The 62nd Iron Fan, Song Qing!

  The man in front of him was over thirty years old, wearing a blue long gown with a slanted button, a dust-proof soap cloth on his head, black cotton boots on his feet, and holding an account book in his hand, looking very wise, not like those people from the market.

  The young man saw Ximen Qing and had a look of admiration in his eyes for a moment, thinking to himself what a fine young fellow. He then asked: "Sir, I don't know what brings you to my humble shop? Are you here to eat or to stay?"

  Ximen Qing smiled and clasped his hands, saying: "Since we're not eating or staying, we just want to buy some things. Ah, shopkeeper, may I ask, how many steamed buns and beef do you have in this wine house?"

  The man narrowed his eyes, puzzled in his heart, and immediately said: "There are 100 kilograms of beef and 800 steamed buns in my wine house. I wonder what this young master wants?"

  Ximen Qing was overjoyed in his heart, thinking that the amount was sufficient. He took out a gold ingot from his bosom, weighing exactly ten taels, and handed it to the man, smiling and saying: "Shopkeeper, I'd like to buy these mantou and beef with this gold ingot. Please hurry up and have them moved out for me, and also lend me one of your assistants to help transport these things to a nearby location!"

  "The... " The man listened and suddenly revealed a difficult expression.

  Ximen Qing asked: "Shopkeeper, what's wrong? Is there something difficult?"

  The man nodded and said, "I can only give you twenty pounds of beef and two hundred buns, because those beef and buns have already been ordered by others. Doing business, I must keep my credit, isn't that right?"

  Ximen Qing listened and calculated in his heart, finding it was not enough, so he could only sigh and say: "Alas, since that's the case, okay then. Say, shopkeeper, do you know where there is another wine house?"

  The young man was very curious and couldn't understand why Ximen Qing needed a large amount of beef and mantou so urgently, but he still replied: "There are many small wine shops on the west side of Yuncheng Street, but only Xiao Wang's wine shop is close to my home. The other wine shops are outside one or two alleys! Lately, business has been bad, and the wine shops have been opening and closing."

  The man couldn't help but curiously ask, "By the way, young master, may I ask, what do you need so much beef and mantou for?"

  Ximen Qing laughed and said, "I just gave alms to the poor in front of Xiao Wang's wine shop, but they didn't have many beef and buns, so I came here hoping to buy more. Who would have thought... Alright, take this ten taels of gold, help me send those beef and buns to Xiao Wang's wine shop, thank you very much! Now I still need to rush to other wine shops to see if I can buy some buns or food."

  The young man listened, and his heart was filled with admiration. He immediately bowed to Ximen Qing and said: "I'm ashamed of my shortsightedness, I didn't expect you to be so righteous. Since it's a good deed to help the poor, I'll also do my part. I'll sell all the buns and beef at half price to you, so you can relieve the suffering of the poor people!"

  The man then stuffed the gold back into Ximen Qing's hands and immediately shouted at the busy shop boy, "Little Sun, go! Find a cart to load all the buns and beef from our kitchen, and then follow this young master to transport them to Xiao Wang's wine house. Hurry up!"

  The little servant nodded repeatedly and then hastily went to do it.

  Ximen Qing was overjoyed and hastily said: "I'm extremely grateful, you're indeed a righteous person! Haha, thank you so much! I don't know your honorable surname, but after I've finished my business, I'll definitely come to thank you in person. At that time, please do me the honor of sharing a drink with me!"

  He is willing to go against his integrity to help the poor, which shows that this man's character is very good. The bosses of other wine houses would not dare to do so even if they were beaten to death! So Ximen Qing is also happy to make friends with such a righteous person.

  The young man smiled and said, "I am Song Qing, a native of this county. It is my honor to meet you today, sir. Compared to you, my sense of justice is nothing."

  Song Qing? Iron Fan Song Qing, Song Jiang's brother! Ximen Qing was overjoyed and hastily said: "So it's Big Brother Song Qing! I've long heard of the heroic reputation of Iron Fan Song Qing on the rivers and lakes. Today, I see that his name is not in vain. I am Ximen Qing, a native of Qinghe County!"

  "Ah? Emperor of Justice!" Song Qing's heart skipped a beat as soon as he heard it, and then he excitedly grasped Ximen Qing's hand, saying: "So you're the Emperor of Justice? Ah, indeed as rumored in Jianghu, you are both elegant and unrestrained, with both benevolence and righteousness. Haha... being able to meet you today is truly a predestined fate."

  At this time, Xiao Shuai also walked over and said: "Boss, everything is ready, it's at the back door!"

  Song Qing nodded and immediately grabbed Ximen Qing's hand, saying: "Brother, since everything is ready, I might as well go with you this time. How about it? After we're done, we'll come back here to have a good drink and chat, how does that sound?"

  Ximen Qing smiled and nodded, saying: "Of course it's all right!"

  After finishing speaking, the two of them hurriedly went out, bringing a cart full of steamed buns and beef, and headed to Xiao Wang's wine house.

  When they arrived at the Ximenqing wine house, they saw that the mantou had already been distributed, and Zi Xuan was anxiously looking around. After seeing Ximen Qing, she excitedly waved repeatedly to greet him.

  Ximen Qing and Song Qing arrived, and hastily ordered someone to unload the buns and beef, then had a young servant distribute them.

  Zi Xuan patted her chest and gasped: "Officer, fortunately you've arrived, otherwise I wouldn't know how to resolve this!"

  Ximen Qing said: "Let Zi Xuan suffer!" Then he pointed at Song Qing and said: "Come, let me introduce you, this is Song Qing, Big Brother Song!"

  Zi Xuan nodded and called out in a well-behaved tone: "Brother Song!"

  Ximen Qing then said to Song Qing, "Song brother, she is Zi Xuan, the younger sister of Chao Gai!"

  "Oh?" Song Qing was startled again, and then smiled and cupped his hands: "So it's the sister of Chao Tianwang, Song certain pays his respects here!"

  Zi Xuan smiled and said: "Song big brother is serious, little sister is polite!"

  The three of them looked at each other and burst out laughing.

  Because there were enough mantou and beef, the distribution went smoothly, and before long, all the beggars left with several mantou and beef in hand, feeling content.

  The onlookers secretly gave a thumbs up, while only those who jeered slunk away with embarrassment.

  After that, Ximen Qing and Ziyun followed Song Qing to the Song family tavern, found a seat, ordered some good wine and dishes, and sat down to have a detailed conversation.

  Song Qing raised his cup and smiled, asking: "Yi Di, where are you headed? How long will you be staying in Yancheng County? If it's for a while, why not stay at my place? My brother has been praising you nonstop and is eager to meet you!"

  Ximen Qing smiled and returned the toast, drinking the wine before saying: "After traveling all around I went to Yanzhou to look for my master, so I came to visit Yuncheng. I'll just stay a few days. Is your brother Song Jiang? The Timely Rain, Song Gongming - I've long known his great name but never had the chance to meet him. Later I'll have to trouble Brother Song Qing to introduce us!"

  Song Qing burst out laughing and patted Ximen Qing's shoulder, saying: "What a thing to say, Emperor Yi!"

  Just then, three men suddenly walked in from outside and asked Song Qing, who was sitting there: "Song Qing, where are our things?"

  Song Qing's face changed, looking somewhat embarrassed, and he immediately stood up, cupped his hands and said: "I'm really sorry to the three brothers, today's buns and beef have been sold out, so I didn't leave any for the three brothers. To make up for it, I am willing to take out 100 taels of silver as compensation, what do you think?"

  PS: Seeking votes! Desperately seeking~~~~ (I know, I say this every day, and it's annoying to the judges, but what can I do? If I don't ask for votes, all of you judges will give your votes to those popular authors' books, and us small-time writers will have a hard time getting even a tiny share~~~~~~)