Nowhere to Go

In the rear courtyard of the Drunken Immortal Tower, Wang Gang explained the agreement he had reached with the three major restaurants.

Wang Yi immediately grew anxious and cried, "Young master, how could you just sell them our stir-frying methods? Wouldn't it be better to keep them for ourselves?"

Wang Zhong kicked him in the backside and barked, "Thirty thousand taels would buy ten Drunken Immortal Towers! How long would you have to sell food to earn thirty thousand taels?"

Wang Yi rubbed his backside and muttered, "It's a business where a thin stream flows forever. We'd earn that much sooner or later."

"We wouldn't!" Wang Gang explained. "Stir-fried dishes are selling well now because people have never seen them before! Once the novelty wears off, business will settle down. Rather than wait until the methods are worthless, we might as well sell them while the price is high!"

Wang Yi thought it over and found that reasonable. Great Song had no shortage of fine food. Stir-fried dishes attracted customers partly because of their distinctive flavor and partly because of Fan Tower's publicity. Once everyone grew accustomed to eating them, they would become ordinary dishes.

Seeing that Wang Yi understood, Wang Gang continued, "Besides, the clientele of those major restaurants doesn't overlap much with ours. Even if we teach them, it won't affect our business too much!"

"Young master, you've thought of everything. Once their people arrive, I'll make the arrangements! But there are a few secret recipes we can't pass on!" Wang Yi nodded.

Wang Gang laughed. "Don't be so petty! You can teach them those too. Have them trade their signature dishes for them!"

Seeing Wang Yi looking rather bewildered, Wang Gang added, "Do you think those three major restaurants will send just any cook?"

Wang Yi shook his head. "Of course not! They'll definitely send master chefs they trust!"

"Exactly! Which of those master chefs doesn't have a few special tricks up his sleeve?"

Wang Yi's eyes lit up. "Right, right, right! I'll dangle those secret recipes before them and make them offer a trade themselves!"

"Yes, exactly!" Wang Gang lowered his voice. "Once they've learned, find people from other places to come and learn too! Then we can make another tidy sum! When everyone under heaven knows to learn their craft at the Drunken Immortal Tower, who will even remember them?"

Wang Yi nodded repeatedly and said admiringly, "Young master, you're still the most underhanded... clever!"

Wang Zhong gave him another kick and cursed, "You've been given the plan! Now get lost! If you still can't do a good job, you can get yourself off to the estate!"

"Don't worry! I'll definitely get it done!" Wang Yi wasn't angry at all and ran off cheerfully!

Wang Gang smiled, then said, "Uncle Zhong, once the silver arrives tomorrow, sorry for the trouble, but please take some men to escort it back and enter it in the accounts!"

Wang Zhong nodded his agreement, then asked in some surprise, "What about you? Aren't you going back?"

Wang Gang fell silent. He didn't want to go back. The thought of Li Qingluo living there made him want to stay far away, yet he couldn't resign himself to divorcing her and letting her leave! And so they continued tormenting each other!

Wang Gang sighed, not knowing how to handle it! Suddenly, he realized that he seemed to have nowhere to go!

He didn't want to go home, and staying at the restaurant was no long-term solution either. As Wang Gui had said, he was too softhearted. Sometimes, when he saw Wang Yi reprimanding the workers, he wanted to intervene, but held himself back every time. He knew that interfering would undermine Wang Yi's authority and hinder the restaurant's management.

Go to Swallow Dock? That wouldn't do either! His elder sister nagged too much, and his brother-in-law was uncouth! With his virtuous, upright nature, how could he bear to watch Murong Bo swagger about flaunting his might? Yet, mindful of his dignity as a scholar, he couldn't very well actually come to blows with him and could only tolerate his insolence!

At the estate, Gan Baobao and Qin Hongmian were having the time of their lives, taking a crowd of children out every day to catch fish and shrimp and clamber up and down everywhere. Besides, he always felt that something was a little off about the way Gan Baobao looked at him! She was another of Duan Zhengchun's women, and he didn't want to get involved!

Where could he go? Wang Gang was lost!

"Young master, you don't seem to have returned to the academy since the prefectural examination." Seemingly noticing Wang Gang's difficulty, Wang Zhong spoke up. "Why not go back to see your teacher and fellow students and clear your mind?"

Wang Gang's eyes lit up. Right, he still had the academy to go to.

Wuxi, a medical clinic.

The physician personally changed the dressings of a severely injured patient and carefully bandaged him with gauze. Looking at the mummy-like figure, he shook his head and sighed. "So young, with so many things you could do! Instead, you had to imitate others and go around fighting and killing, without even having the ability!"

"You old..." The sturdy man accompanying him began to curse, but the mummy stopped him. "Thank you, doctor. My younger brother is young and ignorant. Please don't take offense!"

The elderly physician nodded and turned to leave. He had practiced his healing art with a benevolent heart for so many years; how could he lose his temper with these youngsters? He would simply wait until the next dressing change and make sure the fellow learned his lesson!

"My lord, why did you stop me?" the man asked indignantly.

"Sigui, when we travel the jianghu, these physicians are the very people we must never offend!" the mummy said. "Who knows when we might need to beg for their help?"

"Just give them more money!" the man muttered, then asked, "My lord, that brat Wang Gang injured you so badly this time. Are we just going to leave? And those brothers of ours-we don't even know whether they really..."

"Alas! I've dragged all our brothers into this! I never imagined Wang Yukun's martial arts would be so formidable! For now, we can only avoid his edge." As he spoke, the man pulled the gauze from his face, revealing none other than Duan Zhengchun.

After escaping, the two had not dared linger in Gusu. Only upon reaching Wuxi had they sought medical treatment.

"Why should we fear him? Once your injuries have healed, my lord, we can wait for an opportunity to strike again. He might be able to escape, but surely his family can't!" Fu Sigui said.

Hearing this, Duan Zhengchun immediately said, "Absolutely not! The one we have a feud with is Wang Gang, so naturally we must seek revenge on him. If we vent our anger on others, wouldn't we make ourselves a laughingstock?"

"Besides..." After a moment's hesitation, Duan Zhengchun continued, "May the one who first makes burial figurines have no descendants!"

Fu Sigui fell silent. If they really went on a killing spree at the Wang Family's home, Wang Gang would certainly go to Dali for revenge. Who knew how many people would die then!

"What should we do, then? We can't just let him off like this!" Fu Sigui pondered for a long while, then suddenly had a flash of inspiration. "Isn't that Wang Gang planning to take the imperial examinations? Why don't we spread rumors about him? Let's see whether he still has the face to become an official!"

"No!" Duan Zhengchun cried. "We must never ruin A-Luo's reputation!"

Duan Zhengchun explained, "There's no telling how she'll be tormented this time! All of this started because of me. As far as she's concerned, it's an undeserved calamity! If I slander her reputation to deal with Wang Gang, what face would I have left to live in this world?"

"Uh... well..." After having several suggestions rejected in succession, Fu Sigui looked rather sheepish.

Duan Zhengchun added, "Actually, spreading rumors would be useless anyway. Now that we've left his home, nothing we say will carry any weight!"

Fu Sigui said gloomily, "Then what do we do? Are we really going back to practice martial arts? Who knows what year of the monkey and month of the horse we'd have to wait until! Why don't we invite some experts to deal with him?"

"That could work!" After considering it for a moment, Duan Zhengchun said, "Though the Heavenly Dragon Monastery has many experts, we cannot ask them! But there's a monk at the Flower-Twirling Monastery whose martial arts are extremely formidable. He may well be at the first-rate level. If we can persuade him to leave his retreat, we'll surely be able to take revenge!"

"The Yellow-Browed Monk?" Fu Sigui asked.

"Precisely!"

"Good! I know of him. In his youth, he performed chivalrous deeds and upheld justice in the Song State. His martial arts are extremely formidable! Wang Gang is certainly no match for him!"

"But this monk has never paid much attention to worldly affairs. I don't know whether we can persuade him to come!" Duan Zhengchun was somewhat hesitant.

"If you go to invite him, my lord, he certainly won't refuse!" Fu Sigui was brimming with confidence.