Dimension Paradise, I am a summoning apostle

Chapter 731 A Pocket Full of Gold and Silver: Who Is the Fat Sheep?
"Oh dear, sir, you jest. My humble shop doesn't have any cooked beef," the shopkeeper quickly said with a smile. "But we do have roast chicken, braised goose, and fatty mutton. Would you like some to go with your drinks?"

Cows are a source of labor.

Even with the highest potential for extraordinary abilities, cattle are still an important resource in feudal times, as long as productivity doesn't keep up.

As for the fact that some people can fly and disappear into the earth, while farmers are still struggling to plow the fields with oxen.

That's perfectly normal. You can't expect those powerful beings who can fly and teleport to do manual labor for the lower classes, even if they can finish the farm work of an entire city in a day.

However, since they had all become exploiters, how could they possibly be willing to go back to the fields?

Having experienced so many trial worlds, Chu Danqing found that only in the previous trial world were the gods too widespread, which significantly improved people's lives.

As for this trial world, it's true that a strong person can destroy a city by themselves, but the lower class is in a feudal era with low productivity.

"Then bring me a roast chicken and two pounds of fatty mutton," the scholar said lazily, leaning against the window.

The shopkeeper quickly pocketed the gold and said, "Alright!"

As they were talking, the kitchen staff brought out the food and drinks.

Since the food is already prepared, there's no need to cook it, so it's definitely faster.

The scholar was eating when a commotion broke out at the table next to him.

"Nonsense! You only drink one cup, but I have to drink three!" a fat man said, pointing at the thin man at the same table.

Chu Danqing only glanced at them; the two people at the table who had started the commotion were spies for the bandits in the vicinity.

A smile appeared on Guo Ming's face; he knew they were about to make their move.

Zhong Lei, on the other hand, said softly, "This pedantic scholar is truly ignorant of the dangers of the world. Outsiders are watching him closely, yet he still drinks heartily."

“Others have their own way of living,” Chu Danqing said. “That’s their magnanimity and character; how could you possibly fathom it?”

After he finished speaking, the two robbers argued even louder.

“You’re three times my size. I’ll drink one cup, but you have to drink three!” the skinny man retorted, slamming his hand on the table and pointing at the fat man’s nose.

"Ahem." The shopkeeper did cough once, indicating that this was his territory and that everyone should behave themselves.

Generally speaking, unless you're a very attractive customer, things will stop here.

However, the two robbers knew that the scholar's purse contained a considerable amount of gold and silver, so they were unwilling to stop.

The fat man angrily retorted, "Bullshit! I won't drink it!"

The skinny man shouted, "Are you going to drink or not?"

He picked up the wine jug and started chugging. The fat man was furious and shoved him hard, getting soaked in wine. The two started fighting, stumbling and falling, and one of them bumped into the scholar.

Upon seeing this, the scholar slammed his fist on the table and immediately shouted angrily, "This is outrageous!"

Then suddenly there was a clattering sound, and the purse somehow fell to the ground.

Several small gold ingots and a string of pearls rolled out. The gold ingots were nothing special, but the pearls were dazzling. Even in broad daylight, their precious luster could not be concealed.

This immediately drew everyone's attention.

A subtle smile appeared on the scholar's lips.

With one foot on the purse, he bent down to pick up the pearl and gold ingot, shouting, "Are you trying to rob me?"

The two men suddenly stopped, their attention drawn back to the dazzling pearl, and shouted, "Who stole your things? If you dare to accuse me, I'll beat you up!"

As he spoke, he began to push and shove, as if to attack.

When Zhong Lei saw this scene, she noticed that Chu Danqing, Guo Ming, and even Da Bao were all sitting steadily, showing no sign of making a move.

He secretly thought to himself: 'These two men are clearly using the pretext of making a scene while drinking to deliberately knock over the scholar's purse and test his true intentions.'

'But with me here, you cannot have your way.'

The thought flashed through his mind, and he immediately took action.

With light and swift steps, she arrived in front of the scholar in just a few strides.

With a push, he separated them and immediately said, "Why are you causing trouble at other people's seats?"

The two men shoved her, causing a sharp pain in their chests. Startled, they dared not cause any more trouble, muttering to themselves, "Who told him to accuse me of stealing?"

"It's wrong of you to hit them first. Go back and have a good drink," Zhong Lei said with a smile.

The scholar raised his wine cup and said, "Brother, have a drink too."

Reeking of alcohol, Zhong Lei said, "Thank you."

Zhong Lei naturally disguised herself as a man when she went out, as it would be inconvenient for a woman to go out in person.

However, this trick is only good for fooling ordinary people; it won't fool the seasoned veterans.

Zhong Lei returned to her seat to see how the two men would react.

The two men glared at Zhong Lei and called out, "Shopkeeper, the bill!"

The thinner one took out his money first, and when he found nothing, his face turned pale.

The fat man realized something was wrong, reached into his purse, and found his money gone.

The two looked at each other, speechless.

The money is gone.

Seeing this, the shopkeeper knew exactly what was going on; it was clear that their attempt to steal a chicken had backfired.

The shopkeeper doesn't care who took it; as long as you pay, that's all that matters.

The shopkeeper slowly said, "This will cost three taels of silver." The two men looked embarrassed, their hands stuck in their pockets, unable to take them out.

"Gentlemen, please do me the honor of receiving a gift of three coins," the shopkeeper said again.

The skinny man stammered, "How about we put it on the tab? We're regular customers."

The shopkeeper's expression changed, and he sneered, "If all the customers have to pay on their bills, are we supposed to starve?"

He'd be begging people to put his bill on his tab if he owned a restaurant in the city.

But this is an official road, and these two are bandits. Who knows if they'll be able to come back here alive next time?

He dares to open a shop here because he has his own abilities; he just doesn't want to offend people, not because he's afraid to.

Seeing this, the bartender understood his boss's meaning and chimed in, "Are you two deliberately trying to cause trouble here? You've been causing a ruckus, fighting, and bumping into people, and now you want to eat and drink for free? Fine, if you don't want to pay, take off your clothes."

The two men had no choice but to take off their clothes.

The bartender took the clothes, touched them, and weighed them in his hand before saying, "These two gowns aren't enough."

He then reached out and took off both of their hats, shouting, "We're just unlucky! Get out of here, get out of here!"

The two slunk away, glaring fiercely at the scholar and Zhong Lei.

Zhong Lei wasn't afraid at all; she glared back at them, feeling a sense of satisfaction.

"These two are really funny, going out drinking without any money." Zhong Lei was happy and poured herself a glass of wine, drinking it all in one gulp.

Chu Danqing and Guo Ming exchanged a glance and smiled.

“Since it’s so interesting, you can pay the bill later. Consider it your treat for the three of us brothers. What do you think?” Chu Danqing agreed.

“Sure, sure,” Zhong Lei agreed immediately.

When she left, Zhou Siquan gave her a sum of gold and silver to use for her travel expenses.

It's no wonder he's a bandit who was promoted from a general; he's really rich.

This sum of gold and silver would be enough to cover the expenses of an ordinary family for two or three years.

After they had eaten and drunk their fill, Zhong Lei volunteered to pay the bill.

"Fifteen taels and one mace, please." Upon seeing that it was Zhong Lei, the shopkeeper said with a pleasant smile, "I'll round it down to fifteen taels for you."

This is a big spender; he spent fifteen taels of silver in one go.

Of course, he only received this reward because he helped others first.

The main expense is that Da Bao eats a lot, especially white flour and fish.

It's normal for it to be expensive.

Zhong Lei reached out and touched the gold and silver jewelry and banknotes that Zhou Siquan had given her, which were wrapped in a handkerchief.

When I touched it, it was gone, which startled me greatly.

I checked my left pocket, but it wasn't there either.

This was quite a shock; despite the biting spring chill, beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

Seeing that Zhong Lei was dressed in an extraordinary manner and did not seem to be short of money, the shopkeeper asked suspiciously, "Do you not have any loose silver? Gold ingots or silver bars are fine too. My shop will exchange them for you. I won't cheat you on the quality."

The scholar suddenly swaggered out and recited, "All men are friends under heaven, I'll settle this brother's bill."

He then leaned closer to Zhong Lei and said, "I'll teach you a secret: next time you go drinking, wear two extra layers of clothing, and you won't have to worry about the bill."

As he spoke, the scholar took out two silver ingots, each weighing ten taels, and tossed them to the shopkeeper, saying, "The rest is yours!"

The shopkeeper was overjoyed and thanked him repeatedly.

The silver coin was tossed into the air, but it was caught by a hand covered in large red hair.

It was Da Bao who made the move; he grabbed the silver and casually threw it back.

"There's no need for you to treat us. We're complete strangers, so we'll pay the bill ourselves," Chu Danqing said, tossing two silver ingots to the shopkeeper.

Upon seeing the silver, the shopkeeper was overjoyed to find it was of even higher quality and thanked him profusely.

"We've eaten and drunk our fill, it's time to set off," Chu Danqing said to Zhong Lei, who looked somewhat strange.

Zhong Lei snapped out of her daze, her face flushing slightly, and replied, "Coming."

He then followed Chu Danqing out of the tavern, asking on the way, "Brothers, can you figure out who stole my money?"

Da Bao slowly pulled her handkerchief out from under her arm.

Upon seeing this, Zhong Lei's eyes widened: "Da Bao, why are you so naughty, wanting to see me make a fool of myself?"

“Da Bao isn’t that bored,” Chu Danqing said. “He just stole it back.”

“Xiao Chu, yes, I picked it up.” Da Bao carefully corrected Chu Danqing’s mistake, and then took out a delicate purse from under his other arm: “I also picked up one.”

Zhong Lei immediately recognized that the purse belonged to the scholar.

"Ah?! Da Bao, how could you steal that scholar's purse!" Zhong Lei exclaimed in surprise.

Da Bao usually seems so silly, how come he's so dishonest?
"No, what's wrong with your brain?" Chu Danqing was astonished when she heard this.

He just said he stole it, and his voice was loud and clear; I couldn't have misheard him.

Guo Ming's expression was also strange, and then he asked in return, "Why didn't Da Bao teach that scholar a lesson after he stole your handkerchief?"

“This doesn’t look like the kind of person who would resort to petty theft or thievery,” Zhong Lei said nervously.

(End of this chapter)