The East City of Chang'an was mostly home to poor people. At night, not a single house in Lane 47 had a light on, making the whole district even darker, like a giant beast with its jaws wide open.
Luckily, all three of them were poor souls from Wei City. Two of them had even been woodcutters who'd risked their lives fighting bandits, so there was no way a little alley would scare them.
Aside from being broke, there was nothing poor people had to fear.
Sang Sang and Ning Que followed Wang Yue into Lane 47, their hearts pounding a little.
As the light grew dimmer, Ning Que began to wonder if Wang Yue planned to pull the old "a fellow villager screws over a fellow villager" trick on him and Sang Sang.
Just as his mind was running wild, Wang Yue reached a shop near the entrance to the lane. He pulled out a key and opened its rather narrow door.
Ning Que breathed a sigh of relief and hurried inside with Sang Sang. But after waiting for a while, he still didn't see Wang Yue light a lamp. Fortunately, Sang Sang had come prepared and took out a fire starter.
By its faint light, Sang Sang found the candles and hurried over to light one.
Once the room brightened, Ning Que saw that the shop was fully stocked. Without a hint of embarrassment, he told Sang Sang to brew him some tea, then settled into a chair like a grandee and asked curiously, "Brother Wang, how much did you pay to take over this shop? How much is the rent?"
Wang Yue had long grown used to Ning Que's lazy ways back in Wei City. He sat down nearby and explained, "There's no rent, and the takeover