Isn't There a Tax on Low Intelligence?

As the lanterns lit up, Wutan City's streets and alleys were decorated with colorful lights. By now, most mercenaries were preparing to sleep, conserving their strength for tomorrow's new journey.

Still, this did nothing to dampen the bustle of the night market. After being quiet for most of the day, the warblers and swallows were out one by one, standing in the streets or leaning against railings as they called out to passing young masters of all ages.

At a dimly lit roadside stall, a child in light-blue clothes, who looked only six or seven years old, was happily eating a bowl of fried sauce noodles.

"Hmph!"

At some point, a long-lashed girl of sixteen or seventeen, dressed in a light-blue gown, sat down across from the boy in a huff, her phoenix eyes glaring fiercely at him.

The boy remained utterly calm. He glanced at her and asked amicably, "Big sister, you're here. Are you hungry? Want a bowl? This stall's fried sauce noodles are very authentic!"

The long-lashed girl said nothing. Her eyes seemed ready to spit fire as she stared fixedly at Hun Han.

Hun Han paid her no mind. He took a big slurp of noodles and continued eating with relish.

Seeing this, the long-lashed girl finally could not sit still any longer. Breaking the silence, she sneered, "You really can eat with a clear conscience, can't you? Don't you have nightmares after spending that money?"

Hun Han countered, "I neither stole nor robbed. Why would I have nightmares?"

The long-lashed girl immediately flew into a rage. "You cheated me!"

Hun Han asked back, "What did I cheat you out of?"

The long-lashed girl replied, "You cheated me out of my money!"

Hun Han continued questioning her, "When did I cheat you out of money?"

The long-lashed girl said, "At my stall!"

Hun Han suddenly understood. "You mean that transaction between us?"

The long-lashed girl glared at Hun Han and snapped, "Obviously."

"Fine, I'll straighten it out for you again!"

Hun Han asked once more, "Tell me, would you sell a Jade Bottle for five Gold Coins?"

Rather than answer, the long-lashed girl said, "Nonsense! A fine Jade Bottle only costs one Gold Coin. How could it be worth five Gold Coins?"

Hun Han said, "Just answer my question! Once I'm done sorting this out, you'll know whether I cheated you or not! When I asked whether you would sell a Jade Bottle for five Gold Coins, how did you answer?"

The long-lashed girl said, "I would!"

Hun Han said, "Then I asked whether it was alright if I only wanted the pills and not the Jade Bottle. How did you answer?"

The long-lashed girl said, "It was!"

Hun Han said, "Finally, I asked you this: a bottle of pills cost ten Gold Coins, and a Jade Bottle cost five Gold Coins. If I only wanted the pills and not the Jade Bottle, how much would I need to pay you? How did you answer?"

The long-lashed girl said, "Five Gold Coins!"

Hun Han said, "A bottle of pills without the Jade Bottle meant ten Gold Coins minus five Gold Coins. I bought ten bottles of pills, and after returning the Jade Bottles to you, I only needed to pay fifty Gold Coins. Nothing wrong with that."

The long-lashed girl said angrily, "Nonsense! You dug a pit and tricked me into jumping in. A Jade Bottle was worth one Gold Coin at most. A bottle of pills without the bottle should have cost nine Gold Coins. You should have paid me ninety Gold Coins, but afterward, you only gave me fifty!"

Hun Han laughed. "That was the price you set before. During our negotiation, the final price was five Gold Coins for a bottle of pills without the bottle. Even if you took this to the authorities, you couldn't do anything to me!"

Upon hearing this, the long-lashed girl looked ready to breathe fire. "Do you even have a conscience? Isn't this still cheating me out of my money?"

Hun Han sneered. "Tch, this counts as cheating? You're already this old, yet you don't even understand such basic Way of Commerce?"

The Way of Commerce?

The long-lashed girl was slightly stunned. This concerned her sales performance, and she anxiously said, "No! No matter what, you have to return the money you cheated from me today!"

Hun Han became angry as well. He laughed and shot back, "Hehe, I earned this money through my own ability. Why should I return it to you? Isn't there a tax on low intelligence?"

"Y-You bully!"

The long-lashed girl was truly panicking. Mist began to cloud her beautiful eyes. Even if she were beaten to death, she would never have believed that one day, a little brother more than ten years younger than her would trick her into tears.

Sob, sob, sob...

Perhaps the girl really had run into some difficulty. She lay her head on the table and quietly sobbed.

Hun Han glanced at her and wanted to comfort her. However, the hand he had extended was withdrawn in the end. He ignored her and continued savoring his fried sauce noodles.

"Boss, another bowl!"

"Coming right up!"

After sobbing for a while, the girl seemed to have calmed down somewhat. She stared at Hun Han for a long time before asking, "You said earlier that you understand the Way of Commerce too?"

Hun Han replied proudly, "Of course!"

The girl asked excitedly, "Can you teach me?"

Hun Han stopped eating and glanced at her. "Why should I? There's no such thing as a free lunch in this world."

The girl was quite clever. She quickly said, "Then... how about I become your disciple?"

"Huh?"

Hun Han looked at the girl in surprise. Things were unfolding as he had imagined, but he had not expected them to go so smoothly.

Hun Han was, after all, Hun Tiandi's thirteenth young master. After six years of saving, he possessed a small fortune. A profit of thirty Gold Coins was not enough to entice him to sell things in the street. Naturally, his goal had been this girl with a touch of seductive charm.

The girl answered seriously, "If I become your disciple, then you'll have a reason to teach me the Way of Commerce. I... I can also pay you a fee to take me as your master!"

Hun Han stopped eating, set down his chopsticks, and asked, "Do you really want to become my disciple?"

The girl nodded heavily.

Hun Han continued, "Fine. The apprenticeship fee is ten Gold Coins!"

The girl glared furiously at Hun Han. "What? Ten Gold Coins? You might as well rob me!"

Ten Gold Coins was the price some children paid to study under a Da Dou Shi. How could teaching the Way of Commerce compare with guiding someone's cultivation?

Hun Han curled his lips, somewhat impatient. "And you said you were sincere. You can't even afford such a small tuition fee. Forget it. You can leave."

The girl lightly bit her pearly lower lip with her small silver teeth. After hesitating for a while, she took a silk handkerchief from her bosom. It contained exactly fifty Gold Coins. With visible pain, she took out ten Gold Coins and handed them to Hun Han.

Watching the girl's actions, Hun Han felt a pang of reluctance. But jade could not become a useful vessel without carving. For the sake of the girl's future, Hun Han endured and accepted the ten Gold Coins.

Now, he would teach the girl her second lesson: the dangers of the secular world.

Hun Han asked, "What is your name?"

The girl replied, "Master, my name is Mittel Yafei."

"Oh, Yafei!"

Hun Han stood and instructed, "Come on. Let's find a place where your master can teach you the Way of Commerce. And while we're at it, pay for your master's noodles!"

"Yes, Master!"

Ya Fei walked over to the stall owner and asked, "Boss, how much is it?"

The stall owner answered, "Twenty Silver Coins!"

Ya Fei stared in disbelief. "Twenty? He only ate three bowls of noodles. Why would it cost twenty Silver Coins?"

The stall owner explained, "The three bowls of noodles only cost three Silver Coins. But look, he also took two jars of my finest wine! Twenty Silver Coins is already after I rounded it down for you."

Following the noodle stall owner's gesture, Ya Fei looked toward the boy in light blue. Sure enough, the boy held a jar of fine wine in each hand.