You believe that your gun is no match for my fist?

"Shouldn't we pay a visit to the Second Master first?"

Gao Zhan asked.

"Foolish!" Uncle Six glared at him. "You still have to pay your respects to Master Tang first!"

"Oh, that's true." Gao Zhan nodded.

"You need to learn about these social skills and the intricacies of human relationships!" Uncle Liu admonished from the side, and Gao Zhan nodded repeatedly as he listened.

I almost forgot, there's also the matter of interpersonal relationships.

Martial artists generally don't concern themselves with interpersonal relationships; their world is relatively pure, at least in Gao Zhan's hometown.

"Sixth Uncle, what kind of job did you assign me?" Gao Zhan asked curiously as he leaned against the wall with his sixth uncle.

"Hmph." Uncle Liu snorted smugly twice. "Aren't you a martial artist? I've arranged a job for you. Master Tang needs a bodyguard, and I spoke with the head steward several times before I finally got your name submitted."

After he finished speaking, he glanced at Gao Zhan and, seeing that Gao Zhan didn't react much, added, "Don't look down on this job of serving others. Being able to stand in front of Master Tang means you've caught his eye."

"So many people want to stand here, but can't even get a chance to."

Gao Zhan hummed in response but did not reply.

Uncle Liu thought he was unwilling, so he lowered his voice: "If you don't want to do this, that's fine too. You can come with me to the docks, it suits you too. As long as you dare to fight and take risks, you might just make it big..."

After saying that, he added, "When you see Master Tang later, remember to be respectful. If you can't put on a smiling face, just stand there with a blank expression, just don't look grumpy."

Gao Zhan smiled slightly and said, "Alright. I'll protect you then."

Uncle Liu was taken aback, seemingly not expecting him to agree so readily.

I was going to try to persuade him further, but it seems pointless now. He grunted twice, nodded, and said, "Alright, then let's do a good job."

"You know how to bend and stretch, huh?" he said, patting Gao Zhan on the shoulder.

He was about to say something more when the door at the end of the corridor was opened, and he immediately shut his mouth.

First to emerge was the second master, who wore gold-rimmed glasses. He had his head down, his face was pale, and sweat beaded on his forehead. Behind him followed a tall, burly man.

Finally, there was a thin, bald old man, who looked to be about fifty or sixty years old, with a pair of round sunglasses perched on his nose.

The three of them came out, but the conversation continued.

The gaunt old man walked behind and cursed at the second master, "Damn it, have you lost your mind? Master Teng is a regular customer of our docks. You went to negotiate business, and he just pointed his gun at you???"

"Damn it, you old codger, you've studied abroad and come back from school, how can you act like a pathetic bum, even worse than a thug!?"

The second master lowered his head and said, "Brother, it was he who first raised the price..."

"You think you can just take advantage of me by raising prices?" the old man interrupted him. "In Pucheng, raising and lowering prices is the norm. If you take advantage of everyone, who will dare to do business with us after that?"

The second master fell silent, only wiping his forehead with a handkerchief.

The big, burly man with a fierce face didn't say a word; he just walked with his arms crossed, listening to the old man cursing.

The three of them passed by Tang Liu and Gao Zhan. Master Tang paused and turned his head to look at them.

The man with the round sunglasses turned towards Gao Zhan, but didn't speak.

Sixth Uncle quickly bowed and pulled Gao Zhan to bow as well, saying, "Master, Master, please calm down."

"Second Master is also thinking about our dock business today. You wouldn't believe it, Master Teng brought a machine gun!"

"If it weren't for the Second Master's composure, a fight might have broken out on the spot. Although the Second Master was a bit hasty, he was just worried that we would suffer a loss!"

He spoke quickly and sincerely. The Second Master glanced at Tang Liu quickly from the side without saying a word.

Master Tang snorted, glanced at Gao Zhan again, said nothing more, and walked forward with his hands behind his back.

After taking a few steps, he suddenly stopped, turned around, and looked at Gao Zhan up and down with his eyes, which were still wearing sunglasses.

"Six," he said, "what a young man! Where did he come from? He's good-looking, but dressed like a beggar. Isn't that embarrassing?"

Uncle Liu bowed his head again, "Yes, yes, my nephew who just came from the countryside, I haven't had a chance yet..."

"Go away, go away, go away!" Master Tang interrupted him impatiently. "If people see this, they'll think we can't afford to raise her! Take her to Xiangji to cut some fabric and make her a couple of decent clothes!"

After saying that, he tilted his head towards the second master and said, "Second brother! Give him twenty yuan as pocket money."

The second master immediately pulled out a ticket book from his pocket, scribbled a few words, tore off a ticket, and handed it to Sixth Uncle: "This is a ticket from Xiangji. Use this to pay."

Uncle Liu accepted it with both hands, bowing repeatedly: "Thank you, sir, thank you, sir."

Master Tang snorted, glanced at Gao Zhan again, turned and continued walking out, adding before he finished, "If you bring someone like that again next time, I'll curse you out too!"

The three left, leaving only Gao Zhan and Tang Liu behind. Tang Liu looked down at the banknotes in his hand, and a look of joy immediately appeared on his face.

He glanced downstairs and saw that the three people had already left through the gate, then he burst into laughter.

Then he slapped Gao Zhan on the shoulder: "You little rascal, your luck has turned! It's all settled now, from this day forward you are the ruler of our Tang Dynasty!"

After saying that, he put his arm around Gao Zhan, went downstairs, went to the accountant's office to withdraw twenty silver dollars with the bank draft, put them in his pocket, and then pulled Gao Zhan out of the Tang residence and headed towards the main road.

After walking for more than half an hour, they first turned into a clothing store, picked out a ready-made gray silk Hanfu, and had Gao Zhan change into it.

Then, he took the measurements and instructed the shop to make two fine suits, which he would pick up in three days.

One ready-made set plus two custom-made sets, plus two pairs of leather shoes, and the twenty dollars were used up exactly, with not a penny left.

Gao Zhan touched his crisp new clothes. He knew the purchasing power of silver dollars. Twenty silver dollars, damn it, that was no small sum.

He couldn't help but click his tongue in amazement: "Sixth Uncle, isn't this a bit too wasteful? Twenty silver dollars!"

Upon hearing this, Tang Liu immediately laughed and cursed, "Bah! You're just a poor, worthless bum; you're already showing your weakness the moment you put your hands on the action!"

"Damn it," he said, pulling Gao Zhan close, "if you run into Master Tang and he sees you looking so poor, you're in for a good scolding!!"

"Who do you think our Master Tang is? Twenty silver dollars is nothing to him!"

"Don't say such vulgar things again!"

As he spoke, he put his arm around Gao Zhan's shoulder, a slick smile suddenly spreading across his face. He lowered his voice and said, "Hehe, you're new here today, kid. Uncle Liu will take you out for a nice meal later to welcome you and wash you off your journey!"

Seeing his ambiguous smile, Gao Zhan understood and grinned back, revealing a lewd... well, a smile: "Sixth Uncle, where are we going?"

Tang Liu winked. "That's definitely a great place!"

After saying that, he uttered a place name: "Old West Gate, Qunyu Lane!"