CH 054 Gold, Silver, And Copper Coins

After the liberation of the two laborers, Zhang Junshi and Li Yi, the daily life in Chicken Nest Village finally returned on the right track and gradually became orderly.

Nie Bufan was finally free and able to foist off all kinds of labor services to others. Like a leader inspecting, he visited the remaining patients one by one every day, from Si Chenyu, Chen Muran, Li Huai, Tian Nu to their respective servants and maids.

Seeing them all look as if possessed by a resentful spirit, haggard and gloomy, it was truly pitiful. However, if it was really necessary to sacrifice his body to save this group of people, Nie Bufan could already feel the pain in a certain somewhere. It was a simple thing to choose whether to let himself hurt or to let others hurt, so he decided to ignore it. Before Si Chenyu could get his hands on him, he ran into the city to take refuge.

This time he brought not only Lady Flower and Langya, but also Wukong and a black-striped yellow chicken named “Gold”. Bringing the first two was because they had a keen sense of smell and were easily used by others to track him down. Bringing Wukong and Gold was to prevent boredom.

Nie Bufan chose a luxurious inn and walked in.

The waiter greeted him with a smile on his face but paused a little after seeing Nie Bufan’s appearance.

Nie Bufan’s clothes could be considered tastefully chosen and were all carefully selected by Zhang Junshi. But he was carrying a big old bamboo basket with a monkey on his shoulder. He had the appearance of a handsome and elegant gongzi, but for some reason he still appeared out of place.

The waiter had been greeting and sending off customers for so long but he had never seen such a gongzi who didn’t care at all about his image. He was not sure of the identity of this person, so he could only welcome him in first and ask: “This gongzi, welcome. Do you want to drink tea or stay overnight?”

It was not mealtime at this time so there were only two or three people sitting at the tables. When they saw Nie Bufan, they all gave him strange looks.

Nie Bufan looked around randomly  and said, “Prepare a room for me.”

“Okay, one upper room checked in.” The waiter led him to the counter, bowed and smiled, “How many days do you plan to stay?” 

“Three days for now.”

“A deposit of three taels is required for three days.”

Three taels? Nie Bufan glared at him. At this price, guests could live in Chicken Nest Village for half a month!

The waiter was skilled at being observant and muttered to himself, it seemed that this was not a rich person. As he was thinking this, he saw the other take out a bulging purse from his pocket. The purse was embroidered with gold silk and appeared to be of extraordinary make at first glance. The waiter couldn’t help but overturn his previous speculation. To be able to afford this kind of purse this person must be from an extraordinary background.

The waiter looked at the purse subtly without showing a trace, but then saw the owner of the purse grab a handful of copper coins from it and then placed it all on the counter, counting them one by one.

The waiter nearly collapsed. Three taels was equivalent to nearly a thousand copper coins. How long did this person plan to count? Could that purse even fit a thousand coins?

“Hai, this gongzi, if you don’t have enough money, you can go to the inn on the right.” The waiter said tactfully.

Nie Bufan didn’t even glance at him. While concentrating on counting the money, he replied, “I just want to live here. Don’t interrupt, let me count.”

The waiter wanted to cry but he was without tears. Their inn’s reputation in the city was one of the best, and no one had ever used copper coins with them. This was like using single dollar bills in a five star hotel. It was also money, but the style was as different as heaven and earth. Of course, Nie Bufan was probably the only person who could do such silly things.

The counter they were at gradually became the focal point of the surrounding eyes. The entire hall fell quiet, all silently watching Nie Bufan count the coins.

After Nie Bufan counted 250 coins, he couldn’t count anymore. The little monkey Wukong thoughtfully handed over a cup of tea.

“Hey, that’s my tea…..” A customer in the hall called out.

As soon as the voice fell, Nie Bufan had already drank it down in one gulp.

The customer could only touch his nose and quiet down. Nie Bufan glanced at him and then handed the cup to Wukong as he lectured, “How can you take other people’s things? Go, apologize to that uncle, and thank him as well.”

Wukong took the cup, jumped on the table again and pushed the cup carefully in front of the man. It then bent its waist 30 degrees with one paw behind its back, bowing gracefully with its long tail high up. It looked very much like a well-educated gentleman.

Immediately, it took an unused teacup and filled it with tea while holding the teapot. The whole process was smooth and error free. Its small body was not even as tall as the teapot, its fine golden hair, big eyes, and its clever appearance practically won everyone over.

“What a smart little monkey!” The customer couldn’t help but stretch out his hand to tease it. The little monkey shook its tail at him and then jumped back to Nie Bufan.

“Gongzi, is your monkey for sale?” He asked.

“Not for sale.” Nie Bufan replied without looking back.

Wukong bared its teeth at the man and jumped up and down, as if it were demonstrating its might.

“Haha.” The man chuckled, “How did gongzi train it? Can you advise me on a few tricks?”

Nie Bufan frowned. He raised his head with discontent and said: “I was interrupted by you, I have forgotten where I had left off counting.”

“Why still count?” The man threw a few taels from his pocket and said, “I’ll pay it for you.”

The waiter quickly caught it and thought to himself, finally no more counting.

But who knew, Nie Bufan said: “I don’t need other people’s funding, thank you for your kindness.”

“It’s only three taels, but the price of a meal. Gongzi doesn’t have to worry about it, I just want to make friends with you.”

Nie Bufan thought for a while, and suddenly said to the waiter: “Give me that gongzi’s money.”

The waiter reluctantly handed it over, thinking he was going to return it, but unexpectedly the other just put it in his own pocket. Then he poured all the copper coins from his money purse on the counter and said, “You count the rest. The copper coins are probably enough. Anything left over is your tip.”

In truth, Nie Bufan was aware of the amount of money in his purse. There could only be less and not more but he didn’t believe that the waiter would come find him again just for a few pennies!

The waiter’s expression instantly stiffened.

“Hahaha.” The customer who spoke to him laughed loudly.

The other people also showed expressions of wanting to laugh.

“Remember to check in for me, I’m waiting to rest.” Nie Bufan reminded. He then sat at the table of the customer and cupped his fists to express his gratitude.

The person said: “Why do you carry so many copper coins with you? Isn’t it inconvenient?”

“It is because of their inconvenience that I have to spend it all.” Nie Bufan said naturally.

The man laughed again. This man had a full beard and was very tall. At first Nie Bufan had thought that he was not too young, but upon a closer look the man was actually only twenty-seven or twenty-eight. He was neatly dressed and appeared quite chivalrous.

“I am Qin Boya, don’t know what this gongzi is called?”

“Duan Yu.” It had almost become a habit for Nie Bufan to give a false name when he went out. Seeing that the person in front of him looked a little like Qiao Feng, he naturally responded with “Duan Yu”. (TN: both characters are from the book turn drama Demi-gods and Semi-devils)

“It turns out to be Duan gongzi.” Qin Boya smiled and asked, “I see you carrying a bamboo basket, don’t know what it is for?”

If it was luggage, then bamboo basket should not be used. Judging from his clothes and demeanor, he didn’t seem to be born in poverty, but he didn’t even have one or two servants following him which was really strange.

Nie Bufan put the bamboo basket down carefully, and responded with one word: “Secret.”

Qin Boya smiled without saying a word, but his ears twitched, and he could tell that the bamboo basket was obviously filled with living things. Looking at the little monkey on his shoulder, he secretly wondered whether the bamboo basket also contained another pet?

His guess was quite on the mark, but he probably never thought that this so-called pet would turn out to be a chicken.

“By the way, in order to thank you for your generosity, I will also give you a gift.” Nie Bufan took out an egg from his pocket and handed it to Qin Boya. 

Qin Boya looked at the irregular potato-like egg in front of him, and didn’t know how to react. He hadn’t received such a…..unique gift before.

Nie Bufan warned solemnly: “Treat it well.”

“Uh…..” Just what kind of treatment was required for an egg?

Under Nie Bufan’s piercing eyes, Qin Boya could only slowly put the egg in his pocket.

At this moment, there was a clamor of horses and shouting outside, and then a person dressed as an attendant walked in and shouted to the waiter: “Prepare one upper room and eight middle rooms. There are 12 people in our party. Ten days.”

“Okay, please wait a moment.” The several waiters stopped counting the copper coins and swept them all into a small basket. They then began to arrange accommodation for the new group of people.

After arranging it properly, the attendant walked out of the inn. There was a carriage parked outside the inn, and a man and a woman got out of the carriage.

The man was twenty-four or twenty-five years old, with a handsome face, eyes slanting upwards, a mole under his right eye, thin lips, and a sense of extravagance and coldness that gave an unapproachable feeling. The man swept the hall casually, the expression in his eyes aloof and indifferent.

Behind him was a maid, with eyes lowered docilely and an expressionless face, looking very much like a puppet. She was also holding a cat in her arms, so fat it looked like a giant caterpillar, but it had the same arrogant air as the man, squinting its eyes and looking down on all beings.

What Nie Bufan disliked the most was this kind of person. Si Chenyu was like this at the beginning, pretentious to the extreme.

Just as the group of people passed by where Nie Bufan was, the fat cat in the maid’s arms suddenly stood up, its fur all over its body standing on end as it bared its teeth at the bamboo basket at Nie Bufan’s feet.

The man walking in the front stopped, turned his head and asked, “What’s the matter?”

The maid bowed back and said, “Chun Jun seems to be frightened.”

“Calm it down.” The man turned and walked upstairs again, without even looking at Nie Bufan.

At this moment, there was a muffled cry from nowhere. When the fat cat heard it, it suddenly bounced up, jumped out of the arms of the maid, and quickly ran towards the man.

The fat cat leaped into the air, and the man lifted his hand and grabbed the flesh on the back of its neck accurately. He then stared directly at the place where Nie Bufan and Qin Boya were with a cold expression on his face.

The guards behind him also looked over in unison, neatly and uniformly, all stern and on guard.

Must it be this exaggerated?

Nie Bufan played with a cup, appearing like an innocent passerby.