Chapter 54

Indeed, Mr. Guo was a wine enthusiast. After finishing the cup, his gaze towards Cheng Duo changed. He clenched his fist and coughed lightly, embarrassedly saying, "This Shao Guang Wine…"

"Two thousand taels, non-negotiable."

After Cheng Duo finished speaking, he saw the scholars behind Mr. Guo glaring at him as if he were a vulgar person. He sighed and decided to bluff, "I'm not intentionally selling it at a high price, sir. Just look at this white jade bottle. The exquisite wine inside remains fragrant and mellow even after ten years. Moreover, this wine requires a hundred times the ordinary ingredients to brew a single bottle."

"The master who brewed this Shao Guang Wine is already very old. This is his final masterpiece. Because we had a great connection, I went through all sorts of efforts to find a white jade bottle to preserve the beautiful wine, and he generously gave it to me. The master said that his lifelong wish was to let those who truly understand wine taste his creation, so he named it Shao Guang…"

Cheng Duo eloquently fabricated a detailed origin story for the wine, captivating Mr. Guo and the group of scholars, who listened with fascination and respect.

If what Cheng Duo said was true, and the master had spent his entire life to reach this level, and this was his final masterpiece, then the price was indeed reasonable…

"Where is the master now?" Mr. Guo asked eagerly.

"He is from a foreign tribe and has sold his winery beyond the borders. He is currently traveling west."

Mr. Guo's disappointment was evident, but when he saw the wine bottle next to Cheng Duo, he quickly regained his spirits. He ordered his attendant to go back to the inn and fetch the silver bills, promptly buying the bottle of wine on the spot.

After Mr. Guo lovingly embraced the wine bottle and left, the scholars also followed suit. Due to the crowd, Cheng Duo didn't notice that one of the poor scholars who accused him of deceiving had been glancing back at him several times.

However, the restaurant owners remained behind, clearly having some requests. Xie's father, seeing the situation, showed no mercy and gave a signal to his staff, instructing them to forcefully expel the individuals.

"Hey, what are you doing? Let me go! Mr. Xie, what are you doing? Let's talk it out!" The owner of the Piaoxianglou, Mr. Huang, was being carried away by two employees, still unwillingly shouting.

The owner of Yipinju also turned back desperately, saying, "Mr. Xie, this is unfair. We can all make money together. Why should you drive us away?! Cheng Brother, Cheng Brother, I'm willing to pay a high price for the recipe of Shao Guang Wine!"

"I don't want to have a recipe, but if you have the wine, I'm willing to buy it for two thousand taels!" 

Just a moment ago, they were calling him a brute, but now they were calling him "Cheng Brother." Cheng Duo ignored them because he only had six bottles of white wine. He could sell one more bottle to the Xie family, but the rest couldn't be touched.

After all, in this era of scarce resources, fine liquor not only provided warmth but also had disinfectant properties. No matter how much money he had, he couldn't spend it all, but good liquor was a valuable asset. Once sold, he couldn't buy it back.

Xie's father rubbed his hands and approached Cheng Duo. "This… Cheng Brother, I apologize for the poor hospitality. It's embarrassing."

"Mr. Xie, there's no need for such courtesy." Cheng Duo couldn't let them stand there, so he invited, "I don't know if Mr. Xie has eaten. How about we sit down and have a meal together?"

"Good, good." Mr. Xie had such intentions, and he quickly sat beside Cheng Duo, giving his son a signal.

Xie Yuan felt a bit embarrassed, but since he had already become familiar with Cheng Duo during their previous conversation, he knew his character. So he didn't beat around the bush and directly asked, "Cheng Brother, earlier you mentioned that you had a great connection with the master. Did he teach you the craft of brewing?"

Cheng Duo shook his head, "He was willing to teach, but I'm a rough person…"

Upon hearing this, Xie's father, Xie Yuan, and Mr. Sun couldn't help but feel regretful. What a great opportunity it would have been if it were them!

If they could master this unique skill, their entire family, including future generations, would benefit greatly. It was such a pity!

Cheng Duo glanced at them and said, "I don't have the recipe, but I still have one bottle of wine."

"There's still one? Where is it?" Xie Yuan's spirits lifted, and he quickly looked at Cheng Duo's backpack, only to see a flat cloth bag inside, with nothing else.

Cheng Duo smiled, "It's not on me."

Fortunately, he had made arrangements for the overnight stay in advance and had booked a room at the inn. He could come up with a reason when explaining the situation.

Xie Yuan looked at him with a helpless expression, "Cheng Brother, with such a good thing, why didn't you mention it when you were selling the glass bottles?"

Cheng Duo shuddered involuntarily. Without realizing it, he moved a little further away from Xie Yuan. "You even haggled over the price for buying a glass bottle. Look at Mr. Guo. He's so generous! When he says two thousand taels, it's two thousand taels."

"What glass bottle?" Xie's father asked while secretly glaring at his incompetent son. He couldn't even handle such a big deal. How could he claim to have graduated!

If that bottle of wine had gone through their Xie family's hands, they could have done much more than they currently could!

After receiving a glare from his father, Xie Yuan felt a little guilty. But when it came to talking about the glass bottle, he became excited and proudly showed off the precious item he had purchased. Mr. Sun chimed in from time to time.

After Xie Yuan finished introducing the glass bottle, he complained to Cheng Duo with a dissatisfied tone, "I say, Cheng Brother, in business, it's natural to negotiate and compromise. How can you assume that I can't afford it just because I haggled over the price?"

If he didn't explain clearly, what if Cheng Duo still had something good and sold it to someone else?

"… Now I understand." Cheng Duo was a bit helpless. They were practically rushing to give him money, and if he didn't sell, it would become problematic.

Due to his previous negligence, for the rest of the time, Xie Yuan kept hinting and prying into Cheng Duo's ear, asking if he had any other treasures. Even when Xie's father signaled him to be more restrained, he ignored it.

Xie Yuan, of course, knew what his father was worried about. He didn't want Cheng Duo to suspect that they had ill intentions towards the several thousand taels of silver and the valuable items in his possession.

But Xie Yuan hadn't witnessed Cheng Duo's skills. He didn't need a second strike to knock someone out. With a single kick, he could send a two-hundred-pound man flying several meters away… Who would dare to rob him? He respected him as a man!

In fact, Xie Yuan genuinely wanted to establish a friendship. The more casual Cheng Duo spoke to him, the happier he felt. So he didn't hide anything and directly asked for what he wanted.

After three rounds of drinking, Cheng Duo remembered his other purpose for coming to twenty li slope. "By the way, I have something to ask for your help, Mr. Xie and Xie Yuan."

"What help do you need? Tell us," Xie Yuan took over the conversation, and Xie's father also looked at him curiously.

"It's like this. I plan to build my own house with bricks and tiles. I don't know if you know where I can find a master to hire, or perhaps I can buy the service outright." Yang Village is very remote, and transporting bricks and tiles would be a major undertaking. He had already surveyed it before, and the red clay in the mountain valleys was suitable for making bricks.

Since he had money now, once he finished building his house, he could even establish a brick and tile workshop. If the local villagers were willing to buy, he could hire more people and stimulate the economy of Yang Village.

Xie Yuan and his father exchanged glances. "This… might be a bit troublesome. You know that our family is in the restaurant business and not involved in this area… But my father knows many people. Perhaps he can help?"

Xie's father didn't deny it either and pondered for a moment. "Here's what we can do. Wait for two days, and I'll give you a reply as soon as possible."

Xie's father wasn't a clueless person. He had heard from the innkeeper that Cheng Duo had resolved the trouble they faced. Now, Cheng Duo was willing to sell them the wine…

When Mr. Huang and the others were being driven away earlier, they were shouting so loudly that he couldn't possibly not have heard. If Cheng Duo had been willing to wait for a higher price, it could have led to a competition among the restaurant owners. However, Cheng Duo didn't mention it at all, which was already a gesture of goodwill.

Two days. Cheng Duo nodded. He could use these two days to buy more supplies to put in his storage space. And he needed to exchange more precious metals for true gold and silver. Although silver bills were easy to obtain, gold and silver were the real hard currency.

The next day, Cheng Duo handed over a bottle of white wine to Xie Yuan. He had specifically instructed Xie Yuan to bring a medium-sized box, which contained not only two thousand taels of silver but also two hundred taels of gold.

Cheng Duo handed the two thousand taels of silver bills given by Mr. Guo to Xie Yuan, which meant that he now had only one thousand six hundred taels of silver bills left.

Xie Yuan looked at the box. "You have to be careful. There's a lot of money in there…"

Cheng Duo pretended to listen attentively but actually put the box away in his room. Without his consent, no one could take even a single tael of silver from his hands!

Xie's father acted quickly and privately found a brick-making craftsman who had signed a contract of indentured servitude. He bought the method of making bricks from him for four hundred taels.

He wasn't worried about being cheated by the craftsman. After all, the craftsman was secretly selling the method. If his master caught him, he would be in big trouble.

However, the price he offered was too tempting, and the craftsman took the risk to leave some silver for his family.

Xie's father was afraid that Cheng Duo would misunderstand, so he proactively explained that he kept a copy of the method and only needed to pay two hundred taels.

Cheng Duo knew that he had definitely used other means and nodded, noting this favor.

To avoid attracting attention, Cheng Duo left the city carrying the box and had also put many things he had bought in twenty-li slope in his backpack.

Being so open about it, there were indeed people who harbored ill intentions. However, the bandits who attempted to rob him were only a dozen or so in number. Even if they held iron rods and wooden sticks, they couldn't withstand a single blow from Cheng Duo's iron fists.

Not only did Cheng Duo overpower them, but he also forced them to reveal the person who had leaked the information. Based on the description, it was a poor scholar in a long robe whom Cheng Duo didn't recognize at all… But when he thought about the scholar who followed Mr. Guo that day, he immediately had a clue.

He slapped the face of the leader of the bandits. "Didn't that scholar tell you guys? Can't you believe that one punch from me can knock down a two-hundred-pound strong man? Does he have a grudge against you? He didn't even tell you this life-threatening information?"

"He wanted to use us as pawns, but I don't want to cooperate! So here's the deal: hand over the valuable things you have on you, and we'll call it even. Oh, by the way, the scholar probably didn't tell you guys that I love playing dirty tricks…"

The faces of the group of bandits turned pale. It turned out that they really had a grudge against the scholar. After all, they were street ruffians who often extorted protection fees in the area. When the scholar refused to pay, he told them that he knew someone who had two thousand taels of silver bills on them. If they agreed to stop robbing his money, he would tell them the person's whereabouts.

Cheng Duo couldn't be bothered to go back and deal with the scholar, so he set a trap for them and let them fight each other. To make the bandits angrier, he didn't leave them a single copper coin, let alone clothes.

Actually, he had thought about stripping them of their clothes, but then he remembered that there were other girls and boys on the street… so he let it go.

But that was enough to make the bandits seethe with anger. As for how they would deal with the scholar when they returned, it was their business…