15 Care to Place a Wager? (1/2)
While Yun Yang was utilizing his talents, he did not notice the three young masters observing him with keen eyes, upon catching sight of the golden monkey on his shoulder.
“Shopkeeper!” Yun Yang straightened up and asked in a loud voice, “How much for these kittens?”
Delightedly springing out from his store, the shopkeeper’s plump face beamed like a blooming flower, “Young master certainly has a good pair of eyes on him, these are the precious offspring of Lightning Cats. Why, I’ve spent a fortune…”
“Yes, yes, just tell me how much does each one of these cost?” Yun Yang feigned annoyance, “I’m buying them back for my lover as playthings. Money won’t be an issue here!”
The shopkeeper was elated but carefully said, “May I then know which one has caught the young master’s fancy?”
Yun Yang straightened up and wove an air of wealth about himself, “This one, this one, this, this, and this one. If the price is reasonable, I want them all.”
He pointed to five of the kittens, two genuine Lightning Cats mixed alongside the three unique ones.
The plump shopkeeper was beside himself with joy, “If young master wants all five… I surely can give a discount of…”
“Hold up!”
Walking up, the young master in blue said leisurely, “Brother, we have the first claim towards these kittens.”
Yun Yang turned around. “What is the young master trying to say?”
The man in blue explained slowly, biting off each word, “Simple, I want these kittens.”
Although he was unaware that a few of them were exceptional, he was irked by Yun Yang’s arrogant manner, showing off his wealth, and felt an inexplicable need to bring him down a notch. He also had an odd feeling that he would regret missing this opportunity to procure these kitten.
The young master in blue had always believed in his instincts. He did not fully understand how or why giving up a litter of puny, baby Lightning Cats would cause him regret, but he would stand by what his intuition was telling him.
Yun Yang chuckled, “You claim you saw it first, may I ask if you’ve asked for the price?”
The man in blue’s face darkened as he shook his head, “No, I have not.”
Yun Yang then smiled. “May I then ask if you have paid a deposit of any sort for these kittens?”
The man in blue frowned. “I have yet to ask for the price, how could I have paid any surety?”
“I see.” Yun Yang nodded and continued, “It seems to me that the young master had no intention of buying them, but upon seeing me make an offer, changed his mind immediately. Is this so?”
The young master in blue had no wise retort. It was the truth, more so in others’ eyes. The three of them had stood there for the longest time but had shown no inclination of making a purchase. Only right after the purple-robed young master came to ask for the value did they step in and claim first rights. What was this if not asking for trouble?
All three men’s gaze sharpened as they honed their stares on Yun Yang. He felt a piercing sensation of his face as if a sharp knife was held against his skin.
The young man in blue spoke slowly, his tone light but imposing, “Young master, your words are a tad too harsh. If I did not wish to buy them, why would I look at them for so long? I didn’t make an offer right away because I wanted to take the time to choose…”
He paused before continuing, “Besides, even if I didn’t want to buy them at first, I do now. Do you hear? I’m buying them! I saw them first, and of course, that means they belong to me.”
Yun Yang laughed, “May I ask if young master knows the Greatest Beauty, Shui Lanqing?”
He had switched the topic entirely. The man in blue was immediately on his guard, “What do you mean?”
Yun Yang spoke in a carefree tone, “Shui Lanqing was acknowledged as the Greatest Beauty in the world thirty years ago. Before she met her husband, Unrivaled Expert Ling Xiaozui, countless numbers of people had seen her first, but of course, she was still married to her husband in the end.”
The man in blue’s expression darkened in anger.
Yun Yang continued breezily, “If I’d seen Shui Lanqing then, I think, I would also have claimed her hand in marriage. Though, she might not have chosen me of course. But I couldn’t very well say that Shui Lanqing is mine because I saw her first right?”
The young master in blue grew even more incensed.