Where did Nannan go?
“Everybody! Everybody! Quiet down for a bit.” Jin Liuli wore a thin white veil over her face as she went to stand up on a table in the middle of the dining hall, this was the way she usually appeared in front of others. Except for the lads that were worthy of her trust working inside of the tavern, there was no other person who knew what Jin Liuli’s face looked like.
Mo Xian stood over the edge of the window; his eyes gleamed as he said approvingly: “What great skills.”
There was not a single person who was able to clearly see when Jin Liuli appeared in the middle of the dining room, and no one knew when she appeared standing over the table. It was only when she opened her mouth to speak that the crowd finally took notice of her. The shopkeeper of the Fulong Tavern was, surprisingly, a martial artist (TL: they say ‘practitioner, but it’s a bit weird to translate it that way here).
Ye Xiudu took a sip of his tea. He was actually able to see Jin Liuli’s movement. This Fulong tavern seemed not to be as simple as your ordinary tavern. The Ghost Doctor chose this place, where this Shopkeeper Jin was such a skilled low-key expert, to see his patients. It could be assumed that there should be other secrets underlying this choice.
“This is her way of warning all those present.” Ye Xiudu’s eyes swept over each and every face of those in the crowd, laughing softly: “She is also telling us that in her tavern one must act according to her rules. No one can cause trouble, otherwise, no one can blame her for not taking mercy on them[1].”
Mo Xian crossed his arms over his chest, nodding in agreement at those words: “Right, it can be seen from the way that each and every one of those people that were previously so noisy are now as quiet as cicadas in the winter[2], not daring to speak in a loud voice.
“Everyone.” Jin Liuli noticed the clear effect of her actions and felt satisfied: “I am Shopkeeper Jin, of the Fulong tavern and I want everybody to remember it. I know that everyone came here today because of the Ghost Doctor’s rising reputation. However, since so many people are here in my Fulong tavern, then I’d ask everyone to keep calm and show your best behaviour. I don’t want to inconvenience the Ghost Doctor any more than this. Otherwise, you’ll be personally thrown out of here by me.”
“This Jin Shopkeeper’s voice is really resounding.” Shen Ying also followed everyone in the building to observe, thinking that this woman’s poise was remarkably alluring. It was almost as if being intoxicated by a poppy flower.
Ye Xiudu stood there in silence, not saying a word. The tea he held in his hands slowly started turning cold, but he hardly cared about that since there was barely a mouthful left inside. He closed his eyes and stopped paying attention to the scene below.
Jin Liuli’s voice once again sounded from downstairs. Although her tone was cold, her voice seemed to involve those who listened to it, hooking them in. “Each one of you possesses a wooden token in your hands, on its surface, it’s written a number. Because of the large number of people, it will only be possible to select a quota of 50 of those present to undergo medical treatment. In order to keep the fairness of the process, we decided on a ballot to choose who will be those 50 people that will fill in the spots.”
A ballot?
The dining hall erupted into the buzz of discussions, that included the first fifty guests to arrive which were the loudest. Originally, they thought that because they arrived earlier, they were sure to have an opportunity, but now there was such a trick. Wouldn’t the probability then be too small?
“Shopkeeper Jin, at the moment of the agreement, wasn’t it on ‘first come, first serve’ basis?” there were people who were unable to hold themselves from standing up. Lifting the tokens in their hands in an aggrieved manner.
Jin Liuli swept her cold gaze upon them, with a jeer: “Right, first come first serve. Your wooden tokens, weren’t they obtained earlier than the others?”
“Y-you are clearly going back on your words. You better let the Ghost Doctor come out so we can make this clear.”
“Ghost Doctor?” Jin Liuli’s smile became even more alluring: “Sir, the words I have just said, have you not heard them clearly? Do you want to politely keep waiting for the ballot or do you want to be thrown out of here?”
Her voice dragged the words slowly as from behind her a tall and sturdy looking man came forth. He stared at the person that just spoke with a ferocious glare.
That man shrank his neck on the spot, not daring to say another word. After all, he wasn’t like those people that were influential and wealthy and really didn’t have that much of a standing to go around provoking Jin Liuli who looked like a hard bone to chew.
Ye Xiudu’s mouth curved slightly, throwing his token over the table.
Mo Xian clicked his tongue: “I wouldn’t have thought that there would still be this type of rules. After this, it seems that coming so early was useless after all. I thought that we were so far ahead that we would surely be able to soon meet with this Ghost Doctor.”
“Not necessarily. At least those who came earlier have a private box to stay in.” Shen Ying shrugged his shoulders, before continuing to stare at the woman who began to lift the small box in her hands.
They weren’t worried, after all, the only reason for looking for the Ghost Doctor was to have a second evaluation of their Lord’s and Peng Ying’s situation, as well as to let Miss Yu see that legendary figure.
But, even if they couldn’t care less, Yu Zuolin who was located two boxes away from them clenched his hands tightly around the wooden token numbered ‘1’ [3], before throwing it to the ground with force.
Yu Feng picked it up with a heavy complexion. Speaking in a low voice: “Young master, what should we do next?”
“… first, we wait.” Yu Zuolin breathed in deeply, trying not to let his violent mood surface, letting out the next words between his gritted teeth: “I already waited for almost 5 days. To wait for half a day more is not too much. If it doesn’t work, then I’ll just take that person away by force.”
“But, that Shopkeeper Jin’s skills are out of ordinary. This tavern is shrouded by mystery, if we act harshly, wouldn’t it be a bad thing?” Yu Feng was a bit concerned as his young master’s identity wasn’t in a position to act wilfully, otherwise, he might end up dragging the whole Yu household into a disaster.
Yu Zuolin pursed his lips, already starting to elaborate a strategy inside of his mind. He came from a long distance away to Jiang Cheng and it wasn’t easy to get ahold of the Ghost Doctor’s whereabouts. So how could he be resigned to come back with empty hands?
That shopkeeper Jin’s skills were indeed exceptional. To think about stealing someone from under her watch was certainly not that easy. If that didn’t do, then they could only use some underhanded ways.
“Yu Feng.”
“Young master.” Yu Feng took a step over, seeing his young master’s expression he knew that he made a decision.
“You go down and check the situation, see where all the patients who are selected by ballot are going to. Find clearly where the Ghost Doctor is and follow him.”
Yu Feng hesitated a bit but seeing the firm and ruthless look on Yu Zuolin’ face, he could only sigh in his heart as he acquainted: “Yes, I understand.”
After speaking, he quietly opened the door of the box and proceeded to hide in a corner of the dining hall.
But he had no way of knowing that after seeing that there was going to be a ballot, there were a lot of other parties who were also hiding away, each of them watching covetously the ballot box in Jin Liuli’s jade-like hands.
“Shopkeeper.” Da Wu leaned in Jin Liuli’s ears and said in a low voice: “The Mo residence, Yang family and Yu family’s masters, as well as the box with that woman wearing a veil, all have people coming out to stare at us. I reckon that Miss Yu’s guess wasn’t off. They indeed want to follow Master inside. (TL: ‘Master’ here refers to Jin Liuli)
Jin Liuli sneered at it, pulling some hair strands up: “Yu Qingluo, that little wench, is remarkably good at guessing other people’s minds. Since it’s like that, go to those boxes and deliver then a few expensive dishes. If they want to use these little tricks, how could there be no blood spilt[4]?”
“Yes, shopkeeper.” Da Wu left in a hurry, turning his head to let others prepare some food.
But, right now, he was feeling a bit off in his mind. Miss Yu appeared, but where is Nannan who always follows her around like a shadow? After a long time not seeing him, he had really started worrying about the little guy.
Translated by C, The Apostle of Coffee
Edited by NoveLeo, Life is a Drama
Translator’s Notes
[1] 手下留情 – To start off leniently. Not judge one too harshly, Look favourably upon one’s efforts; (TL: But here’s its part of a negative sentence. xD)
[2] 噤如寒蝉 – ‘Silent such as cicadas in winter’ – I translated it in a literal way. Well, no cicadas are willing to go out in winter (cuz it’s cold), so you cannot hear their noises. But it’s an equivalent of ‘absolute silence’.
[3] 壹 (一) here, the author uses an older variant of the ideogram for ‘one’.
[4] Blood here is figurative. She wants to “bleed them dry” as in “taking all of their money”.
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