The honey of the letter bees
Ever since the tavern opened, its big boss, Li Bai, had barely shown his face. He was such a hands-off owner that he might as well not have existed.
Aside from signing the payroll and taking a quick look at the financial reports, he couldn't even be bothered to collect the daily takings.
This made many people curious about the tavern's background and owner, and all sorts of rumors soon sprang up.
Some said it had been built with an investment from a Great Wizard from China, and could also serve as a temporary base. The wizard was immensely powerful, able to summon wind and rain and slay monsters.
Others said it was an offshoot of the Chinese peacekeeping force's canteen. They sometimes saw the cooks helping out in the kitchen, earning a little extra money to support their families through the small establishment. Their cooking was said to be beyond reproach—no wonder, given that they came from a nation of food lovers.
Still others claimed it was the work of an agent for a powerful Eastern force, set up as a new intelligence-trading post near Mogadishu, Somalia's capital.
If people in China hadn't been certain that Li Bai had spearheaded the project, paid for it himself, and personally recruited everyone, even they might have wondered who—or what mysterious force—had managed to pull this off right under the noses of the Chinese peacekeeping force. Damn, they must have had guts!
Once the tavern opened, the first to arrive were Germans and Turks, along with seven or eight other groups who showed up and moved in without being invited.
Because of their connections, each group brought along one or even two or three others. At first, they simply thought the place seemed well situated and