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If Lin Ge remembered correctly, the Beastfolk weren’t a female-dominated society. They believed in the rule of the strong.

Simply put, whoever had the biggest fists called the shots.

Well, you could tell from the way they put on fierce, menacing looks to intimidate others.

But...

Sold by the liang?

He’d seen it all now. Anything could happen.

Lin Ge had never heard of selling a pot by the liang before. Never mind why these little kids wanted to buy a pot in the first place.

Those fellows were obviously looking for trouble. You could see it in their unfriendly faces.

It wouldn’t be hard for Lin Ge to step in and deal with them, but he’d sworn a solemn oath never to work in this life. If word of this got back to Alice or Rosetti...

They were short-handed right now, so there was no telling what exhausting job they might make him do.

Besides... there was actually something else that had caught Lin Ge’s attention.

“All right, then. We’ll buy it.” After thinking it over, Lin Ge smiled kindly and nodded.

“Pretty-Boy Brother?!”

It wasn’t just the scarred men—even the children, Meimei at their head, stared at Lin Ge in disbelief, as if he were an idiot.

Even little Meimei could tell those scarred men were deliberately picking a fight. So why was he walking right into it?

Did he have more money than he knew what to do with? Wasn’t all his money supposed to belong to the city lord? Talk about being a kept pretty boy...

Or could it be...?!

Meimei thought of the only explanation that made sense, and tightened her grip on Lin Ge’s hand.

With tears in her eyes, she looked worried and guilty as she said:

“Pretty-Boy Brother, don’t do this! If your sister finds out you’re spending money so carelessly, she’ll beat your butt black and blue.”

“What does your sister have to do with this?”

Lin Ge blinked. Why bring up her sister now? What did her sister have to do with any of this?

“If you’re buying it, then hurry up and pay.” The scarred man was getting impatient. “Three copper coins per liang. This pot weighs thirty jin, so that’s nine gold coins. Pay up.”

Nine gold coins.

The children were stunned all over again. An ordinary family spent at most one or two gold coins a month. This pot cost nearly a year’s worth of living expenses. The children had probably never seen that much money in their lives.

They were grateful that Lin Ge had stepped in, but could this clean-cut big brother, who looked like he lived off women, really afford to pay?

“Oh, sure. Bring the pot over and I’ll weigh it, to see if it really is thirty jin.”

“Uh...”

The scarred men exchanged glances. After a brief silent conversation, they had no choice but to bring the pot over and weigh it.

“Take a good look. Is it thirty jin?”

“Yeah, it really is.”

Lin Ge nodded.

“Then hurry up and get the money. We’re in a rush.”

The scarred man urged him impatiently, rubbing his fists as if ready to settle things with them if they couldn’t pay.

But Lin Ge calmly picked up a stone and said with a smile:

“Don’t rush. I’ll pay in a second. But before that...”

Crash—

At the same moment he finished speaking, Lin Ge brought the stone down without hesitation and smashed the pot to pieces.

Everyone froze.

The scene fell completely silent.

Everyone except Lin Ge, that is.

“Let’s see... Yeah, this is about one liang. I’ll buy this piece. You can take the rest.”

He picked up a shard and placed it in Meimei’s open-mouthed hands, then disdainfully tossed three copper coins onto the ground. They rolled to the men’s feet.

“You little brat! You’ve got a death wish, smashing that lord’s property!”

The scarred men all flew into a rage. They clenched their fists and cracked their knuckles, sparks practically shooting from their eyes as a clash between them seemed moments away.

The children, Meimei included, huddled fearfully behind Lin Ge.

Lin Ge calmly waved a hand and complained with a look of disdain:

“Why are you still here? The deal’s already over, isn’t it?”

“The deal’s over? What kind of joke is that? You’re telling me this deal’s over? You’re asking to die!”

The scarred men pointed at the pot shattered across the ground, their faces twisted with rage as they challenged Lin Ge.

“Isn’t it?” Lin Ge asked with a smile.

Then he continued, unhurried:

“This pot costs three copper coins per liang, right?”

“Yeah,” the men nodded.

“And this shard weighs one liang, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah—no! Stop babbling nonsense. What are you even trying to say?”

The scarred men were losing their patience. They thought Lin Ge was deliberately changing the subject.

“So, didn’t I just buy it? One liang of pot.”

“...”

“Huh?!”

“What do you mean, ‘huh’? You never said we had to buy a whole pot. I bought one liang. What’s the problem?”

The scarred men froze. They looked at the shard in Lin Ge’s hand, then at the three copper coins by their feet. After thinking it over, they had to admit that what he’d said didn’t seem wrong at all.

But... but... but... they still felt like something wasn’t quite right...

No, it wasn’t just that it felt wrong. It was wrong!

“You little brat, you think you can fool us? The pot’s smashed to bits. How are we supposed to use what’s left?”

“I hadn’t thought of that. But... what’s it got to do with me? Figuring out how to deal with that problem is your job, isn’t it, Beastfolk merchants?”

“I... I... I...”

Faced with Lin Ge’s utterly devious smile, the scarred men fell silent. Or maybe they simply couldn’t follow his reasoning.

After all, the Beastfolk were widely known as one of the seven great races for being simple-minded but strong-limbed. Complicated things were like poison to them.

Thinking too hard made their heads hurt.

“Boss, I think this brat’s just messing with us. Let’s take him down!”

They’d been provoked—or, more accurately, they’d given up trying to think.

When they couldn’t figure out something complicated, solving it with their fists was the best option. The scarred man agreed. In fact, if they didn’t do that, they’d be the ones to suffer in the end...

After all, they’d had an ulterior motive for pulling this stunt in the first place.

But just as they were about to attack, a man dressed in a completely different style came running over and shouted anxiously:

“This is bad, Boss! That woman’s almost back!”

“What?! Damn it! You little brat, remember this. We’re not done here!”

After leaving them with a threat, the scarred men turned and ran without another thought. They didn’t even bother to take the remaining shards with them.

“Comrade, you don’t want the nine gold coins? What a waste!”

Lin Ge chuckled and watched them go. Then he turned back with a kind smile. Only then did the children realize they were safe.

One after another, the children—including Meimei—burst into tears of joy.

—Hey, hey, if you’re going to cry, at least wait a bit. At this rate, people will think I made you cry.

With a bitter, helpless look, Lin Ge finally got the children settled. From them, he learned why they’d wanted to buy a pot.

Simply put, they wanted to buy a present for their big sister. Why a pot? The children’s thinking was just that innocent.

A couple of days ago, they’d seen their sister worrying because the kitchen tools were getting old. So they’d planned to sell the wild fruit they’d picked and use the money to buy her a gift... almost causing a disaster in the process.

“Good thing Pretty-Boy Brother was here this time. Don’t you ever do this again, got it?”

“Got it.”

Under Meimei’s scolding, the children all realized their mistake.

It was just that Lin Ge couldn’t bring himself to like that nickname, no matter what.

He was curious about the big sister the children loved so much, but... he still had to drink this tea, after all.

Then, while he was waiting, he soon came face-to-face with that big sister. Only... it looked like he wouldn’t be drinking that tea after all...

“I told you not to meddle in other people’s business again. Looks like you’re just begging to die.”

“Wife?! What are you doing here...?”