Chapter 356 Pressing forward step by step
Zhao Yushu swore that after traveling through time, he had tried his best not to show the superiority of a modern social animal towards the indigenous people.
But when Zhao Yushu saw the so-called moderately rough play that Jiao Niang was proud of, he couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable.
It was only autumn, but a charcoal fire had already been lit in the room, filling the entire lobby with a sweltering heat.
Since it was so hot, people naturally wore less. A group of girls wearing cool clothes, which was the standard for the gray area, looked over at the same time.
Several men in brocade robes with bare chests also looked over. Beside each of them was a pet dozing off due to the heat. The men's eyes were cold and playful, but there was no trace of surprise. It seemed that Jiao Niang had informed them in advance before bringing herself here.
And the only thing that could be considered rough in this room was the pets underneath them.
A group of tigers and leopards.
In previous lives, the little oil princes had been showing off tigers and leopards as pets in various short videos for many years, but in this world, they are still very rare and exotic things.
Beauty, fine wine, jaguar, Jiao Niang looked at Zhao Yushu proudly, and then was a little confused.
Zhao Yushu's eyes were full of disdain.
"Miss Jiao, who is this boss?" A big man with a bunch of black hair on his chest stood up, and a maid wearing only underwear hurried over to take the wine glass.
"Boss Bai from Xijing doesn't like the stuff played by those crappy people outside. He wants to see how things are played in our little place." The pretty girl twisted her body and walked to the big man, not caring at all as his rough hands pinched her body back and forth a few times.
"Oh? Boss Bai seems to have seen the world, but let's be frank, playing here is a big deal."
Seeing that Zhao Yushu didn't care about the tigers and leopards at all, the big man admired him a little. Generally, except for their small local circle, which newcomer could be so calm.
“I wonder how much I need to play?”
"For those who play literature, the starting amount is ten taels of silver. If you don't have a thousand taels of silver in one night, just go out and play."
Ten taels of silver, in that era, was enough for an ordinary family to eat for nearly a year, and one thousand taels of silver was something that even ordinary wealthy families could not afford. If Xiang Chengyuan's family lost one thousand taels of silver in one night, they would be local tyrants in the city, and their annual income would be enough to lose for two months.
Is the Xiangzhou Cao Gang so rich?
"What a coincidence! The boss gave me eight hundred taels this time. Adding the two hundred taels I just won, it's exactly one thousand taels."
Zhao Yushu slowly walked over and touched the head of a leopard on the ground. The leopard was dozing off. It looked up at Zhao Yushu, then immediately lowered its head again.
Zhao Yushu smiled and took out the silver ingots he had just earned: "But I'm very lucky today, I'm afraid I can't spend these two hundred taels."
The group of people looked at each other, and finally looked at Jiao Niang. This outsider might not be easy to deal with.
"Hahahaha, Boss Bai came all the way here to do business, so I will make sure he has a great time tonight. If there's any good business in the future, we will take care of each other."
A fat man with gray hair came over and asked, "Boss Bai, have you played with these beasts in Xijing?"
"I mainly deal with some apes. Others prefer deer, snakes and so on. As for the big cats, I don't play with them much."
"Why are you all standing here talking? It's getting dark. Let's get started." Seeing that Zhao Yushu's momentum was about to completely overwhelm these local customers, Jiao Niang hurriedly changed the subject.
"Yes, we can't delay the important matter. Oh, this fellow just said that this is a literary way of playing, so there must be a martial art?"
The first man also laughed: "Yes, there is, but Boss Bai can't play."
"Why? Are you afraid that I can't afford to lose?"
The fat boss laughed and said, "How could that be? But the way we play martial arts is to fight beasts. Boss Bai came here alone without any beasts. He can't do it by himself, right? Hahaha."
There was a burst of laughter, and then the laughter quickly died down. Several bosses looked surprised and doubtful, because this Boss Bai actually had an eager expression on his face.
"Oh, why are you still standing? Sit down quickly, let's play some literary games first." Jiao Niang was really afraid that this frail Xijing man would really rush down to fight with the tiger and leopard. If he opened the door to do business and won all the money from him, it would be fine, but if he killed him, there might be some trouble.
Zhao Yushu did not insist and sat down nearby: "Are you still playing dice?"
"All is fine. I wonder what good business Boss Bai is planning to do when he comes to Xiangzhou this time?" The fat boss rubbed his hands. These people were not pure liars or gamblers. They also had legitimate business on the surface. If Zhao Yushu could really bring good business, then they would just be having fun tonight.
And if Zhao Yushu was just a victim looking for a way out, then they wouldn't mind squeezing him dry and then making him shoulder a huge debt.
"Hey, to be honest with you all," Zhao Yushu deliberately lowered his voice, "Dongdu has another emperor. This time, most of our Xijing's supply has been cut off. The emperor is anxious, so this business is coming."
Several bosses' eyes lit up at once. The rough man frowned and said, "Why did you come all the way to Xiangzhou? It's so far."
Zhao Yushu took a sip of the tea Jiao Niang brought him and said, "Who said there is only Xiangzhou? My boss is also a well-known figure in Xijing. There is a Xiangcheng Yuan Xiang near you who has some relationship with my boss, so I asked him to come up and he asked me to come and see what's going on."
"Master Yuan Er from Xiangcheng." Several bosses suddenly realized. This made sense. Master Yuan Er had always wanted to expand his business to Xiangzhou, but he always did small things. It seemed that he was planning to curry favor with Xijing and then extend his hand in.
Jiao Niang leaned over softly and said, "Boss Bai keeps talking about the boss. Who in Xijing is your boss? Let him see the world."
Zhao Yushu pretended to look at the girl's proud figure with a lecherous look in his eyes for a while: "The boss's surname is Chen, and he is just a retired fourth-rank counselor, but..."
Seeing that several people pricked up their ears at the same time, Zhao Yushu chuckled: "When the emperor ascended the throne, some scoundrels made a lot of noise. It was all thanks to our Lord Chen who turned the tide and argued with the scholars. This is, hehe, you know."
The merit of following the dragon!
Several people suddenly widened their eyes, looked at each other, and came to the conclusion without saying a word: don't offend Boss Bai for the time being.
Few people knew what happened in Xijing, and even fewer people knew that it was Zhao Yushu instead of Bai Jintang who entered the imperial mausoleum. Some even thought that Zhao Yushu had used some means to replace the unfortunate Bai Jintang at the last minute.
The prince, that is, the emperor, would not be so bold as to tell others about his embarrassing stories. Zhao Yushu was not worried at all that a few mortals in faraway Xiangzhou would notice anything wrong.
"Okay, when do we start? What's the point of just chatting?"
Jiao Niang chuckled: "Since Boss Bai can't wait, let me roll the dice. Gentlemen, have fun tonight."
The corners of Zhao Yushu's mouth curled up. I have to have fun. Of course I have to have fun. If I don't beat all of you, the big boss behind me won't show up. I'm sorry, guys. Although I, Old Zhao, never bully mortals, but today, I'll just rob the rich and help the poor.
I'm going to start cheating.