Steward Hou was very forthright. Right there on the spot, he bought all eight jars of Bamboo Leaf Green, grumbling all the while about why Liu Xiaolou had been delayed for so long. The sect's upper-ranking disciples, he said, had gone several days without wine.
This time, he took the initiative to pay in spirit stones, since he had no cash left on him. Liu Xiaolou glanced again at Steward Hou, who was heading down the mountain, and felt his scalp go cold. He hurriedly agreed.
Steward Hou was the only person in the Qingyu Sect who recognized him. Could this business of his continue? Liu Xiaolou had no confidence in it. Better to get the spirit stones into his hands first.
One spirit stone for two jars of Bamboo Leaf Green was the usual price, but of course it could not be so now. For the eight jars before him, Steward Hou gave six spirit stones in all, and Liu Xiaolou did not haggle further. In a little over half a month, he had turned his initial capital of seventy or eighty taels of silver into six spirit stones. He was quite content. At the same time, he feared that if he wasted time bickering with Steward Hou over the price, Steward Hou's elder brother, the Patrol Steward, might turn back. Then the gain would not make up for the loss.
While Steward Hou instructed his servants to carry off the wine, Liu Xiaolou presented the pheasant. Steward Hou indeed liked it very much. Delighted, he held it up and examined it again and again. "I've never seen this kind of game. Where did you catch it? Is it tasty?"
With a flattering smile, Liu Xiaolou said, "When I passed through Wuling Mountain, I happened to run into it,