Chapter 377: Chapter 377: Got Betrayed Chapter 377: Chapter 377: Got Betrayed Big Bull laughed and said, “Madam, don’t worry. The tavern is so small, they couldn’t all possibly go inside, could they? At most, they will stand at the door waiting for us to come out.”
Xuexue thought about it and agreed, finding Big Bull’s reasoning sound.
As soon as they entered the tavern, they terrified the shopkeeper.
So many people swarming in, he initially thought something serious had happened. But after figuring out what was going on, he immediately became delighted, bowing and chuckling as he said, “Oh my! It turns out the tiger-fighting hero graces our humble establishment. What an honor! Please, come upstairs to the elegant seats, the dishes and drinks will be served shortly.”
The Shopkeeper’s words were exactly to Xuexue’s liking; she certainly did not want to dine while being watched by hundreds of people.
“Great! Let’s go,” she said, then headed toward the stairs.
Big Bull and the village head closely followed behind her.
They had only just sat down when two waiters began to bring up the dishes and drinks in succession.
Looking at the table full of delicious dishes, Xuexue, holding her chopsticks, said to Big Bull in surprise, “Big Bull, it seems we haven’t ordered yet. How did the dishes come so quickly?”
Big Bull was also puzzled, shook his head, and said, “I don’t know!”
Thus, both of them turned their heads together to look at the village head with questioning eyes.
Unexpectedly, the village head was vigorously shaking his head, mumbling indistinctly as he ate, “Don’t look at me, I don’t know either.”
“You don’t know, yet you still dare to eat? Aren’t you afraid of being poisoned?” Xuexue looked incredulously at the carefree village head.
“It’s fine. We are public figures now. Moreover, with so many people waiting outside for us, even a fool wouldn’t dare harm us at this moment,” the village head said, grasping a plump chicken and ripping a leg off with relish as he continued to enjoy his meal.
With this explanation, Xuexue suddenly saw the light. She grabbed a big bunch of vegetables with her chopsticks, filled her bowl, and started to eat heartily, saying, “I’m almost starved, whatever it is, let’s eat first.”
The three of them devoured the food like a whirlwind and soon cleared all the dishes on the table.
“Ah! Finally full,” Xuexue said, rubbing her round belly contentedly as she put down her chopsticks.
The village head took a sip of tea and said, “It’s getting late; we should hurry and settle the bill and head to the County Yamen.”
Xuexue responded and then shouted loudly, “Waiter, waiter, the bill please.”
Soon, a waiter appeared at the top of the stairs, approaching with a smile: “Honored guests.”
“Quickly tally it up, how much is it? We need to leave,” Xuexue demanded.
As if prepared, the waiter reached into his pocket, pulled out a small, exquisite abacus, and quickly calculated while looking at the empty plates on the table. After a moment, with a smile still on his face, he said to them, “Honored guests, the total for the meal is five taels and five mace.”
After speaking, he even handed the abacus to them for a look.
On hearing this, Xuexue’s eyes widened; in such a remote and poor place, a meal costing over five taels was clearly a rip-off. Now, she finally understood why they hadn’t needed to order–the plan was clearly to prevent them from inquiring about the prices.
Xuexue’s face darkened, and she said coldly, “Isn’t this openly fleecing people?”
The waiter, with an innocent look, responded, “Honored guest, please don’t say that. Our prices are clearly marked and fair, there’s no deceit involved here.”