Chapter 13: Unreasonable
Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
"Hey, wait up. Wait…" The stall owner quickly reached out and stopped Rong Yiyang. "We can always negotiate the price. Of course, I'd ask for a high price first. I know it's impossible for you to pay."
Rong Yiyang quietly scoffed. He glanced at his son and hesitated before replying, "Fine. My son likes this item, so if you offer me a reasonable price, I'll buy it." He paused before warning the stall owner, "But if you offer me a ridiculous price again, we'll leave right now. Tsk, being rich doesn't mean you have to be a spendthrift."
The stall owner smiled and said, "You're right, but I used 10 silver coins to buy this thing, so you can't possibly tell me to sell it a loss."
"Ten silver coins?" Rong Yiyang was suspicious. "This tattered book cost you 10 silver coins? What book is this?"
The stall owner's face turned a little red as he mumbled, "Sir, this is a special book that has no words."
Rong Yiyang was surprised. He squatted down and flipped the book open. His eyes widened. Just as the stall owner had said, this book didn't have any words in it.
He chortled, "A special book with no words cost you 10 silver coins?"
The stall owner was a thick-skinned fellow, so he continued speaking as if that was really the case. "This sort of special book with no words is very rare. I'd bet you've never seen one before. So, I decided to buy it." He didn't remember which random place he had got this book from. He had simply picked it out from a pile of junk. It wasn't worth much money. As for all that talk about 10 silver coins, that was just the stall owner trying to cheat Rong Yiyang of his money.
Rong Yiyang made a face and said, "Five silver coins. Take it or leave it."
The stall owner looked seriously at Rong Yiyang and figured he really couldn't get much more from him. He put on a look of pain and said, "Well, I'm in a good mood today, so I'll let you have it at a loss to me."
Rong Yiyang took five silver coins from his pocket and passed the textless book to his son.
If he had come there by himself, he would never have bought such a thing. Since his son liked it, even if it were a star in the sky, he would have tried to pluck it for his son. He was still surprised that his son wanted a strange book that didn't even have words in it.
Rong Kaixuan took the book with no words. He had an appreciative smile on his face. The moment his hand touched the book, he was sure that this book was the type he imagined it was.
Rong Kaixuan looked at the stall owner and couldn't help but ask, "Uncle, do you have more of this kind of book on hand?"
Rong Yiyang and the stall owner were both stunned. They looked at Rong Kaixuan, who had sparkles in his eyes. Both men felt a very strange feeling in their hearts.
Could this wordless book really be some sort of treasure?
For some reason, the stall owner started to regret selling the book. Since the transaction was closed, he couldn't take it back in public like that.
"Heh, young man, I happened to come across this one. I don't remember where I found it, but I've only seen one such book before."
Rong Kaixuan's face had a disappointed look. Good things didn't come easily.
"Oh! Father, look! Isn't that a manual?"
Suddenly, a surprised voice mixed with joy came from behind.
The three of them turned around to see two men walking quickly toward the stall. Both of them had their gazes fixed on the wordless book in Rong Kaixuan's hand.
The stall owner was a little stunned. Even an idiot knew by now that the wordless book he had was no ordinary book. Now, he started regretting selling this book so cheaply.
Rong Yiyang's expression changed slightly. He took a step forward and stood in front of his son.
The two men coming their way stopped. One was a middle-aged man around 40 while the other one was a young man who looked around 20. The young man had a look of frustration as he commented, "Who are you? Move aside!"
Rong Yiyang smiled faintly as he clasped his hands to greet them. "I'm Rong Yiyang, a direct descendant of the Rong family. May I know who both of you are?"
They were within the Rong clan's main house. Even though there was a difference in rank among the direct descendants, the Rong family members were still ranked higher than those outside the family. If he was bullied by someone who wasn't a Rong, the Rong family would not leave him in the lurch.
The two of them were a little taken aback by this. The young man frowned and scoffed coldly, "I'm Rong Kaixin, and this is my father, Rong Yitie."
"Rong Yitie?" Rong Yiyang gasped. His expression dramatically changed.
He was familiar with the name. Among the men in his generation, Rong Yitie was famous, even more famous than Rong Yide. But he wasn't famous for his own merit. He was famous only because he had a powerful son who had shocked the clan.
Rong Yitie had a patronizing smile on his face as he replied, "Rong Yiyang, who's the boy behind you?"
Rong Yiyang turned around and pulled his son out from behind him. "This is my son, Kaixuan. Kaixuan, greet your uncle and your senior."
Rong Kaixuan was feeling unhappy about this situation, but he still bowed and greeted them. "Greetings to Uncle and Senior."
Rong Yitie's face twitched a little and he replied, "There's no need to be so formal."
Rong Kaixin's gaze landed on the manual in Rong Kaixuan's hand. He raised an eyebrow and said, "Hey, this book you have looks very familiar to me. Can I take a look?"
Rong Kaixuan held the book close to his body and warily looked at them.
Since the other party didn't have good intentions, there was no way Rong Kaixuan was passing the book to them.
"Humph," Rong Kaixin's expression darkened. "Rong Yiyang, Rong Kaixuan, I've never heard of your names before. Are you two pretending to be Rong family members?"
Rong Yiyang started getting angry, but he didn't dare flare up. He could only quietly reply, "I am indeed a direct descendant of the Rong family. Since I did not manage to cultivate true Qi, I was sent to an estate outside of the Main House many years ago. I am not surprised that you have never heard of me before."
Rong Yitie and his son both had a look of disdain on their faces.
There were plenty of Rong family members who were in such circumstances. They had no status within the family at all.
They still had some reservations when they heard that these two were direct descendants of the family. Now, even though they couldn't be reckless around them, they also didn't have any regard for them.
Rong Kaixin turned to look at his father. Rong Yitie hummed for a while and slowly nodded.
"Heh heh." Rong Kaixin became bolder instantly once his father nodded. He turned to the stall owner and asked, "Hey you! Is that book yours?"
The stall owner froze for a while. He nodded and replied, "Yes it is."
Rong Yiyang's expression changed and cut in, "No, this book has already been sold to us."
Rong Kaixin coldly scoffed, disregarded Rong Yiyang's words. He said, "I want to buy this book. Offer me a price."
The stall owner's eyes started to sparkle. There was greed written all over his face. He clenched his teeth and said, "One Spirit Coin."
Rong Kaixin heartily laughed and said, "You know your stuff. Here you go." He threw his hand up in the air. A Spirit Coin instantly flew out and landed neatly in the stall owner's hand.
The stall owner's eyes widened as he stared at the Spirit Coin in his hand. He was giddy with happiness.
Rong Kaixin turned and said, "This book is now mine, so give it to me."
Rong Yiyang's expression darkened as he said, "We bought this book first, and the transaction has already been closed. If you two do something like this, aren't you afraid that the clan will discipline you?"
"Discipline us?" Rong Kaixin had a nasty smile on his face as he replied, "We're doing fair trade here, so we're not breaking any rules. I've offered a higher price compared to you, so, of course, I have the right to get that manual. Don't you think so?"
The last sentence was targeted at the stall owner.
The stall owner was stunned for a while before quickly replying, "That's right, that's right." He took five silver coins out and held them out to Rong Yiyang. "Sir, these are your silver coins. I'm not selling you the book anymore."
Rong Yiyang grew angry. "We already closed this deal earlier, but now you're saying you don't want to sell this book to me anymore? What do you mean by that?"
The stall owner shamelessly replied, "Someone offered a higher price here, that's why. I'm a businessman, so my profit comes first." Rong Kaixin had the ability to offend these two direct descendants of the Rong family, but the stall owner couldn't afford to. His only option was to explain things as humbly as he could. He also started to get annoyed with Rong Yiyang. Rong Yiyang had actually tried to use five silver coins to buy a treasure worth one Spirit Coin. It served him right for getting it snatched away by someone else.
Rong Kaixin laughed heartily and said, "He's right. This book is now ours, so you'd better pass it to me now."
Rong Yiyang looked around and was surprised to find that everyone around them had quietened down because of the ruckus happening. Everyone was looking at them, but not a single person was willing to help fight for justice.
He took a deep breath. A rashness started welling up in his heart.
In the past, he would have just clenched his teeth and given in if he ran into such a situation.
He was considered an exiled direct descendant and couldn't argue with Rong Yitie and his son. Even though he was in the right, Rong Yitie's position in the family would make things difficult for Rong Yiyang any time he wanted to.
But things had changed. His son had attracted the attention of an elder and was allowed into the Hall of Spiritualists.
Their family had now gone through a transformation like an ordinary fish that had become a dragon. For the sake of his son's reputation in the family in the future, Rong Yiyang couldn't back down now.
When they saw the various strange changes in Rong Yiyang's expression, Rong Kaixin and his father both had confident smiles.
They were both certain that this fallen brother of theirs would choose to give in.
Unexpectedly, Rong Yiyang suddenly widened his eyes and spoke in a loud and aggressive voice, "No. This book belongs to my son, and nobody is to take it from him."
Rong Kaixuan looked up in surprise at his father. He could sense the intense change in his father's emotions. There was a comforting smile on his lips.
Rong Yitie and his son started to have nasty expressions on their faces.
Rong Yitie scoffed and slowly replied, "Since you two don't want to follow the rules, then today I'm going to show you what the Rong family rules are." He stretched a hand out and said, "Xin'er, take them down."
Rong Kaixin loudly replied, "Got it!" He turned and smiled threateningly. "You don't know how to appreciate favors."
He stood with his legs further apart and threw a punch in Rong Yiyang's direction.
-- Gift
received