Chapter 57

The moon hangs on the eastern branch.

Large red lanterns hang high on the flying eaves and upturned corners, and the aroma of delicacies drifts out from the windows.

"Three guests, Zhao proposes a toast first."

Zhao Wei at this time is truly in high spirits.

He tilted his head and drained the cup of wine.

Having obtained the spot for the Huaqing Sect entrance examination, he naturally had to maintain a good relationship with the three people from the Huaqing Sect.

If it weren't for the fact that there was a woman among them, he would have preferred to set the wine table in the Music Conservatory.

There has always been a saying in the Jianghu.

That is, doing many things together is not as close as having carried a gun together.

Regret!

Han Qin laughed; he was the one with the most Jianghu experience among the three, and he also raised his wine cup: "Congratulations, Vice Helmsman Zhao; perhaps next year we can meet in the sect."

When Zhao Wei heard this, his mood became even better: "Borrowing your auspicious words."

After several rounds of drinking.

The atmosphere gradually became lively.

He came from the Jianghu, was good at drinking, but his ability to persuade others to drink was unparalleled in Qinghe.

Zhu Yue didn't drink less either; as a member of the Zhu family, he naturally had to deal with the Tiandi Alliance, and befriending Zhao Wei was of great use to him.

Of course, it wouldn't be too servile to lose the face of the Huaqing Sect.

Zhao Wei also knew that these Huaqing Sect disciples were aloof and looked down on them, these mud-legged people, from the bottom of their hearts.

The word "brother" came to his lips and was swallowed back.

He had long inquired about the situation of this Zhu family genius; since he was also from Qinghe, he was undoubtedly the best breakthrough point to pull closer the relationship:

"Young Hero Zhu, I have some friendship with your father; I will pay a visit another day."

Zhu Yue was overjoyed: "Then I will wait for Vice Helmsman Zhao's visit."

At this time, Han Qin saw out of the corner of his eye that Jiang Yan was a bit impatient, so he hurriedly entered the main topic: "Vice Helmsman Zhao, since we are our own people from now on, I hope you will spend more effort on the matter of the Guiming Sect."

Zhao Wei patted his chest: "Leave this matter to me."

Han Qin and Zhu Yue saw that Zhao Wei didn't look like he was putting on an act, and only then did they feel relieved.

However, they weren't afraid that Zhao Wei would perfunctorily deal with it.

After all, the quota was in their hands, and at worst, they could just change to someone who listened.

Until late at night.

The wine party broke up.

Zhao Wei drank eighteen large bowls in a row and was already dead drunk; he was supported by his subordinates as he walked out of the restaurant, and before leaving, he didn't forget to send off the three from the Huaqing Sect first.

A young subordinate looked at Zhao Wei, who was almost dead drunk, and whispered: "It seems the Helmsman is truly happy today; I have never seen the Helmsman drunk."

"Who said I was drunk?"

The young subordinate turned his head.

He saw Zhao Wei already standing straight, with no sign of drunkenness on his face at all.

Zhao Wei looked at the backs of the three from the Huaqing Sect as they left, his eyes narrowing slightly:

"I'll believe you once for now; if you dare to play tricks, I am not someone to be trifled with either."

Hun Tian Yi Hall.

"You want to follow me to the black market?"

Li Rui was preparing to go to the black market for the first time early in the morning.

Pushing open the door, he saw Liang He squatting on the threshold on tiptoe; asking, this kid actually wanted to go to the black market too.

Liang He's gaze was firm:

"A prime minister must start from the state department; a fierce general must be issued from the ranks."

"I want to go to the venue to temper myself; Hall Master, you can rest assured, I will guard the venue in the black market during the day and come back to guard at night, never delaying the hall's affairs."

Born with a cow-horse holy body?

Li Rui couldn't help but recall his own bitter life of working during the day and delivering food at night.

"As you wish, but let's say it first, I won't pay double wages."

"No money, no money."

Liang He smiled and waved his hands repeatedly, trotting to keep up with Li Rui's pace.

Li Rui was just worrying about not having a reliable confidant to go to the black market.

With Liang He delivering himself to the door, naturally, there was no reason not to use him.

Compared to those old oil-slickers in the black market, Liang He was undoubtedly more trustworthy.

Without a few confidants, how can things be done?

Li Rui was very familiar with the black market in Qinghe.

More than half of the shantytowns in the East City were within the scope of the black market's business; it had always been operated by the Xuehu Gang, and it was said that the Xuehu Gang heard that the Tiandi Alliance's Alliance Leader had broken through, which was why they were willing to cut off this piece of fat meat.

Of course, the Tiandi Alliance also paid a considerable price.

Li Rui took Liang He and strolled along the street; pedestrians on the road, seeing the two wearing the uniforms of the Tiandi Alliance, all fearfully dodged away.

Soon, they saw the entrance to the black market.

And the fierce-looking black-clothed burly men standing at the door.

Li Rui showed the waist token engraved with the number "11"; the attitude of the several black-clothed burly men instantly became respectful, and the leading disciple said flatteringly: "It's Li Ye; I am a guard disciple of the black market, and Commander Sun has long been looking forward to your arrival."

Li Ye...

Li Rui's expression was dazed for a moment; the last time he came, he was timid and paid the market entry fee, but now he had become a "Master" generation.

"Lead the way."

Naturally, he wouldn't say stupid things like "don't call me Li Ye."

Guarding the venue in the black market, they are all ruthless characters; blind affinity will only make people feel easy to fool, and it will take ten times the effort to correct it later.

Candy won't make a person obedient; only a whip will.

Li Rui naturally understood these principles.

The black market is also divided into the front market and the back market.

Li Rui had only been to the front market before, and what was sold were all common rice, flour, and poultry, mostly individual vendors.

The back market was different; they were almost all shops, and there were even high-rise buildings.

If you want to enter the back market, you have to pay another market entry fee, and the price is not low, requiring a full string of copper coins.

Entering the back market, there were significantly fewer people on the street.

Walking for a while, Li Rui suddenly heard the sound of a woman crying from an alley with a pear-wood entrance.

The woman's crying came from the depths of the alley, and the alley seemed to lead to a residence in the deepest part of the black market.

The black-clothed burly man saw Li Rui turning his head to look at the alley.

He explained: "Li Ye, there is a rule in the black market that live goods and dead goods must be separated; this is one of the places where several families store live goods."

Live goods...

Li Rui withdrew his gaze, his footsteps not pausing at all.

Live goods is also Jianghu slang, meaning people, or accurately, people who are treated as goods.

There are generally two ways for wealthy families in the city to receive servants: one is to voluntarily sign a deed of sale like he did back then, and the other is to buy live goods.

Live goods are mostly village girls with decent looks, or young boys with fair skin.

It's just to satisfy the special hobbies of those masters.

This kind of filthy business exists in every era, it's just hidden secretly, and ordinary people don't have the chance to come into contact with it.

Li Rui didn't have the heart of a savior, and with his current ability, he couldn't save them all.

Black market deacon.

To put it nicely, it's managing the black market; in fact, it's just a high-level wage earner working for the Tiandi Alliance.

These business people had long reached a tacit understanding with the Tiandi Alliance; whoever breaks this tacit understanding will inevitably be backlashed.

"If you want to blame someone, blame this world."

A quarter of an hour later.

He arrived at the deepest part of the black market, the tallest five-story building, which was also the tallest building in the entire black market.

Just walked to the door.

A pot-bellied fat man with a face as round as a watermelon trotted out:

"Li Ye, I have finally looked forward to your arrival."

(End of chapter)