Ming and Lian had stayed in Golden Carp Town for a week until now, the date of the martial expo held at the Shaolin Temple was drawing near, they needed to pick up their pace if they wanted to make it in time
Ming had fully recovered after the tournament and was out and about in the markets, buying supplies for their journey
He had run countless errands for Zhu Feng and Zhu Lian back at Crimson Cloud Manor, buying them whatever they wanted in the small town that was near so he had long mastered the arts of bargaining and gauging the market prices of common goods. This he is very confident in
No scammers can rip this Ex top class servant boy off! That's for certain
As Ming was cruising the stalls, buying clothes, cleaning supplies, etc
He stopped by a rouge stall
Lian did complain about her makeup supply running low the other night so he figured that he might as well grab her some
His actions, as thoughtful as it seems, wasn't completely void of Ming's mischief, he wanted to see Lian in his favorite colors
Ming took his time and he scanned through the colors carefully before taking his pick
As he was about to finish his selection, his focus broken by a familiar voice making a ruckus in the next stall
"Like I said, I'm out of money already, this gold piece is all I have left! Just sell it to me!"
A high pitched and annoyed voice rang out, one he hadn't heard since the finals of the Beggar Sect's Gu battle
Ming turned his head in curiosity
It was Zhou Xuelan, the girl who cheated by faking her martial realm in the finals, her disqualification gave him the win, which he was thankful for, even if it wasn't her intention
"Look, young lady, this fish here is a snow mountain rival pike, caught all the way on the snowy peaks of mount Tai, this one is at least 5 gold pieces, don't try to swindle me!" The shop keeper remarked as he make a shooing motion towards her, his behaviour dismissive but there's a certain glint in his eyes
"You-, tch, fine" The silver haired girl clicked her tongue and reached into her pockets, rummaging around for a short while before pulling out two more gold pieces
"This is all I can spend on this, okay? Take it or leave it!" She barked with bravado, but her eyes was desperate for the fish
The shopkeeper took one look at the gold pieces in her hands and smiled greedily
"Hmmm, I suppose I can make an exception for you, young lady, here" His greed on full display, he grinned wide as he prepared to hand her the fish
But as Xunlan prepare to take it and leave him the gold pieces, Ming stepped to her side, extending his hand to put up a barrier between her and the shopkeep
"I wouldn't buy it if I were you" Ming spoke calmly
He had overheard their conversation and quickly realised she was being blatantly scammed, so out of the goodness of his heart, he finished up his rouge purchase and hurriedly headed over
"Hmm? Who are-" Xunlan spoke as she trailed her vision from Ming's opened palm to his face, she froze
"The guy you fought two days back, Miss Xuelan of Diancang Sect"
"Mr servant? What do you want?" Xuelan asked, equal parts confused and annoyed, her pride still wounded, being bested by a former servant wasn't exactly an enjoyable experience
"Well," Ming glanced at the shopkeeper, who was visibly sweating "I figured I'd step in and stop you from being scammed"
"Scammed? Of course not young man, I'm even giving this lady the discount for this Snow Mountain River Pike, I'm no scammer" He hurriedly interjected, intending to defend himself until he seals this deal
"Yeah! I didn't have enough money so he's even discounting, what's wrong with that?" Xuelan asked curiously with all the naivety of someone born yesterday
Ming became speechless, he face palmed and took a deep breath
"With all due respect, Miss Xuelan, that couldn't possibly be a Snow Mountain River Pike, a fish that is rare, wouldn't be sold in a street market. And even if it was, by some heavenly miracle, it would be priced at 5 silver pieces at most, not 5 gold pieces! You are getting fooled!"
Ming spoke in a clear, matter of fact voice, the same one he uses to direct the other servants back at the Crimson Cloud Manor, this was a scolding, and one that Xuelan couldn't possibly refute to boot
Xuelan frowned, turned her attention to the shopkeeper and shouted angrily "You! You dare make a fool of me!"
She flared her Mid Second Rate Realm Qi, the sudden release pressures down the shopkeeper, making it hard for him to breathe
"MISS I'M SORRY, I DIDN'T REALISE YOU WERE A VENERABLE MARTIAL MASTER, FORGIVE ME" He pleaded and he knelt down and kowtowed her repeatedly
"Calm down Miss Xuelan, you shouldn't cause a ruckus here" Ming spoke calmly and placed a hand on her shoulders
She retracted her Qi and turned to Ming, her face red with rage and humiliation, she unintentionally snapped at him
"Then what do you suggest? Huhhh? Mr servant!"
Strangely enough, seeing her like this, instead of feeling angry or offended, Ming got nostalgic, it felt like he was back at the manor getting scolded by Zhu Feng again
But compared to Zhu Feng's cruel and unreasonable anger, Xuelan's small outburst was akin to a child's tantrum
Ignoring her aggression, Ming smiled and stepped forward, helping the shopkeeper up with his right hand
"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to scam your companion" he said to Ming, as if pleading for his mercy and deliverance from Xuelan's rage
Before Xuelan could refute that she wasn't Ming's companion, Ming raised his left hand, signaling her to be quiet, she clicked her tongue but complied anyways
"Don't be sorry, you can make things right with us" Ming said ominously, his mouth was smiling but his eyes weren't
"Pardon?"
"Give us free fish, you don't want us to report you for scamming, do you? Mr shopkeep" Ming smiled as he gripped the Shopkeeper's hand tighter, making it painful for the shopkeeper
"Y-yes, of course, i-it'll be my pl-pleasure" The shopkeeper stumbled over his words as he nervously nodded like a parrot
In the end, both of them walked away with a handful of fresh fish
"Ah, umm, Mr Servant… No, Mr?"
"De Ming, call me Ming"
"Alright, Mr Ming, I'm sorry for the earlier outburst, I have trouble controlling myself when I get too worked up…" Xuelan said in a timid tone as she twirled the end of one of her twintails
"And thank you for helping me, I could've been scammed" Her face turned red from humiliation
"That reminds me, how in the world did you not realize he was fooling you?" Ming looked down and asked her, he's genuinely puzzled
"Well… I didn't know Snow Mountain River Pikes were that cheap, the pricing seemed consistent with everything else I bought so far" She muttered in hush breaths
"...What?" Ming halted his steps abruptly and grabbed Xuelan's shoulder with both hands, locking eyes with her
"Tell me, Miss Xuelan, what's a reasonable price to buy fish at, to you?"
"Hmmm" Xuelan thought about for a second, she thought about her journey so far and the purchases she had made one the way ever since she left Diancang Sect for a mission
"An average of 2-3 gold pieces per fish? Same goes for vegetables and fruits-"
"You've been scammed, blatantly and mercilessly by every single merchant you've come across" before she could finish, Ming immediately doused cold water on her with the truth
"What? No, that couldn't be… Then what about this Luck Talisman I bought for 30 gold pieces?" Xuelan spoke nervously as she pulled out a small paper slip with the words "Lucky charm" written on it
"That… Is it just cheap paper with "lucky charm" lazily doodled on…" At this point, Ming was beyond baffled, like how gullible was she?
"Oh…" Xuelan sighed helplessly as she hung her head low
"How much do you have on you? If you don't mind me asking?"
"I started with 300 gold pieces given to me by my master, I only have around 5 left…"
"So much money… wasted on complete junk…" Ming muttered helpless as calculations of things he could buy with 295 gold pieces filled his head
"Come with me" Ming spoke in a resolute manner as he grabbed Xuelan's hand
His abrupt action made her blush
"Mr Ming, what do you-"
"You're going with me back to the market, I'll teach you the prices properly, you won't survive at this rate" Ming spoke like a tired parent as he lead her away
"Oh, okay"
They spent the whole morning going stall to stall as Ming clearly explained the market prices and taught her tips in haggling and budgeting
When they finished, she invited Ming out to eat with her at a restaurant to thank him, thankfully she didn't overpaid this time
"Why did you help me, did I not hurt you badly during the finals?" As they ate, Xuelan asked with a puzzled expression
"Hmm? Do I need a reason to help out someone in need? Plus, we were fighting in a competition, it was inevitable, and if you wanted to kill me that day, you easily could have, but you went easy on me" Ming replied casually in between slurps of noodles and sipping broth
Xuelan blushed at his earnest answer, she pouted
"Hmph! As if I need help from you!" said Xuelan as she finished her final piece of food, she lightly slammed the table, stood up and walked towards the door
"See you around" Ming called out, waving his hand absentmindedly, sending her off, not expecting a reply from the sassy Diancang Sect disciple
Xuelan halted her steps, turned her head back and muttered just loud enough to be audible
"...see you around, and thank you for today"
Ming smiled as she left through the door
"So she's just shy, huh"