That noon, at the Fortune Comes Restaurant near the small town’s train station.
Shui Miao, Shen Yan, and Wang Rong entered the restaurant together and randomly chose a table to sit at.
It turned out that Wang Rong worked at this very restaurant, enduring countless hardships here.
The restaurant was nominally run by a young couple, but the real authority was the husband’s father—a grumpy, elderly man in his sixties. Known for his stubbornness and sharp tongue, he had remained alone since his forties. Whether it was due to old age or a twisted heart, he always enjoyed bullying the female waitresses, treating them like dogs. He would verbally abuse them at best and physically strike them at worst. Wang Rong, despite her strong adaptability and resilience, had been tormented to the point of wishing for death.
Seeing Wang Rong, a teenage male waiter quickly ran to the back kitchen to fetch the old man.
Upon hearing that Wang Rong had arrived, the old man hurried out from the kitchen wearing an apron and holding a ladle. Pointing the ladle at her head, he shouted, “Little girl, why are you showing up so late for work? I told you long ago that being late means losing three days’ pay. Are you trying to work for free? And here you are sitting around—why didn’t you just sleep forever!”
He was a tall, thin, bald man with a stern face and a dark aura.
Wang Rong stood up and snapped, “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 a long time ago.”
Wang Rong clenched her fists, itching to punch the old man.
Shui Miao quickly smiled and pulled Wang Rong back to her seat. He turned to the old man with a pleasant expression, saying, “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. I’m not short on cash.” As he spoke, he placed 20,000 yuan on the table.
Seeing the money, the old man’s eyes lit up, and he immediately grinned. “Haha, no problem! If you’re here for a meal, we’re honored to serve. But our best dishes aren’t cheap!” As the saying goes, old men are cunning, and this one was no exception. He quickly deduced that Shui Miao was just another broke fool trying to show off for Wang Rong’s sake.
Shui Miao nodded. “No worries. Why don’t you introduce us to your specialties?”
The old man rubbed his nose, pushed away the menu the young waiter offered, and proudly declared, “The most expensive dishes in our humble place are 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 doubt your little bit of money is enough!”
He was clearly overcharging just to embarrass Shui Miao.
But Shui Miao simply smiled and pulled out even more cash from his pocket, stacking it neatly—there was easily 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 as a tip for the waiters.” Shui Miao treated money like dirt, not batting an eyelid. “Oh, and I’m in a hurry. I hope you can serve the food within an hour. Otherwise, we’ll miss our train.”
“No problem, no problem!”
The old man didn’t think much of it. Who carries 300,000 yuan in cash? Thinking he had stumbled upon a rich second-generation heir, he excitedly approached to take the money.
But Shui Miao blocked him and chuckled, “Old man, you’re not getting ahead of yourself, are you? The food isn’t out yet. We’re all right here. I’ll pay every penny once the dishes are served within an hour.”
“Fine, fine!”
The old man hurriedly turned and ran to the kitchen, first ordering the two male waiters to guard the entrance to prevent Shui Miao’s group from fleeing.
Then, he called his son, urging him to rush to the market to buy elephant trunks and bear paws. Unfortunately, his son was already on his way into the city and couldn’t return in time. Left with no choice, the old man retrieved his savings book and personally rode his motorcycle to the bank to withdraw money, then headed 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 the money on the table, didn’t stop him.
The old man rushed to the bank, smiling and greeting people along the way, finally managing to cut in line and withdraw all his savings—180,000 yuan. Then he hurried to the market. Fortunately, the town was small, and he reached the market quickly. However, all three shops were out of stock. The old man was at a loss, watching his potential profit slip away. Just as he was leaving the market, he spotted a Tibetan man with a roadside stall, displaying 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 quickly approached, “Friend, are you still selling this stuff?”
“Nope, nope. I’m heading to the city. No one here can afford it anyway.” The Tibetan man, clearly impatient, packed everything into his bag and turned to leave.
The old man kept his wits about him, watching the Tibetan man walk away before chasing after him. “Friend, I’ll buy your goods. Name your price. Look, I’ve got 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 bag and raised two fingers.
“Alright! Twenty thousand? No problem, I’ll take it.” The old man was surprisingly agreeable.
But the Tibetan man shook his head. “You’re joking. Twenty thousand yuan. Not a penny less.”
“…”
This was pure robbery! The old man was taken aback, ready to haggle, but the Tibetan man turned and walked away. “No bargaining. I’m in a hurry. The big city restaurants will buy this.”
He didn’t hesitate, clearly unimpressed with the old man.
The old man checked the time. Thinking he could recoup his losses soon, he decided to accept the price, though he only had 180,000 yuan on him.
He called the Tibetan man back and offered the 180,000 yuan.
But the Tibetan man was firm—no less than 200,000 yuan.
Time was ticking away. The old man gritted his teeth and agreed to 200,000 yuan but said he’d have to go back to the restaurant to get the remaining 20,000.
The Tibetan man agreed.
So the old man brought the Tibetan man back to the restaurant. He noticed the money was still on the table, though Shui Miao was gone. He breathed a sigh of relief and approached Wang Rong, asking to pay a 20,000 yuan deposit. But Wang Rong and Shen Yan firmly refused, reminding him that over twenty minutes had already passed.
The old man felt a chill run down his spine. Desperate to make money, he broke into his wife’s desk and took out 10,000 yuan, hoping the Tibetan man would compromise. But the Tibetan man was stubborn—no less than 200,000 yuan. With no other options, the old man begged for loans everywhere, even from the waiters, but due to his poor reputation, no one would lend him a penny.
Finally, the Tibetan man offered a deal: the old man could give him his motorcycle and any gold rings he had, and he’d let him go.
With half an hour left, the old man hurried to prepare the dishes with the chef.
An hour was nearly up.
Sweating profusely, the old man and the chef emerged from the kitchen with pots in hand, 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, “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, only to find it had turned into a blank sheet of paper with two lines 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 a pervert who bullies the weak and lacks humanity. You deserved to die, but since you’re old, this is just a small punishment. If you don’t repent, next time I’ll take your life.”
As the old man finished reading, the paper burst into flames, leaving not even ashes behind.
“Ah! Boss, look at the food! The food!!”
The chef suddenly cried out.
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 agony, stumbled toward the clothing store next door, but found it empty. The surveillance camera showed that no customers had entered the store all day.
Overcome with rage and panic, the old man collapsed to the ground, foaming at the mouth—he had an epileptic seizure.
※※※
“Hahahaha! That was awesome!”
“Master, you’re the best…”
“Master, I love you!”
On the motorcycle, Shui Miao rode with his two beautiful apprentices, speeding away.
Wang Rong had finally vented her anger and even made 200,000 yuan. Overjoyed, she tightly hugged Shui Miao’s waist without caring about gender differences, her ample chest pressed against his back.
Shen Yan was also excited and took the opportunity to confess her feelings to her master.
Shui Miao felt a little awkward, thinking 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 advantage and groping him.
At around 1 p.m., Shui Miao arrived in the city and bought a flight ticket to Huanghai City.
Half an hour later, the plane took off. It arrived at Huanghai Airport at 8 p.m.
As Shui Miao stepped off the plane and exited the airport, 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 greeted him with a punch to the shoulder.
But it felt like she had punched cotton.
“Haha…” Chu Miaoyi smiled sweetly and extended her delicate hand. “Shui Miao, you must be surprised we knew you were coming back?”
Shui Miao took her hand, and with a flick of his spiritual sense, he suddenly noticed a small figure nearby—it was none other than Bu Lu, the young Chi Clan boss from Lingbao Xuan!
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