The old man said: "You two canāt eat much, and besides, the only thing I have to offer is noodles."
Feng San said: "Go to the kitchen and bring out all of todayās braised meat toppings for the noodles, arrange them nicely on a plate and sell them to him as smoked and marinated meats."
"Huh, if I give all that to him, what do I sell to other customers?"
"Are you stupid? Sell it all to him, then what will other customers eat? Listen to me, double the price, and for that wine too."
Feng San said: "But my wine is diluted, if he drinks it and finds out, wonāt he smash up my place?"
Feng San said: "Idiot, donāt you have undiluted wine? Sell it to him as good wine, hurry up, youāll make a good amount from this. Itāll be enough to buy more medicine for your aunt for a few extra days."
"Sanāer, this time I might not be able to give you much..."
"Enough, Old Li, letās not talk about this. If I really wanted to earn this money, Iād take him to Ronghe Restaurant. I grew up in this alley, and I used to steal vegetables from your house. Now get on with it."
...
Chen Jie knew that these Jianghu middlemen, of course, would take a cut, but he didnāt expect them to bring him to this rundown noodle shop.
He didnāt mind these little folks trying to earn a bit off him.
If he were to haggle with them over every little thing, then what sort of character would he have?
Soon, Feng San returned, followed by Old Li, who brought out the braised meat toppings from the noodles, all set out as braised meat to sell, along with a bit of greens and pickles.
A table was barely assembled.
And then a jar of low-grade old wine was brought out.
Chen Jie took a sip and immediately tasted the obvious sour and astringent flavor.
But Chen Jie said nothing, while Feng San said: "Noble, I know you usually eat delicacies, so I specially found this small alley shop for you to try something different, and itās really cheap."
"Look, this plate of braised meat costs only... three hundred cents."
"And this wine, itās the most famous sour wine here, different from what youāre used to; it has a unique sour taste. This jar is only... four hundred cents!"
Feng San gritted his teeth as he quoted the inflated prices, but even though he thought he was asking for the sky, Chen Jie just chuckled at it.
He thought of how, during his downfall, even one cent was very precious to them, and at that time, it really was a case of the hero being hindered by lack of funds.
Thinking of this, Chen Jie said: "Alright, no need to introduce anymore, let me ask you something."
"Okay, okay, letās eat and talk."
Feng San carefully poured a cup of wine for Chen Jie, but Chen Jie looked at Feng San and said: "Do you know whose soldiers those were at the city gate today?"
Feng San was startled; he didnāt expect Chen Jie to ask this and replied: "Why are you asking this, noble?"
Chen Jie said: "I need to know whose hands I fell into."
"Noble, Iāll advise you, you canāt fight them, theyāre all big officials of the Tianyuan Empire."
Chen Jie frowned: "Oh, since theyāre big officials, I should find out so I can keep my distance in the future."
Hearing this, Feng San said: "Yes, keep your distance. If youāre not looking for revenge, Iāll tell you."
"The place where you entered the city was the South City Gate, under the Right General Zhao Pusheng."
Chen Jie said: "Zhao Pusheng, oh, Iāve heard of him, known in Jianghu as the Little Blade Saint."
Feng San said: "Yes, thatās him. So, noble, let the money go, consider it feeding dogs."
Chen Jie said: "So Zhao Pusheng brazenly extorts money from the people like this?"
Feng San said: "What else?"
"And Xu Shouhui the Emperor doesnāt care?"
Feng San said: "What does he care for? Heās eager for these soldiers to extort more."
"Let me tell you, every sum of money these soldiers extort, two-tenths of it is sent to the palace for the Tianyuan Emperorās pleasure."
"Pleasure?"
Chen Jie frowned and looked at Feng San: "How do you know the Emperorās enjoying himself?"
Feng San said: "Isnāt it obvious? As soon as the Emperor entered the city, he started openly recruiting concubines under the Emperorās name. The cityās girls were picked through, and he chose one Empress, three noble concubines, and eighteen concubines. Heās living like an Immortal!"
At these words, Chen Jie instantly fell silent, then turned to Feng San: "So apart from sending money to the palace for the Emperorās enjoyment, where else does the money go?"
"Recruitment!"
Feng San said: "Since the establishment of the Tianyuan Empire, there have been three rounds of recruitment. Let me tell you, almost all the young men in the city have been taken to be soldiers. Didnāt you notice? There are hardly any young people on the streets anymore."
Chen Jie looked at Feng San: "Why didnāt you get recruited?"
Feng San laughed: "Heh, I bribed them."
Chen Jie did not pursue it: "With three rounds of recruitment, how many did they draft?"
Feng San said: "About a hundred thousand."
"With so many people taken away, whoās left to work?"
"Seriously, when you arrived, didnāt you see a lot of abandoned fields outside? Thereās no one to till the land; itās tragic!"
Chen Jie pondered and said: "Recruiting a hundred thousand, can they sustain it just from the gate taxes?"
Feng San said: "Not just that, let me tell you, since the establishment of this Tianyuan Empire, our Hubei Road has been terribly unlucky. Orders just came down from the court that taxes on all farming by the people would double, plus thereās an extra fee for additional rebel suppression, road repairs, and anti-Qian tax."
"Damn it, these rebels came to power and are crueler than those Daqian officials, really grinding us common folk to death."
"Now, look at Hubei Road, complaints everywhere, the common people can hardly survive."