At a vendor stall near the southwest gate, there was a tall and lanky man dressed in silk robes. He appeared to be a man in his fifties, sporting a mustache on his long face. He was yelling at the top of his lungs…
In front of him was a strong-looking man in his thirties, wearing blue sleeveless clothes and a pair of straw sandals. He carried a machete on his waist and he was glaring at the old man.
There was a huge basket placed in front him, containing a wooden pot. Inside the wooden pot were a few cans covered by leaves.
From the way the younger man dressed, it was easy to tell that he was a resident of Mount Jade Dragon. These people dressed plainly across the seasons. He was probably selling the wares in his basket. Although there were large stores in the border trading post, there were also some simple vendor stalls to meet everyone’s different needs and demands.
The younger man was angry at being insulted by a barbarian by the old man, so he shoved the old man hard. The old man staggered a few steps back, then fell on the ground. He then rubbed his sore buttocks then started yelling, “I got hit by this barbarian, I got hit by this barbarian…!”
The border trading post was no different than a huge supermarket. Disputes always happened, so the people around didn’t find anything odd. Aside from a few curious people, most people didn’t really care.
The group of bailiffs patrolling the border trading post today arrived first before Yan Liqiang. They had been patrolling near Yan Liqiang’s group as soon as Yan Liqiang entered this place today because they were worried about some idiots causing trouble around them. Now that the constable noticed that something had happened here, they were able to arrive at the scene almost immediately.
“What’s going on? Who dares to start a fight at the border trading post?” The constable’s glare and aura instantly caused the younger man’s expression to change.
“It’s him! It’s him! This guy hit me just now! Sir Constable, you have to bring justice upon him! Ouch… I fell hard just now. It’s swollen now, I have to see a physician. That’s going to cost at least three or five taels of silver!” The old man got up from the floor and kept rubbing his waist with a frown as he continued whining while pointing at the street vendor.
“You were the one who started the trouble just now and angered him with the insults you were hurling. He didn’t want to deal with you and pushed you away but you fell. Are you trying to extort his money just because he looks unfamiliar and seems like a mountain resident?” Yan Liqiang came over with a smile and spoke.
“Nonsense! W-Which eye of yours saw that?” The old man immediately tensed up when he saw Yan Liqiang coming over, and kept denying.
Yan Liqiang picked his ear. “I saw with both eyes and heard with both ears. My companions saw and heard the same too…”
The constable wasn’t a fool either. Since Yan Liqiang spoke up, he immediately seized the older man by his collar and lifted him off the ground like a small chick. “You are the one who insulted and extorted someone first. How dare you stir up trouble here when you are in the wrong? It seems like people who bully honest people won’t remember unless they learn a lesson first. Take him away…!”
After the constable finished speaking, he shoved the old man toward two other law enforcers who promptly seized the man and dragged him away.
The old man’s face contorted with fear as he quickly begged for mercy. “Ah! It’s my fault, it’s my fault! There won’t be next time! I won’t do it again, Sir Constable…!”
“F*ck, you are still thinking about next time? You think we’re playing here?” At the wave of the constable’s hand, his subordinates immediately took the old man away despite his shouts and pleas.
The place quickly grew quiet again. When the mountain resident saw the old man being taken away by the law enforcers, he relaxed visibly.
“Hm, I heard you are selling flame oil here!” Yan Liqiang went over to him and talked to him calmly.
The mountain resident looked at Yan Liqiang, then smiled. “Thank you for standing up for me earlier, Young Lord. If you are interested, I’ll give you a can of this for free!”
Yan Liqiang pointed at the cans inside the basket. “These are the flame oils? Can I have a look?”
“Go ahead!”
Yan Liqiang squatted down and lifted the leaf that was covering one of the cans. As soon as he did, a pungent odor assaulted his nose…
“This type of flame oil isn’t as nice-smelling as pine oil or fragrant oil, but it can keep fire burning over a long time…” The mountain resident squatted too as he explained to Yan Liqiang.
Yan Liqiang looked at the cans with a frown. The liquid inside them was mustard yellow and upon closer inspection, it was tinted with red. From first glance, it resembled crude oil but of a different color and less stickier. Yan Liqiang pinched some between his fingers and smelled it, but still failed to identify the ingredient. It just smelled like sulfur mixed in with rotten eggs…
Most people might not have seen crude oil before, but Yan Liqiang did in his previous life because the parents of one of his friends were geologists. One time he went out with his friend and he showed him some samples of crude oil, including light, heavy, and sour crude oil. The content in those cans resembled crude oil, but it was very different from the ones he’d seen in his previous life in terms of texture, color, and odor. Yan Liqiang was baffled.
He stood up. “This looks a little weird. Did you make it?”
The mountain resident shook his head. “No, I found it on the mountain some time ago and discovered that it could catch fire. So I took some to sell to see if I can make some money!”
Yan Liqiang made a gesture, then Lu Wenbin immediately fished out an ingot of silver and offered it to the mountain resident. “We’ll be taking all of them!”
“That’s too much!” The mountain resident was stunned by the silver Lu Wenbin was offering to him. He gulped, then shook his head fervently. “I can’t take this much money! That’s enough to buy pine and perfumed oil…!”
“You keep it first, treat the additional money as advance payment. I would like a few more cans of this flame oil. Bring back some more and hand them to him!” Yan Liqiang pulled Fu Changde toward the mountain resident. “This is my steward. I will send him to retrieve these in the future!”
The mountain resident looked at the silver ingot in his hand then at Fu Changde, before his face glowed with excitement. He didn’t expect to make this much money today. “Yes, I can collect as much flame oil as you need!”
“How much do you have?”
“As much as you need! If you need a lot, I can have the people in my village help out…”
“Fine, bring me a hundred taels worth of flame oil here. I’ll settle the remaining payment on delivery!” Yan Liqiang smiled. “Oh by the way, what is your name?”
“Lu Dahai!” the mountain resident replied loudly.
“Han Chinese?”
“Yes, I am Han. My great grandfather chose to take refuge on Mount Jade Dragon during wartime…”
