That noon, at the Fortune Inn near the small town’s train station.
Shui Miao, Shen Yan, and Wang Rong entered the restaurant together and casually sat at a table.
As it turned out, Wang Rong worked at this restaurant and had endured countless hardships here.
The restaurant was nominally run by a young couple, but the real authority was the husband’s father, a grumpy old man in his sixties. This old man, known for his stubbornness and sharp tongue, had been single since his forties. Whether it was from loneliness or old age, he had a twisted heart and especially enjoyed bullying the female waitresses, treating them like dogs, scolding them at the slightest provocation and even physically abusing them. Wang Rong, despite her strong adaptability and resilience, had been tormented to the point of wishing for death.
Upon seeing Wang Rong, a young male waiter, around seventeen or eighteen years old, quickly rushed to the back kitchen to fetch the old man.
Hearing that Wang Rong had arrived, the old man hurried out from the kitchen, still wearing an apron and holding a ladle. Pointing the ladle at her head, he shouted, “Little girl, why are you so late coming to work? I told you long ago that being late means three days’ wages deducted. You don’t want your salary anymore? And here you are sitting around—why didn’t you just sleep forever!”
He was a tall, thin, bald old man with a grim expression and a dark complexion.
Wang Rong stood up and snapped back, “I quit. Give me my wages!”
“Quit?!”
The old man was momentarily stunned. “Why quit? If you quit, I won’t pay you. I told you that long ago.”
Wang Rong clenched her fists, barely resisting the urge to punch the old man right in the face.
Shui Miao quickly smiled and pulled Wang Rong back to her seat. Then, turning to the old man with a smile, he said, “Old man, I’m a new friend of Wang Rong’s. Her wages aren’t a big deal to us. We’re just here for lunch today. Bring out all your best dishes—we’re not short on cash.” As he spoke, Shui Miao took out 20,000 yuan and placed it on the table.
Seeing the money, the old man’s eyes lit up and he grinned widely. “Haha, no problem, no problem! Since you’re here to eat, you’re welcome! But our best dishes aren’t cheap, you know!” As the saying goes, old men are cunning, and this one was no exception. He immediately suspected that Shui Miao was just some penniless fool trying to show off and help Wang Rong get revenge.
Shui Miao nodded. “No problem. Please introduce your dishes to us.”
The old man rubbed his nose, pushed away the menu the young waiter offered, and said smugly, “If we’re talking about the most expensive dishes in my little restaurant, they’re definitely bear paws and elephant trunks. A bear paw is 30,000 yuan per serving, and an elephant trunk is 100,000 yuan per piece. I’m afraid your little bit of money won’t even cover that!”
He was clearly overcharging just to embarrass Shui Miao.
But to his surprise, Shui Miao simply smiled faintly and pulled out a large stack of cash from his pocket—easily totaling 300,000 yuan.
“Old man, I said I’m not short on cash. Here’s 300,000 yuan. I’ll take two elephant trunks, three bear paws, and the remaining 10,000 can be a tip for the waiters.” Shui Miao treated money like dirt, not even blinking. “Oh, and I’m in a hurry. I hope you can serve the dishes within an hour, or else we’ll miss our train.”
“No problem, no problem!”
Without thinking too deeply, the old man rushed over to grab the money. After all, who carries 300,000 yuan in cash in their pocket? Thinking he had stumbled upon a rich second-generation kid, he was overjoyed and hurried to collect the money.
But Shui Miao blocked him and smiled, shaking his head. “Old man, you’re not misunderstanding something, are you? You want the money before the food is served? We’re all sitting right here. As long as you serve the dishes within an hour, I won’t short you a single penny.”
“Okay, okay!”
The old man hurriedly turned and ran to the kitchen. First, he ordered the two male waiters to stand guard at the door to prevent Shui Miao and the others from escaping.
Then, he called his son and told him to hurry to the market to buy elephant trunks and bear paws. Unfortunately, his son was already on his way to the city and couldn’t return in time. With no choice, the old man retrieved his savings passbook and personally rode his motorcycle to the bank to withdraw all his savings—180,000 yuan—and then rushed to the market.
As soon as the old man left, Shui Miao stood up and said he needed to meet a friend outside.
The two waiters, seeing that Shui Miao had left the money on the table, didn’t stop him.
The old man rushed to the bank, smiled politely, and finally managed to cut in line and withdraw all 180,000 yuan. Then he hurried to the market. Fortunately, the town wasn’t big, and soon he arrived. But all three shops in the market had sold out.
Just as the old man was at his wit’s end, watching his potential fortune slip away, he spotted a Tibetan man with a roadside stall. On the stall were exactly two elephant trunks and three bear paws!
“How convenient!”
The old man was momentarily stunned. As he hesitated, the Tibetan man began packing up to leave.
The old man rushed forward and asked, “Friend, are you still selling this stuff?”
“Nope, nope. I’m heading to the city. No one sells this stuff here, and even if someone wanted to buy, they couldn’t afford the price.” The Tibetan man was clearly impatient. In a few quick motions, he packed everything into a leather bag, slung it over his shoulder, and turned to leave.
The old man kept his wits about him and watched the Tibetan man walk away before chasing after him. “Friend, I’ll buy your goods. Name your price—I’m serious. Look, I have money.” He patted his bag. “To be honest, I run a small restaurant. I’ll take all your goods. Just name the price.”
The Tibetan man glanced at the old man’s bag and held up two fingers.
“Alright! Twenty thousand yuan? I’ll take it.” The old man was surprisingly quick to agree.
But the Tibetan man shook his head. “Don’t joke around. Twenty thousand? Twenty thousand yuan! Not a penny less.”
“…”
This was pure robbery! The old man was stunned. Just as he was about to haggle, the Tibetan man turned and walked away again. “No more nonsense. I’m in a hurry. The big restaurants in the city will buy these.”
He didn’t hesitate at all, clearly unimpressed by the old man.
The old man checked the time. Thinking that he’d just accept the loss, he called the Tibetan man back and took out 180,000 yuan.
But the Tibetan man was firm—no less than 200,000 yuan.
As time ticked away, the old man gritted his teeth, agreed to 200,000 yuan, and said he’d get the remaining 20,000 yuan from the restaurant.
The Tibetan man agreed.
So the old man brought the Tibetan man back to the restaurant. He noticed that Shui Miao was gone, but the money was still on the table, so he relaxed a bit. He approached Wang Rong and Shen Yan, asking to pay a deposit of 20,000 yuan first, but they firmly refused and reminded him that over twenty minutes had already passed.
The old man’s scalp tingled. Desperate to make money, he broke open his wife’s desk, took out 10,000 yuan, and thought the Tibetan man might accept it. But the Tibetan man was stubborn—no less than 20,000 yuan.
With no choice, the old man scrambled to borrow money from everyone, even the waiters, but due to his poor reputation, no one lent him a penny.
Finally, the Tibetan man offered a deal: take the old man’s motorcycle and all his gold rings, and he’d let him off the hook.
With half an hour left, the old man hurried back to the restaurant with the goods and immediately began cooking with the chef.
An hour was nearly up.
Sweating profusely, the old man and the chef rushed out of the kitchen with steaming pots, only to find the money still on the table—but the people were gone.
“Where are they?!”
The old man felt something was wrong and shouted at the waiters.
The young waiter grinned and replied, “They went to the clothing store next door. We’re watching them—they haven’t come out yet.”
Hearing this, the old man reached for the money—but the moment he touched it, the money turned into a blank piece of paper, with two sentences written on it: *“Good deeds bring good rewards; evil deeds bring evil retribution. It’s not that justice doesn’t come—it just takes time. Old man, you’re twisted, you bully the weak, you have no humanity. You deserved to die, but since you’re old, we’ll just give you a small punishment. If you don’t repent, next time we’ll take your life.”*
As soon as the old man finished reading, the paper burst into flames, leaving not even a trace of ash.
“Ah! Boss, look at the dishes! The dishes!!”
The chef suddenly screamed.
The old man turned around and saw that the elephant trunks and bear paws in the pot had turned into a pile of dirt!
“Ahh!”
The old man screamed in horror, stumbled forward, and rushed to the clothing store next door, but there was no one inside. The surveillance footage showed that not a single customer had entered the store all day.
Overcome with anger and panic, the old man collapsed to the ground, foaming at the mouth, and suffered a seizure.
※※※
“Hahaha! That was awesome!”
“Master, you’re the best…”
“I love you, Master!”
On a motorcycle, Shui Miao sped down the road with his two beautiful female apprentices clinging tightly to him.
Wang Rong had finally gotten her revenge and even earned 200,000 yuan. Overjoyed, she ignored gender norms and tightly hugged Shui Miao’s waist, her ample chest pressed tightly against his back.
Shen Yan was equally excited. She took the opportunity to confess, “Master, I love you!”
Shui Miao felt a little awkward and thought to himself, *This master-apprentice relationship is getting a bit messy!*
“Alright, it’s time for you two to go back into the ring.”
With a thought, Shui Miao sealed Shen Yan and Wang Rong into the Holy Yuan Ring to prevent them from taking further advantage of him.
Around 1 PM, Shui Miao arrived in the city and bought a plane ticket to Huanghai City.
Half an hour later, the plane took off. At 8 PM that night, it landed at Huanghai Airport.
As soon as Shui Miao stepped out of the terminal, two familiar faces rushed toward him—none other than Lin Xue and Chu Miaoyi.
“Stinky Shui Miao, I knew you were like a cat—you don’t die easily!”
Lin Xue punched him on the shoulder, but it felt like she had hit a pile of cotton.
“Hehe…” Chu Miaoyi smiled sweetly and extended her delicate hand toward Shui Miao. “Shui Miao, you must be surprised that we knew you were coming back?”
That noon, at the Fortune Come Restaurant near the town’s bus station.
Shui Miao, Shen Yan, and Wang Rong entered the restaurant together and casually chose a table to sit at.
As it turned out, Wang Rong worked at this restaurant and had endured immense hardship here.
The restaurant was owned by a young couple, but the real person in charge was the husband’s father, a man in his sixties. This old man had a stubborn temper and was notoriously harsh. He had been alone since he was forty, and whether it was due to old age or a twisted mindset, he took particular pleasure in bullying the female staff, treating them like dogs—verbally abusing them for minor issues and physically assaulting them for more serious matters. Wang Rong, despite being highly adaptable and exceptionally resilient, had been tormented by him to the point of misery.
When the staff saw Wang Rong, a young male waiter in his late teens hurried to the kitchen to fetch the old man.
Hearing that Wang Rong had arrived, the old man walked out of the kitchen wearing an apron and holding a ladle. Pointing the ladle at Wang Rong’s head, he shouted, “Little girl, why are you only showing up now? I’ve told you before—being late means deducting three days’ wages! Do you not want your pay? And you’re sitting here? Why don’t you just sleep forever!”
He was a tall, thin, bald old man with a stern face and a dark, gloomy expression.
Wang Rong stood up and retorted angrily, “I quit! Give me my wages!”
“Quit?!” The old man was taken aback. “Why are you quitting? If you quit, you don’t get your wages. I made that clear long ago.”
Wang Rong clenched her fists, itching to punch the old man hard.
Shui Miao quickly stepped in, smiling as he pulled Wang Rong back to her seat. He said to the old man, “Sir, I’m a new friend of Wang Rong’s. Those wages are nothing. We’re just here for a meal today. Bring out all your best dishes—money is no object.” As he spoke, Shui Miao pulled out 20,000 yuan from his pocket and placed it on the table.
Seeing the money, the old man’s eyes lit up, and he broke into a grin. “Haha, no problem! Since you’re here to eat, you’re welcome. But our best dishes aren’t cheap!” As the saying goes, the older, the craftier. The old man was no fool—he could tell at a glance that Shui Miao was a country bumpkin trying to show off and stand up for Wang Rong despite having no money.
Shui Miao nodded. “No worries. Please recommend some dishes.”
The old man rubbed his nose, pushed aside the menu the young waiter handed him, and said arrogantly, “The most expensive dishes in our humble restaurant are bear paw and elephant trunk. Bear paw costs 30,000 yuan per serving, and elephant trunk is 100,000 yuan each. With the little money you have, I’m afraid it’s not enough.”
The old man was blatantly overcharging to embarrass Shui Miao.
Unexpectedly, Shui Miao smiled faintly and pulled out even more cash from his pocket, stacking it up until it amounted to 300,000 yuan.
“Sir, I said money is no object. Here’s 300,000 yuan. Give me two elephant trunks and three bear paws. The remaining 10,000 is a tip for the waitstaff.” Shui Miao treated money like dirt, not even batting an eye. “Oh, and I’m in a hurry. I hope you can serve the dishes within an hour. Otherwise, we’ll miss our bus.”
“No problem, no problem!”
The old man didn’t stop to think how one person could carry 300,000 yuan in cash. Blinded by greed, he assumed Shui Miao was a rich second-generation heir and eagerly reached for the money.
Shui Miao stopped him, shaking his head with a smile. “Sir, aren’t you getting ahead of yourself? The food hasn’t been served yet, and you already want the money? The three of us are sitting right here. As long as you serve the dishes within an hour, I’ll pay every cent.”
“Alright then!”
The old man hurried back to the kitchen, first instructing two male waiters to guard the entrance to prevent Shui Miao and the others from leaving.
Then, he called his son and told him to rush to the market to buy elephant trunk and bear paw. Unfortunately, his son was already on his way to the city and couldn’t make it back in time. Left with no choice, the old man dug out his savings passbook, rode his motorcycle to the bank to withdraw all his savings—180,000 yuan—and then headed to the market.
As soon as the old man left, Shui Miao stood up, saying he was going outside to meet a friend.
The two waiters, seeing that Shui Miao had left the money on the table, didn’t stop him.
The old man rushed to the bank, smiling and squeezing his way to the front of the line to withdraw his entire life savings of 180,000 yuan. He then hurried to the market. Fortunately, the town was small, and he arrived quickly. However, all three shops in the market were out of stock. Just as the old man was despairing over missing out on a profit of over 100,000 yuan, he spotted a Tibetan street vendor outside the market whose stall had two elephant trunks and three bear paws!
“What a coincidence!” The old man hesitated for a moment, but seeing the Tibetan man packing up to leave, he quickly approached him. “Friend, are you still selling these?”
“No, no. I’m heading to the city. No one in this dump can afford this stuff, and even if they want it, they can’t pay the price,” the Tibetan man said impatiently as he stuffed the goods into his leather bag and prepared to leave.
The old man, being cautious, waited until the Tibetan man had walked some distance before catching up to him. “Friend, I want to buy your goods. Name your price—I’m serious. Look, I have money.” The old man patted his bag. “To be honest, I run a small restaurant. I’ll take all your goods. Just name your price.”
The Tibetan man glanced at the old man’s bag and held up two fingers.
“Deal! 20,000 yuan it is. I’ll take it,” the old man said readily.
The Tibetan man waved his hand. “Don’t joke around. 200,000 yuan. Not a cent less.”
“…”
This was sheer robbery! The old man was dumbfounded and was just about to try to negotiate, but the Tibetan man turned to leave. “No more discussion. I’m in a rush. The big restaurants in the city will be eager to get these.”
The Tibetan man was firm and showed no interest in negotiating.
The old man checked the time and thought, “Forget it, even if it’s a rip-off, I’ll make over 100,000 yuan back soon anyway.”
So, he called the Tibetan man back and took out 180,000 yuan in cash.
Unexpectedly, the Tibetan man was adamant—not a cent less.
As time ticked away, the old man gritted his teeth and agreed to 200,000 yuan but said the remaining 20,000 would have to be collected from the restaurant.
The Tibetan man agreed.
The old man brought the Tibetan man to the restaurant. Not seeing Shui Miao but noticing the money still on the table, he breathed a sigh of relief. He then approached Wang Rong to discuss paying a 20,000 yuan deposit but was firmly refused by both Wang Rong and Shen Yan, who reminded him that more than twenty minutes had already passed.
Feeling the pressure, the old man pried open his daughter-in-law’s desk and took out 10,000 yuan, hoping the Tibetan man would let it slide. But the Tibetan man was stubborn—not a cent less. Desperate, the old man tried borrowing money from everyone, even the waitstaff, but due to his usually harsh and stingy nature, no one was willing to lend him anything.
In the end, the Tibetan man suggested the old man hand over his motorcycle and gold ring to settle the debt.
With only half an hour left, the old man and the chef frantically started preparing the dishes.
An hour was almost up.
Sweating profusely, the old man and the chef carried the pots out of the kitchen, only to find the money still on the table but the customers gone.
“Where are they?” The old man, sensing something wrong, loudly questioned the waiters.
The young waiter grinned and replied, “They went to the clothing store next door. We’ve been keeping an eye on them—they haven’t come out yet.”
The old man’s eyes narrowed, and he reached for the money. But the moment he touched it, the money turned into a blank piece of paper with two sentences written on it: “Good begets good, evil begets evil. If the retribution hasn’t come, it’s only because the time hasn’t arrived. Old man, you’re twisted, bullying the weak and devoid of humanity. You deserve to die, but given your age, this is just a small lesson. If you don’t repent, next time I’ll take your life.”
After reading it, the paper suddenly burst into flames, burning to ashes without a trace.
“Ah! Boss, look at the dishes, the dishes!!” the chef suddenly screamed.
The old man turned around and saw that the elephant trunks and bear paws in the pot had turned into piles of mud!
“Ah!” The old man screamed, clutching his head, and stumbled toward the neighboring clothing store. But there were no customers inside, and the security footage showed that no one had visited the store since early that morning.
Overwhelmed with rage, the old man collapsed to the ground, foaming at the mouth, and began having an epileptic seizure.
※※※
“Hahaha! So satisfying!”
“Master, you’re amazing…”
“Master, I love you!”
On a motorcycle, Shui Miao sped down the road with his two beautiful disciples.
Wang Rong, having vented her anger and made a profit of 200,000 yuan, was overjoyed. Without regard for propriety, she clung tightly to Shui Miao’s waist, her chest pressed firmly against his back.
Shen Yan was also exhilarated. Seizing the moment, she confessed, “Master, I love you,” pouring out her feelings.
Shui Miao felt somewhat awkward, thinking to himself, “This master-disciple relationship is getting a bit messy!”
“Alright, it’s time for you two to return to the ring.”
With a thought, Shui Miao stored Shen Yan and Wang Rong inside the Shengyuan Ring to prevent them from taking advantage of the situation.
A little after 1 p.m., Shui Miao arrived in the city and bought a plane ticket to Huanghai City.
The plane took off half an hour later and landed at Huanghai City Airport at 8 p.m.
As soon as Shui Miao stepped out of the airport, he saw two familiar faces approaching him. They were none other than Lin Xue and Chu Miaoyi.
“You rotten Shui Miao, I knew you were like a cat with nine lives—not so easy to kill!” Lin Xue threw a punch directly at Shui Miao’s shoulder.
But it felt like hitting cotton.
“Hehe…” Chu Miaoyi smiled and extended her fair, delicate hand to Shui Miao. “Shui Miao, you must be wondering how we knew you’d return, right?”
Shui Miao shook Chu Miaoyi’s hand and, through his divine sense, suddenly noticed a short figure not far away—it was Bru, the young boss of the Red Clan from Lingbao Pavilion!
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