ITBBS Chapter 20

“You there, little girl, you have absolutely no respect for your elders. You just keep rubbing salt into other people’s wounds. Me going to the black market? That was about experiencing life, got it?”

There was no way he would tell her the truth. If that brat found out how badly he was doing, she’d laugh at him to death.

Who is Shen Yao? In her previous life, she was constantly in the business world. She had seen every kind of monster and demon out there. This old man thought he could fool her? “Old man, don’t tell me you ran away from home, squandered all your money, and now can’t even afford a meal?”

“Going to the black market to experience life? In this freezing weather, instead of staying home, you’re running around the black market to experience life? Even a three-year-old wouldn’t even believe that.”

“Hmph, you brat. You know you should keep quiet even if you see through something.” Zheng Yaozu was furious. Where on earth did this girl even come from? And how were her eyes so sharp?

Shen Yao’s lips twitched. She felt this old man was quite a character, actually running away from home like a child. She wondered if he was just too bored.

“Alright then, let’s talk business. Why did you call me over, old man? But let me make this clear first, I have no money.” No way he was leeching off her. She didn’t want to be driven to her death by this old man.

Zheng Yaozu felt this girl was born specifically to jinx him. He said angrily, “Calling you here is obviously a good thing, you brat. How about this, you bring me food every month? This old man won’t treat you unfairly. I may have spent the tens of thousands of yuan I brought, but I still have plenty of antiques in my collection.”

He specialized in collecting rare treasures, every single one was priceless.

Shen Yao wanted a bolt of lightning to strike her dead. Her entire fortune had just barely crossed ten thousand, yet this old man could squander tens of thousands without batting an eye. She was starting to suspect his family owned a mine.

“Listen, old man, since you knew to take money with you when you ran away, why didn’t you think to bring gold bars? You can’t even afford food, but you’re still thinking about collecting antiques.”

Zheng Yaozu felt the knife twist in his wound again. He just glared at Shen Yao, fuming. This brat was definitely out to get him. He had been in such a hurry to sneak away that he grabbed two boxes and bolted, only to find out later that they were full of rare collectibles. Besides, how could he have known that money would disappear so quickly?

“You brat, just tell me if you agree or not.” If this girl kept talking, Zheng Yaozu felt he might actually die of anger. If it weren’t so rare to find a girl who caught his eye, he wouldn’t be looking for trouble like this.

As the leader of the ancient martial arts families, he had plenty of people trying to curry favor with him, but all of them were after money and power. He couldn’t stand those two-faced types anyway. Staying here was much better. It was peaceful and free.

Shen Yao was crying inside. Of course, the thing she feared most was exactly what was happening. This old fox really did want to cling to her. Could she turn back time to yesterday? “No deal, old man. I don’t have any food. What I brought yesterday was hard enough to come by.”

“Heh, you little devil, then you don’t want these either?” Zheng Yaozu finished speaking, ran inside, and brought out a bundle, dumping its contents onto the table. He refused to believe this girl could stay calm.

Shen Yao felt like she was going insane. She kept telling herself that she had to stay calm and not let the old fox lure her into a trap. But the moment she saw what was on the table, she knew she couldn’t stay calm anymore.

She stared at the pair of imperial green jade bracelets, two pigeon blood ruby rings, eight or nine pieces of chicken bloodstone, and a pink diamond of at least eighteen carats. Every single piece was a rarity rarely seen in the world.

This old man was definitely doing it on purpose. He used rare treasures to bait her into his trap, and he had guessed her tastes so precisely. Incredibly cunning!

Zheng Yaozu watched Shen Yao across from him, a cunning glint flashing in his eyes. He knew these things would catch her interest, and he was right. He could tell just from the conflicted look in her eyes.

But he still needed to fan the flames. If he didn’t drag this girl into it, he’d go hungry again. These things wouldn’t fetch much at the black market anyway, so this girl was more reliable.

Besides, he had taken a liking to her character. She loved money but wasn’t greedy, had integrity, clear eyes, and wasn’t the type to blur right and wrong. Moreover, from her facial features, he could see she was someone blessed with immense merit and great fortune.

People like that, having done many good deeds in a past life, were rewarded with great wealth and power in this life.

Zheng Yaozu smiled and asked Shen Yao, “Well, little girl? Have you made up your mind?”

Shen Yao took a deep breath and looked at the old man across from her. A cunning old fox, deeply hidden. No one would ever guess that this old man in patched-up clothes, squatting honestly at the black market exchanging goods, turned out to be a hidden big shot.

“You’ve already dug a pit and want me to jump in. What else can I say? Old man, why are you so set on dragging me into this? There are plenty of people at the black market. Don’t tell me you couldn’t find anyone to trade with.”

She didn’t believe for a second that he couldn’t trade these things for food out there. This old man was far from honest.

Zheng Yaozu got irritated just thinking about those people who had no taste. “Every single thing I brought out before was top quality, and what did they give me? Some coarse grains. Hmph, none of them know quality. You’re the first person who caught my eye, so you should be happy about it.”

Shen Yao was speechless. Not only was she being dragged into the water by this old fox, but she was supposed to thank him? Foxes really did have thick skin. “Old man, anything else? If not, I’ll be going. I’ll bring you food next month.”

She was afraid that if she stayed any longer, this old fox would dig another trap and bury her, so it was time to retreat.

Would Zheng Yaozu be so easygoing? It had been a long time since he’d found anyone he got along with. Besides, it was already noon, and he still didn’t have lunch.

“You brat, what’s the rush? Take the things on the table as a welcome gift. Put them away and go make lunch.”

Shen Yao had never met such a difficult old man. “You’re sure you’re giving all of these to me?”

These were priceless, rare treasures and not cabbages at the market. How could he just give them away?

“What’s with you, all of a sudden so chatty? Go make a meal already.” Did he look like someone who went back on his word? Besides, his private storeroom was full of countless good things.

What else could Shen Yao say? She put the items away and obediently went to the kitchen to cook. There wasn’t much food in the kitchen, so she could only make a serving of braised pork and a plate of mapo tofu.

Shen Yao set the dishes on the table, filled a bowl with rice, and handed it over. “Old man, time to eat.”

Zheng Yaozu had smelled the aroma long ago. He picked up his chopsticks and dug in. He tried a piece of braised pork first. It melted in his mouth, cooked just right. He didn’t expect this girl to be such a good cook.

“Your skills are barely passable. You’ll need to practice more.” Zheng Yaozu felt the girl couldn’t be praised too much, so he had to keep up appearances.

Shen Yao couldn’t be bothered with him. She noticed he kept grabbing piece after piece of meat.

Finally, after Shen Yao cleaned up the kitchen, she said goodbye to Zheng Yaozu and walked out.