Liu Family Restaurant.
A very simple name, very shabby decor, and very coarse food—yet the service was incredibly warm.
The owners of the restaurant were a middle-aged couple. Evidently weathered by the years, they lacked refinement, but they were far more sincere than those polished individuals, bringing a hearty, welcoming atmosphere to their guests.
"You’re here! The usual?"
The proprietress greeted the group enthusiastically, leading them to a long table near the wall. She served them a pot of weak tea dotted with floating tea dust, which had clearly been steeped at least four or five times.
Tea normally cost money, but the leftover tea from other customers was free. The proprietress knew these hard laborers wouldn’t mind.
Naturally, they didn’t mind. In fact, they were deeply grateful for her care. They knew she occasionally added a pinch of tea dust to the leftovers just to enhance the flavor and help them wash away their fatigue.
"Thank you, ma’am. We’ll have the usual!" the leader of the porters replied.
The "usual" meant two large bowls of pork-crackling noodles per person, paired with a small side of pork offal.
They couldn’t afford the prime cuts of a fat pig. Tossing noodles in rendered pork fat and taking a few bites of braised offal was already a magnificent treat.
Only on days when they landed a massive job and received a generous tip would they bear to splurge on a group meal at the restaurant and bring some snacks home for their wives and children.
"Coming right up!" The proprietress handed each of them a teacup before bustling off to attend to other patrons.
The owner nodded at them and immediately began cooking noodles in the adjacent open kitchen.
The porters started chatting about what they had seen that day.
"We unloaded a ton of cargo from the ships today. It’s neither a holiday nor a festival, so what’s going on?"
"The fleet Shopkeeper didn’t have a local accent. According to a few boatmen, the fleet came all the way from Jiangzhou."
"Such a massive fleet... weren’t they afraid of running into bandits on the way?"
"Bandits? Even the Demons along the route have been wiped clean!"
"Huh?" someone asked in astonishment. "What happened?"
Another man, who had clearly spoken at length with the Jiangzhou crew, explained, "A Daluo Palace has emerged in Jiangzhou. The palace is filled with Mages possessing boundless Magical Power.
"They roam all over Jiangzhou, helping the weak and crushing the strong, punishing the wicked and eliminating evil. They penalize corrupt officials, wipe out mountain bandits, and have even purged the Fairies and Demons and Ghosts that harm the common folk.
"Word has it that Jiangzhou is exceptionally prosperous right now. Merchant caravans from Yongzhou and Yazhou are all flocking there. Pingjiang Prefecture and Changping Prefecture are said to be even livelier and more bustling than Jiangbei."
His description of the Daluo Palace drew gasps of amazement from the group.
"I wonder if the great Mages of Daluo Palace will ever travel to Shanzhou and teach our insatiably greedy Wu Prefect a lesson."
"I heard from people over in the neighboring Yunhai Prefecture that Cloud Heaven Cliff outside their borders seems to have changed owners. Their Prefectural Magistrate issued several pro-citizen decrees overnight, and the local gangs have reined themselves in considerably."
As they chatted, the proprietress walked over with a large wooden tray, setting the big bowls of pork-crackling noodles and offal in front of them one by one. She topped up their teapot, and the men continued conversing between hearty bites.
Right then, the door curtain of the restaurant was shoved aside. Four or five men strutted in with cocked heads and unbuttoned shirts, their faces plastered with sheer arrogance.
"Master Wei!" The proprietress slung her rag over her shoulder and forced a smile.
She hurried over to greet them, digging a small cloth pouch out of her pocket and pressing it into the leader’s hand. "Have you eaten, Master Wei? We still have a few fine cuts of pork belly in the kitchen."
"Tch!" A man beside Master Wei sneered. "Miss Qian Xue is waiting for Brother Wei next door, and you think a few slabs of pork belly are enough to host us?"
The proprietress smiled apologetically. "We’re just a small business. Please bear with us."
Master Wei weighed the small cloth pouch in his hand and said flatly, "Not enough."
"Not enough?" The proprietress’s heart skipped a beat. She hastily explained, "It’s the monthly protection fee of three taels of silver—pure silver ingots. We wouldn’t dare short you a single fraction. Please, Master Wei, count it yourself."
The corner of Master Wei’s mouth twitched up. "It’s not three taels. It’s five taels."
"Five taels?" the proprietress cried out softly, rushing to argue. "But we agreed on three taels before!"
"That was just to take care of you since you had just opened and business was slow," the man beside Master Wei laughed boisterously. "You two are quite the entrepreneurs. Business has been booming these past two months."
"Since you’re making money, the protection fee naturally has to go up," another man teased with a smirk.
Anxious and angry, yet entirely afraid to lash out, the proprietress felt utterly wronged. She couldn’t help but plead, "Please be forgiving, Master Wei. We’re just running a small business. We really don’t make much."
"No money?" The first man raised his voice, narrowing his eyes with a vicious gleam.
Another man took a step forward, smiling savagely. "You dare play tricks on Brother Wei?"
"I wouldn’t dare! Truly, I wouldn’t dare!" The terrified proprietress stumbled back repeatedly.
Seeing the commotion, the owner hurried out from the back kitchen. He pulled his wife behind him, bowing and scraping. "My wife doesn’t know any better. Please forgive her, Master Wei! Please forgive her!"
After apologizing, he frantically explained, "A few days ago, I just sent our child to school and paid the tuition to the teacher. The shop is truly out of money. Could we please start the new rate next month?"
"Start next month?" Master Wei shot a sidelong glance at the owner. "What does sending your kid to school and paying tuition have to do with me?"
The owner’s lips trembled, unable to utter a single word.
"Starting next month isn’t entirely out of the question, but there will be interest," Master Wei said jokingly. "Five taels for next month, plus three taels in compound interest from this month. That makes eight taels."
The proprietress begged bitterly, "We don’t even earn eight taels a month!"
"Brother Wei is being kind enough to give you a month’s grace period, and you aren’t even grateful?" The second man glared. "If you don’t have eight taels next month, I’ll smash your shop to pieces!"
"Smashing their livelihood? Aren’t you basically killing them?" Master Wei waved his hand dismissively. He then looked at the couple, his smile seemingly genial, but his words sent a bone-deep chill through them both. "You have a son?"
The owner’s pupils contracted sharply. He grabbed his wife, who had nearly collapsed, and blurted out, "Next month! We will definitely scrape together eight taels of silver for the protection fee!"
Master Wei smiled and nodded. He turned and left with his lackeys, leaving the couple supporting each other by the door.
After taking a moment to recover, the couple looked back into the shop. Every single customer had their head buried in their noodles; not one dared to look up.
However, this didn’t surprise them. The people who dined at the Liu Family Restaurant were honest, destitute folks with elderly parents and young children to feed. Who among them would dare to stick their neck out?
The proprietress gathered herself and resumed serving the guests, while the owner returned to his station to continue cooking.
The atmosphere in the restaurant had dropped to freezing. The patrons finished their noodles, left their money, and scurried off one after another. Only one porter—a man the proprietress remembered was named Old Ma—discreetly slipped her a few extra copper coins before leaving.