Recruitment

Steward Wu had been feeling a little worried as he watched Lin Zheyu walk up to the storyteller's stage.

Xu Jingwu had sat below the whole time, listening in silence, a smile never leaving his face.

When the story reached its climax, he even couldn't help applauding and calling out his approval. He didn't look like he'd come to pick a fight.

Jia Yanyong, on the other hand, wore a hostile expression. He narrowed his swollen, red eyes into slits and glared at Lin Zheyu.

Smack—

Time passed. Lin Zheyu struck the block on the table. "What happens next? Tune in next time to find out."

The familiar chorus of disappointed voices rang out.

Lin Zheyu cupped his hands and stepped down from the storyteller's stage.

"Mr. Lin, our gang leader would like to see you."

As soon as Lin Zheyu stepped off the stage, two burly men blocked his way.

Steward Wu gave Lin Zheyu a look from nearby, urging him to watch his attitude and not anger Gang Leader Xu.

Endure for a moment, and the storm will pass; take a step back, and the sea and sky will open up.

"Mm."

Lin Zheyu gave Steward Wu a slight nod, then followed the two men.

"Haha, Mr. Lin, you're here. Have a seat."

Xu Jingwu laughed heartily and gestured for Lin Zheyu to sit.

"May I ask what business the gang leader has with me?"

Lin Zheyu sat down opposite Xu Jingwu without hesitation and asked with a smile.

"No wonder you could write Legend of the Condor Heroes. You've certainly got guts," Xu Jingwu said with a laugh, seeing that Lin Zheyu showed no fear.

"Are you saying I should be acting scared?" Lin Zheyu asked in return. "Could it be that the gang leader means to use force here?"

"What if I do?"

Xu Jingwu's smile faded. He looked at Lin Zheyu expressionlessly.

"You jest, Gang Leader Xu. This is the Inner City of Songyi City, where fighting and brawling are strictly forbidden," Lin Zheyu said.

"Haha, that's true."

Xu Jingwu smiled again. "I asked you here because I'd like to invite you to tell stories at my residence."

"Yesterday, I sent Jia Yanyong to invite you. Not only did you refuse, you nearly blinded him. That wasn't very friendly of you."

"Today, I've come in person. Will you do me the honor?"

Xu Jingwu's smile faded once more as he looked calmly at Lin Zheyu.

"Will I be paid?" Lin Zheyu asked, neither servile nor overbearing.

"Interesting."

"Plenty of storytellers would love to tell stories for me, Xu Jingwu, but you're the first to ask me for money."

Xu Jingwu looked at Lin Zheyu with a smile. "I can pay you, but do you dare accept it?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

"A scholar gets paid for telling stories, and listeners reward him when they enjoy them. That's only right and proper!" Lin Zheyu said solemnly.

"Haha, Mr. Lin, you really are an interesting fellow."

"You came here to escape the upheaval in Jiunan City, didn't you? You have no connections or relatives to rely on in Songyi City. Would you be interested in working for me?"

Xu Jingwu asked with a smile.

Yesterday, he'd had his men gather information on Lin Zheyu. After looking into him, he'd found himself rather impressed.

Lin Zheyu's background was clean. Though he was a scholar, he was fond of the jianghu, and the stories he wrote were steeped in the rough-and-tumble spirit of the martial world.

Xu Jingwu liked that.

And according to Jia Yanyong, Lin Zheyu was upright and repaid kindness. To return a favor, he'd refused his older brother's recruitment several times. As a person, he had excellent character.

Someone like him, with no one to rely on in Songyi City and a strong sense of gratitude, was just the sort of person Xu Jingwu wanted to recruit as a subordinate.

"Oh?"

This time, Lin Zheyu was genuinely surprised.

He'd assumed from the outset that Xu Jingwu was a bad man.

But after meeting him, his impression of the man was excellent. Xu Jingwu even seemed somewhat refined.

"What benefits would I get from joining the Flying Rainbow Gang?"

Lin Zheyu grew interested and asked, "Would I be paid?"

He was trying to figure out how to expand his sources of income.

He only knew a handful of stories by heart, and every one he told was one fewer he had left.

It was hard to expand his troupe of storytellers, too.

The more storytellers he added, the more people would be selling the same story, and the less silver each storyteller would be willing to pay for it.

In the end, the total would be lower than before.

Jia Yanyong: "???"

Jia Yanyong was utterly baffled when he heard that the gang leader wanted to recruit Lin Zheyu.

His swollen eyes, which had been narrowed to slits, suddenly flew wide open. Confusion filled his gaze.

What was going on?

Hadn't the gang leader come to get even?

And who did Lin Zheyu think he was? Getting the chance to work for the gang leader was already a stroke of enormous luck.

He hadn't even joined the Flying Rainbow Gang yet, and he was already thinking about money. Was money all he could think about?

"Haha, I, Xu Jingwu, have never mistreated my men."

"As long as you have outstanding ability and enough strength, you'll gain rewards here beyond anything you can imagine," Xu Jingwu said with a laugh.

He found Lin Zheyu very interesting. He was even starting to admire him.

"What would count as enough strength and outstanding ability?" Lin Zheyu asked, looking at Xu Jingwu.

"Given your learning and literary talent, Mr. Lin, you could manage the gang's logistics. In your spare time, you could tell stories for me. If you do that well, it would count as outstanding ability."

Xu Jingwu took a sip of tea.

"And how do you judge whether someone's strong enough? Do we spar?"

Lin Zheyu asked.

That was what interested him more.

Telling stories and handling logistics wouldn't make him much money.

Most of his income came from selling his stories to other people to tell.

If he could join the Flying Rainbow Gang and use its influence to establish a copyright system in Songyi City, then anyone telling his stories would have to pay.

That would bring him the most income!

"Do you mean you don't want to handle logistics, Mr. Lin? You'd rather rely on your strength and make a name for yourself in the gang?"

Xu Jingwu found the idea extremely amusing.

In his mind, Lin Zheyu was a scholar with literary talent, able to write good stories, an interesting personality, and a strong sense of gratitude.

He'd heard that Lin Zheyu had practiced martial arts, but he'd only been at it for less than two months. What could he have accomplished?

"Mm."

"Compared to all that bookish stuff, I'd rather live the life of eating meat by the mouthful, drinking wine by the bowl, carrying my sword through the jianghu, and pursuing vengeance and justice to my heart's content."

Lin Zheyu said with a smile.

"Haha, Mr. Lin, you really are an interesting fellow. No wonder you could write such an entertaining story as Legend of the Condor Heroes."

Xu Jingwu burst into laughter.

The more he interacted with Lin Zheyu, the more he found him interesting.

There wasn't any real enmity between them. It was only that his subordinate, Jia Yanyong, had gotten into a minor conflict with Lin Zheyu.

But it wasn't a big deal. Jia Yanyong hadn't gone blind.

For people in a gang, getting a few cuts and bruises was part of everyday life.

"I hear you've practiced martial arts for a while, Mr. Lin. I suppose you've gained a little strength," Xu Jingwu said tactfully.

"When Jia Yanyong invited you, the two of you got into a conflict. Though his eyes are bothering him, his strength is still quite impressive."

"If you can defeat Jia Yanyong fair and square, that'll prove your strength."

"After the fight, the two of you can wipe the slate clean. What do you say?"

Xu Jingwu proposed.

After all, Lin Zheyu had taken Jia Yanyong by surprise and struck him in the eyes. Xu Jingwu had to give his subordinate a chance to save face.

He'd offered the chance. Whether Jia Yanyong could get even was up to him.

At Xu Jingwu's words, Jia Yanyong grew eager for a fight.

That bastard Lin Zheyu! If he hadn't used chili powder to blindside him, Jia Yanyong would have pinned him to the ground and rubbed his face in the dirt by now.