Unparalleled Duo
Chapter 58 - 58 38 In Search of Wealth and Honor Amidst Danger_2

58: Chapter 38 In Search of Wealth and Honor Amidst Danger_2 58: Chapter 38 In Search of Wealth and Honor Amidst Danger_2 Thinking of this, he let the accountant leave first then instructed, “Send someone to prepare some fine tea and quickly invite the two young masters over.”

The response from Shen Youran eased the gatekeeper’s nerves; the latter had feared the Sect Leader might say, “What kind of riff-raff comes to my door and you report it?

If this happens again, I’ll throw you out along with them!”

Fortunately, Shen Youran did nothing of the sort.

Moreover, he conducted himself with the attitude of one welcoming honored guests, prompting the gatekeeper to regard Brother Sun and Huang Donglai even more highly…

To cut a long story short, a moment later, Sun Yixie and Huang Donglai were seated alongside Shen Youran in a modestly sized side room.

Shen Youran hadn’t invited them to the Justice Sect’s main hall for official guests, choosing this place instead, which implied…

I am not receiving you in the capacity of the Sect Leader of Justice Sect to discuss public affairs but rather in a private manner to entertain friends.

The difference was significant – there’s a world of difference between inviting someone to a meeting room for an official discussion and inviting them to your home for a friendly chat.

Visiting the Justice Sect’s main hall wasn’t difficult; many had done it.

But to be invited by Shen Youran for tea in the private quarters…

that wasn’t easy.

“Brothers, it’s been many days since we last met.

I hope all has been well,” Shen Youran maintained his usual grace and appropriate conversation, the very picture of Confucian elegance in every gesture and movement.

“Thanks to Brother Shen’s blessings, we have been fairly well,” Sun Yixie said with a fawning smile, his address for Shen Youran naturally changing from “Master Shen” to “Brother Shen.”

Huang Donglai, too, used a similar tone, stacking smiles on his face as he added, “Originally, we wanted to visit you, Brother Shen, as soon as we arrived in Luoyang.

Unfortunately, by the time we entered the city yesterday evening, it was late, and we did not dare to disturb you; we then overindulged in a few drinks at supper and overslept, hence the delay in visiting.”

This talk…

consisted of seventy percent truth and thirty percent lies.

The lie was: Huang Donglai and Sun Yixie had no subjective intention of visiting Shen Youran immediately upon arrival in Luoyang.

However, the truth was essentially the facts they objectively presented.

If Shen Youran was not fully informed of their whereabouts, he might have harbored a sliver of doubt about their story.

The reality, though…

was that he was well-informed.

From the moment Double Xie entered Luoyang, Shen Youran knew about every action they took.

The reason was simple, because this was Luoyang, Shen Youran’s stronghold; elsewhere he wouldn’t dare say it, but in the territory of Luoyang, whether dealing with officials, the Martial Arts world, or ordinary folk…

there was nothing that the Justice Sect couldn’t find out.

Here, Shen Youran was the most connected man.

Because he knew the details of Sun Yixie and Huang Donglai’s journey so well, he believed their words to be entirely truthful—everything mentioned matched the information he held.

“Heh…

So they’re a pair of bootlickers.” Right then, Shen Youran’s guard dropped significantly, and he silently scoffed at them.

Of course, outwardly, he still responded with a smile, “Heh, my dear brothers, no need for such politeness; I’ve held Yixie in high regard, and Donglai has even saved me…

Justice Sect’s door is always open for you.” He nodded and wagged his head with sincere tone, “Even if it’s late at night when you knock, I, Shen, would welcome you in person and treat you like honored guests.”

Shen Youran’s acting skills weren’t bad either.

But what he didn’t realize was that Sun Yixie and Huang Donglai had been cautious of him, suspecting him to be a sinister conspirator, ever since they were in Hangzhou.

Now it was a matter of the wary against the unaware; he couldn’t deceive them…

“Great!” Sun Yixie was waiting for just such words, “Since Brother Shen you’ve gone so far as to say this, I might as well speak frankly…” The following words could only be started by someone as thick-skinned as the Eight Armor Divine Bull of Brother Sun, “To our shame…

last night at Bogui Building, we drank too much, and without realizing, ordered a few extra dishes.

Though the restaurant kindly put it on a tab without pressing us for immediate payment, after counting our remaining funds, we fear it’s not quite sufficient…”

He was lying through his teeth, could he not afford that meal?

Before leaving home, his mother had secretly slipped him a whole six thousand taels of silver notes.

Six thousand taels, what does that represent?

By today’s standards, that’s enough to buy a roughly forty-square-meter second-hand apartment within Beijing’s Second Ring Road; with that six thousand taels in pocket, let alone traveling from Hangzhou to Luoyang, if there was a land bridge, you could walk from Hangzhou to Los Angeles and back several times…

Although Sun Yixie had already exchanged some silver en route in various trips to the bank, he still had over five thousand taels of silver notes left unused.

How much could one meal cost?

A few dozen taels at most, he could afford it, couldn’t he?

“Oh…” Upon hearing the other party pleading poverty, Shen Youran’s smile grew wider, and his disdain deepened.

He thought then, “Hmph…

In the end, he’s nothing more than a fishmonger who’s neither scholarly nor martial…

A common haggler dazzled by money.

Even though his family isn’t short on cash, he still enjoys taking advantage.

That Huang fellow is no different; birds of a feather indeed…

It seems that the Huang Sect really has fallen on hard times, and its descendants have come to this…

”

By then, Shen Youran’s guard had dropped by another thirty percent, and he had essentially come to view Sun Yixie and Huang Donglai as incredibly low-class riffraff in Martial Arts circles.