Words Strategize for the World

Upon seeing the swindler who had gone to the boiling oil with nothing but his own money again, Lanxi was filled with righteous indignation and wanted to drag Fang Wei down to expose him.

But Fang Wei didn't move. Instead, he reached out and patted Lanxi's hand, gesturing for her to sit down first.

Seeing Fang Wei's actions, Lanxi felt conflicted and a little angry. This guy is clearly a fraud, yet he won't come with me to expose him; what's the point of sitting here?

"Fang Wei, what's wrong with you? This guy is obviously a fraud, why don't we go down and stop him?"

Fang Wei patted the chair next to him and said, "Lanxi, sit down first. Why didn't you go down and stop them? Of course I have my reasons."

Lanxi pretended to be angry and continued sitting down, waiting for Fang Wei to continue.

"Lanxi, don't be angry. If I hadn't exposed him last time, would you have given him money?"

"Hmph, he's a liar to begin with. I definitely wouldn't have known if you hadn't told me. Since he's a liar, he'll definitely swindle my money." As she spoke, Lanxi's voice grew softer and softer, and she lowered her head.

Fang Wei remained silent, but instead looked at Lan Xi and laughed.

Not hearing Fang Wei's reply, Lanxi looked up and saw him smiling. Feeling even more embarrassed, Lanxi pretended to be angry and said, "Fang Wei, how dare you laugh at me! Humph!"

After saying that, Lanxi turned her head away and stopped looking at Fang Wei.

Seeing Lanxi's reaction, Fang Wei could only suppress his laughter and said, "Lanxi, you see, even you don't know he's a conman, so the viewers below are even less likely to know. Conning is actually a skill. If a conman's skills are masterful, can't the viewers also get a good experience? Don't you think so?"

Lanxi followed Fang Wei's line of thought and realized it seemed to make sense. But Lanxi still believed he was a liar, and that was that, regardless of whether others liked it or not.

"But he..."

Before Lanxi could finish speaking, Fang Wei interrupted her, laughing loudly as he continued, "Liars deceive people, but they need to see if the people they deceive are willing. Everyone below was willing, so what's the point of exposing them?"

Actually, Fang Wei's real intention was not that; he just wanted to tease Lanxi.

Hearing Fang Wei's unreasonable arguments, Lanxi ignored him and simply turned her head to one side.

Seeing that it was about time, Fang Wei stopped making things up and said seriously, "I was just kidding you. Actually, I wanted to bring this person up later to ask him about his situation."

Hearing Fang Wei say this, Lanxi was a little confused. What was there to know about this person? He was just a liar.

"He's a fraud, why bother finding out? Just go to the government office and have him arrested."

Fang Wei shook his head and said, "As the saying goes, snakes have their ways, and rats have theirs. This person travels the world and specializes in deceiving people with the trick of 'getting fried in oil with nothing', which means he has some special skills in certain areas. Why not learn more about him? Perhaps we'll discover something unexpected."

"What special skills does a liar have? All he does is deceive people, right?" Lanxi said dismissively after hearing Fang Wei's words.

"It's alright, what harm is there in finding out? We're new to Kyoto, and if they have accomplices, we'd be falling into their trap if we went down and exposed them."

Lanxi thought about it and agreed, so she stopped talking.

Seeing that Lanxi remained silent, Fang Wei called over a waiter and instructed him to tell him that an old friend had arranged to meet them upstairs after the man finished performing. After tossing some silver to the waiter, the two watched the performance while waiting for the man to arrive.

In the time it takes to drink two cups of tea, the man who had just thrown himself into the oil pot finished his performance, and the onlookers began to toss him coins one after another. The man was overjoyed.

After the man finished his performance, Fang Wei felt that the man did have some skill. Although putting him in the oil fryer was a pure scam, the man's performance and deception had some merit, suggesting that he had been in the underworld for a long time.

Fang Wei also warned himself to be careful and not to be fooled by such a person.

The waiter was very efficient after receiving the money. Less than an incense stick's time after the man finished his performance, the waiter brought the man up.

"Sir, the person has been brought to you!" the waiter called out happily.

"Alright, you may leave!"

After the man finished his performance, he was about to leave when the waiter at the teahouse insisted on stopping him, saying that he had an old friend to meet upstairs.

When the waiter led him to Fang Wei, the man was startled, thinking to himself: No wonder my left eye has been twitching lately, how did I run into this little devil here? He's like a persistent ghost.

The man was a seasoned veteran of the martial world; though startled, he wasn't afraid.

The man cupped his hands and said, "I feel so guilty. How did I run into a fellow traveler here?"

Lanxi already disliked swindlers, but she was furious when this man came along and immediately claimed to be in the same line of work as Fang Wei.

Enraged, Lanxi didn't care about anything else and slammed her hand on the table, saying, "Who says we're in the same industry as you? You're a fraud, and we're not."

Lanxi's slamming of the table immediately drew everyone's attention.

Seeing that things were not going well, Fang Wei immediately made a downward gesture towards Lanxi, and at the same time pointed to the chair, indicating that the man should sit down.

Seeing Fang Wei's gesture, Lan Xi could only suppress her anger and listen to what Fang Wei had to say.

The man was already somewhat angry. Last time, these two had ruined his business and he hadn't received a single penny. Now, seeing them again, they were openly calling him a swindler. Anyone would be furious in that situation. However, seeing that Fang Wei was still somewhat polite, and that the other party seemed to have something to say, he refrained from getting angry on the spot.

After the man sat down, Fang Wei said jokingly, "Brother, your skill in getting yourself into this mess is quite impressive. How much silver did you make today?"

"Young man, we are complete strangers, yet you ask me how much silver I have. What do you intend to do with it?" the man asked warily.

"Hey, relax, relax. We're really not the swindlers you think we are, and we're not after your money. Last time in Zhongyuan Prefecture, you walked fast, and we didn't have a chance to properly exchange experiences after our sparring session. This time, we'll have a proper exchange."

Fang Wei disregarded the other party's vigilance and directly stated his position.

The man was furious upon hearing this. He was being ruined by someone who still wanted to have a conversation. So he stood up, cupped his hands, and said, "There's no need for a conversation. We're complete strangers, so I won't keep you company." With that, the man turned to leave.

Unexpectedly, this man has a temper. But that's good, he probably isn't really trying to cheat people out of a few coins.

Before the man could take two steps, he heard the boy's voice: "Aren't you afraid I'll reveal the secret of my volcano-descending technique if you just leave like this?"

Hearing Fang Wei's words, the man stopped and turned to stare at Fang Wei, asking, "What exactly do you want?"

Fang Wei waved, signaling the man to go back and sit down.

The man stared at Fang Wei for a while before returning to his seat at the table.

"Sir, you know we're not short of money, so you don't need to worry. But what about you? Why are you wandering the world, swindling people?"

The man knew Fang Wei wouldn't do anything to him, but he didn't know what Fang Wei wanted to do, so he said, "Young man, just tell me what you want to do."

Fang Wei's intention was simply to understand why the man was committing fraud; it couldn't be simpler. Therefore, he readily asked, "Man, you don't seem like the type to stoop so low for a little money. Why are you committing fraud?"

The man hadn't expected Fang Wei to ask this question, and for a moment he didn't know how to answer, so he simply remained silent.

"Men, let me tell you straight, we're from the Qu family, and we're both refined scholars. If things really get out of hand, you're no match for us. Do you think your silence will do you any good?" Fang Wei said, half-jokingly trying to fool him.

The man was somewhat shocked upon hearing this, not expecting the two boys to be of such extraordinary background. After thinking for a moment, he concluded that Fang Wei had no ulterior motives towards him and no reason to harm him, so he relaxed.

"You two are too kind. I was originally from the Ba Kingdom, but due to certain reasons, I ended up in the Chi Kingdom. I was forced to resort to swindling by boiling oil with my bare hands."

"Hmm, you're so honest, you don't seem like a hypocrite. In that case, I have a business opportunity I'd like to give you. I wonder if you'd dare to take it?" The business Fang Wei mentioned was also a spur-of-the-moment decision.

Upon meeting the man, Fang Wei suddenly had this idea, and while waiting for the man to arrive and talk to him, he kept thinking about it. If he could really do this so-called business deal well, then it was very likely that both the money and his current problems would be solved.

The man, weary of his long years of wandering, was interested in taking on a good business opportunity, but he wanted to hear what it was first. So, he asked with interest, "What kind of business is it, sir?"

"I can't tell you what kind of business it is right now, because we need to see what your abilities are. If you're not capable, you won't be able to take on this business," Fang Wei said, feigning profundity.

"Please enlighten me, sir," the man said, standing up with a respectful expression.

"Alright, since you're interested, I'll give you a way out. Come find me at the Qu residence tonight." After saying that, Fang Wei gestured for Lanxi to leave with his eyes.

Lanxi was curious about what kind of business Fang Wei was talking about when she saw him gesture with his eyes for her to leave. Although Lanxi didn't understand, she still obeyed Fang Wei.

Before the man could understand what was happening, Fang Wei had already left with Lanxi.

The man watched the two leave, still somewhat puzzled. Why did they have to go to the Qu residence to discuss a business deal? Was there something fishy going on?

That's impossible. What good could a poor conman like me possibly have to offer? If they wanted to harm me, they wouldn't go to such lengths.

Can't figure it out.

In the end, the man decided to go to the Qu residence that night to find out what the young man was really up to.

After leaving the teahouse, Lanxi became inexplicably interested in the business Fang Wei had mentioned and kept pressing him for details, but Fang Wei just smiled mysteriously.

Fang Wei's enigmatic smile fueled Lanxi's curiosity, but Fang Wei remained silent. In the end, Lanxi still had no idea what kind of business Fang Wei was talking about.

When the two left the teahouse, it was getting late, so Fang Wei led Lanxi to ask passersby for directions to the Qu residence.

Fortunately, the Qu family was very famous in the capital, and almost everyone who asked knew about it. Moreover, judging from the attitudes and expressions of passersby, the people of the Qu family had a very good reputation and prestige in the capital.

Upon finding the Qu residence, they told the gatekeeper they were students of Qu Yashi, and the gatekeeper led them into the residence.

Seeing this, both Fang and Wei were moved.

The teacher is a meticulous person who takes great care of others and is very considerate. It is truly a blessing to have such a teacher.