Chapter 25: The Market (2/2)
Junior Leopard's elder brother looked at the purse that Junior Leopard had passed to him. He thought for a second, and then a shocked look spread across his face; from the weight of this, it must be equal to almost half a year's wages of his!
”I have plenty left for myself—I had a lot of luck this month. I made a few weapons more than usual, and so the prize I took was greater too... ” Junior Leopard said nonchalantly.
”Ho-ho, so now Little Shiba is a pillar of the family!” The hunters standing by them were doing good business so they were in a light-hearted mood. Upon hearing the two brothers' conversation, they began to joke around.
”That's right, Junior Leopard, out of our entire village it's you with the finest prospects! Never mind working here as a blacksmith, how about I do a little match-making for you… my uncle has a young lass about your age, a radiant and vivacious little thing. How about it, eh?!”
”Never mind your uncle's family. There's a young niece of my family who is not bad at all too… !”
After some time, everyone had said their bit, and Junior Leopard was flushed red with embarrassment.
”There, there!” Laughter rippled through the crowd, and then Wang Tianlei said, ”You are all fully grown men, but here you are now, still teasing this young lad
”Elder brother Zhou, we're just having a joke, but what we say is true… Junior Leopard is indeed young, but he can still be betrothed… !”
”Yeah, that's right… !”
The crowd chimed in with their agreement.
”OK, OK, elder brothers, brother-in-law, everyone, I won't disturb your business!” With a look of resignation, Junior Leopard cupped his hands to bid farewell to this group of fellows.
”Little Shiba, do you have any free time lately?!” Seeing that Junior Leopard wanted to leave, Spikey promptly opened his mouth to ask him this question. With him being away for half a year, Junior Leopard's family had rather missed him. He knew that an apprentice had to follow an apprentice's rule, and it was common for them to find that they were unable to return home. As New Year's was approaching, Spikey wanted to know if Junior Leopard still had to serve in the armory. Although Junior Leopard had now broken free from his apprenticeship and had a lot of free time, it was still however quite troublesome for him to leave the armory behind.
”Oh, now let me see… perhaps next month I'll have time? I'll ask for leave when the time arrives, it shouldn't be a problem!” Junior Leopard said, then hurried away.
He had been reborn into this world and had a new identity and new parents, but in the end, it was still the memories of his previous life which occupied the dominant place in his thoughts. Although he held deep feelings towards his new family and new parents, he did not want to go back there and play the role of a child again.
He walked down the road, around the corner, coasted along the well-trodden path, and finally arrived on a street corner where a middle-aged man was setting up an old bookstall. For the past half a year, Junior Leopard had basically bought all of his books from here.
Just as he was approaching the bookstall, Junior Leopard heard the voice of someone cursing. ”You damned wastrel, how dare you rob my stall!? Don't you realize who it is you have crossed!”
”Huh… ?!” Junior Leopard's eyebrows jumped up in surprise. Without needing to look, he recognized the voice of the middle-aged man.
”This… this place… this place isn't run by your family! If you can set up a stall then why can't I set mine up?!” A weak voice called out, and a man of thin stature picked himself up off the ground. Junior Leopard could see more clearly now; it was a youth of about 20 years old, who looked delicate yet handsome — although his face was smeared with a layer of dust, and had on it a large bruise presumably from where he had just fallen. His robes, which originally would have been a pure white, were also now stained a grayish color. In his hands, he was holding something bundled in blue cloth, and it seemed like inside the bundle was a book. Based on this scene, it appeared that this boy must have wanted to set up a stall to sell books.
But, he did not know that, although this was a bustling market with all the stalls appearing to be chaotic and disorderly, they, in fact, each had a boss to answer to—each and every stall had to give payment to the Black Dragon Triad. This payment was divided into two parts—one was protection money to the Triad, and the other was taxation for the local government, which the Triad collected on their behalf. Wang Tianlei and the others were also not exempt; these were the rules of Qingyang Market and were well-established through common practice.
It was obvious that the younger man had not understood these rules, and had just taken a few books to directly sell at a stall. All things considered, it would have been stranger if he hadn't been beaten.
Just behind him stood the very same Zhang Yong of the Black Dragon Triad who Junior Leopard had bumped into on his way here. Zhang Yong's expression had darkened, and upon hearing the younger man speak these words, he exploded. ”You accursed thing! If I don't run this place, then I suppose you think that you run it? Let me tell you, this place most certainly is run by me, the Black Dragon Triad runs this place! And you little scoundrel, you dare talk back to me?!” As he spoke, he moved forward, raising a foot to kick the boy.