```
"Chicken with one dot, one and two bamboos, if you don’t discard, you’ll suffer!"
Yang Ge stood behind Zhao Miao with his arms crossed, full of confidence, his tone certain, spouting rhymes as if he were the god of mahjong reincarnated.
Zhao Miao, looking perplexed, cleared his own hand, glanced at the revealed tiles on the table, hesitantly picked up the chicken with one dot, and said in a weak, small voice, "One dot chicken!"
Xiao Baoqi, the hooligan, and the flea all looked at Zhao Miao with innocent faces.
Seeing their expressions, Zhao Miao felt a "thump" in his heart.
And sure enough.
Xiao Baoqi casually pushed out his hand, "Won, seven pairs!"
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The hooligan also pushed out his tiles with a flourish, "Won, a clean suit with a single wait on the one-dot chicken!"
Zhao Miao couldn’t believe it as he slowly turned to the flea, who sheepishly pushed his hand forward, "Don’t look at me, I’ve just got a fart win, a fart win… with a side wait on the one-dot chicken."
"Ah... a triple win from a single shot!"
Zhao Miao, going crazy, scratched his head into a mass of golden fur, then turned around with gnashing teeth and stretched out a small hand to Yang Ge, "Pay up!"
Yang Ge stepped back twice, justifying himself with vigor, "I didn’t discard, why should I pay?"
"Ah..."
Zhao Miao, furious, jumped up to pin Yang Ge’s neck like a vicious dog leaping for food, his mouth wide open ready to teach him a lesson, "Pay up, pay up, you swindler, you caused grandma to lose two silvers!"
Yang Ge slapped her face to hold her back, "Nah nah nah... gentlemen use their words, not their hands, how can you blame me for your lack of brains? Why don’t I swindle the hooligan or the flea?"
Zhao Miao snapped her small silver teeth together like a little dog, desperately moving closer to his neck, "Grandma is a lady, not a gentleman... Pay up, you swindler, grandma has lost everything!"
Yang Ge: "I won’t pay, why should I give you money for your own losses?"
Zhao Miao: "I’ll bite, I’ll bite you..."
The two continued their scuffle, while the saloon full of mahjong-playing regulars weren’t the least bit surprised; Xiao Baoqi and the others had even already started beckoning for a new game.
Just then, a deep and magnetic voice came from the entrance of the inn, "Shopkeeper, do you still have food available?"
Yang Ge took the opportunity to shake off Zhao Miao, who had climbed onto his back, "Quick, quick, quick, a customer’s here, stop the fuss, I’ll welcome the guest..."
Zhao Miao pouted, feeling wronged as she watched Yang Ge stride toward the guest, then turned to her spot now taken by someone else, almost on the verge of tears, "Waah, you swindler, you only know how to bully me!"
Yang Ge walked on, straightening his clothes, "My apologies, dear guest, inside the front hall are just some neighbors having a little get-together, please come inside... Eh, you are that... that guy..."
The newcomer leaned against the counter, laughing heartily, "Young man, what a memory, only met once and after so long you still remember... My name is Wang Dashi!"
Yang Ge suddenly realized, "Right, you’re Xie Yu?"
```
Hearing this name, the dried fishes in the front hall had a lukewarm reaction, but Zhao Miao, who was stifling his sobs, took a couple more glances at the newcomer... This Xie was once one of the most prominent second-generation nobles in the capital!
And the newcomer, upon hearing this name, also slightly lost his composure and smiled, saying, "I haven’t heard that name in quite a while... Does the shop still welcome me?"
"Welcome you? Of course, we welcome you."
After a brief moment of astonishment, Yang Ge stepped aside and made a "please" gesture toward the inside of the hall, "The front hall is noisy, please take a seat upstairs."
Xie Yu clasped his hands in a smile and said, "I don’t deserve the ’honorable’ title, as long as the young brother doesn’t disdain a man tainted with crime!"
Yang Ge chuckled, turned his head, and called out loudly to the back courtyard, "Er Niu, go welcome the guest!"
Zhang Erniu dashed out like the wind, "Guest, you’ve arrived, please take a seat upstairs!"
...
Having served the last dish, Zhang Erniu came down with the tray, and said to Yang Ge at the counter, "Shopkeeper, the distinguished guest upstairs is asking for you to join him for a talk."
"Understood."
Yang Ge put down the charcoal pencil in his hands and said, "Go on with your work!"
Zhang Erniu: "Alright, call me if you need anything."
After saying this, he turned with his tray and headed back to the back courtyard.
Yang Ge picked up the charcoal pencil again, thought for a moment, put it down again, closed the ledger, and clapped his hands as he went upstairs.
Zhao Miao, posturing with folded arms behind Xiao Baoqi watching him play mahjong, was actually watching Yang Ge’s every move out of the corner of his eye. Seeing him go upstairs, Zhao Miao crept quietly to the staircase, striving to elongate his ears to listen carefully to the noises from above, his eyes gleaming with the cunning light of a jackal spying on a melon.
Upstairs, Yang Ge approached Xie Yu with a face full of formulaic courtesy and asked leisurely, "Do you have any further instructions, sir?"
Xie Yu stood up and gestured towards an empty seat opposite him, "Could you sit down for a brief chat, young brother?"
Yang Ge didn’t look at the empty seat and shook his head, "I’m sorry, but it’s not our custom for the shopkeeper to sit down and drink with guests."
Xie Yu, who had grown accustomed to such polite yet somewhat estranged attitudes, maintained his cheerful demeanor and said, "Don’t take offense, young brother. I have no other intentions, I just have a few words concerning my younger sister that I would like to discuss with you."
Yang Ge clasped his hands together, "Then there is even less need for that, I am not acquainted with Miss Xie, I don’t even speak a few words with her in a year. If you truly have something to say, it might be better to go home and speak directly with your sister..."
Xie Yu’s expression stiffened slightly, and he bowed somewhat reluctantly, "It seems the shopkeeper holds deep prejudices against me; I shall not impose further... It’s just that I’m often away on business and have no time to care for my sister. I’m troubled to ask the shopkeeper to keep an occasional eye on her, Wang… Xie Yu is most grateful!"
With such an understanding and tactful retreat...
It somewhat tugged at Yang Ge’s heart.
He pondered for a moment, then sighed softly and began, "If I remember correctly, you are currently working under Wang Jiangling, Wang Zhongtang, right?"