He changed Tiwat

If Yanfei knows about the forgery of Mora, that would be ideal; if not, asking her to help investigate would be the most suitable option.

However, Han Fulai's trip to Yan Fei's house turned out to be fruitless. A sign that read "On Field Duty" was hanging outside Yan Fei's house.

"...We need to think of a way to get True Lord Liuyun to invent a mobile phone or something similar. It's too troublesome to find people in this era where you have to walk around."

Looking at the sign, Han Fulai couldn't help but think of taking another feather from the bird of the True Lord of Clouds and Wind.

Of course, Han Fulai wasn't discouraged by just being turned away once. Although he didn't know as many people as Yan Fei, his time spent observing the lives of ordinary people in Liyue Harbor hadn't been in vain.

Han Fulai first went to Changshun, the owner of a general store on the side of Feiyunpo Street. She saw Yanfei and Shenhe heading towards Chihuyan. Then she met the siblings Yixian and Yizhu, who lived near the border between Chihuyan and Feiyunpo. They said that the pink-haired sister who looked like a deer and the white-haired sister who dressed like a crane walked eastward. Finally, she accompanied Ying'er, the owner of "Chunxiangyao," for a short drive. Ying'er almost managed to extract Shenhe's measurements before she told her that Yanfei had gone to the East Wharf of Liyue Harbor.

When Han Fulai arrived at the East Wharf of Liyue Harbor, he saw a crowd gathered in front of fishmonger Lao Gao's stall. Shen He's tall figure and white hair stood out in the crowd, and Han Fulai recognized him at a glance, quickly rushing into the crowd.

In the center of the crowd were four people: fishmonger Lao Gao, an unfamiliar foreign businessman, Yan Fei, and Shen He.

The merchant was dressed in Mondstadt attire and spoke Liyue dialect with a rather strange accent, as if he had a lisp, clearly indicating that he had little talent for languages.

The Mondstadt merchant pointed at Lao Gao, his voice filled with anger: "Fish, three of them, more expensive than one!"

Old Gao's face was contorted with a bitter expression, his brow furrowed. He crossed his arms and said in a rough voice, "Don't talk nonsense! One fish costs three hundred, three fish cost one thousand. Can three hundred Mora be more expensive than one thousand Mora?"

"You're a liar!" The Mondstadt merchant pronounced the words quite clearly, as if he had said them many times before. "Three hundred for one, nine hundred for three!"

"Hey, I don't like hearing that. It's my fish, I can sell it however I want, I'm happy with it!" Old Gao's voice was loud, but his eyes kept glancing at Yan Fei standing with the Mondstadt merchants. He seemed a bit fierce but actually weak, obviously having heard of Yan Fei's reputation.

According to rumors circulating in the city, trying to play tricks on Yan Fei in front of her can lead to serious trouble.

“But according to your order price, three fish should indeed cost nine hundred Mora,” Yan Fei said, her voice clear and unreadable.

“Oh dear, Miss Yanfei, you don’t know this.” When Old Gao heard Yanfei speak, he lowered his posture considerably and put on a smiling face for her. “Look how fresh my fish are, they’re only selling for three hundred moras! If he buys one, he makes a small profit; if he buys two, I lose a small profit; if he buys three, I lose a lot! This is called the more you buy, the more you earn, so the more you buy, the higher the price should be.”

"Oh?" Yan Fei shook her head, her eyes darting around as she peered through the gaps in the crowd at the surrounding vendors.

Old Sun, who was at the fish stall across the street, was looking towards the crowd when he met Yan Fei's gaze. He lowered his head somewhat awkwardly and pretended to organize his goods.

Old Gao continued to spout his business philosophy: "...Besides, every fish I sell reduces the price, so isn't it normal for the fewer there are, the more expensive they become? Even Mondstadt residents should have heard of that...yes, 'scarcity drives up prices'! I call this a 'market economy,' where 'scarce' goods command higher prices, understand?"

“You’re right.” Yan Fei actually nodded in agreement with Lao Gao’s statement.

"Huh?" Old Gao himself didn't expect Yan Fei to agree with him, and immediately shut up. The Mondstadt merchant also looked at Yan Fei with a puzzled expression, after all, Yan Fei had seemed to be on his side before.

"A 'market economy' encourages full competition among merchants. Liyue is a nation built on commerce, and it has always been so. 'Scarcity makes things valuable' is an ancient adage that has been passed down in Liyue," Yanfei explained frankly to the Mondstadt merchant. "But there are two prerequisites. First, his pricing cannot disrupt market order. Liyue has a market supervision bureau..."

"Hey, hey, my pricing didn't disrupt market order. Three hundred Mora is already very cheap!" Old Gao argued loudly.

“Yes, yes, I didn’t say your pricing disrupted market order. The second premise I’m referring to—'scarcity drives up prices'—means your goods have to be genuinely rare, and you’re not the only one selling fish here.”

After saying that, Yan Fei gave Shen He a wink.

Shen He, who was standing next to Yan Fei, was originally listening attentively to the teacher's lecture. When Yan Fei winked at him, Shen He was stunned for a moment, and then nodded seriously twice.

Shen He raised her slender white right hand, opened her palm in front of Lao Gao, and then clenched her fingers one by one, making a very powerful fist.

"How many punches should we give him?" Shen He asked Yan Fei calmly.

Chapter 44 Mr. Humphrey, may the wind god deceive you!

Shen He, such a beautiful woman who looks like a fairy, suddenly clenched her fist in front of everyone and asked Yan Fei how many punches she wanted, just like a thug hired by one of the "dynamic social organizations" in Liyue Harbor, asking his boss if he wanted to buy someone's hands and feet.

Because of the stark contrast in their demeanor, not only the onlookers but also Lao Gao, who was about to be beaten, were stunned and didn't know how to react.

"No, no, no..." Yan Fei quickly grabbed Shen He's arm. Due to the significant height difference, the scene was rather comical.

Yan Fei looked helpless, feeling that she must have been out of her mind to agree to Han Fulai's offer to take Shen He on a social practice trip to Liyue. "Shen He! Come closer."

"Oh..." Shen He lowered his head as instructed.

“Didn’t I tell you before? I’ll wink twice, and you’ll say, ‘There’s an old saying in Liyue: compare prices at three different places. There’s an old fish stall called Old Sun across the street. Let’s go check it out.’ Then Old Gao will definitely say something like, ‘Whatever, buy it or not, it’ll be fine.’ Then we’ll go to Old Sun’s stall and ask about the price… The fist-waving signal is for me to wink four times!” Yan Fei whispered very quickly.

"But you blinked both eyes twice at the same time, so that's four blinks, isn't it?" Shen He replied blankly.

"Sigh... let's use a different code next time..." Yan Fei covered her face helplessly.

Just then, a cough came from behind them.

The two women turned around and saw Han Fulai pushing through the crowd.

Han Fulai waved to the two men, indicating that they should hand it over to him. Then he walked up to Lao Sun and took out the "Fish Price Survey Meeting" badge—a fake badge that Ye Lan had given him when they investigated Zhiyi's background last time. He hadn't returned it, but now it came in handy again.

"Old Gao, we meet again," Han Fulai said with a smile.

"Ah...it's you again! Didn't I tell you last time that my price was absolutely right?!" Old Gao suddenly became nervous. He didn't expect this person from the "Fish Price Survey Meeting" to appear in front of him again. It seems that the person who asked him questions last time was not accidental, but had definitely been keeping an eye on him for a long time.

Han Fulai, observing Gao's expression, knew exactly what he was thinking. He gave a forced smile and adopted a businesslike attitude: "We received a report from the public that your fish prices seem to have caused a dispute with out-of-town merchants. Our fish price investigation committee will have to thoroughly investigate your issue this time!"

"What problem... what problem? I set my own prices for my own fish, nobody can tell me what to do!" Old Gao stubbornly insisted.

"I see your fish aren't selling. Your prices are way too high compared to other vendors, aren't they?" Han Fulai glanced at the few fish on Lao Gao's stall and the fish basket next to him. Compared to other vendors, Lao Gao had clearly prepared far less stock.

"This...this is because some people don't know what's good for them! Humph, buy it or don't, it's up to you!" Old Gao snorted and turned his face away.

"Since you put it that way, I'll go and check out the fish prices at other places... Miss Yanfei, do you know the current market conditions for fresh fish?" Han Fulai asked deliberately.

Yan Fei understood what Han Fulai meant when he said this: "Of course, the average price of fresh fish varies depending on freshness and season, but it is usually no more than 250 moles per fish, and sometimes as low as 200 moles per fish. For example, the average price of fish at Old Sun's fish stall across from him has always been stable at 240 moles per fish."

"Thank you, Miss Yanfei." Han Fulai nodded. "Old Gao, it seems like you weren't really planning to sell fish? You've stocked less than other vendors, and the fish across the street are so much cheaper than yours, aren't you going to lower your prices?"

"I'm going for the high-quality market! I won't engage in low-end price wars!" Old Gao declared confidently.

"So, do people actually buy your 'high-end' fish?" Han Fulai asked, his face full of suspicion.

Seeing this, Lao Gao scoffed and touched his nose: "My business is booming!"

"That makes things much easier." Han Fulai clapped his hands and said, "I'll report this to the Liyue Market Supervision Administration and the General Affairs Department in a bit. The Administration will check your accounts, and the General Affairs Department will check your tax records. Your business is so good, you must have paid a lot of taxes, right?"

"Ah...this..." A few drops of cold sweat appeared on Lao Gao's forehead.

In fact, he was working with Old Sun across the street, performing a charade. He deliberately inflated the fish price to drive customers to Old Sun's side. Actually, the fish price at this time of year is usually 200 moras, but because Old Gao raised the price to 300 moras, people who bought fish for 240 moras felt they were getting a good deal, so Old Sun's business was booming.

Old Gao actually sold most of his fish at Old Sun's fish stall. The two of them would sit down and split the money when they drank at night, each getting half.

Because Lao Gao couldn't sell almost a single fish, his revenue was dismal, and naturally, he paid very little tax, thus evading a considerable amount of taxes. After all, it was Lao Gao's idea, and Lao Sun had no objections—but both Lao Gao and Lao Sun kept records in their ledgers, and if the regulatory bureau and the general affairs department found out, it wouldn't be as simple as a fine.

Of course, Yan Fei and Han Fulai saw through Lao Gao's little tricks long ago.

"Miss Yanfei, how does our 'Liyue Business Code' calculate tax evasion?" Han Fulai asked.

Shen He remembered what Yan Fei had told her before, and raised his hand to answer quickly: "I know! If the amount of tax evasion exceeds 10% of the tax payable, the penalty is imprisonment for up to three years; if it exceeds 30%, the penalty is three to seven years!"

Han Fulai secretly gave Shen He a thumbs-up to show his praise, and Shen He's face was beaming with pride at receiving the little red flower.

“More than three years…tsk tsk, really not worth it.” After saying that, Han Fu turned around and made a move to leave.

"Hey, hey, stop! Stop it..." Old Gao quickly pulled Han Fulai back, "I'll sell this fish! I'll sell it, okay?"

"How much?" Han Fulai stared at Lao Gao.

"Two hundred and forty..."

"Ok?"

"Two hundred! Two hundred moras for one, six hundred for three! Honest and fair!"

The Mondstadt merchants were overjoyed upon hearing the price.

"I want this whole basket of fish!" he said, pulling out a large bag of Mora.

Old Gao sighed, reluctantly ordered the Mora, and began adding water and covering the fish basket.

“Truly worthy of being called ‘Lawyer Yanfei’! And this gentleman…” The Mondstadt merchant grasped Han Fulai’s hand, wanting to express his gratitude, only to realize that he did not know the other’s name.

"My name is Han Fulai," Han Fulai said with a smile.

"I am Farah, Mr. Humphrey, may the wind god deceive you!" The Mondstadt merchant named Farah offered the unique blessing of the Mondstadt people.

After the on-site mediation concluded successfully and the onlookers dispersed, Yan Fei smiled and patted Han Fulai on the shoulder: "Mr. Han, thank you very much. Pharah came to me saying that the Liyue people discriminated against Mondstadt merchants. I thought there would be some serious conflict, so I specially brought Shen He along... It's so good that it was resolved satisfactorily."

"Discrimination against Mondstadt merchants? Is that so?" Han Fulai asked in surprise.

"Hmm... I wouldn't call it discrimination." Yanfei tilted her head. "Recently, many merchants in Liyue, such as these fishmongers, are not very willing to do business with foreign merchants... or rather, they prefer to accept Liyue Coins as payment. Many foreign merchants don't know that Liyue is promoting Liyue Coins, and when they come to buy things with a big bag of Mora, they are often refused."

As Yan Fei spoke, she pointed to Old Sun's fish stall behind her.

"For example, a conflict occurred with Lao Sun a few days ago. He refused to accept Mora from the Winter Merchant and insisted on only accepting Liyue Coins."

Chapter 45: We only accept Liyue coins for business.

"You only accept Liyue coins?" Han Fulai frowned.

Normally, as a promoter of Liyue currency, he should have been happy about this. Merchants' spontaneous willingness to use Liyue currency for payment would be a huge boon to its promotion. From his perspective, he would have loved to loudly proclaim and encourage this behavior.

But the timing of this is very bad – counterfeit Mora phones have already started appearing on the market.

At this point, some businessmen began refusing to accept Mora, making it hard not to connect the two events.

"Yanfei, did Lao Sun explain his reasons for doing this?" Han Fulai asked.

“According to his initial statement, this was because Ningguang was promoting Liyue currency throughout Liyue, and he was doing this in response to the established economic policies of the Liyue Seven Stars…” Yanfei rested her chin on her hand, her eyes showing a rather complicated expression.

Because Ningguang is promoting Liyue Coins, many merchants who want to establish a relationship with her have started using them, hoping to share in the profits as Ningguang's supporters in the future. Old Sun's reason is obviously very reasonable, but reasonableness does not equate to truth.

"'The initial statement'...that means there's a follow-up statement, right?" Han Fulai keenly noticed the deeper meaning in the words Yan Fei used.

“Hmm…” Yanfei rarely hesitated. “To put it more precisely, it should be… ‘I think he has other reasons.’ When I mediated this matter a few days ago, Old Sun seemed to have something else to say, but in the end he didn’t say it and insisted on only accepting Liyue Coins. In the end, I used Liyue Coins to exchange for Mora with that Winter Merchant and resolved the matter.”

“You know, a transaction is essentially a contract, following the principle of fairness and mutual consent, and it does not allow for forced buying and selling. Whether Lao Sun is willing to sell his goods or not is his personal freedom, and according to the law, I have no right to interfere as long as he has not violated any regulations.”

Yan Fei helplessly shrugged.

"I see..." Han Fulai nodded, already having a reasonable deduction in his mind. Next, it was time to verify this deduction.

When Lao Sun saw Han Fulai and the others walking towards him, his heart skipped a beat. He had witnessed the entire incident with Lao Gao and knew that Lao Gao's collaboration with him to raise fish prices was likely exposed; Lao Gao's earlier concession was proof of that.

Thinking of this, he put on a fawning smile: "Oh, are you all here to buy fish too? Every fish in our shop is 'super fresh'!"

"What does 'super fresh' mean? How is it different from the fish sold across the street?" Shen He asked with some doubt after hearing Lao Sun's promotional slogan.

In her mind, since Lao Gao kept saying that his fish were fresh and of good quality, and Lao Sun dared to add the word "super" before "fresh," he must have something special about him.

Han Fulai recalled that when Lao Sun described Zhiyi last time, he also said "super amazing", and couldn't help but chuckle to himself. This was simply Lao Sun's personal verbal tic.

Old Sun knew this advertising slogan by heart and rattled it off without hesitation: "'Super Fresh' and 'Fresh' are only one word apart, but they mean completely different things! The quality and size of the meat are on a completely different level! And I can guarantee the price will be cheaper than across the street!"

"How much are these fish, Mr. Sun? Old Gao across the street sells them for two hundred Mora each," Han Fulai asked casually, pretending to select fresh fish.

Old Sun naturally knew he was from the "Fish Price Survey Committee," and with a wave of his hand, he said, "Two... no, one hundred and ninety Liyue coins per fish!"

"Wow, so cheap! Isn't Mr. Sun afraid of losing money?" Han Fulai asked deliberately.

Old Sun adopted a weathered expression, his eyes filled with melancholy, coupled with his stubble and superb scale-picking skills—he was practically ready to put a Dry Martini on the fish stall.

"Sigh, actually our prices were higher before, but my fish were fresher, so they sold better. It's a pity that such a super cool guy like me, no matter where I am, is like a firefly in the dark, so bright and outstanding... so it aroused Lao Gao's jealousy. But even if he lowers his prices and starts a price war with me, I'm not afraid! What's wrong with selling at a loss so that everyone can eat cheap and fresh fish?"

Han Fulai clapped his hands enthusiastically for him, thinking to himself that with the performing talents of Lao Gao and Lao Sun, it would be a real shame if they didn't form a crosstalk duo.

“Boss Sun is right. I’d like three fish. How about we make fish head tofu soup tonight?” Han Fulai said, turning his head to ask Yan Fei and Shen He for their opinions.

Shen He had no objections, of course. She was never a picky eater. Moreover, Han Fulai's cooking skills had been personally taught by Meng Xiangling. As the designated caretaker of the Liuyun Clan, he had firmly won over Shen He's stomach.

Yan Fei was quite pleased to hear this—it turned out he still remembered that she liked tofu. It had been quite a long time since Yan Fei had eaten with Han Fulai, and thinking back to the days when the two of them worked together in the kitchen… a shallow dimple appeared on Yan Fei's lips.

Han Fulai took out his wallet from his bag, then pretended to be annoyed: "Oh dear, I didn't bring any Liyue coins. Can I use Mora?"

“Well… in principle, I only accept Liyue coins…” Old Sun hesitated for a moment, then finally nodded, “…Okay.”

While counting the Mora, Han Fulai asked casually, "Boss Sun doesn't seem too willing to accept Mora?"

"Ah, I'm just responding to Lady Ningguang's call..."

Old Sun offered a casual explanation, but was silenced by Han Fulai's next words.

"You're afraid of receiving fake Mora, aren't you? I'm from Liyue, and I'm wearing this uniform, so you think I can trust me. But if a foreigner gives you fake Mora and then just goes back home, you'll have to bear the loss yourself, right?"

"Fake...fake Mora?!" Not only Old Sun, but even Yan Fei was startled by Han Fulai's words and almost screamed.

Han Fulai's voice remained calm: "This place is located at the dock, and most of the merchants coming from the south and north gather here. The currency they carry is mostly Mora. Foreigners have nowhere to use Liyue Coins when they take them back, so their willingness to exchange them is not very high. Accepting only Liyue Coins is tantamount to pushing these foreign merchants out. It would be too strange not to do business with foreigners at the dock, wouldn't it?"

Mora and Liyue Coins are exchangeable at par, and both are valid in Liyue, so merchants should theoretically accept both. This situation is like a normal convenience store that should theoretically accept both WeChat and Alipay for payment, but Old Sun's store only accepts WeChat and not Alipay—even though most of his customers are used to paying with Alipay, so he's essentially cutting off his own source of income.

Merchants are inherently profit-driven, and there's no reason for them not to make money, unless... Old Sun believes that the risks of acquiring Mora outweigh the potential gains.

"Mr. Sun, have you heard something, like... if the Liyue Seven Stars find out you're using fake Mora, they'll fine you or arrest you?"

Chapter 46 How can those who make money possibly beat those who create it?

Old Sun's face was visibly contorted in pain, his expression full of bitterness. Clearly, Han Fulai's words had struck a nerve.

As a businessman, if you can make money properly, who would be willing to give up the Mora they've already acquired?