Chapter 22: Two Floors, Wang Taixu
The gorgeous carriage drove out of the Sycamore Drop.
A sparse applause and shouts of approval rang out.
No matter how much they felt that Li Ling Jun was extraordinary on weekdays, and they couldn't even help but be excited and surprised to see this legendary big shot today, but the other party was a Chu person after all.
If they could make the Chu people unhappy, they would be happy.
And to be able to make such a Chu person unhappy, then this wine store's teenager is really very special just like the rumors.
Applauding to applauding, admiring to admiring, this kind of sunny morning, except for a few idle people, generally on hand will have to be busy with things, coupled with the fact that watching the opera here has already delayed quite a lot of time, so most of the spectators are just very happy to leave, ready to stay busy with things, and brag about the things happening here with the people around them.
A spectator who had rushed here at the very beginning when Nangong Cai Beans and the others were fighting with Chen Mo Li, at this time, walked into the wine store with quick steps.
This was a thirty year old man who looked somewhat sickly.
He was wearing a gray cotton robe that seemed slightly thick in this kind of weather, and his face was more handsome than the vast majority of people in Changling, only that he seemed a bit afraid of the cold after wearing a cotton robe that was already too thick, and his figure was a bit shrunken.
The corners of his eyes also already had wrinkles, and there were also wrinkles in the middle of his eyebrows, which made it seem like he was always thinking about something annoying even if he wasn't thinking about it.
A person like this must have especially many things to think about and worry about during the weekdays.
After walking into the already empty wine store, he acted as if he had walked into his own home, and didn't first care about Ding Ning who was returning the tables and chairs that were crammed in a pile to their places, but instead tapped down some wine money on the counter on his own, then sat down not far from Ding Ning's side and slowly drank his wine.
"And who are you? You big shots, don't you have somewhere else to go during the weekdays, what's the point of circling around this little place?" Ding Ning hammered a chair heavily across from this man with force, and said in a bad mood.
Even if one was watching a play, too many big names appearing in the theater made it difficult to remember and one could not help but feel a bit annoyed, not to mention the fact that at the moment, Ding Ning was thinking about things.
This man in his thirties didn't feel that Ding Ning's attitude was bad, he instead found it interesting to smile and said, "My name is Wang Taixu, I haven't said half a word to you since I came in, and I'm also certain that you haven't seen me before, so how can you be certain that I'm some kind of big shot as well?"
"Wang Taixu? Looking at your body, it's really weak."
Ding Ning sat down across from this thirty-something year old man who was still considered handsome, and looking at the other party's exhaling breath that appeared a bit weak, and also looking at the other party's teeth that were missing from the teeth that were exposed when he was speaking, he then said in a slightly sarcastic manner.
Then he backhanded a nod outside the bunk.
"Ask me how I know you're a big shot...do you think I'm blind? Those few burly men stopped the few people who wanted to walk into this store, you alone dominated this place, and those who were stopped seem to not dare to complain, why do you think I know?"
"This is meticulousness." Wang Taixu didn't mind Ding Ning's mocking tone at all, and instead smiled appreciatively. He looked very weak indeed, not only was he missing a tooth, but even the rest of his teeth seemed to be a bit loose.
He looked at Ding Ning and said with a smile, "To be able to be meticulous in small places, to be able to see the whole picture in big places, to be able to see what people cannot see, the mist that obscures your eyes does not even exist for you, this is a natural ghost talent."
Ding Ning glanced at him, "What's the point of being a ghost if you're not a human being?"
Wang Taixu laughed again, but said, "Not long ago, a yellow-shirted master rent collector came to this alley and asked you to collect rent, but you didn't give it."
Ding Ning frowned slightly, "Said he'd come back in a few days but didn't...are you from the Two Storey House or are you from the Jinlin Tang?"
Wang Taixu smiled, "I'm from the Two Storey House, in fact, to be more precise, the affairs of the Two Storey House are now under my control."
Ding Ning looked at him skeptically, "The owner of the Two Story Building, so vain?"
Wang Taixu collected his smile and said with a straight face, "It might be because I've been dealing with too many things lately, so I've hurt my body."
"If you really are the current master of the Two Story Building, you shouldn't have coincidentally appeared here." Ding Ning also looked at him seriously and said, "But that has nothing to do with me, all that matters to me is just how you and Jinlin Tang are actually talking now, and to whom exactly should we hand over our rent?"
"The fact that I am still alive now means that the rent here should still be handed over to us now." Wang Taixu lightly coughed several times and said with some pride, "As for me being here today, it's only because Li Ling Jun came over."
About being afraid that he didn't make himself clear enough, Wang Taixu looked at Ding Ning again and continued, "You also understand that our two floors have face business and lining business, face business has very little oil and water, but it's all about face, if all the face business is snatched away, it means that the lining business can't be preserved as well, after all, this is our turf, and we have face business. We had a bit of a hard time fighting with Jin Lin Tang before, but a great dragon like Li Ling Jun suddenly appeared here again, of course we don't know what significance his appearance here represents, so naturally we have to come over to take a look at it clearly, if he slightly reveals some of his words and actions that are related to Jin Lin Tang, then I'll have to think about whether or not I'm likely to be lying down in which river tomorrow."
"So afraid of him?" Tingning said with slight sarcasm.
"I'm not like you." Thinking of the words that Ding Ning had just said to Li Ling Jun, Wang Taixu couldn't help but smile again, "Even if you made him lose face, he wouldn't do anything to you due to his status, after all, if you were to deal with a city boy like you, it wouldn't be gentlemanly to say the least, and you're probably well aware of that, that's why you did this to him. But we're different, if we really had a conflict with him, it would be a rather bloody affair. Moreover, you've just seen the strength of the cultivators under his sect, there's more than one cultivator like Chen Mo Li. But I'm not afraid of him either, you should understand that the results of having defenses and not having defenses would be completely different."
Ding Ning said expressionlessly, "I think you're thinking wrong, I dared to treat him like that, and another thing is that I did pay the rent money and paid the protection fee."
"Well said." Wang Taixu couldn't help but clap his hands and laugh, "If something bad happened to you because you honestly said a few words, then we are doing business in an unkind manner indeed."
Ding Ning glanced at him, "But now that you're so vain, can your two floors really still be as capable as you say they are?"
Wang Taixu became serious and looked him seriously in the eyes, "Whether or not we have the ability, the key lies in whether or not we can solve Jin Lin Tang. If we are kept pestered by Jin Lin Tang and have no way to do business properly, we will naturally become weaker and weaker."
"Then I wish you good luck." Ding Ning said.
"Luck is something that only comes to those who are well prepared." Wang Taixu coughed lightly twice, wiping his mouth with a piece of silk scarf, and said, "I've just seen the hustle and bustle, and now I'm sitting here specifically because I want your help."
Ding Ning frowned slightly, "And what favor can I help you with?"
"Help me clear the fog." Wang Taixu slowly said, "There are quite a few people in our two floors who can put up a fight, but there are not many people who can think things through clearly and thoroughly. Although you are young, I have stayed in Changling for so long, but I haven't seen a few people like you who see everything so clearly and rationalize so clearly."
"You should understand how important such an ability is to be able to quickly sort out the entire big picture amidst a lot of messy headaches. I'm lacking a military advisor like this, or perhaps a disciple, or partner like this." Wang Taixu seriously and sincerely continued.
"Even if you think that there is a possibility that I can help you, but this is not a chance for me to fly up the branch and become a phoenix. In fact, your current situation is similar to that of Lord Li Ling's, and if you can gain a firm foothold next, and then eat Jinlin Tangdu in one bite, then your position in Changling will be even further up. But the point is, this is likewise filled with countless risks, and the two-tiered building is still a big ship covered in many holes in the wind and rain right now."
Ding Ning also looked at him seriously, "You want me to help you, what benefits can I get?"
Wang Taixu asked back, "What benefits do you want?"
"Any benefits you want?"
Ding Ning suddenly stretched out his hand with some annoyance, pointing in the direction where those sword academy students from before had left, "Including being able to get me into those sword academies of theirs?"
Wang Taixu smiled as he gently looked at Ding Ning, "You want to become a cultivator? Actually, to become a cultivator, you don't necessarily need to enter those sword academies."
Ding Ning sneered, "But there are only some sword academies that have the qualifications to participate in the Minshan Sword Sect's entrance exams."
Wang Taixu was completely stunned.
He was stunned for a full five or six breaths before he finally came back to his senses, looking at Ding Ning somewhat incredulously, "You actually want to enter the Minshan Sword Sect?"
