Chapter 2200 — I'll Be Going Now
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
"Very good, sir!" The waiter took the POS machine and swiped You Panhu's card, then withdrew to prepare the dishes.
"Wei Zhao, are you ever going to quit it? If you don't want to make the trade, just say so—no need to dream up a mountain of excuses and keep dodging!" You Panhu was thoroughly out of patience. "If you've changed your mind, just say it straight out!"
"Oh, you guessed it exactly. I have indeed changed my mind," Wei Zhao said with a nod.
"What the... hell..." You Panhu nearly stamped his feet in fury. "What exactly do you want? Why have you gone back on your word again?"
"Actually, I changed my mind because of you," Wei Zhao said.
"Because of me? What's that supposed to mean?" You Panhu asked.
"Last time, I traded you some materials, and afterward you bore a grudge against me, insisting at every turn that I'd cheated you. So I got to thinking—after I trade with you this time, will you do the same thing again?" Wei Zhao said with perfect solemnity. "So after a whole morning of careful consideration, I've decided I'd rather not trade with you after all."
"Damn it, are you playing me?" You Panhu was so sullen he nearly lashed out—but then he suddenly remembered who was standing before him. Wei Zhao would not permit him to lose his temper; if he did, and got beaten for it, he wouldn't even have a place to plead his case. So he could only swallow his anger and say, "A true man, a real man—his word, once given, cannot be taken back!"
"You still don't get it? I'm thinking of you. I'm afraid you'll go back on your word later—and then you'd turn into a eunuch," Wei Zhao said.
"Me, a eunuch? How would I turn into a eunuch?" You Panhu was stunned.
"Didn't you say that a true man's word, once given, cannot be taken back? I'm afraid that if you go back on your word later, you'll no longer be a true man," Wei Zhao explained.
"Enough, Wei Zhao, cut the useless talk. You don't need to think of me—trading materials with you is my own choice, and I won't go back on it, rest assured!" You Panhu said. "Is that good enough now?"
"All right, since you're so sincere about it, I'll trade with you." Wei Zhao nodded, then said, "Open the bundle. I want to inspect the goods!"
"I let you inspect my goods—shouldn't you at least let me inspect yours?" You Panhu said, struck by a sudden inspiration.
Wei Zhao rolled his eyes. "You Panhu, are you trying to plumb the depths of stupidity? I've already shown you my materials—what value do they have left? And if you look at your things, you won't lose anything by it."
"Fine, then look." You Panhu wasted no more words. He opened the cloth wrapper and presented what lay inside to Wei Zhao—he just wanted to end this transaction as quickly as possible.
The wrapper fell open, and there before Wei Zhao appeared an antique-looking pill cauldron, exactly as it had been in the photograph. But now that he saw the real thing, Wei Zhao found that the cauldron was even more battered than he had imagined!
You Panhu's photograph had shown only the front of the cauldron, and even the front was already covered in dense cracks; the back of the cauldron, however, had a great split running from top to bottom—"too ghastly to look at" would not have been an exaggeration.
The item was genuine. With his trained eye, Wei Zhao could tell it was indeed an antique—back when he had gone tomb-robbing with Qiu Lingshan, Wei Zhao had crammed some knowledge of curios. But in its present condition, this thing could absolutely never be used to refine pills. It leaked air on all sides now; never mind refining pills—it couldn't even be used to decoct a simple herbal medicine.
"This thing is even more beat-up than I imagined!" Wei Zhao said with a sigh.
"Wei Zhao, don't talk like that. If it were a fine piece, would I be trading it to you? It's because it's this kind of useless chicken rib that our Hidden You Family would put it out for trade!" You Panhu said. "You've already agreed, so don't go back on it."