Chapter 63

62 The Great Flood Roars at the Dragon King Temple

“You’re not joking, are you?”

After pulling his hand out of his pocket, Li Ang glared at the scarf-wearing woman, who leaned lazily to one side, too indifferent to even look at him, and his mood soured instantly; he frowned in protest:

“Today’s portion was indeed generous, but really, it’s just a spoonful of coffee grounds, some bread and ham—cost-wise, two copper wheels is the absolute max. Charging this much is outright robbery!”

“What?”

Hearing Li Ang’s complaint, the scarf-wearing woman froze slightly, then turned back, her face darkening as she demanded:

“You think this stuff is worth only two copper wheels?”

Damn it! To set up this surveillance spot across the street, field ops demanded four gold wheels! Just food and supplies alone cost two gold wheels—these bastards have no shame at all!

“…”

Wait… you’re actually mad? Is Old Charles’s daughter really this unreasonable?

Looking at the hostile scarf-wearing woman, Li Ang, already irritated from being fleeced first thing in the morning, snapped back with an equally dark expression:

“Of course it’s not worth it! I’ve eaten here multiple times—I’m practically a regular. Don’t you think I know roughly what this costs?”

“You’re mistaken.”

The scarf-wearing woman frowned:

“What regular? I just opened today!”

“…”

Huh? You just opened today? So you’re not Old Charles’s daughter?

Realizing he’d mistaken the stall and made a fool of himself, Li Ang’s confidence wavered—but remembering her outrageous price of one silver wheel, he still pressed on:

“Even if you’re not the same stall, charging one silver wheel for this little is still way too much.”

“Mm-hmm!”

Catching a glimpse from the corner of her eye that someone in the building across the street was looking out, the scarf-wearing woman quickly ducked back into her tent, feigning attentiveness to a customer, and answered half-heartedly:

“Then how much should it be? You name a price!”

“…”

Wait… you’re just letting me set the price? Is your business model this reckless?

Stunned by the scarf-wearing woman’s bizarre behavior, Li Ang ventured cautiously:

“Well, the price… back at other stalls, they charged two copper wheels for this, but your portions are generous, and the stove’s burning hot…”

“Then I’ll charge two copper wheels too!”

“…”

After waiting a few seconds without a reply from Li Ang, the scarf-wearing woman snapped her gaze back from across the street, impatiently saying:

“Still think it’s too expensive? Then…”

“No no, this price is fine…”

Li Ang had nothing left to say about the scarf-wearing woman’s business philosophy.

He raised a hand to stop her from lowering the price further, then sat back down obediently and ate his breakfast without appetite.

This woman’s business is just ridiculous, and she never even looks at people, always glancing sideways at the building across the street…

Come to think of it, could she be some detective catching an affair, a criminal on lookout, or a secret police officer staking out?

Normally, such coincidences are unlikely—but the more Li Ang thought about it, the more something felt off about this woman with her scarf covering half her face. At the very least, she didn’t act like a coffee stall owner at all.

“Customer!”

Sensing Li Ang’s gaze and reading suspicion in his eyes, the scarf-wearing woman finally snapped her attention back; her sharp, almond-shaped eyes narrowed slightly, and a piercing, oppressive stare instantly bore down on him.

“You’ve been staring at me. Is there something else you need?”

“Uh… no…”

Flustered by her glare and realizing it was rude to keep staring, Li Ang mumbled and turned away, chewing his bread absentmindedly while glancing at the street.

Logically, if this scarf-wearing woman is indeed staking out, she’s either waiting for someone to pass down this street or watching the building across.

If I remember right, the building across is the former Tongqi Factory housing complex—but after the factory shut down, the bottom four floors were rented out as apartments.

But because the location is a bit remote and the street is noisy, business has always been poor; most units on the first and second floors sit empty.

So if she’s really staking out, and considering the view from below would be blocked, she’d likely be watching from the third or fourth floor… her target must be the residents on the first or second floor…

Huh? Wait! Why is the window on the second floor open? And…

“Customer!”

With a cold shout, a pair of long, toned legs stepped into Li Ang’s line of sight, completely blocking his view of the building across.

Li Ang followed the legs upward, past her slender waist and the firm curves resting like fruit on slender branches, until he met two eyes brimming with icy hostility.

“What are you looking at?”

Having blocked his view of the target’s residence to prevent him from warning them, the scarf-wearing woman—now certain this man had first probed with words, then repeatedly observed her, and finally kept glancing toward the target’s location—felt her temper freeze; her voice turned sharp and hard as she demanded:

“Or rather… what exactly are you looking at?”

“…”

Holy shit! You really are staking out!

Seeing that the scarf-wearing woman had essentially revealed her identity outright—and now even suspected him—Li Ang frowned.

When she glared, her aura cut like a blade—she wasn’t some affair detective, nor some petty lookout thief. She’d definitely seen blood.

In the entire Wang Gong, only military special ops, secret police from the Public Security Bureau, or outright insurgents could carry such an aura—and all three were trouble, one worse than the next…

As Li Ang hesitated whether to pull out his Clearance Bureau credentials and gamble that she wasn’t an insurgent but a fellow “insider,” a thunderous roar suddenly erupted from across the building:

“Where is he?!”

Li Ang looked up and saw a scarred, muscular man, veins bulging on his face, leaning out of a second-floor window, roaring furiously toward them:

“Where is he?! Isabella!! Is this how you’re supposed to be watching?!”

…

“I know it sounds unbelievable, but I really just came to buy a cup of coffee…”

Locked in a Public Security Bureau interrogation room, shackled to a chair, Li Ang glanced at the several secret police glaring at him, then reluctantly nodded toward the scarf-wearing woman:

“I didn’t go out of my way to hassle her—I just ordered one coffee and two slices of bread, and she demanded one silver wheel! That’s enough to buy half a ham!

My money isn’t just blown in by the wind—I earned it the hard way. If you’d woken up today and been hit with something this absurd, wouldn’t you argue back?”