Li Banfeng called out: "Brother Huang."
Upon hearing this, Ye Jianhuang was rather pleased and said to Li Banfeng, "Brother, let me handle some business first, then I’ll congratulate you."
After speaking, Ye Jianhuang took a puff from his pipe, blowing smoke onto Feng Chongli’s face.
"Boss Feng, my brother here is celebrating his happy occasion, you shouldn’t be causing trouble on such a day. Maybe you should listen to my advice and not come around here anymore."
Feng Chongli fiddled with his abacus, moving it two times.
This wasn’t just random fiddling; every major decision came with a calculation of costs by Feng Chongli: "Senior Huang, I’m afraid it won’t be easy to give face today."
According to Feng Chongli’s calculations, letting Li Banfeng go like this would result in a loss.
Ye Jianhuang, on the other hand, was understanding: "If you feel at a loss, then let’s have a fight. My brother is working in this new land, and I’m here to help him clear the way today."
Ye Jianhuang bit the pipe tip, took another drag, and amidst the smoke, countless blades seemed to graze Feng Chongli’s skin.
Feng Chongli recalculated with his abacus; for this piece of territory, was it worth fighting Ye Jianhuang?
The result of the calculation depended on what kind of situation it was with Ye Jianhuang.
If it were just for show, a fight would not be a big loss.
But if Ye Jianhuang was serious and sought to fight to the death, it would not be worth it.
Feng Chongli turned the abacus beads, stirring up a whirlwind that blew away Ye Jianhuang’s smoke.
Ye Jianhuang wasn’t hurried at all, holding the pipe and coughing twice to dissipate Feng Chongli’s technique, and thus the wind stopped immediately.
After the wind stopped, Ye Jianhuang puffed out another smoke cloud, which this time sneaked into Feng Chongli’s clothes, heading towards critical areas.
Ye Jianhuang was serious!
If it were just for show, the movements should be big but with little effect.
But right now, Ye Jianhuang showed no large movements; he immediately issued a killer move.
Feng Chongli didn’t manipulate the abacus beads any more; confronting such a Ye Jianhuang was simply not wise.
He put away the abacus, showing respect with clasped fists to Ye Jianhuang, Li Banfeng, and He Yuxiu before turning away.
Ye Jianhuang tapped his pipe and turned to Li Banfeng: "Brother, it’s time to give you congratulations."
Li Banfeng clasped his fists in thanks: "Senior Huang, it was thanks to you just now..."
Ye Jianhuang waved his hand repeatedly: "You mustn’t call me senior. If you do, someone will be unhappy."
He was referring to Sun Tiecheng, because Li Qi always called Sun Tiecheng ’Big Brother’, as Ye Jianhuang had heard Gui Jianchou and Tang Changfa mention.
"In the future, if you appreciate me, just call me Brother Huang like before. Is this your brother’s wife?" Ye Jianhuang looked at He Yuxiu; with such frame, she seemed to be easy to raise.
He Yuxiu was too shy to look up; in fact, Ye Jianhuang was joking with her.
It’s normal that He Yuxiu didn’t know Ye Jianhuang, as he rarely showed himself.
But Ye Jianhuang knew He Yuxiu, he was well aware of the affairs in Puluo State, and naturally knew this young lady of the He Family.
After teasing, Ye Jianhuang took Li Banfeng to a quieter place and talked business: "Someone told me to remind you not to focus too much on others’ businesses and forget your own."
Li Banfeng understood Ye Jianhuang’s message; it was City Master Sun asking Li Banfeng to go home.
"Brother Huang, as you see, this piece of new land is targeted by Snowflake Beach. If I leave now, it might all come to naught."
Ye Jianhuang sighed: "Snowflake Beach is indeed hard to deal with. I’ll watch over here for you first. If I can’t hold on, there’s still your Big Brother Sun, you can go home and tell him the situation. He’s so protective of you, he surely won’t just ignore this matter."
Li Banfeng returned to the territory, said a few words to He Yuxiu, Ma Wu, the cook, and others, and prepared to leave the new land for Fool’s City.
He Yuxiu was a bit reluctant: "Brother Seven, when will you come back?"
Li Banfeng laughed: "Once you’ve settled as the local deity, I suppose I’ll come back, and continue opening up the land."
He Yuxiu felt moved, glanced at the plot of land where the Three-Headed People were readying offerings to continue their cultivation.
When she turned around, Li Banfeng’s figure had already faded into the distance.
...
At the entrance of Fool’s City, a man stopped Li Banfeng demanding an entrance fee: "Entering the city costs an Ocean Dollar, that’s the rule here!"
Li Banfeng shook his head: "One is not enough."
The man was stunned: "Then what do you think is reasonable?"
"It must be five."
The man scratched his head: "Isn’t five too much?"
"Not much," Li Banfeng explained earnestly to the man, "I traveled all the way here; just the transport costs an Ocean Dollar, dry food and water cost another half,
I got slightly injured on the way; just the medicine and bandages cost half, adding up to two. Giving you one Ocean Dollar, is that fair? Where’s your conscience?"
The gatekeeper calculated with his fingers for a while: "Even if one isn’t right, you can’t ask for five. You’ve only spent two!"
Li Banfeng waved his hand: "I haven’t finished talking. I got robbed on the way, lost three Ocean Dollars. How do you account for that?"
The gatekeeper got angry: "I wasn’t the one who robbed you, how can that be my responsibility?"
Li Banfeng also got angry: "If I hadn’t come to Fool’s City, that money wouldn’t have been robbed. To enter this city gate, I got robbed of three Ocean Dollars; you’re guarding here, shouldn’t you compensate me for that?"
The gatekeeper lowered his head: "What you’re asking is way too much, five absolutely won’t do. Not to mention, hiring transport shouldn’t cost as much as an Ocean Dollar, dry food costs way too much too, and the medicine and bandages aren’t worth half an Ocean Dollar..."