His expression remained calm, neither admitting nor denying anything. "What exactly is shopkeeper Wang trying to say?"
Wang Laowu leaned forward, lowered his voice, and spoke with a provoking tone and the smug shrewdness of someone who thought himself clever:
"Brother, I'm only kindly reminding you because you're young, and I'm afraid you'll be cheated!
"That Hu Lao San looks forthright and generous, but he's actually calculating as hell! The pie he drew for you is huge—Merchant Guild steward, a martial future... but all of that is empty! If you really join, you'll have to sign a contract selling yourself! Your life and death will be in someone else's grasp! How could that compare to working for yourself, free and easy?"
He watched Fang Yuan's expression and continued:
"My place may be small, but there are fewer rules! If you have goods, I'll take them. As for the price, it'll definitely be more... hehe, flexible than Hu Lao San's!
"And I've got connections in the county seat. If you really want to ask about something else... like how to get something worthwhile without signing a contract selling yourself..."
He paused meaningfully. "I can help make some introductions too. It's just that the expenses for greasing the wheels in between..."
After hearing him out, Fang Yuan sneered inwardly.
This Wang Laowu truly was a thoroughgoing unscrupulous merchant and local bully.
First he had threatened him and blocked his path. Once Fang Yuan entered, Wang Laowu had flattered him and acted familiar, then tried to sow discord. Now the dagger had finally come out from the map—he still wanted to buy Fang Yuan's goods cheaply.
He might even have wanted to treat him as a long-term meal ticket, while hinting that he could provide gray-market channels and profit from them.
"I appreciate