“What’s wrong with this guy?”
Liu Yuanyi sat to the side, watching the waiter’s flustered appearance, and immediately turned his head in confusion to look at him.
This wasn’t the first or second time he’d done something like this, so what trick was he playing today?
Could it be… he thought the dishes served earlier were all for free, and was now planning to get something for nothing, using empty wine jars to directly make people pay?
This guy, he wouldn’t really try to do that, would he?
Liu Yuanyi thought of this and subtly glanced at the wine jars nearby.
According to their previous plan, he would scout for targets, then bring them over to fleece them, but there was a limit to this kind of fleecing.
One was that they couldn't fleece them too outrageously, and the other was that they needed to genuinely give the other party real food; this way, even if someone reported them to the authorities, they would have a solid standing.
Plus, they were familiar with the minor officials in the yamen, so basically, as long as it wasn’t too excessive, they could extort a sum of silver.
But now, the other party brought out twenty empty jars. If he intended to make them pay for these, wouldn’t that be completely different from what they had discussed before?
Thinking of this, his expression became somewhat hesitant.
However, He Xiuyuan was sitting right beside him, so he couldn’t directly question the waiter, lest He Xiuyuan realize they were in cahoots.
He Xiuyuan, at this moment, was quite composed, still eating unhurriedly.
A moment later, the innkeeper, hearing the commotion, quickly came upstairs, “What’s going on? Why all the fuss?”
The innkeeper came upstairs, looked left and right, and after his gaze lingered slightly on He Xiuyuan, he began scolding the waiter.
The waiter was on the verge of crying out loud. Hearing this, he immediately pointed at the wine jars and said, “Innkeeper, those wine jars are all empty!”
“Empty? You brought up empty wine jars?”
The innkeeper, hearing this, immediately asked subconsciously.
The waiter quickly shook his head, “Innkeeper, I didn’t. I brought up solid, full wine jars! I don’t know why, but after I brought them up, the wine inside just vanished!”
“How could such an absurd thing happen?”
The innkeeper, hearing this, immediately frowned, his face filled with the expression that the other party was fooling around.
The waiter’s heart trembled at the sight. “Innkeeper, I brought the wine up from the wine cellar. If you don’t believe me, look at these seals. These were all written by you, they can’t be wrong.”
To prevent wine from going missing in the cellar, there were seals on the lids, all written by the innkeeper himself, so there couldn't be any mistake.
Therefore, upon hearing the waiter’s words, the innkeeper’s expression immediately hardened. He then quickly walked to the wine jars and bent down to examine them closely.
Upon seeing this, his expression couldn't help but change, but within his look, there was also a hint of strangeness.
He saw that all twenty jars of wine had his seals on them, confirming that these were indeed the wines taken from the cellar.
Seeing this, his expression couldn’t help but change, “Where’s the wine inside?”
Looking at the twenty jars, all completely empty, the innkeeper’s face changed drastically.
“I don’t know! They were fine when I brought them up, but in the blink of an eye, the wine inside was gone!”
The waiter quickly argued.
Then he turned his head and glanced at He Xiuyuan, his eyes darting around, “Innkeeper, this wine was originally for this guest. Now that the wine is gone after being delivered, he must be responsible.”
At this moment, the waiter couldn’t care less. He didn’t know how the wine disappeared, but if he didn’t find a scapegoat, he would become the scapegoat himself.
After much thought, he decided it would be best to let He Xiuyuan take the blame.
He Xiuyuan sat to the side, and upon hearing this, he couldn’t help but be slightly stunned. Then he turned his head to look at the waiter.
This guy, although he was looking for a scapegoat, he had actually hit the mark and found the right person by accident.
However, He Xiuyuan was originally just giving the other party a small lesson, so he naturally wouldn't admit to it now.
He immediately spoke, “Waiter, one must have a conscience. Did you ever see me touch this wine? Or, is there anyone else around who saw me touch this wine?”
As He Xiuyuan spoke, he looked at the other people around, his eyes carrying a hint of deeper meaning.
And the few people nearby, noticing He Xiuyuan’s gaze, did not pay him any mind. Instead, after seeing the waiter’s eyes, they all stood up.
“That’s right, he did it!”
“I saw it, this person did it, he should compensate for these twenty jars of wine!”
“I saw it too! In short, he must pay for these twenty jars of wine!”
The few people nearby didn’t care about anything else. The more money He Xiuyuan had to pay, the more money they would get. As for anything else, they wouldn’t bother.
He Xiuyuan shook his head and chuckled at this, “I just arrived in this esteemed place, and I thought everyone here was warm and hospitable. I never expected there to be such swindlers.”
“Presumably, you specialize in spotting good people and then bringing them here to extort them, right?”
He Xiuyuan said, turning his head to look at Liu Yuanyi.
Liu Yuanyi’s expression immediately became unnatural upon hearing this. However, before he could speak, the waiter and the innkeeper, hearing these words, replied with a forced smile.
“You can’t just say things like that. We’ve served all the dishes and fine wine the guest ordered. How can you call it extortion?”
“Exactly, if the guest speaks carelessly and ruins my establishment’s reputation, then compensation will be required.”
The waiter and the innkeeper were not doing this for the first time. Their words were quite self-righteous, and anyone who didn't know the situation would truly think that He Xiuyuan was being unreasonable.
“Guest, if you ask me, you should just pay up now. If you insist on trying to dine and dash, you’ll inevitably suffer some broken bones later.”
At this moment, the burly men at the nearby tables also stood up, and just by moving slightly closer, they gave off a sense of oppression, implying that if He Xiuyuan didn’t pay, they would make him regret it.
He Xiuyuan sighed at this, seemingly a bit helpless, “Then, how much does this meal cost?”
The innkeeper, seeing He Xiuyuan compromise, immediately showed a smile on his face and nodded with great satisfaction, “It’s not much. This meal, plus these twenty jars of fine wine, will cost you one thousand two hundred taels of silver!”
“Innkeeper, are you joking? This meal alone costs me one thousand two hundred taels of silver? Or, does the innkeeper think He has one thousand two hundred taels of silver on him?”
He Xiuyuan glanced at the innkeeper, knowing that this place was a black market inn, but he hadn’t expected them to be so ruthless.
He also wondered what had become of the people who had been brought here before.
