qiwu is skilled in disguise and his appearance has long since changed. Even if he stood in front of the cangue, he would not recognize him.

The clamps had no chance of catching the phoenix perched on the parasol tree.

Jia Gun received accurate intelligence that this small town was hiding many wanted criminals. Even if he couldn't find Feng Qiwu, capturing seven or eight bandits should be enough to report back to the imperial court.

Who should we start the investigation with?
Of course, it's Li Zhaoting and Guo Dalu. First, both of them are new faces.

Second, the two men were very wealthy. They had just taken out a thirty-tael gold ingot to pay the bill. This ingot could buy the entire roast meat shop. Old Mai couldn't make change, so he went to the money exchange across the street and got a large bag of change.

Third, the two of them seem very easy to bully.

A novice in the martial arts world with innocent eyes.

A delicate and frail conman.

Such people, if you beat them with a stick, they will obediently sign the confession even if they admit to being traitors who plotted to assassinate the king and rebel. Sticks are different from swords; sticks are often more ruthless.

There aren't many rules when killing someone with a sword.

When raising a stick to hit someone, one usually observes the target first to determine if the person is worthy of the blow.

The clamp-wielding man approached the two with a smile.

Five seconds later, the clamp left with a long face.

When Li Zhaoting found the huge sum of money, Guo Dalu was overjoyed and wanted to show off his life's skills. He went to the market and bought two loads of vegetables, enough to cook seven or eight tables of food and drinks.

Li Zhaoting would never take the load.

The task of carrying the load was assigned to Wang Shenglan.

This falls under the category of "errand running".

Li Zhaoting paid the wages separately each night.

Watching the flirtatious Taoist priests, Guo Dalu asked curiously, "Li Banxian, that guy with the sinister smile just now was obviously trying to use us as scapegoats because he couldn't catch the thief. You showed him a sign, and he obediently ran away. Who exactly are you?"

"Guess it!"

"Are you perhaps a eunuch from the Eastern Depot?"

"Believe it or not, I'll turn you into a eunuch!"

"You're a constable from the Six Doors? Disguised as a fortune teller to catch thieves, arrest that one who leaves no one alive!"

Have you ever heard of the Four Great Constables?

Who are you?

"None of them! I drank with Zhui Ming, one of the Four Great Constables, and secretly looked at his token. I took the opportunity to make a copy and found a master craftsman to make a replica."

"You're incredibly audacious!"

"It's alright. Even experts would have a hard time distinguishing the real from the fake of this brand. I found the master craftsman, who is an expert in counterfeiting. The only downside is that he likes to deliberately leave some flaws when he makes counterfeits."

What's wrong with your token?

"Look! There's a special mark here."

Li Zhaoting pointed to the "Catch the God" mark.

Guo Dalu was skeptical and said no more.

……

It is not difficult to find out Feng Qiwu's identity.

A person's height and weight can change, their voice can change, their smell can change, but deeply ingrained habits can never be changed.

In this small town, the most reclusive, greedy, and stingy old man is "Phoenix Perching on the Wutong Tree".

Who is this person?

Of course, it's Mai Lao Guang!

He served dishes with a hunched back, so people couldn't tell his height or pay attention to his eyes and eyebrows; their attention was all on the roast duck.

Pretending to be a native of Guangdong, speaking with a strange accent that makes it difficult for others to distinguish the voice reinforces the stereotype that "I'm not afraid of anything except a Cantonese person speaking Mandarin."

He makes roast meat all day long, and his body is always greasy. Even if Yuanbao were to identify him, he wouldn't recognize the smell.

Opening a roast meat shop would be perfect.

Height, voice, and smell are all concealed.

The only thing that cannot be hidden is a habit that is ingrained in one's bones.

Aloof, greedy, and stingy!
Mai Laoguang pretended to be normal, sold out all the roast meats he made that day, and quickly returned to the kitchen. He looked at the opened box, the two empty spaces inside, and the gold ingot of twenty-nine taels and eight mace in his hand.

Mai Laoguang realized he'd been exposed!

Li Zhaoting did indeed find the money.

He found it at Mai Laoguang's roast meat shop and used the money to buy roast meat. Mai Laoguang recognized it as his gold at a glance, but he could only grit his teeth and suppress the grief of losing the money to serve Li Zhaoting the food and give him change. It was as if he had lost it twice, once when Li Zhaoting took it and once when he gave it to him voluntarily.

In front of the torture rack and the golden lion, Mai Laoguang had no choice but to cut off his flesh and bleed. Although he had tens of thousands of taels of gold, for Mai Laoguang, who loved money more than life, this was more painful than cutting off his flesh. He was in so much pain that he rolled on the ground.

However, Mai Laoguang didn't have time to roll around.

He planned to leave the town under cover of night.

Knowing that he had been exposed and that there might be a trap outside, he still fled overnight.

Running away can allow you to take some of the money with you.

If you stay, you won't keep a single penny.

Mai Laoguang has a unique way of escaping.

He hid the money inside roast ducks and geese, claiming it was for delivering roast meats. As long as he could wait until dawn, he could be at the city gate and be among the first to leave.

Mai Laoguang, no, Feng Qiwu, Feng Qiwu deftly stuffed the money and put the jade and precious stones into the roast duck.

After finally finishing the busy work, looking at the several boxes of glittering gold ingots, I felt as if my heart was being torn apart.

This is all my money!
I've worked so hard to save this up for decades!

I didn't spend a single penny!

One last thing!

A cold glint flashed in Feng Qiwu's eyes.

Feng Qiwu dislikes killing, but he will definitely torture those who stab him in the heart, break their limbs, and throw them into the moat!
"Whoosh!"

The phoenix perched on the parasol tree and nimbly disappeared into the darkness.

……

Fugui Villa.

Guo Dalu showed off his skills, making more than thirty dishes. When the bowls and plates at home were not enough, he temporarily shaved some wooden plates. When the table was not wide enough, Wang Shenglan placed all the stone tables in the courtyard and put the largest bed board on it to make it look like a large rotating table.

The crowd sang and danced, drinking and chatting happily.

Even Wang Dong, the super lazy guy, was infected by the enthusiastic atmosphere and couldn't help but start dancing. His dance was quite charming, much like an eagle catching chicks.

"Eagle Catches Chickens" is a very fun game.

People whose names contain the character "凤" (phoenix) are often given the nickname "Little Chicken".

The phoenix perches on the parasol tree, of course, is no exception.

His nickname is related to "chicken".

"Not even chickens and dogs are left" also refers to "chicken".

Just as he infiltrated the wealthy manor, preparing to strike, Wang Dong suddenly unleashed the Eagle King Claw, a powerful Eagle Claw technique. It's hard to imagine that a lazy person like Wang Dong could master a martial art that requires the most hard work.

Eagle Claw Kung Fu is the most common martial art, but as long as you are willing to work hard and practice diligently in the coldest and hottest winters, even an ordinary move can become incredibly powerful.

Wang Dong is a leader in this field.

Feng Qiwu was horrified to discover that he couldn't withstand Wang Dong's claw attack. Without thinking, he turned and ran. Feng Qiwu was a thief; if he couldn't win, he would run away immediately.

Just as he turned around, Guo Dalu came over.

(End of this chapter)