Chapter 34: Commission

“Then what should we do?” Hua Nuo asked, sounding a bit anxious.

“Didn’t I just say so? I have already found the right people for you,” the middle-aged man said. “It is the Dragon Tiger Group of Diao Er and his crew. Rest assured, they are much more capable and will get you to Kaiyuan County. However… Brother Zhao, you have traveled back and forth many times before, but I have never heard of you hiring guards. Wouldn’t it be better to save the money?”

“Brother Guan, you don’t understand,” Zhao Baoping said with a bitter smile. “A gang of bandits appeared near Flat-top Mountain, and we are afraid.”

“Bandits? How come I haven’t heard of this?” the middle-aged man said, stunned.

“It only happened in the last few days,” Zhao Baoping said. “We already left the city yesterday, but we ran back after hearing that it was unsafe ahead.”

“Even if there are bandits, you are carrying Azure Blue Fruit. Would they even want that? Just be careful, and you might be able to slip past them.”

“Brother Guan, who would dare joke with their own head? It is better to be safe than sorry…” Zhao Baoping said.

Just then, a burly man with a full beard walked into the tavern and looked around. The middle-aged man quickly stood up and smiled, “Brother Diao Er, over here, come this way…”

The man called Diao Er smiled and walked over. The middle-aged man introduced the two parties, while Zhao Baoping and the others hurriedly poured wine for them. Unexpectedly, Diao Er blocked with his hand and pushed the wine cup away. “This wine can be drunk anytime. Let’s get the details clear first.”

“Right, right,” the middle-aged man nodded repeatedly.

“Are you the owner of the goods?” Diao Er’s gaze fell on Su Tang. In his view, Zhao Baoping and the others looked very low-class, clearly just assistants. Only Su Tang had the air of someone who gave orders.

“I, it is me,” Zhao Baoping stood up again.

Diao Er found it strange and glanced at Su Tang again before shifting his gaze back to Zhao Baoping. “To Kaiyuan County?”

“Yes.”

“How much is the commission?” Diao Er asked straightforwardly.

Zhao Baoping thought for a moment and held up two fingers.

Diao Er made clicking sounds with his tongue. Looking at his expression, he seemed to feel the price was too low.

“Brother Zhao, you are… asking for the lives of my brothers!” Diao Er said.

“Brother Diao, I… do you think it is too little? But we…”

“It is not that I think it is too little.” Diao Er sighed. “Tell you what, I can see that you brothers are not having it easy. You spent all your savings to gather this batch of goods, didn’t you?” Zhao Baoping and the others were dressed very simply, which did not match the value of the goods he had estimated.

“Yes, yes,” Zhao Baoping and the others nodded hurriedly.

“Just give me this amount.” Diao Er held up one finger. “I will be honest with you. Even if you wanted to give more, we wouldn’t dare take it. If it exceeds this amount, the job must be listed at the Miaodao Pavilion, and it might not even be our turn to take it. If Brother Zhao is sincere, just treat my brothers to a meal after arriving at Kaiyuan.”

Hearing that the commission was suddenly cut in half, Zhao Baoping and the others were overjoyed. They praised Diao Er for being generous and bold. With the deal closed, Diao Er was also very happy. He proactively raised his wine cup and said to the middle-aged man, “Brother Guan, thank you for taking care of my brothers’ business. Nothing else, but when we return, let’s have a proper gathering. Brother Guan must grace us with his presence then.”

“Diao Er, you are being too formal,” the middle-aged man said with a smile.

The atmosphere became festive, but Su Tang’s smile did not reach his eyes. Voluntarily reducing the commission—this was the legendary “stealing a client,” wasn’t it? He finally understood what it meant when the superiors had policies and the subordinates had countermeasures. But to steal a client right under Su Tang’s nose…

“Brother Zhao, according to the rules, half of the commission must be paid upfront, and the other half when we arrive. We also need to make preparations,” Diao Er said.

“Brother Diao is so generous, why worry about prepayments!” Zhao Baoping said with great confidence. “We will pay the full commission all at once!”

“Good!” Diao Er was delighted and pointed at Zhao Baoping. “I, Diao Er, will definitely be friends with you brothers! In the future, just come to me if you need anything.”

Zhao Baoping took a gold coin from his pocket and slapped it hard onto the wine table with a loud thud. He glanced at Su Tang with a proud look, as if saying, Young Master, didn’t expect this, right? I, Zhao Baoping, can get along so well in Changshan County!

Everyone had a dream of returning home in glory. Zhao Baoping could not go home for now, but he was satisfied to show off a bit in front of his former young master.

Diao Er glanced at the gold coin and continued drinking the wine in his cup. He did not rush to pick it up, as if he were waiting for something. But after waiting for a long time, he saw that Zhao Baoping made no further move. He finally showed a suspicious look and reached out to pick up the gold coin. He looked at it from the left and right, and his face slowly darkened. He said gloomily, “Brother Zhao, what is the meaning of this?”

Zhao Baoping and the others looked at each other. They also knew the commission was a bit low, but the goods themselves were not worth much. After discussing for a long time, offering two gold coins was already their absolute limit.

Hua Nuo said timidly, “Brother Diao, didn’t we just agree… we are only doing small business, the most we could gather were two gold coins… Brother Diao is righteous and cut it in half for us…”

“Cut your ass!” Diao Er suddenly flew into a rage and threw the gold coin right into Hua Nuo’s face. “Are you making fun of me? Seven or eight brothers accompany you to Kaiyuan County, and a round trip takes nearly half a month, and you give this little? What the hell do you take me for?! Huh?!”

Seeing Diao Er suddenly flip his mood, Zhao Baoping and Hua Nuo were frightened and lost. Gu Xizheng dove under the table to find the gold coin that had been thrown away. The middle-aged man said with a forced smile, “Brother Diao, don’t be angry, don’t be angry…”

“Brother Guan! I wasted my breath calling you Brother Guan!! You are also playing with me along with these little brats, aren’t you?!” Diao Er’s face had turned green.

“That’s not true!” the middle-aged man shouted, then turned and asked Zhao Baoping angrily, “Didn’t you say it was about eight or nine gold coins?”

“Brother Guan, I meant those wagons of Azure Blue Fruit were worth eight or nine gold coins at most,” Zhao Baoping said with a face full of misery.

“You… you you…” The middle-aged man’s face became even more miserable. It turned out he had misheard. Who could he blame?

At this moment, Su Tang’s smile was much more sincere than before. People… were truly realistic. Just a moment ago they were calling each other brothers and were almost as close as could be, and in the blink of an eye, they became enemies. Interesting!

However, this smile looked especially piercing in Diao Er’s eyes. He suddenly shifted his target, his finger almost touching Su Tang’s forehead. “You damn dare to laugh?! Believe it or not, I will…”

Just then, a hand as large as a palm leaf swept in from the side and landed right on Diao Er’s cheek. It sent Diao Er flying several meters away, crashing into another wine table.