The Empress’s Gigolo

Tong Jia finally got up from the ground after what seemed like years. He looked at the small item in Ren Baqian’s hand with uneasiness and swiftly retreated three huge steps. It was as if he had seen a ghost.

Seeing Tong Jia’s expression, Ren Baqian was a little embarrassed. Ren Baqian gave Tong Jia a “good-natured” smile. Tong Jia hid as far as he could as soon as he saw that smile of Ren Baqian.

However, the Dayao people’s resistance to electricity was so-so, just slightly stronger than Earthlings. The boss said that the stun baton would knock even a burly man out and it seemed like he wasn’t lying. Although Tong Jia did not lose consciousness, he trembled for quite some time and fell to the ground immediately upon contact with the stun baton. He only managed to relax after a long period of time.

“What’s the feeling like?” Ren Baqian asked Tong Jia.

“Numbness, experiencing cramps once in a while, nausea and slight pain. What is that item?” Tong Jia said as he hid from a distance. He even faced the side and retched twice.

Yeah, it is similar to Earthlings experiencing electric shock.

Ren Baqian pondered and waved at Tong Jia. He then kept the stun baton at his waist area and walked towards the field. From a distance away, Ren Baqian could see that a few of the workers were seated and chatting idly at the front of the field. ”

Seeing that Ren Baqian came by, they promptly stood up to greet him, “Caretaker Ren.”

“I’m here to take a look,” Ren Baqian said as he swept his vision across the field. He could tell that they have just watered the crops.

“Remember to water the crops regularly as the sun rays are too malicious. When the new sprouts emerge after one week and they are able to resist the sun rays, it will be fine then.” Ren Baqian exhorted.

“Rest assured, Caretaker Ren. We know what to do,” A few of the odd-job workers replied in unison.

After verifying that the crops were watered, Ren Baqian could let go of his thoughts. He returned to the doorway and sat there leisurely.

“Brother Ren.” Caretaker Shi came from afar, “Today is the opening of the two shaved ice shops, why not go and have a look? After all, this business idea was suggested by you. Up till now, you have not made a trip down there yet.”

After hearing Caretaker Shi’s words, Ren Baqian thought for a while. Since he had nothing to do, he might as well follow Caretaker Shi to the shops.

He lifted his neck, grabbed the two little chaps off his leg, and put them down. Ren Baqian immediately got up, returned to his house and stashed a little silver into his clothes, and followed Caretaker Shi out of the palace.

Out of the two shaved ice shops, one was situated at Goujiazhai District and the other was situated at Yiwulu District. The shop with the best location at Jingyang Road was not ready for operation yet.

Both first went to Goujiazhai District. This district mainly housed commoners and was also the largest district in the city.

The shop was just at the corner of the street, and there was only a scattering of people at the front of the door. It was a world of difference from Ren Baqian’s prediction.

According to Ren Baqian’s predictions, even if the shop wasn’t bustling like a marketplace, there should at least be a crowd of people.

But what he witnessed was actually a burly man with a towel on his shoulder, sitting on a stool at the doorway. There was also someone standing behind the bar counter. Other than these two people, there was no one else.

“Hey, father, why did you come?” The burly man who was sitting at the door got up from the stool as soon as he saw Ren Baqian and Caretaker Shi approaching the shop. Once he opened his mouth, his voice could be heard half a street away.

This pair of father and son’s voice was absolutely from the same ancestors and passed down through the generations. Ren Baqian dared to claim that the burly man was Caretaker Ren’s biological son. Furthermore, it was the son’s voice which surpassed his father’s.

If someone ever offended Ren Baqian in the future, he did not need to resort to anything. All he had to do was immediately get Caretaker Ren and his son to chat amongst themselves. In less than an hour, Ren Baqian reckoned that the person who offended him would fall apart.

“This youngster dares to say such. I have brought someone to check the situation over here,” Caretaker Shi shouted at the top of his lungs right beside Ren Baqian.

Ren Baqian’s head buzzed for a short while, and he scuttled backwards like a frightened rabbit. He successively retreated three steps back, and only then he broke away from the sonic boom range of the father and son duo.

Now that the father and son were here together, it would be better for him to dodge further away.

“Brother Ren, this is my son, Shi Qingshan,” Caretaker Shi introduced his son while extending his hand, wanting to put it over Ren Baqian’s shoulder but missed it. He turned his head around and realized that Ren Baqian who had just been by his side, was now two meters behind him.

“Eh? Brother Ren, why are you left out at the back? Let me introduce you, this is my son.” Caretaker Ren waved at Ren Baqian.

As if Ren Baqian was rooted to the ground, he refused to move forward regardless of life or death. He cupped his hands in obeisance from a distance, “Hello, hello.”

“You are the Caretaker Ren that my father has mentioned? My father said that you are an intelligent and knowledgeable person,” Shi Qingshan walked towards Caretaker Shi’s side and said to Ren Baqian. Practically half the street of people methodically turned their heads to look over.

Ren Baqian expressed a look of embarrassment on his face. Since he graduated from elementary school, nobody had praised that he was intelligent in his presence. In particular, the experience of half the street of people hearing that praise was indeed too shameful.

“Ahaha!” Someone from a distance away laughed immediately.

Caretaker Shi turned his head around and it was coming from the shop beside theirs. It was a shop opened by a Yun Nation person, which sold daily necessities and miscellaneous goods. The boss of the shop stood by his door and couldn’t conceal his laughter.

“You are mocking my brother?” Caretaker Shi’s words were filled with evil intentions, and to add on, he had a fierce looking face. Even though the Yun Nation boss stayed in Dayao for quite some time, Caretaker Shi was still a threat to him.

“Why would I. I got reminded of something in the past.” That boss laughed sarcastically.

“Forget it, let’s talk inside.” Ren Baqian’s face was filled with awkwardness.

Caretaker Shi glared at the boss and brought his son into the shop.

After everyone went into the shop, the boss sneered.

Intelligent person? There are so many intelligent people in this world. Especially when it’s compared to Dayao people like you all.

There is nobody who is unintelligent in the Yun Nation.

He looked at the shop next to his and mulled over for a long time. Up to now, he did not know what was the shop doing. Restaurant, it was not a restaurant. Retail shop, not a retail shop. He originally saw that there were many tables arranged inside and assumed that it was a restaurant. Only now did he discover afterwards that it wasn’t one.

Forget it, who cares about them?

Open for business for half of the day, yet not a single soul came by.

Nobody knows what they sell inside as well. Sooner or later they will close down if they do business this way.

The weather is too hot. It is still better for me to stay indoors as it is somewhat cooler.

The boss couldn’t be bothered with the shop next door, turned around and went indoors to find a place to rest.

…
…..

After entering the shop, Ren Baqian sized up the place, and there was practically no change. The only difference was that it was tidier and cleaner. If not, one other change would be the increase in number of tables and chairs.

“Not a single soul entered the shop this entire morning?” Caretaker Shi asked.

“No.” Shi Qingshan touched the back of his head. He was simple and honest. His voice also got slightly softer.

It seemed that the father and son were used to talking loudly outside. Once they went indoors, they subconsciously lowered their voice.

Any ordinary person would be the same. Anyone’s voice would generally be louder outdoors than indoors as this was a usual practice. He could only blame that this pair of father and son’s voice was too loud to begin with.

Ren Baqian walked around the house and frowned slightly. All of a sudden, he thought of the problem. When he entered the shop just now, why didn’t he see the signboard of the shop?

“Where’s the signboard?” Ren Baqian reached out his hand and pointed outside the door. “The signboard that is supposed to be on top of the door, why is it not hung yet?”

“At first, it was supposed to be delivered today. However, Old Liu got drunk last night and said this morning that it was almost done. It will be delivered in the afternoon,” Shi Qingshan replied straightforwardly.

There wasn’t even a signboard, and nobody knew what this shop was selling. If anyone came in, it would be fishy.

At the same time, Ren Baqian thought of something else. Dayao did not have ice all year round, and most of the people did not even know about the existence of ice. On top of that, this word did not have anything like shaved ice. Even if they hung their signboard, others might not understand the meaning of it. He feared that they would have to employ other methods for their business to take off.