Chapter 3633 — A Man of His Word
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
Everyone present would have to leave the district anyway, and since it was on the way, they were perfectly happy to enjoy the show, answering with laughter. Those whom Meng Jueming had earlier singled out but who had not dared take the bet were especially loud in their assent. They could hardly wait to watch Meng Jueming choke and cough up blood!
You cunning bastard! Meng Jueming cursed inwardly. With so many people following to watch the fun, even if only for the sake of appearances, he could no longer think of any other trick to stall or fob them off. He had no choice but to comply honestly.
Meng Jueming's private workshop stood not far from the entrance. Under the watchful eyes of Wei Zhao and his companions and the whole crowd of onlookers, Meng Jueming soon came back out with the spirit jades tucked away. But just as he was about to hand over the fifteen spirit jades, Miserable Senior Brother beside him suddenly spoke up. "Senior Brother Meng, those must all be good jades, I hope? You wouldn't be trying to fool us with waste jade, would you?"
Meng Jueming's heart lurched. Miserable had hit the nail on the head. To avoid bleeding too heavily, he really had deliberately brought out a pouch of waste jade this time. As long as Xiao Che and Qiao Hongcai did not verify it on the spot, he could slip through just as he had fooled Wei Zhao before.
And if it were discovered later to be waste jade, then he would have nothing to fear at all. He could simply claim the other party had deliberately passed off good jade as waste to frame him. Then it would be one man's word against another's, and as long as public opinion did not turn wholly against him, Meng Jueming could brush the whole thing off.
It had been a fine plan, but now that Miserable had brought it up, things had become difficult. After all, if the jade were verified on the spot before so many watching eyes and found to be waste, he would lose every shred of face. Once his reputation was ruined, he would never again hold his head up in Threefold Pavilion!
Meng Jueming could not help cursing his own miscalculation. How had he forgotten about Miserable? That fool Wei Zhao might not know how to appraise spirit jades, but Miserable was, after all, vastly experienced!
"How could you even suggest such a thing? As a supervising senior brother, would I do something so shameless? Truly, you measure a gentleman's heart with a petty man's yardstick!" Meng Jueming rebuked him righteously. Yet the hand he reached into his robes to draw out the spirit jades trembled in secret as he switched to a different pouch. Thank goodness he had planned ahead and prepared an extra pouch of good jade against mishaps; otherwise he would have lost face in a truly spectacular fashion.
At Miserable Senior Brother's signal, Xiao Che took the pouch of spirit jades from Meng Jueming's hand and had Qiao Hongcai count them with him on the spot. When they finished, they nodded. All were good jade brimming with spiritual energy, fifteen pieces, not one short.
"Senior Brother Meng truly lives up to his title as supervising senior brother. Your word is your bond, a model for us all." Wei Zhao gave Meng Jueming a look that was neither quite a smile nor quite not one.
Meng Jueming ground his teeth. To him, Wei Zhao's expression was more detestable than words could say. Had he not been worried about appearances, he would have loved nothing more than to strike out himself and teach Wei Zhao a lesson to vent the hatred in his heart!
Though in truth it was Xiao Che and Qiao Hongcai who had won fifteen spirit jades from him, the vast majority of Meng Jueming's hatred landed squarely on Wei Zhao's head. If not for Wei Zhao, could those two good-for-nothings, with neither strength nor backing, have won so many spirit jades from him? Never mind these two nobodies of newcomers; even Miserable, a supervising senior brother, could hardly stir up any waves when Wei Zhao was not around. (To be continued)