Chapter 595: The Shopkeeper Offers Shelter
Chapter 595: Chapter 595: The Shopkeeper Offers Shelter
Upon hearing this, the other guests were instantly displeased.
"Lord Ma, you can’t be so unreasonable."
"That’s right! Whatever grudge you have with the Shopkeeper, why drag us into it?"
"If you kick us all out, there are no empty rooms left in the city. Where do you expect us to go?"
A brutish look on his fleshy face, Lord Ma said bluntly, "Just have the Shopkeeper refund you double in Silver Coins. Then you can go scramble for rooms somewhere else. Problem solved, right?"
Upon hearing this, many of the guests stopped protesting and began to consider the offer.
"That... might actually work..."
Only a few disagreed. However, when Lord Ma’s vicious-looking henchmen brandished their clubs threateningly, these common folk didn’t dare to resist any longer.
Lord Ma bellowed, "Shopkeeper, hurry up and give everyone their refund, then shut this inn down!"
With a THUD, the Shopkeeper fell to his knees. He pleaded with teary eyes and clasped hands, "Lord Ma, a double refund would be utter ruin for a small inn like mine! I have two eighty-year-old parents at home to feed, and my daughter needs money for her medicine. If I have to refund everyone double, this entire year’s work will be for nothing! Please, Lord Ma, have mercy. I swear I’ll close for a full day another time to make it up to you. Can’t you please spare my little inn today?"
But Lord Ma was relentless. He even threatened that if the Shopkeeper didn’t agree, he would order his men to smash everything in the inn.
Hearing this, Shen Ningning thought, ’This Lord Ma is truly going too far.’
She was about to step out and intervene, but to her surprise, the Shopkeeper wiped away his tears and reluctantly agreed.
"Fine... Alright. I’ll issue the refunds right now."
As the Shopkeeper nodded, the scrawny accountant took out an abacus.
The guests swarmed the counter, lining up to get their Silver back.
Seeing the Shopkeeper weeping bitterly, Lord Ma gloated.
"Serves you right. Don’t blame me for targeting you. Who told your employee to be so ignorant and break the rules? If he ruins my luck for the year and keeps the immortals from entering my house, I’ll have you shut down for an entire year!"
The Shopkeeper, a man over fifty, was so heartbroken he couldn’t speak, his eyes wet with tears.
Lord Ma watched until the guests had snatched up all the money, then waved his hand. "Let’s go! Let this wretched inn shut itself down."
The Shopkeeper staggered to his feet and told the one remaining employee and the accountant to head home.
The employee was worried. "Shopkeeper, it’s all my fault. I was in a hurry to make a delivery and forgot tonight’s rules. If we leave, what will you do?"
The Shopkeeper, utterly exhausted, replied, "What else can I do? I can only go home."
The employee and the accountant sighed and turned to leave.
The Shopkeeper was about to close the shop when he saw a graceful young lady emerge from the back courtyard, parting the curtain.
He was dazed for a moment, thinking he had seen a Goddess descending to the mortal world.
When he looked closer, he realized it was the young out-of-town girl he had given a room to that evening.
"Miss, I’m sorry, but the inn can’t house anyone tonight. You should leave as soon as possible. Perhaps another inn might still have a place to stay."
As he spoke, the Shopkeeper returned the two taels of silver Shen Ningning had given him. He even added another two taels on top of it.
Shen Ningning looked at him with a complex expression. "Shopkeeper, why are you so afraid of that Lord Ma? I’ve never seen anyone so unreasonable. You’re running a legitimate business. You don’t owe him anything, so why should you care what he says?"
The Shopkeeper shook his head and sighed. "You’re from out of town, so you don’t know. That Lord Ma... his uncle is the garrison commander of our Ping City. He’s always thrown his weight around like this. If I truly angered him, my inn would be done for."
Shen Ningning frowned.
’So what if his uncle is the garrison commander? Back in the Capital City, that’s a laughably minor post.’
Shen Ningning saw the Shopkeeper packing his things, looking like he was really going home.
She couldn’t help but ask, "Shopkeeper, can I stay at your home? I’ll still pay you for the lodging."
The Shopkeeper was stunned. "Ah? But... my home is humble. I’m afraid you’d have to make do with the side room, Miss."
"It’s no problem. It’s so late, I’m afraid it’s too late to find another place to stay." ’Besides, I’m only staying one night. I have to get back on the road early tomorrow anyway.’
The Shopkeeper immediately nodded. "Alright, alright, no problem. You don’t need to give me any silver."
Shen Ningning helped him pack up.
She noticed many old items displayed on the shelves behind the accountant’s desk. They didn’t look particularly valuable, but it was clear they were very old.
The Shopkeeper was a talkative man. Seeing Shen Ningning examining the old trinkets on the shelves, he chuckled.
"My father gave me this inn. It looked just like this when he passed it down to me. That’s why I was so scared when Lord Ma threatened to smash it. This place holds a lifetime of my father’s sweat and blood! How could I let it be destroyed on my watch? Losing a bit of money is better. Life is long, I can always earn it back."
Shen Ningning was touched by his optimism and couldn’t help but smile.
"You’re right, Shopkeeper."
The two of them went outside and closed the shop’s door.
As they turned, they saw a family of four, dressed in shabby clothes, huddled under the eaves of the inn.
The Shopkeeper was surprised. "Why haven’t you left? The inn can’t take you in tonight."
"Shopkeeper, we have nowhere else to go."
Shen Ningning saw the Shopkeeper’s troubled expression. From the family’s tattered clothes, she guessed they must be homeless and poor, and that the Shopkeeper had been helping them.
The Shopkeeper sighed. "How about this. This young lady is also coming to stay at my home. I have a woodshed that you can squeeze into. You all can come back with us."
The family of four was overjoyed. The woman grabbed her two small children. "Quick, thank Grandpa Shopkeeper! Kowtow to your benefactor!"
The Shopkeeper waved his hands dismissively. "No, no, you mustn’t! It’s no trouble at all."
’The Shopkeeper really is a kind, warm-hearted man,’ Shen Ningning thought to herself as she watched.
They had just locked up the inn when Lord Ma returned with his group of henchmen.
Seeing that the inn was truly closed, Lord Ma, sitting on his horse, laughed out loud.
"That’s what you get for not watching where you’re going. Offend me and still think you can run an inn? Hmph."
A weaselly-looking henchman beside him said in a fawning tone, "My Lord, look at that pathetic old Shopkeeper, taking guests back to his own home. Doesn’t everyone know the tradition of the Welcoming God Festival? If the house is occupied, the gods won’t enter! This servant would say they’re poor to the very bone!"
Lord Ma sneered. "His two old parents are paralyzed in bed and his daughter is a bottomless pit for medicine money. His house has been occupied every Welcoming God Festival for years. The immortals abandoned his family long ago."
The whole group burst into raucous laughter.
Shen Ningning’s brows furrowed. She was about to step forward and confront them when the Shopkeeper discreetly tugged on her sleeve.
The young lady looked back and saw the Shopkeeper shaking his head slightly at her, whispering, "Let’s go, quickly."
’This little girl is beautiful, and that Lord Ma is a scoundrel. I can’t let him get any wicked ideas about her.’
Shen Ningning swallowed her anger for the time being and followed the Shopkeeper. The family of four also kept their heads down as the group hurried away.
Behind them, the wild, unrestrained laughter of Lord Ma and his men echoed.
"Useless trash! A pack of scurrying rats!"
Shen Ningning glanced back one last time. By the pale moonlight, she seared the man’s face into her memory.