When the innkeeper saw that a customer had arrived, a wide smile immediately appeared on his face. âGuest, hurry and come in. Youâre all wet! You should hurry and come in to get changed, then have some hot ginger soup!â
The scholar was still worried about what he had heard about fifty taels from Tang Doudou, so there was no way he dared to casually follow the innkeeper in.
âI-Iâll pass for now.â The scholar pushed aside the cordial innkeeper and sat down beneath the eaves next to Tang Doudou.
The innkeeperâs smile stiffened with confusion. He didnât understand why the scholar reacted this way, but the arrival of three more people soon took away his attention.
He went over with a smile to greet them and started leading them towards his inn.
The scholar was still nagging Tang Doudou about what she said about the fifty taels. Although he wasnât very loud, the newcomers were martial arts practitioners and were able to hear everything he said clearly. Hence, they stopped walking and even stepped back out of the inn.
One of them glanced around the empty inn, then at Tang Doudou and the scholar before asking, âInnkeeper, why is there no one in your inn?â
âHeh, dear guest, youâre sure good at joking. What do you mean by thereâs no one at my inn? A-arenât I here?â
âIâm talking about guests. Why are there no guests in your inn?â These three didnât seem like pushovers, and reality proved it true. The moment they noticed that something was off about the inn, their tone immediately turned displeased.
The innkeeperâs smile turned rigid and he rubbed his hands together nervously. âThatâs because, becauseâ¦â
âWere you trying to make money through unjust means?â One of the men, a large man dressed in gray, abruptly lifted the innkeeper by his collar.
The innkeeper had never been in such a threatening situation before, so he hastily shook his head and tried to explain, âItâs a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding!â
âA misunderstanding? What misunderstanding?â asked another person. However, he didnât wait for an answer and just pointed towards Tang Doudou. âYou two, come here and explain what exactly is going on!â
Naturally, Tang Doudou didnât move. However, the scholar got up and walked over. âSirs, you see, itâs like thisâ¦â
He stated everything Tang Doudou said earlier in clear and plain terms. The person who told them to come over earlier then asked Tang Doudou, âIs he telling the truth?â
âIâm just an old lady. I donât know anything.â Tang Doudou yawned, then leaned against the wall and closed her eyes.
Everyoneâs attention turned towards the scholar again.
The scholar stammered an explanation, but it didnât clear up much of anything. The innkeeperâs eyes whirled quickly with a new thought and he said, âSirs, this is definitely a misunderstanding! Itâs definitely a misunderstanding! How could my inn charge such a high price? Thereâs no way!â
âThen mark your price clearly. At that time, wouldnât the price naturally become clear?â
The innkeeper nodded hastily. âRight, right! Iâll go write the price right now!â
The man dressed in gray released him and shoved him towards the inn. âHurry up.â
âYes, yes, yes!â
After saying that, he walked in and quickly grabbed a wooden tablet. Then he picked up a brush and wrote one tael on it.
The three shared a gaze. One tael wasnât expensive, but it wasnât cheap either!
âToo much!â
The innkeeperâs hand froze, then he wiped away that âone taelâ and wrote âeight coinsâ instead.
âThatâs more like it!â
The three finally stepped into the inn. They had the innkeeper hang the sign up at the door, then ordered food before heading to their rooms to get changed.
The scholar took a look at the sign hanging by the door and happily entered the inn.
However, Tang Doudou still stayed where she was.
The innkeeper knew that she was behind all of this and was quite annoyed at being cheated out of his profit, so he didnât ask her to come inside.
At the same time, he was worried about leaving her at the door. If she continued saying nonsense to other people, he wouldnât get any customers!
After considering it for a while, he finally headed over with a forced smile. âMaâam, itâs eight coins now. Will you be taking a room?â
This was exactly what Tang Doudou was waiting for. After sighing, she said, âOf course, why wouldnât I?â
After saying that, she lifted her chest and started heading into the inn.
Although the innkeeper was unhappy, the waiterâs service was still pretty good. There had been hot water prepared inside the room. Tang Doudou washed up, changed into clean clothing, then opened the chest to check if anything inside got wet before finally hiding the chest away.