A song from Chengdu revived a closed-down pub.

The next morning, Su Fan was woken up by someone banging on the door.

He lay on the sofa in the bar, and it took him a while to realize where he was.

Fang Cheng opened the door, and a man in his fifties was standing outside. Fang Cheng called him Uncle Qi.

Uncle Qi is the landlord of this bar.

"Xiao Fang, Mr. Wang, who came to see the store yesterday, has agreed to take over."

Fang Cheng nodded: "Okay, I'll pack up in a bit, and I'll move out after the handover this afternoon."

"We can't move it," Su Fan said, standing up.

Fang Cheng immediately said, "Xiao Fan, stop fooling around. After we're done with this, I'll take you around Sichuan Province, and then we'll go home tomorrow."

Su Fan said, "Brother Cheng, I'm not making a fuss. Let's keep this shop open."

Fang Cheng frowned, his first thought being the bank card: "Don't touch Aunt Liu's money..."

Before the inequality equation could continue, Su Fan interrupted, "I know, don't worry, I don't plan to use that money."

The landlord looked at this person and then at that person, and asked, "And who is this?"

Fang Cheng introduced, "Uncle Qi, this is my brother, Su Fan. He came from Qin Province yesterday."

The landlord sized up Su Fan. He was in his early twenties and dressed plainly, not like a rich kid.

He nodded, and said with a tone of someone who had been through it all, "It's good for young people to be energetic, but they also need to be realistic and not just have enthusiasm without being ambitious."

Su Fan said, "Uncle Qi, give us three days. If it's not working out in three days, we'll move immediately."

Uncle Qi laughed, the kind of laugh that comes from seeing young people make boastful claims all the time: "It's not that I'm not giving them a chance. You know, this old man is still relying on this rent to make a living. I finally found someone to take over, and they came to complete the formalities this afternoon. Don't blame me for being blunt, but your brother knows the situation of this shop. It's not something that can be turned around in three days."

Fang Cheng chimed in, "Uncle Qi, we'll hand over the work this afternoon, so it won't bother you."

Su Fan objected: "No, we want to continue renting this shop for three days. If there's no improvement, we'll forfeit the deposit."

Uncle Qi was taken aback for a moment, then laughed: "Forget about the deposit, even with the transfer fee this time, it'll be good if it's enough to cover the rent we owe."

Su Fan glanced at Fang Cheng and understood: "At first, I thought the landlord was a bit heartless, but now it seems that he owes too much rent. The fact that he wasn't evicted immediately is already a sign of a good landlord in China!"

In fact, Fang Cheng also wanted to turn the tables, but unfortunately, he was unlucky, his fate was full of twists and turns, and destiny played tricks on him.

Faced with this situation, Su Fan thought to himself, "Fang Cheng is so stubborn. He definitely won't let anyone touch Aunt Liu's money, not even for a temporary loan. It's true what they say, even a hero can be brought down by a penny!"

Su Fan suddenly remembered something, reached out and pulled a red string from his collar. A dark green jade pendant, oval-shaped and engraved with cloud patterns, was tied to the string.

He took off the jade pendant and handed it to the landlord: "Uncle Qi, take a look at this. Give us three days. We'll come back in three days to pay the rent we owe. If we can't pay it, we'll just leave. This jade will be our rent for these three days."

Fang Cheng's expression changed, and he reached out to stop him: "Xiao Fan, don't do anything reckless."

Su Fan said, "Brother Cheng, you're not willing to give up either, are you? You've made it through a year, what's three more days?"

"But……"

Fang Cheng wanted to persuade him further, but Su Fan interrupted, "Don't disturb Uncle Qi's appraisal."

Uncle Qi laughed and said, "You're quite an interesting kid."

After saying that, he continued to look at it, sometimes holding it in his hand to weigh it, sometimes shining it up to the light. After looking at it for a while, he finally said, "It's good jade, and it's quite old. Even if it's not priceless, it's worth a lot of money. At least it can cover my rent for a year."

Upon hearing this, Fang Cheng was even more determined not to let the jade pendant be used to pay the rent: "Uncle Qi, please return the jade to us, and we'll pack our things right away."

Su Fan hadn't expected this piece of jade to be so valuable.

All he remembered was that it was given to the original owner by an old Taoist priest.

At this point, the landlord said, "Don't be too happy yet. It's a good piece of jade, but it's a pity that it's cracked. When it comes to jade, what matters is that the jade must be crafted, the craft must have meaning, and the meaning must be auspicious. But if it's cracked and not carved, the flaw cannot be covered up. Once it's cracked, it's ruined. So, it went from being a perfect piece to a broken piece, and its value is reduced to zero."

Su Fan glanced at the crack and said, "Jade is beautiful without adornment. Some things bear the marks of time, but that doesn't necessarily diminish their value."

The landlord laughed and said, "You're an interesting kid. I won't lie to you, although this jade has a crack, I quite like it. Here's the deal: if you can pay the rent in three days, I'll return the jade to you untouched. If you can't pay, the jade will be used to offset the rent. As for the transfer fee for the shop, that's yours."

Su Fan felt that the conditions were reasonable; at least the landlord wasn't taking advantage of the situation.

However, Su Fan was also clear that although he had made a profit, the landlord was definitely not at a loss.

After the landlord left, Fang Cheng suddenly asked, "Xiao Fan, is that the jade that old Taoist priest gave you back then?"

"Um."

"Once things are settled here, you should hurry over to Longhu Mountain."

Su Fan remembered that when he was ten years old, he fell ill. An old Taoist priest happened to pass by the orphanage asking for water. Before leaving, the priest gave him a jade pendant and said, "If the jade is well, your life will be smooth. If the jade changes, come to Longhu Mountain and find a man named Zhang Lingyuan."

Everyone at the orphanage knew about this.

Su Fan didn't know when the jade cracked. He thought to himself, "It seems I have to go to Longhu Mountain. Putting everything else aside, the value of this jade alone is not something that can be given away casually. More importantly, that old Taoist actually predicted that the jade would crack. It is said that cracked jade can ward off disasters. So, did my coming here ward off disasters or not? I'll think about it for now. I'll find out when I have time to go to Longhu Mountain."

He looked at Fang Cheng: "Brother Cheng, let's put aside the jade for now. Tell me about this shop's situation. How did it get to this point?"

So, Fang Cheng began to explain: "This place is positioned as a small bar, leaning towards a quiet bar. Originally, I planned to go for an artsy vibe, since there are quite a few universities nearby, which could cater to the needs of students."

"The initial thought process was fine, but what happened next?"

Fang Cheng lit a cigarette: "In the beginning, I hired a few resident singers to sing a few folk songs every night. The effect was remarkable, and business got better day by day."

"Wasn't it great? What happened later that made the business decline?"

When this was mentioned, Fang Cheng looked furious: "First, the songs that those singers often sang were suddenly discontinued and they couldn't sing them here anymore. Later, I reapplied for the rights to other songs, but then someone threatened them and told them not to sing them here."

Su Fan asked, "Do I need authorization to sing in a bar?"

"Of course you need to. Under normal circumstances, you only need to pay a small copyright fee. Nobody is deliberately targeting you."

"Then why are you being targeted?"

"There's a bar not far from here. The owner is in the entertainment industry. The copyright of the songs those singers sang at the beginning is in his friend's hands, so he banned my bar from licensing them."

Su Fan suddenly realized: "So, you've encroached on someone else's territory. When you applied for licenses for other songs later, they couldn't interfere, so they resorted to force."

Fang Cheng stubbed out his cigarette: "That's roughly the idea. Later, I started singing by myself, but it was a one-man show every day, and the audience got tired of it, so business got worse day by day."

Having clarified the situation, Su Fan also had a solution.

"Brother Cheng, I'm going out for a bit. Don't wait for me for lunch."

"It's so late, where are you going? This is your first time out, you don't know the area well, let me show you around."

"No need, I can manage on my own, you go about your business."

After saying that, Su Fan left the tavern.