Beleaguered Enemies Together

The leopard-headed brawny man snorted at a thin, somewhat womanish fellow beside him and said, "Little Doggy, step up and pay this young lady three taels of silver for her meal."

The thin, frail Little Doggy lowered his head and muttered an acknowledgment, "Yes, Boss Gao." He then began patting his pockets, searching for quite a while before finally producing a few scraps of silver that clearly fell short of three taels.

Qu Buping could not help chuckling under his breath and remarked, "It seems this fellow is just as broke as we are."

The leopard-headed man, known as Boss Gao, cast a sideways glance at him and waved to his other two companions. The two men also searched their pockets, and the three of them finally managed to piece together three taels of silver. Boss Gao snatched the money, walked over to the innkeeper, and slammed it down onto the counter, saying, "Here is three taels for the meal. We are taking this young lady with us."

The innkeeper let out a cold snort and said, "Four friends, do not muddy these waters. We are only taking this necklace as payment for the meal, and the young lady agreed to it. There is no need for you to complicate matters."

The innkeeper's meaning was clear: he only wanted the necklace, and everything else was none of his concern. If the others were envious, they could try taking something else, seeing as the young lady possessed plenty of other valuables.

It appeared the innkeeper recognized the identities of these four men and was reluctant to offend them lightly, yet because a fortune worth over a thousand taels was almost within his grasp, he was determined not to let anyone else snatch it away.

Boss Gao sneered coldly, "Innkeeper, you must be blind not to recognize our backgrounds. Let me show you our methods so that you may understand."

The innkeeper also chuckled coldly, "You belong to the Fishermen and Rice Hall. I have seen plenty of your methods. Other inns may fear you, but we do not. Let me tell you, our proprietor is none other than Master Shen, the wealthiest man in Gusu City. Let us see what you dare to do!"

Upon hearing these words, Boss Gao seemed to harbor certain misgivings, lowering his head in silence.

Seeing this, the innkeeper pressed on, "How about this? Let us not argue. Let us ask the young lady herself. If she agrees to use the necklace to pay for the meal, then you should not complicate matters. If she says she is unwilling, we will only charge eighty taels of silver for the meal and leave the rest alone. What do you think?"

Boss Gao nodded. Meanwhile, Little Doggy, who possessed a rather feminine demeanor, was busily explaining the situation to the young lady, warning her that the innkeeper was trying to fleece her and urging her not to be deceived, working himself into a flurry.

After listening to the explanation, the young lady seemed to grasp the situation. Pouting her lips in defiance, she cursed the innkeeper, "You old scoundrel! How dare you bully me! You are infuriating me to death!"

With that, she grabbed a set of bowls and dishes and hurled them straight at the innkeeper. It seemed that though the young lady was small in stature, her temper flared fiercely. A chaotic clatter of crashing porcelain rang out. Though the innkeeper managed to dodge the flying objects, several jars of wine on the counter were smashed to pieces.

Furious, the innkeeper shouted, "This is outright rebellion!" As he spoke, he stepped forward to grab the young lady.

Boss Gao hurriedly intercepted him, saying, "Innkeeper, do not lower yourself to a young girl's level. Very well, I agree to give you eighty taels of silver. How is that?"

Thinking that eighty taels was still a decent sum and better than losing everything, the innkeeper nodded and said, "Very well, I will give face to the Fishermen and Rice Hall."

Boss Gao patted his own pockets, but managed to fish out only a little over ten taels of silver. It appeared he could not produce eighty taels on the spot.

Startled for a moment, Boss Gao asked, "Innkeeper, how about I write you an IOU?"

The innkeeper barked, "That will not do! I agreed to let you settle the bill for eighty taels solely out of respect for your Fishermen and Rice Hall and Master Yu. What good is an IOU from you?"

Boss Gao contemplated resorting to force, but the innkeeper had several staff members in the establishment, and together with the innkeeper himself, victory was not guaranteed. After pondering for a long moment, he suddenly said, "Young lady, pluck one of the golden hairpin from your head and give it to me."

Although the young lady did not fully understand, she still removed a golden hairpin and handed it to Boss Gao. Boss Gao placed it before the innkeeper and said, "This golden hairpin is made of pure gold. I reckon it is worth a hundred taels of silver. How about we use this as collateral?"

The innkeeper picked it up, examined it, and said, "Very well! For the sake of Master Yu of your Hall, we shall leave it at that."

Watching the four of them leave together with the young lady, Qu Buping felt a faint itch of restlessness, especially when the young lady turned back and smiled at him. He could not help saying to Xiaoyu, "If this little beauty falls into the hands of those four, it will be a miracle if she does not meet a tragic fate—unless the heavens are truly blind."

Xiaoyu replied, "That is not necessarily the case."

Qu Buping was stunned for a second before understanding. He laughed and said, "That is right! With the three of us young heroes here, it seems this young lady will not suffer any misfortune after all."

Xiaoyu chimed in, "Let us just hope the ones who suffer misfortune today are not us."

Qu Buping chuckled and scolded, "Can you not say something encouraging? You only utter such ominous remarks. Meeting a great beauty and suffering misfortune on her account might be forgivable, but now that we have encountered a little beauty, it is time for us to assert our heroism."

With that, Qu Buping stepped forward and shouted, "Hold on, four friends! Where do you intend to take her?"

Seeing someone step forward to block their path, Boss Gao was startled at first, but upon realizing they were merely three youths, his composure returned. He retorted sharply, "What business is this of yours?"

Xiaoyu stepped forward and said, "We can see that the four of you are no good. Not only do you covet the valuables on this young lady, but you might even sell her off. How can we just stand by and do nothing?"

The young lady tilted her head in confusion and asked, "Are they really that bad?"

Qu Buping replied, "Of course. Little lady, you must be careful not to let them sell you while you are still helping them count their money."

Furious, Boss Gao barked, "You three brats are courting death!"

The innkeeper, deeply reluctant to see the four men take the young lady away, was now delighted to see others intervene and stood by to watch the spectacle with glee.

Qu Buping pushed his table aside and smiled, "We have just eaten and drunk our fill, and we are looking to stretch our limbs. Which of you four wants to go first?"

Seeing that Qu Buping appeared to be only in his teens, Boss Gao did not take him seriously at all. He pushed Little Doggy beside him and said, "You go up and finish him off."

Though feeling somewhat guilty, Little Doggy saw that Qu Buping was younger than himself and no taller either. His confidence restored slightly, he braced himself and stepped forward, attempting to bolster his own courage as he rolled up his sleeves: "Brat, it is still not too late to beg me for mercy. I might spare you."

As he spoke, he drew closer. Qu Buping, watching him approach, suddenly lashed out with a flying kick to the fellow's shin. Little Doggy, failing to anticipate such lightning speed, had no time to react before his body tilted forward. Qu Buping followed up with a right hook straight to his chin, sending him reeling backward. Then, with a swift sweep of his left leg and a sharp crack, Little Doggy was sent sprawling flat onto the ground.