Chapter Twenty-Four: Unbearable Heart

  An's eyes had been steamed and smoked by the silver steam for years, so that they were somewhat red. He finally couldn't bear Xu Yuansuo's naive and confused gaze, saying: "According to the rules, if I say this is fake silver, you won't be able to sell it."

  "Huh? Why is this?" Xu Yuansuo indeed didn't understand the reason: "Is it because you're afraid I'll bother you?"

  "Hehe."

  An Zhāngguì is obviously not afraid of being bullied by scoundrels.

  "He said: 'You really don't understand the ways of the world. Think about it, what if this silver is real?'"

  "Really..." Xu Yuanshuo suddenly understood.

  There must be some people who have done such a thing: they say that the guest's real silver is fake, and if the guest trusts them and sells it to them, they can naturally embezzle the silver with impunity.

  "I don't believe Master An would cheat me out of such a small amount of money with his exceptional skills," said Xu Yuansuo.

  There are people who can endure, relying on An Liu's financial resources, wanting to make some fake silver for profit, that is also in the thousands of taels. Would they stand at the counter waiting to cheat a fool out of three or five taels of loose silver?

  This is all an injustice to his master who taught him the trade!

  It's all worth it for him to learn and practice his skills!

  An Zhāngguì was visibly somewhat constrained.

  "I'm a fool." Xu Yuansuo chuckled and said, "If I were to switch to another store, the owner wouldn't be as kind-hearted as Manager An, that's when they would really cheat me."

  As soon as he spoke, An Zhuanggui couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy. He picked up the five taels of silver on the counter, weighed them lightly, and handed them to his apprentice: "Go exchange."

  Niu Dalie's face looked like he had eaten shit and couldn't rinse his mouth, shouting: "Second Uncle! That was what I took from the shop yesterday!"

  An Zhanggui coughed dryly and said with an awkward expression, "What nonsense are you spouting? In any case, all of you have been thrown onto Nangong's body."

  Xu Yuansuo's heart still has lingering fear: The financial order of the Great Ming is really terrifying!

  "An Zhanggui... Please exchange the extra silver for me into copper coins, it's more convenient to spend." Xu Yuansuo added.

  An Zhanggui's old face turned slightly red, and he only gave Xu Yuansu a meaningful glance: still not stupid to the point of no return.

  In this case, who would still dare to use silver?!

  Xu Yuansuo shouted in his heart.

  An Zhāngguì's status naturally didn't require him to do manual labor, so he handed over the subsequent work to his apprentices. Xú Yuánzuǒ knew that this line of work was deep and couldn't be guarded against just by keeping an eye on it, so he pretended to be stupid to the point where people couldn't bear to cheat him, not even giving it a glance.

  An Zhanggui was about to speak several times but stopped, and indeed, his curiosity had been piqued.

  When the silver ingots were delivered, Xu Yuansuo saw six snowflake-patterned white silver ingots standing in a row, which was quite spectacular.

  "The best white silver with golden flowers is produced in Fujian, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan and Guizhou. This silver of yours is Japanese silver, so it's impossible to have golden flowers. After refining into an ingot, it has a coarse silk texture, which is considered good quality silver." An Zhanggui first gave some free advice on identifying silver, then finally asked: "These five taels of silver were earned by yourself, why do you want to give them to the master?"

  Xu Yuansuo listened carefully, and when he asked, he said: "I accepted the fake silver myself, I was not skilled enough, but the master's instructions were carried out without any mistakes."

  An Zhanggui surprisingly cracked a smile, as if he was laughing.

  Xu Yuansuo felt a bit frightened, wrapped up the silver and copper coins he had exchanged, and bid farewell to leave.

  Niu Dalì chased after him to the outside and called out to Xú Yuán Zuǒ: "I really didn't know that Second Uncle would even cheat his own people."

  "It doesn't matter." Xu Yuansu smiled and said. In this regard, he trusted Niu Dal very much, and observing his words and expressions had already become second nature to him, with Niu Dal's abilities being absolutely unable to deceive his eyes.

  "One day I'll pay you back with interest." Niu Dalì gritted his teeth and said.

  Xu Yuansuo smiled and said, "Even if it's fake silver, it's not all fake." He said, "You just make up the difference of five cents in silver for me, hmm... best to change it into copper coins."

  The remaining silver was exchanged for 2,800 copper coins, weighing around three kilograms, and it still felt somewhat heavy on his back.

  "What do you want so many copper coins for?" Niu Dalì laughed and said: "Just because I'm afraid of being cheated?"

  "I'm a fool, wherever I go, I'll be cheated, it's better to be careful." Xu Yuansuo chuckled.

  "You're really a fool. Isn't it obvious that you're offending me by saying this?" Niu Dalì stepped forward and pulled at Xu Yuansuò's silver pouch: "Let go!"

  Xu Yuansuo let go obediently.

  Niu Dalie easily carried Xu Yuansuo on his shoulders and sent him back, saying gloomily: "It wasn't until we arrived at the county town that I realized how treacherous people's hearts can be in this world. There are all kinds of people. If you're not careful, you'll be eaten alive, leaving no bones behind." He sighed: "The countryside is still better."

  Xu Yuansuo simply nodded and didn't say anything.

  "What were you doing at Xu's house?" asked Niu Dalì.

  "Running errands." Xu Yuansuo said.

  "How much is the monthly salary?" Niu Dal asked again.

  "Three coins and five cents." Xu Yuansuo said: "I plan to let the master pay me in copper coins..."

  "You're really...!" Niu Dalie couldn't find the right adjective for a moment, then suddenly looked at Xu Daidai with a foolish expression: "You, you... can't even figure out which is more, five taels of silver or three qian and five fen! You can't even tell whether being a runner or an accountant is better! You're really stupid!"

  Xu Yuansuo thought to himself: Can't you see my great ambition?! He chuckled and said, "As a mediator, Mr. Lu can't be embarrassed."

  Niu Dalie was momentarily speechless, rolled his eyes and muttered: "If it were me, with such a good-looking beauty in front of me, I wouldn't care if he's Master Liu or whoever!"

  "Hehe."

  "Can't you stop smiling stupidly?" Niu Dalì was speechless.

  "I can." Xu Yuansuo replied seriously and couldn't help but add: "Hehe."

  Going forward, Niu Dalu indeed didn't want to talk to Xu Yuanshuo anymore, and instead buried his head in thought. To be honest, being able to get a piece of meat from Qiu Laojiu's mouth today was a huge victory, it could be said that it was a redemption for past grievances. However, this victory came from an idiot, which greatly discounted Niu Dalu's happiness.

  And there's always a feeling of owing it to foolish people.

  I'm a man of great strength and integrity, why would I take advantage of a fool?

  Niu Dalì had always felt somewhat uncomfortable in his heart.

  Xu Yuansuo didn't say a word all the way, but was secretly "Niudali".

  From his occasional pursing of lips, one can read the entanglement in his heart.

  His eyebrows, which rose from time to time, could read his surging passion;

  From his suddenly dim and dull expression, one can read out his loss and confusion...

  Reading people is like reading books, it's really quite interesting.

  Xu Yuansuo suddenly remembered what Dai Tianyan said: "Unless you blind your eyes, don't let the external splendor confuse you, can you open your heart and see another world..." He slowly closed his eyes, heard Niu Dali's slight panting, and felt the heat emanating from Niu Dali's body... Indeed, it was as if he had entered another world.

  Bang!

  Xu Yuansuo supported his forehead and opened his eyes.

  He crashed into the tree.

  Niu Dalì looked at Xú Yuán Zuǒ in an unbelievable manner: "I watched with my own eyes as you crashed into him..."

  "Then why didn't you call me?" Xu Yuansu covered his forehead, and he really did feel a bit of pain.

  "I just want to see how stupid you are." Niu Dalì's face was full of concern: "I thought you were a good person when I saw you calculating accounts, could it be that your stupidity is also dependent on the situation?"

  Xu Yuansuo supported his forehead with one hand and gave Niu Dali a resentful glance: I'm not pretending to be stupid now!