Chapter 163: Wanshi Shop (1)

Luo Qi pulled over a stool to sit down, watching the excitement with great interest. The Pangzi of Wanshi Shop, hands bound, explained the situation to Du Zhengyi in a panic, "I swear, I swear, I dare even swear for the other shops—we are all out of stock."

"Do you know me?" Du Zhengyi asked impatiently.

"No," Pangzi said, his face covered in sweat. "I don't know anyone. I'm just... I'm just watching the shop."

Pangzi gestured with his bound hands to indicate a vast area, "Watching the shop, watching—watching this shop, the shop!"

Luo Qi chuckled, "You mean you're watching the building, just not selling any goods?"

"Right," Pangzi nodded at him.

"How can you be such a piece of trash?" Du Zhengyi said.

Pangzi wasn't actually trash; he even dared to sneer at Du Zhengyi. Although he didn't dare talk back, his eyes and brows showed no sign of weakness.

"Damn it," Du Zhengyi said under his breath. As soon as he raised his hand, Pangzi immediately shouted—

"A gentleman uses his hands, not his mouth! I'm going to call for help; we have a market administrator here!" As he spoke, he retreated toward the corner of the wall.

Luo Qi was amused and laughed out loud, "Hahaha, you really are a man!"

It just so happened that this Pangzi was a chatterbox; even if he lost the fight, he wouldn't lose his spirit, and he couldn't keep his mouth shut. Pangzi glanced at the tall beauty sitting by the counter laughing, and said to her indignantly, "Damn, control your man, what kind of thing is that?"

"Pfft, hahahahaha." Luo Qi burst into uninhibited laughter.

Du Zhengyi was so angry his face changed color. He grabbed the box containing the brooch and smashed it toward Pangzi's forehead. The box looked like a leather case on the outside, but it was actually just a cunning human imitation, with cardboard inside. Du Zhengyi couldn't strengthen his power under the Sandbox Protocol here, so he really just grabbed a paper box and threw it.

Unfortunately, Du Zhengyi's strike was steady, accurate, and ruthless. Pangzi couldn't dodge it at all, and it hit him square in the forehead. The box bounced off, leaving a triangular red mark on Pangzi's forehead. It hurt so much that Pangzi let out a howl, and tears welled up in his eyes.

Luo Qi laughed, reaching out to actually stop Du Zhengyi, "Forget it, forget it. You've already hit him until he's crying. Killing someone is just a nod of the head, spare him, hahaha."

"I'm not fucking crying!" Pangzi howled. "If you get hit near your eyes, don't you have a reflex to tear up?"

"Hey, hey, right, right," Luo Qi said with a laugh. "Come on, Pangzi, sit down. Let's talk like civilized people. Don't look at him; don't provoke him anymore, do me a favor. Tell me, what kind of customer could buy out all the High-energy Crystals at once? Such a big customer, a massive procurement from the Qionglin?"

"Could the Qionglin make a massive procurement here? Are you drunk?" Pangzi said, unable to control his mouth. Du Zhengyi, who had been standing to the side with his arms crossed in annoyance, raised his long leg and kicked him upon hearing this.

"Damn!" Pangzi cried out, then barely managed to hold back his voice, moving to stand a little further away from Du Zhengyi.

Luo Qi took the opportunity to kick a stool toward him, "Come on, sit down and talk."

Pangzi looked at him, and Luo Qi pushed the stool, "Don't be polite, please sit."

Pangzi rubbed his forehead, feeling it was truly fucking weird; that girl acted as if this were her own shop. But he sat down anyway; obeying this woman made him feel comfortable.

"Why wouldn't it be a Qionglin massive procurement?" Luo Qi continued to ask.

"A lot of the crystals in the Black Market flow out from the Qionglin. Do you think there aren't Execution Mages who steal from their own storehouses?" Pangzi said, his emotions having stabilized quite a bit. He spread four thick fingers to use as a comb, combing the hair on top of his head. Feeling a bit better, he continued chatting with Luo Qi, "It's just that the crystals brought by Treasure Hunters are more numerous. After all, we can't always engage in this kind of fencing business. For small things, the Qionglin doesn't haggle with us, but if we move large shipments, wouldn't the Qionglin flatten us?"

Luo Qi's eyes lit up, "Brother, you know your stuff. You don't look like someone who only watches the shop because they have no work. You're being modest, aren't you?"

Pangzi chuckled, "My little bit of knowledge is nothing. It can only be considered walking by the river often and getting one's shoes slightly wet. You, this beauty, look unfamiliar. Is this your first time at our Zhouqiao Grass Market?"

"You find me unfamiliar, but you find my brother familiar?" Luo Qi asked.

"Both are unfamiliar." Pangzi didn't care about being exposed and laughed slyly, "Actually, I've only been at my uncle's shop for a little over a month. Relying on a bit of family learning, I know a few things, but recognizing people is not my strong suit."

"Then you don't know the person who came for the massive procurement? When did the massive procurement happen? Your shop's stock hasn't been replenished yet, so it must be a recent event, right?" Luo Qi asked.

"Right, it was just last weekend, three days ago," Pangzi said. "A sister came in, and as soon as she entered, she started shooing others out, saying she wanted all the High-energy Crystals in our shop."

Luo Qi pondered for a moment and asked, "Isn't buying like that a bit unscrupulous? It looks grand, but doesn't that just put your shop out of business? This isn't a healthy sales model, is it? Look, now Mr. Du has come to buy a crystal and there isn't one. You've made this look so shabby; doesn't that ruin your reputation? Are you still embarrassed to call yourselves a genuine century-old shop of the eighth generation? I think your uncle should spend some RMB and go to a human business school for further studies."

Pangzi had been bored in the shop the whole time, and suddenly encountering someone as sharp-tongued as himself, he perked up, "Hey, what you said, beauty, is not wrong. Actually, my uncle understands this principle too. These are the old rules of our trade. No matter how wealthy and imposing you are, things aren't done this way. If all the goods end up in one person's pocket, what are you supposed to do for other people who have urgent needs? Doesn't this ruin our reputation? We cleared out our inventory like that, and then when customers come—take you for example—how must you view us? You must think we are obsessed with money, very tacky, right? How can business be done like this once or twice? If people poke us in the spine, their legs won't step through our door anymore."

"Exactly, that's the logic," Luo Qi agreed with a smile.

Pangzi rested an elbow on the counter, leaning closer to Luo Qi to speak, "It's not me bragging, but our family has been doing this business for over six hundred years, and we've never had such an ugly incident; it's like an insult. So I really don't blame your man for having a short temper. If this happened to anyone, they would be angry, definitely thinking we were deliberately neglecting the customer. There's no help for it; count me unlucky. My uncle just put me, this unlucky wretch, here as a stress-relief doll. You tell me, where can I go to reason this out?"

Luo Qi laughed out loud again. Du Zhengyi was so angry he kicked the leg of Pangzi's stool, making Pangzi's fat tremble, "Can you stop talking nonsense?"

Pangzi didn't even turn his head, clasping his hands together and bowing them upward, "My apologies, my apologies!"

Luo Qi could see that Pangzi was full of hot air, but her curiosity had been piqued, so she followed up, "Then why on earth did your uncle sell all the crystals?"

"That's because that sister really offered a condition my uncle couldn't refuse," Pangzi said mysteriously, then sighed.

Luo Qi was even more curious, "May I take the liberty of asking, what condition was so tempting?"