"I told you before — this is an exchange of equal value. If your brother isn't willing, he's free to leave at any time!"
Lei Lin said slowly.
"If you don't believe me, you can ask him!" Lei Lin pointed at Lombarton beside him.
"Big sister!" Lombarton lowered his head timidly, but his voice remained firm. "Working for Master Lei Lin was entirely my own decision. It has nothing to do with anyone else. Please don't try to stop me…"
"You…" The young woman flushed with anger. She stepped forward and grabbed Lombarton's arm, revealing a large patch of bruising. "Look at what you've become! How can you still be obsessed with those Knight novels…"
"Ahem!" Lei Lin suddenly cleared his throat, cutting the young lady off.
"This is my shop. If you want to discipline your brother, please do it somewhere else. Don't disrupt my business…"
Lei Lin spoke with complete self-righteousness, even though there wasn't a single customer in his shop at the moment.
"I'm… I'm sorry, my lord!" The young woman clapped a hand over her mouth, suddenly realizing that her words had also been an insult to Lei Lin.
She bowed, revealing a generous expanse of fair skin at her chest, then grabbed Lombarton and hurried away. The faint sounds of their ongoing argument drifted back.
Nearby, Weilin gazed after her retreating figure, his eyes glazed with infatuation.
"What a pure, kind-hearted girl! That's what you're thinking, isn't it?" Lei Lin noticed Weilin's expression and a mischievous grin spread across his face as he asked.
"Of course! Miss Venus is an incredibly hardworking girl — she works three jobs on her own to help support the family…"
Weilin answered without thinking.
"Mm! Whether she's kind or not, I'm not qualified to judge. But as for pure…" Lei Lin's grin widened further.
"Boss! You can hit me, you can scold me, but you can't slander her reputation!" Weilin clenched his fists, his face reddening all the way to his ears.
"Love! Oh, love! It is so beautiful! So radiant! It drives people to throw themselves into the flames like moths! It can even turn a cowardly sheep into a fearsome lion…"
Lei Lin recited a line of proverb, then before Weilin could ask, he continued on his own: "That Miss Venus just now — although she wore rough linen clothing and did her best to hide it, she still had the smell of cheap perfume on her. Not from today, either. And there were faint traces of eyeshadow on her face. Her handkerchief was a quality piece from Old Walker's shop, and the amount of coin she carried seems far too much… In just that brief moment of contact, she deliberately or otherwise tried to seduce me at least three times. This is clearly the habit of a certain profession…"
With each sentence Lei Lin uttered, Weilin felt as though a sledgehammer struck his chest, and he took a step backward.
But Lei Lin still delivered the final, fatal blow: "If I'm not mistaken, you'll probably be able to find this Miss Venus on the famous Nightingale Lane around midnight…"
"No! No! What you're saying isn't true!"
Weilin's face twisted in anguish, but his ashen expression made it obvious that he had already believed every word Lei Lin said. He stood frozen for a moment, then suddenly let out a wild scream and dashed out the door.
"Heh heh… the idle dreams of youth!" Lei Lin chuckled, laughing with great amusement.
"Shattering illusions and helping young people recognize the cruelty of life early on — it really is quite entertaining!"
......
Lombard came back before long, a pair of bright red slap marks adorning both cheeks. He said nothing to Lei Lin and went straight into the day's hauling work.
As for Weilin, the poor lad had supposedly spent the entire night drinking at the tavern and didn't show up until the next day. Lei Lin, wearing an expression of undisguised disgust, sent him straight back, ordering him to get the stench of alcohol off himself before returning — if he ever wanted to set foot in the shop again.
Thud!
Watching the last anvil hauled back into the storehouse, the already battered and bruised Lombard finally let out a sigh of relief, fixing Lei Lin with a look brimming with anticipation.
"Kid! You're sharp, and you've got grit! I hereby declare that from this day forward, you may come to my shop for five minutes each day when no one else is around, and browse my merchandise..."
Lei Lin declared, suppressing a grin.
"Huh???" Lombard looked up, stunned.
"What's the matter? Did you think I was going to announce that I'd take you as my apprentice, train you to become a Knight, launch you to greatness, and have you marry a princess — then live happily ever after?"
A teasing smile tugged at the corner of Lei Lin's lips. "Kid, you're still way too green..."
Lombard's face went deathly pale, then flushed with the mortification of having his scheme laid bare — cycling through green and red in rapid succession.
"Liar! You're nothing but a liar!" he roared suddenly and bolted out the door.
Splat! Running too fast, he caught his foot and went tumbling, hitting the ground hard and coating himself in mud.
"Hahahaha!" "Hahahaha!" "Hey, come look! Isn't that the fool from the Flame and Hammer shop?"
Lombard's wretched state instantly drew a merciless throng of onlookers from the street.
Amid the jeering crowd, Lombard screamed incoherently and scrambled away as fast as his legs could carry him.
Meanwhile, Lei Lin leaned against the doorframe, watching the whole scene with an amused smile.
"Boss, you're terrible! No — you're absolutely awful!" Weilin stood behind Lei Lin, enormous dark circles still ringing his sunken eyes, his face noticeably gaunter. He murmured the words almost to himself.