East City.
Chongde Ward.
There stood a Worry-Relief Hall.
Any neighbors with conflicts or disputes they could not settle could come here for mediation.
Inside the Worry-Relief Hall.
Cui Heng looked at the short, stout old man across from him, forcibly suppressing his anger. "Branch Master Sun, the Cui Family paid a high price for that Earth-Element Great Medicine at auction! If you want it, we can sell it to you, but isn't your offer a little excessive?"
"Excessive?"
The short, stout old man, Sun Tai, the Giant Whale Gang's Twelfth Helmsman, picked up his tea and took a sip. "I'm not seizing it through force or trickery. This is a fair trade!"
Cui Heng clenched his sleeves, a trace of anger seeping into his voice. "Branch Master Sun, you think buying an Earth-Element Great Medicine worth three hundred thousand taels for one tael of silver is a fair trade?!"
"How is it not?! I'm paying, aren't I?! Or does your Cui Family not want to be friends with me and the Giant Whale Gang?!"
The short, stout old man shot Cui Heng a sidelong glance, and Cui Heng's expression turned exceedingly ugly.
Even the Cui Family's Second-Organ Martial Arts Master Attendant, seated beside him, heard the threat in those words. He rose with an apologetic smile. "You jest, Branch Master Sun. Our Cui Family loves making friends, but as you know, we spent three hundred thousand taels on this herb-
"If you want it, our Cui Family is willing to be your friend. Just give us two hundred thousand taels. Consider the remaining hundred thousand our treat for your tea!"
He had barely finished speaking.
The short, stout old man casually splashed the remaining half bowl of hot tea at the Second Organ Attendant's face. The latter instinctively dodged.