Controlling the Five Thunders and the Two Worlds

Chapter 550 The Great Luo Palace's Reputation Explodes

Liu Family Restaurant.

It has a very simple name, simple decor, and rough food, but very warm service.

The restaurant owners are a middle-aged couple, clearly weathered by time. Although they don't look refined, they are far more genuine than those who are more refined, bringing a full sense of warmth to their customers.

"You're here. Same as usual?"

The owner warmly greeted everyone, leading them to a long table on the side and serving them a pot of weak tea that had been steeped at least four or five times and was still frothy.

Tea costs money, but leftover tea is free, and the proprietress believes these laborers won't mind.

They certainly didn't mind, and were very grateful for the proprietress's care, because they knew that she would occasionally add some tea foam to the leftover tea to enhance the flavor and help them relax.

"Thank you, boss lady, the usual!" said the foreman among the laborers.

As usual, it's two big bowls of fried pork crackling noodles for each person, along with some offal.

They couldn't afford the good meat from a big, fat pig, but they could enjoy noodles with pork cracklings and a few bites of braised offal.

They would only come to the restaurant together for a meal on the day they received a big job, and if there was a reward, and they would also bring some snacks back to their wives and children.

"Alright!" The proprietress served each of them a teacup, and then went to greet the other guests.

The owner nodded to them and then started cooking in the open kitchen next door.

The laborers chatted about what they had seen and heard that day.

"A lot of cargo was unloaded from the ship today. It's not a holiday, so what happened?"

"The captain of the fleet doesn't speak with a local accent. According to several boatmen, the fleet comes from Jiangzhou."

"What a huge fleet! Aren't they afraid of being robbed on the way?"

"Forget about the robbers, even the monsters on the road have been wiped out!"

"Huh?" someone exclaimed in surprise, "What happened?"

The other person had clearly interacted a lot with the Jiangzhou fleet, saying, "A Daluo Palace has emerged in Jiangzhou, and the palace is full of powerful sorcerers."

"They traveled throughout Jiangzhou, helping the weak and punishing the wicked, punishing corrupt officials, eliminating bandits and even cleaning up harmful demons and monsters."

"It is said that Jiangzhou is particularly prosperous now. Merchant caravans from Yongzhou and Yazhou all go to Jiangzhou. Pingjiang Prefecture and Changping Prefecture are even more lively and prosperous than Jiangbei."

The man's description of the Daluo Palace drew gasps of amazement from the crowd.

"I wonder if the great master from the Great Luo Palace will come to Shanzhou to teach our greedy Magistrate Wu a lesson."

“I heard from people in the neighboring Yunhai Prefecture that the Yuntian Cliff outside their prefecture has changed hands. Their prefecture magistrate issued several orders that are good for the people overnight, and the gangs in the city have also become much more restrained.”

As everyone was talking, the proprietress brought over a large wooden tray and placed large bowls of fried noodles and offal in front of them. She also refilled their water pot. The group ate and chatted.

Just then, the curtain of the restaurant was lifted, and four or five men with their heads tilted, shirts open, and strutting around, looking arrogant and domineering, entered.

"Master Wei!" The proprietress draped a rag over her shoulder and forced a smile.

She walked towards the group, reached into her bosom and pulled a small cloth bag, placing it in the hand of the man at the head of the group, inviting him, "Has Master Wei eaten? There are still a few pieces of fine pork belly in the kitchen." "Tch!" one of the men next to Master Wei scoffed, "Miss Qianxue next door is waiting for our Brother Wei, and you're just offering us a few pieces of pork belly?"

The proprietress smiled apologetically and said, "It's a small business, please bear with us."

Master Wei weighed the small cloth bag in his hand and said calmly, "Not enough."

"Not enough?" The proprietress's heart skipped a beat, and she hurriedly said, "The monthly allowance is three taels of silver, ingots of silver in full, we dare not shortchange you by a single cent, Master Wei, please count it yourself."

Master Wei smirked, “Not three taels, but five taels.”

"Five taels?" the proprietress exclaimed softly, quickly retorting, "You agreed on three taels!"

"That's because you just opened your shop and business isn't good, so we're taking care of you," the man next to Master Wei laughed. "You two are quite good at business; you've been doing very well these past two months."

"Now that we've made money, we should naturally mention the allowance," another man joked.

The proprietress was both anxious and angry, but dared not lose her temper. She felt wronged and pleaded in a pitiful voice, "Please forgive us, Mr. Wei. My husband and I run a small business and really don't make much money."

"No money?" The first man raised his voice, his eyes narrowed, and a fierce glint appeared in them.

Another man stepped forward, sneering, "You dare to fool Brother Wei?"

"No, no, I really wouldn't dare!" The proprietress retreated repeatedly in fright.

Seeing that something had happened, the boss hurriedly came out of the kitchen, pulled his wife over, and bowed and scraped, "My wife is ignorant, please forgive her, Mr. Wei!"

First, apologize, then explain, "A few days ago, I just sent my child to school and gave my husband tuition fees. The shop is really out of money. Could you perhaps start next month?"

"Starting next month?" Old Master Wei glanced at the shopkeeper sideways. "What does it have to do with me if you send your child to school and pay tuition?"

The boss murmured, unable to speak.

“Next month isn’t out of the question either, but we’ll have to calculate the interest,” Master Wei joked. “Five taels next month, plus the three taels of silver that accrues interest this month, that’ll be eight taels.”

The proprietress pleaded desperately, "We can't even make eight taels of silver!"

"Brother Wei is kind-hearted and gave you a month's grace period, aren't you grateful?" The second man glared at him. "If you don't have eight taels next month, I'll smash up your shop!"

"You smashed their livelihood, aren't you trying to kill them?" Master Wei waved his hand, then looked at the shop owners, his smile kind, but his words sent chills down their spines: "You have a son?"

The boss's pupils contracted sharply, and then he grabbed his wife, who was about to collapse, and said repeatedly, "Next month, we will definitely scrape together eight taels of silver for the allowance!"

Master Wei smiled and nodded, then turned and left with a few of his men, leaving the owner and his wife supporting each other at the door.

The owners paused for a moment, then looked back into the shop and saw that everyone was engrossed in eating their noodles, with no one looking up.

However, this was not unexpected. Those who ate at Liu's restaurant were all poor and honest people with elderly parents and young children to support. Who would dare to stand up for them?

The proprietress composed herself and continued serving customers, while the owner returned to the kitchen to get back to work.

The atmosphere in the restaurant plummeted. Everyone ate their noodles, left their money, and departed. Only the proprietress remembered that the laborer named Old Ma had given her a few extra copper coins.

(End of this chapter)