Start with acting, and you'll achieve immortality!

The old three-courtyard house in Ping'an Lane in the south of the city changed hands after only a few days, and a new plaque was hung in front of the door: Jiangning Guild Hall.

The deed was delivered by Yan Shichang, and Li Ping accepted it without ceremony. The house had blue bricks and gray tiles, and was quite old. A crooked old locust tree still stood in the yard.

As soon as it was light, Qian Duo stood in the courtyard, shouting and directing the moving of furniture. The plaque for the Jiangning Guild Hall had been hung up the day before; it had four characters, written in a crisp, clean style by Su Wan. Li Ping had asked her to write it, so she did without asking any questions.

Qian Duo stood under the plaque, looking up at it for a long time, and exclaimed, "Miss Su, your calligraphy sends chills down my spine just looking at it. How about you give me a couple of pointers, so I can at least defend myself?"

Su Wan wiped the sword without looking up: "The sword is too heavy, you can't lift it."

Da Niu and Er Hu each carried an iron bar through the door. Er Hu, panting, said, "Sir, these iron things are heavy! If you smash them down, they'll flatten the man and his shield together. They're much more effective than a door bolt!"

"It's a good stick," Li Ping said as he came out of the main room, his complexion better than yesterday. "It's a pity it's not smart. The wall in the east wing is about to collapse. Go and mix some mud to block it up, before it hits you on the head."

Thirty brothers from Jiangning moved into the backyard, and tables and chairs were set up in the front hall. Qian Duo, the accountant, took out the booklet written by Gao Min from the bottom of the trunk, carefully placed it on the table, and stroked the pages.

"Mr. Gao's account," he said to Li Ping, "will be our lifeline in Beijing from now on."

"Then burn a couple more incense sticks," Li Ping said. "And while you're at it, settle today's food bill. The guild hall doesn't support idlers."

When the sun was high in the sky, the first outsider arrived at the entrance of the guild hall.

An elderly rice shop owner, with gray hair and a severely hunched back, stood at the door for a long while before calling out in a trembling voice, "Lord Li... is he there?"

Li Ping came out to greet him: "Old man, what's the matter?"

The old man rubbed his hands together, hesitated for a long time, and finally asked, "Lord Li, from now on, will no Green Wolf Gang members come to collect money in Ping'an Lane?"

"The Green Wolf Gang has disbanded," Li Ping said. "But my rules are: no adulteration, no price gouging, and no cheating customers. If anyone ruins my reputation, I'll take away their livelihood."

The old man was stunned, as if he hadn't understood, and asked again, "Not even a single copper coin...?"

Something suddenly welled up in the old man's cloudy eyes. He lowered his head, wiped his eyes with his sleeve, and then raised his head again: "I am Old Zhou from the rice shop. The Green Wolf Gang has been taking a cut from me for three years, 30% every month... My shop almost went out of business, sir. Are you sure about this?"

Li Ping said, "If you're scared, hold onto your money tightly for now. Wait a month until no one comes to rob you, then you can relax."

Old Manager Zhou bowed deeply, said nothing more, and turned to leave.

News travels faster than the wind

That afternoon, a group of people arrived at the entrance of the guild hall. They were small business owners from grain shops, cloth shops, general stores, blacksmith shops, oil mills, and tofu shops. They were all natives of the south of the city who had been bullied by the Green Wolf Gang. Some carried a jug of oil, some carried half a carcass of pork, and some, feeling embarrassed to go empty-handed, carried a roll of cloth from their own shops.

Qian Duo stood at the door, receiving so many gifts his hands were sore, and he couldn't stop smiling: "Oh, I'm so sorry, please come in and sit down! The tea is freshly made!"

Li Ping sat in the front hall all afternoon, listening to all sorts of complaints.

The Green Wolf Gang collects protection money, the Chamber of Commerce raises and lowers prices, and you have to go through the Chamber of Commerce to buy goods and pay 30% profit when you sell them. The owner of a pickle shop wiped away tears as she spoke, saying that her pickle jars had been smashed by the Green Wolf Gang three times, just because she refused to pay an extra "jar guarding fee".

After listening, Li Ping only asked one question: "The jar is broken, but the recipe for making the soy sauce wasn't lost, was it?"

"Then go back and mend the jar. If anyone dares to touch your jar again, I'll make sure they suffer the same fate as the jar."

Across the street, under a tea stall, a man in gray sat for the entire afternoon, his tea refilled three times, his eyes never leaving the entrance of the guild hall. As the sun began to set, he got up and headed towards the Drunken Immortal Pavilion.

In the evening, all the guests left.

Qian Duo squatted on the doorstep, counting the gifts he had received that day: pickled garlic, cloth, oil, and pork, filling half the courtyard. He looked up and said, "Sir, we haven't even started earning money yet, and we've already become living bodhisattvas in the south of the city."

"Personal connections are more useful than money," Li Ping said. "Once you've taken their meat, they'll become your eyes and ears."

He paused, his gaze suddenly falling on the locust tree outside the courtyard gate.

A small, thin figure crouched beside a tree root, curled up like a cat that had been soaked by the rain.

Li Ping glanced at him and recognized him. He was the one squatting at the entrance of Ping'an Alley, eating a steamed bun and keeping watch. Later, when the Green Wolf Gang's headquarters came to investigate, it was he who gave them the message.

"Come here," Li Ping said.

The figure trembled, stood up, and hesitantly moved to the doorway. He appeared to be fourteen or fifteen years old, thin with sunken cheeks, his sleeves too short, revealing bruises on his exposed wrists.

"Lord Li," he said, his head bowed and his voice trembling, "I...I'm called Ah Si."

"You haven't even completely removed the Green Wolf Gang's nameplate yet, and you're already in a hurry to change masters and kneel before them?"

"The gang is in chaos," Ah Si said, clutching the hem of his clothes. "The bald guy is paralyzed, and nobody cares... They said it was because I led the wrong way, and they kicked me out. I have nowhere to go..."

He suddenly raised his head, a desperate glint in his eyes: "Lord Li, will you take me in? I don't want money, just some leftovers! I'm fast; I know every rat hole in the south of the city. I've got my eyes on every watchtower, every gambling den connected to the back street!"

Li Ping looked at him

The boy's eyes were bright, almost too bright, as if he was trying too hard to show off all his abilities, afraid the other person wouldn't believe him.

"I saw you squatting at the entrance of Ping'an Alley keeping watch," Li Ping said.

Ah Si held his breath.

"Your eyes are glancing into the shop, not to look for food, but to see if I, an official from Jiangning, can really establish myself in the capital," Li Ping said in a low voice. "Am I right?"

Ah Si opened his mouth, his eyes instantly reddening, but he held back with all his might: "I...I don't want to go back to the street to snatch leftover steamed buns anymore."

Li Ping didn't ask any more questions.

"Come in and have some food."

At the dinner table, Ah Si ate without even looking up, his chopsticks moving with a gust of wind as he picked up food. Qian Duo refilled his bowl of soup, saying, "Slow down, no one's going to take it from you."

Ah Si mumbled, "Thank you, Uncle Qian."

"...Inside the guild hall, you should call him Steward Qian."

"Brother Qian"

Li Ping sat in the main seat, watching this scene without saying a word, only pushing his wine bowl towards A Si.

Late at night, the lights in the guild hall were still on. A map of the southern part of the city was spread out on the table in the front hall. Li Ping drew several circles on it with his finger, marking the blind spots that the guild hall couldn't reach.

"We have manpower and territory," Li Ping muttered to himself, looking at the map. "What we still need is a blind man who can guide us in the dark."