The Human Market Couple

Shoe factories, garment factories, pharmaceutical factories... factories stand side by side, and many people crowd in front of each factory.

Many of them were holding up signs with the number "one" or "two" written on them, which was their price for one job.

Tan Jinxiao attaches great importance to this. "We should also get a sign in the future and put the price tag on our clothes. This will make it easier to find work, and when it comes time to settle the bill, there will be fewer misunderstandings between the two sides."

Juanzi looked at Tan Jinxiao and said, "We didn't come here to work with you. Can you even understand what I'm saying?"

Xiao Yeci glanced at her Pocket Watch; it was already eight o'clock in the evening. "At this hour, there are still so many people waiting for work!"

Tan Jinxiao said, "The Underground City doesn't distinguish between right and wrong. As long as you have the strength, you can work from morning till night for days and nights without anyone caring."

A shoe factory displayed its newly manufactured shoes on the street, waiting for customers to come and collect them.

Li Banfeng picked up the shoe box, opened it, and took a look.

Whether in Pro State or Outer State, these shoes are absolutely top-notch in terms of craftsmanship and materials.

Moreover, Li Banfeng had seen this brand before; it was sold in Pro State and Outer State.

As for the price, if it were based on the price listed in the store, Chen Changrui would have to worry about the cost of buying a pair of shoes for at least half a year with his salary.

The shoes here weren't priced, so Li Banfeng asked, "How much is a pair of these shoes?"

The worker at the door, seeing Li Banfeng's well-dressed appearance, politely replied, "Sir, we don't sell shoes in small quantities."

Li Banfeng laughed and said, "I'm just asking about the price, I'm not actually buying it."

The worker looked troubled. "If you want to buy shoes, go to the nearby shoe stores. We really don't sell in small quantities here."

Tan Jinxiao chimed in from the side. "I used to work in a shoe factory, so I don't know what the market price is now. Back then, this pair of shoes sold for sixty yuan."

Li Banfeng didn't hear clearly. "Sixty what? Silver dollars?"

"What silver dollars? How many people have ever seen a silver dollar?" Tan Jinxiao snorted. "Sixty Huan Country Notes, that's not a small amount."

Li Banfeng frowned and said, "This isn't right, is this even enough to cover the costs?"

Tan Jinxiao said, "It's enough, there's still money to be made! It all depends on how you do this job. Don't cause trouble here. If someone comes to collect the goods and sees you buying shoes here, this factory won't be able to keep operating. The boss will have to take a shovel and go out to find work. If the machines here are messed up, he might even lose his life."

"What does it mean that the machine is dead?"

"If someone smashes the machine, you'll lose your life, won't you?" Tan Jinxiao advised the crowd. "If you want to work here, I'll help you negotiate the price. If you don't want to work, then don't delay their business."

As they were talking, a train whistle sounded in the distance, and a Small Train slowly approached.

This Small Train similar to the one in Black Stone Slope city. When it arrives at the shoe factory, the train stops, and the factory workers load goods onto the train. The train conductor receives the goods, counts them, and writes down the receipts. The workers then take the receipts and return to the factory.

Li Banfeng said, "Aren't you going to give me cash?"

Tan Jinxiao said, "Once you've collected enough orders, go to the shopkeeper's counter to collect the money. They usually don't delay payment. But if you encounter a different situation, then you'll have to wait..."

I said, "Miss, write down the useful things, but don't bother writing down the useless ones. Why are you writing down how factories sell their products? Aren't you tired of writing so many words?"

He was referring to Xiao Yeci.

Xiao Yeci remembered very carefully. "I'm not tired at all, these things are very useful."

Tan Jinxiao shook his head and said, "What's the use of memorizing this? Even if you don't find it tiring, you could at least save some ink and paper!"

As Li Banfeng walked along, he saw clothes, hats, shoes, socks, pots and pans, and he wanted to buy them all. These things were really well made, but every factory had the same rule: they didn't sell things in small quantities.

Tan Jinxiao pointed to the general store in front of him. "Go there if you want to buy something, that's a proper place to buy retail."

Li Banfeng entered the shop, looked at the clothes, shoes, pots and pans, tables and chairs. The things here were incomparable to those from the factory.

The shopkeeper was quite enthusiastic and gave Li Banfeng a suit to try on.

Li Banfeng bought his first suit at Feng's General Store, and he had a special fondness for the things in the store.

He bought the suit, but he didn't try it on because the fabric smelled too pungent.

Juanzi also liked the clothes in the general store. The shopkeeper often did business with Three-Headed People, so he knew what size was right and specially picked out two shirts for Juanzi.

A shirt costs 7.9 yuan, and a suit costs 28.3 yuan.

Leaving the grocery store, Juanzi was quite happy with the shirt in her hand, but Mengzi was displeased. "Why did you buy this junk? Just smell it! How can you wear this?"

Juanzi snorted and said, "Look at how arrogant you are. Back when we were poor, it took us years to buy a single piece of clothing. Have you forgotten?"

Mengzi had genuinely forgotten exactly how many years it would take to buy a new piece of clothing, but Li Banfeng could calculate it.

Based on the market price in the Underground City Human Market, a worker can barely earn two yuan a day. After deducting food and drink expenses, he can only save a few cents. If there are children and elderly people at home, he can't even save a few cents. How long will it take them to save up for a new set of clothes?

But the Underground City really doesn't lack clothes. There's a clothing factory right in front of us, and boxes and boxes of clothes are being loaded onto the train.

Why do people have enough clothes but can't afford to wear them?

In the Underground City, there is no distinction between day and night. Li Banfeng glanced at his Pocket Watch; it was already midnight, and he needed to find a place to stay.

Are there any hotels around here?

Tan Jinxiao shook his head and said, "There are no hotels, but there are restaurants. Give me an extra 50 cents and I'll cover your lodging."

Liang Wu said, "Then let's go take a look."

Tan Jinxiao said with a sneer, "What are you looking at? Have you made any money yet, that's why you dare to go to restaurants?"

Xiao Yeci looked at Tan Jinxiao carefully and felt that the man spoke very logically, but there were also big problems with his logic.

Li Banfeng said, "Now that I've made some money, I'm quite satisfied with you being my guide. I'll give you three yuan."

"Three yuan for just giving directions?" Tan Jinxiao was overjoyed. "Next time you need this kind of work, you have to come to me. I'll quit everything else and just serve you!"

The Liang Cai asked, "Does that mean only he can eat, while those of us who haven't earned any money can't eat?"

Tan Jinxiao nodded seriously. "Of course, those who don't earn money will go hungry!"

Li Banfeng pulled out a wad of banknotes. "Now that we've all made money, you'll be my guide, Juanzi, Mengzi, Xiao Shan will be my bodyguards, Miss Xiao will be my secretary, Liang Wucai sisters will be my..."

While Li Banfeng was still pondering what position would be suitable, Liang Wu proactively replied, "We, the two sisters, will warm your bed."

Tan Jinxiao rolled his eyes. "That's it? I can do that too! You don't need to hire so many people anymore, I'll take care of your bodyguards. To be honest, my cultivation level in the Cloud Realm... we might not say it's the best in our sect, but most people can't get close to me!"

He remembered that he was a cultivator in the clouds, and it seemed that his memories had recovered quite a bit.

Tan Jinxiao glanced at Xiao Yeci, then said to Li Banfeng, "I can't replace this young lady. I'm not very literate. You'll have to ask her to be your secretary."

The Liang Cai asked, "We sisters warmed the bed for Seventh Master, and you're going to trade that for us?"

"Sure, I can change!" Tan Jinxiao patted his chest confidently. "I'm warm all over, not just warm, but sticky too. The bed I warmed is perfect!"

The Liang Wu laughed and said, "We're quite capable; after warming the bed, we can do other things too!"

Tan Jinxiao's head drooped. "I can't do anything else. Even a person can't be perfect!"

He led a group of people into a restaurant, Li Banfeng said, "I saw several restaurants along the road, why did we have to come to this one?"

Tan Jinxiao answered honestly, "This restaurant is delicious, and I know the owner. Since so many of us are eating together, I have to support my old friend's business."

The restaurant was quite crowded.

Tan Jinxiao found a table and sat down, then shouted at the top of his lungs, "Boss, what are you thinking? We've got a customer!"

The restaurant owner came over carrying a large wooden box. "What would you like to eat?"

Tan Jinxiao said, "Today we're having something with meat, one bowl of braised pork rice for everyone!"

The shopkeeper took out paper and pen from the wooden box behind him and was about to write down the order when Li Banfeng stopped him, "I don't want to eat braised pork."

Tan Jinxiao objected. "Braised pork is delicious, listen to me!"

Li Banfeng asked, "Do you have a menu? I'd like to order!"

Tan Jinxiao said, "This isn't outside, we don't serve set meals here, it's all big bowls of rice. Just listen to me, eating braised pork rice is the most economical."

The shopkeeper took the menu out of the wooden box behind him, and Li Banfeng saw that there were indeed no set menus.

Even without a set menu, Li Banfeng didn't want to eat braised pork. He ordered a seafood rice dish for 1.2 yuan.

Tan Jinxiao stamped his feet. "Why did you order seafood rice? It's just rice mixed with clams, what's the point? Braised pork belly is much better, big slices of fatty meat, it's filling and satisfying, you should eat this!"

"Gala shell" refers to clams, and Li Banfeng really loves to eat them.

Xiao Yeci looked at the menu. "The food isn't expensive. You said before that you could only afford meat if you earned three yuan. I see that a rice dish with meat on this menu is only a little over one yuan."

Tan Jinxiao said, "Hey, miss, so you only eat this one meal a day? So you finish it all and don't want to think about anything else? Shouldn't life be lived slowly?"

Xiao Yeci ordered a pork rib rice, Liang Wucai ordered two roast duck rice, and Juanzi ordered three braised pork rice.

The shopkeeper wrote down the order and went to the kitchen to get busy.

Li Banfeng said, "This restaurant isn't small, so why can't we see a single waiter?"

Tan Jinxiao shook his head and said, "Where would we get the money to hire help?"

Xiao Yeci said, "This business is pretty good. You can afford to hire two or three helpers."

Tan Jinxiao gave a wry smile, "You guys don't know how difficult it is here if you're not in this line of work. Xiao Songzi and I used to run a restaurant too, and it's really not easy."

Li Banfeng asked, "Who is Xiao Songzi?"

"A friend, a good friend for so many years, but he left later," Tan Jinxiao said, pointing to the kitchen instead of mentioning Xiao Songzi again.

"The owner of this place is Chen Yongnian, and he's an old friend of mine. He also has a wife in the kitchen who can cook everything from frying and stir-frying to deep-frying, so there's no need to hire anyone else."

Soon, the innkeeper served the dishes, which were not brought out on iron plates, but taken out of a large wooden box behind him.

Li Banfeng looked at his seafood rice: a plate of clams and a large bowl of white rice.

The clams were blanched in boiling water and then tossed in soy sauce, making them fragrant, smooth, and delicious. Li Banfeng couldn't stop eating them.

The innkeeper took out a wine jar from a large wooden box on his back, poured a cup of wine for everyone, Li Banfeng, "How much for the wine?"

Tan Jinxiao waved his hand and said, "What's the point of paying for the drinks? We ordered meat dishes, so the drinks are complimentary. That rule can't be changed!"

The shopkeeper smiled and said, "Don't worry, the rules will never be changed."

The liquor was strong and had a rich flavor. Tan Jinxiao pointed to the glass and said, "I'm not just bragging to you guys, this liquor is pure alcohol, it doesn't contain a single grain, it's incredibly potent!"

Mengzi snatched Xiao Shan's wine away, saying, "Kids shouldn't drink."

Juanzi got angry. "What's the difference between you drinking and him drinking?"

Tan Jinxiao pointed to his braised pork rice and said, "This pork was bought from the Earth Market, and these clams were bought from the Sea Market. The ingredients for this meal cost only three cents, and the seasonings and charcoal will cost at most another ten cents."

Xiao Yeci said, "That's quite a profit, with a large portion of it being profit."

Tan Jinxiao shook his head. "There's still a Big Head we haven't factored in. The rent here, when factored into this dish, takes up more than 60 cents. That leaves more than 10 cents. Whether the shopkeeper can make a profit depends on how many customers come today. If there aren't enough customers, we won't even cover the rent, and we'll lose money."

Xiao Yeci said, "The rent is so expensive? Then why don't you just buy a place and open your own shop?"

Tan Jinxiao sighed and said, "The shops in the Underground City don't sell; they all belong to the owners."

Li Banfeng asked, "Who exactly is the boss?"

Tan Jinxiao couldn't explain, "The boss is the boss."

After finishing the meal, Li Banfeng roughly counted the number of people; he needed to arrange accommodations for everyone.

There were eight people in total. I heard from Tan Jinxiao that it would cost 50 cents to stay overnight for one person, so for eight people that would be 4 yuan.

He was about to pay when Tan Jinxiao stopped him. "You can't just give me that! Don't you know how to do math? Three yuan is enough!"

Li Banfeng didn't understand. "Why three pieces?"

Tan Jinxiao said, "Three yuan will rent a big room, and all of us will be able to stay here."

Xiao Yeci blushed. "Men and women should be different, how can they live together!"

Tan Jinxiao waved his hand. "Don't worry, the room is big enough. We can put up a curtain in the middle so no one can see anyone else. Just make do for one night."

"Should we pull down a curtain?" Juanzi felt this was inappropriate. "Then what am I supposed to do?"

The innkeeper, Chen Yongnian, had collected three yuan and was about to tidy up their room when he suddenly saw a man wearing a stand-up collar woolen coat and a black bowler hat enter the restaurant.

"Oh my, Master Bao!" The shopkeeper was taken aback. "It's not the appointed day yet."

"The date has been moved up; it's a new rule set by the owner." The man surnamed Bao pulled up a chair, sat down at the restaurant entrance, and called over a few of his men to block the door.

Tan Jinxiao said, "See this? This is the boss who sent us to collect the money. His name is Bao Yaocheng. He usually comes at the end of the month, but this month he came several days early. I don't know what's going on."

The shopkeeper, Chen Yongnian, didn't dare to ask any more questions and quickly took out the money from the wooden box behind him.

A wad of banknotes was stuffed into Bao Yaocheng's hand. Bao Yaocheng counted them, shook his head, and said, "This isn't enough for you."

Chen Yongnian was taken aback. "Brother Bao, I've been running this shop for several years, and the price has always been this high."

"Aren't you going to read the notice?" Bao Yaocheng pointed to the door. "It was posted yesterday. The rent has increased by 35%. After you pay the money, you can take a look for yourself."

Chen Yongnian rummaged through the box behind him for a long time, taking out all his money. He didn't even have enough money to buy goods for tomorrow, nor could he raise 35% of the rent.

"Mr. Bao, I just bought coal yesterday, and I really don't have any money on me today. Could you please give me a couple more days?"

"There's no leniency!" Bao Yaocheng shook his head and said, "This is the boss's order!"

Chen Yongnian said, "Brother Bao, please come again tomorrow. I'll go out and borrow some from a friend later..."

"Stop with the nonsense, cut the pipe." Bao Yaocheng waved towards the door, and two of his men opened a metal box at the restaurant entrance.

Inside the tin box was an iron valve. Just as someone was about to turn it, Chen Yongnian rushed out, shouting, "No, this won't work!"

As Chen Yongnian was grappling with the two men, Bao Yaocheng stepped forward and pulled Chen Yongnian away.

"Who gave you the right to touch my people? Who gave you the audacity?"

Slap! Bao Yaocheng slapped Chen Yongnian across the face.

Chen Yongnian pleaded, "I beg you, please grant me one more day, just one more day."

Snap!

Bao Yaocheng slapped Chen Yongnian again. "I'm a lazy person. If I swing my hand out, I'll swing it back. For these two slaps, I'll give you twenty minutes to give me the money."

Chen Yongnian lowered his head and said, "Brother Bao, we can't borrow that much money in twenty minutes."

"Fine, I'll give you a few more hits, then you can borrow it!" Bao Yaocheng raised his hand to hit him again, but Chen Yongnian stood there with his head down, not daring to dodge.

He was afraid that Bao Yaocheng would really break the pipe, which was more important than his life.

"Wait a minute," Li Banfeng walked up to Bao Yaocheng and asked, "How much is 35% of the rent?"

Bao Yaocheng looked at Li Banfeng: "What's it to you?"

Li Banfeng said, "Don't ask if it has anything to do with me. The money is your concern, isn't it? Name your price."

Bao Yaocheng handed the bill to Li Banfeng, as Chen Yongnian still owed 820 yuan in rent.

Li Banfeng gave Bao Yaocheng 850 yuan. "Keep the change."

After receiving the money, Bao Yaocheng looked at Li Banfeng, then at Chen Yongnian: "What's your relationship with him?"

Chen Yongnian didn't know how to answer, Li Banfeng laughed and said, "Don't worry about the relationship. Just take the money and leave, isn't that enough?"

Bao Yaocheng glanced at Li Banfeng and cursed, "What a fucking jerk!"

After he finished cursing, he left with his men.

Chen Yongnian thanked Li Banfeng profusely, saying, "Sir, thank you for saving my life. I'll borrow the money right away and pay you back immediately."

Li Banfeng waved his hand and said, "This matter is not urgent. You should focus on your business first."

Chen Yongnian said, "I can't take your money; I definitely have to pay it back."

Li Banfeng laughed and said, "I didn't say you don't have to pay it back. If you owe it a little longer, you can calculate more interest. I won't lose out. Let's get back to business."

Tan Jinxiao watched from the side without saying a word.

Chen Yongnian wanted to help Li Banfeng tidy up the rooms for the night. Li Banfeng had originally only asked for one room, but the innkeeper tidyed up three rooms for him. "Please make yourselves more comfortable. It's a token of my appreciation. I'll raise the money right away."

Li Banfeng asked Tan Jinxiao, "What does 'cut off the cigarette pipe' mean?"

Tan Jinxiao said, "It means cutting off his wife's airway so that there's no smoke, otherwise she won't be able to breathe. He definitely can't agree to that."

Li Banfeng pondered for a moment and said, "Didn't you say his wife can cook and wash dishes?"

"Yes, as long as there's enough coal and water, his wife can do anything."

Li Banfeng asked in astonishment, "His wife is a machine?"

Tan Jinxiao nodded and said, "You didn't expect that, did you? A machine can be a wife!"

Li Banfeng couldn't believe it. "There really are people like this in the world?"

Tan Jinxiao sighed and said, "I used to think he was crazy, but madness is madness, life still goes on!"

In the kitchen, Chen Yongnian tidied up the things, closed the shop, and prepared to go out to raise money.

A wooden shovel emerged from the cupboard and gently stroked Chen Yongnian 'Chen Yongnian face, touching his wounds.

"It's alright, it's all in the past," Chen Yongnian said, touching the wooden shovel. "I'll borrow some money. We've met some good people, we can't let them down."

Laugh!

A puff of steam shot over, and she felt sorry for Chen Yongnian.

Chen Yongnian turned on the water valve and added some coal to the stove, "Keep an eye on the house and wait for me to come back."

Everyone was assigned to rooms and went to sleep. Li Banfeng slept in a room by himself, Juanzi and the other two could take turns resting, and she was responsible for watching over Tan Jinxiao. Liang Wucai and Xiao Yeci slept in the same room.

Late at night, after Xiao Yeci had fallen asleep, Liang Wucai quietly left the house and went into Li Banfeng's room.

Li Banfeng fast asleep in bed when the Liang Wucai climbed into his quilt.

Liang Cai said softly, "He's so cold, his icy skin makes me want to shiver along with him."

Liang Wu: "It's supposed to be cold. That's why we came here to warm the bed."

The projector hovered in mid-air, silently watching the scene before it, and a flood of emotions welled up within it:

Melons are naturally cold, but under the guise of light and shadow, you can't see any flaws.

This is the power of art; it can make false things appear so real.

In a sense, this is true art. All you need to do is film this art, show it to your wife, and then Seventh Director will...

Hehehe!

Thinking of this, the projector looked around, worried that the gloves might suddenly appear and steal the film.

Tan Jinxiao was already asleep, as were Juanzi and Xiao Shan, leaving Mengzi alone to keep an eye on Tan Jinxiao.

A melodious tune drifted over, Mengzi felt his eyelids grow heavy. After struggling a few times, he quickly drifted off to sleep.

Li Banfeng put away the Music Box, pushed open the door to the room, and came to Tan Jinxiao's side. "Stop pretending, get up."

Tan Jinxiao opened his eyes. "What?"

"Get to work!"

"What time do you start working? Even if you hire a farmhand, you should at least let him sleep!"

Li Banfeng said, "This is urgent work. I just finished a business deal and the accounts haven't been settled yet."

"You mean this?" Tan Jinxiao understood perfectly. "He's in a real hurry. I reckon he's walked about two blocks away."

Tan Jinxiao's calculations were quite accurate; Bao Yaocheng did indeed walk two streets.

Today's rent collection didn't go smoothly. Several tenants couldn't pay the rent due to the recent increase. They tried everything – beatings, vandalism – but Bao Yaocheng isn't a soft-hearted person. If they couldn't pay, he simply cut off their cigarette pipes.

As he walked into the alley, Bao Yaocheng felt a cool breeze on his face.

Looking up, he saw a man in a black suit and a black top hat standing in front of him.

"Who are you?" Bao Yaocheng asked.

Li Banfeng looked up and said, "You've forgotten so quickly? I just gave you money."

Bao Yaocheng recognized him. "You, the one who paid the rent for Old Chen earlier? You regret it? If you regret it, don't come looking for me, go find Old Chen. Who told you to be so shameless?"

"That's enough," Li Banfeng, pulling his hat down low. "Old Chen's accounts have been settled, the rent has been paid, but how do we settle the cost of those two slaps?"

Bao Yaocheng laughed, "What do you want to say? I hit him, that's his good fortune. You dare hit me? Who do you think you are? Who are you talking to? Try touching me, you know I am..."

Snap!

Li Banfeng stretched out his right hand and slapped Bao Yaocheng across the left cheek.

Bao Yaocheng spun around halfway on the spot and almost fell to the ground.

"You hit me?" Bao Yaocheng looked up in surprise. "Do you know who I am...?"

Snap!

Li Banfeng slapped him again, this time on his left cheek.

Bao Yaocheng's jaw was dislocated, and he slurred his words: "I... I was collecting rent for the landlord..."

Snap!

Li Banfeng slapped him a third time, this time on his left cheek. "I'm a quick-witted person, I don't want to use the back of my hand, so I'll slap you with my palm."

Several of his henchmen rushed forward, and Li Banfeng slapped each of them, knocking them all down.

Li Banfeng raised his hand to slap Bao Yaocheng again, and Bao Yaocheng cried, his snot, tears, and blood all flowing together.

"I only hit two of them, two, and you hit three of me..."

"No interest required?"

Snap!

Another slap landed on Bao Yaocheng's face, and he lay on the ground crying, too afraid to get up.

Li Banfeng said, "You just called me a slut, so ten slaps aren't too much, are they?"

"I wasn't insulting you," Bao Yaocheng quickly explained, "I was insulting Old Chen..."

"You swore again just now, making it two swear words in total. That's twenty slaps, isn't that a lot?"

"Sir, I know I was wrong..."

"You still owe me thirty yuan. One yuan per slap, not much, right?"

"That's because you said there was no need to look..."

How is the interest calculated here?

"Sir, I... I beg you..."

Snap!

With another crisp sound, Bao Yaocheng's two molars flew out.

Li Banfeng controlled his strength well, slapping Bao Yaocheng dozens of times, but only hitting the left half of Bao Yaocheng's face, without killing him or knocking him unconscious.

After calculating the principal and interest, Tan Jinxiao came over and treated the group's injuries. He also complained to Li Qi, "Look at you, you're too ruthless. You've beaten them up like this. They don't even look human anymore."

"Brothers, don't cry, don't cry! You look so pitiful crying. I'll give you some medicine. My medicine is really effective; I have both topical and oral versions. Come on, brothers, open your mouths, I'm going to force-feed you the medicine!"

Clumps of greenish-yellow liquid were fed into Bao Yaocheng's mouth and applied to his bloody wounds.

Bao Yaocheng struggled for a while, then rolled his eyes upward, turned up the corners of his mouth, and revealed a happy smile.

Tan Jinxiao said, "Brother, watch closely, this technique is called Golden Fluid Jade Liquid."

Li Banfeng nodded slightly.

He can make people stupid, so naturally he can also pretend to be stupid.

The door to Portable Abode's room creaked open, and someone entered the room.

The man didn't stay in the main room; he went straight into the second room.

He makes very little noise and is easily overlooked.

The record player's flame was steady, as if it were fast asleep.

But Zhao Xiaowan's puppet slowly opened its eyes.

Conversation could be heard coming from the second room.

"Brother, the time has come. I've taken the key from that scoundrel, and I'm just waiting to join you in this great undertaking!"

"Brother, how could you be so reckless? This thief is suspicious by nature; if you take his key, he will surely find out!"

"Brother, I'm already ready to break ties with that scoundrel, so why should I care whether he notices or not?"

"Brother, please calm down and consider this carefully with me!"

"I don't have time to discuss this with you. Tonight I must settle things with him. If you refuse to help me, our relationship ends here, and we will become strangers from now on."

The room fell silent. Zhao Xiaowan thought her technique wasn't good enough and she couldn't hear the two people's voices.

After waiting a while, Zhao Xiaowan decided to try a different approach. Suddenly, she heard someone speaking from the second room.

"My dear brother, I have a technique to teach you, and I'll lend you a hand in the first place."

"Our sects are different; how could I possibly learn your techniques?"

"Since you are my shadow, you can learn my techniques, but this must never be known to anyone else."

PS: What is the background of the owner of the Underground City?