Urban All-Round Master

Chapter 575: Chapter 568: The Water-Selling Lady

Along the way, this Liu Neng fellow, who had been offended by Lin Zifeng, remained quiet, only occasionally casting resentful glances at Lin Zifeng. Because of Lin Zifeng, he was now unable to flirt with any girls, fueling quite a bit of animosity.

It wasn’t until the bus brought everyone to a tourist spot in Zhonghai City that the group slowly disembarked.

Gazing at the slightly yellow hill slope in front of them and the clear river water,

everyone present felt dizzy—

So, this field sketching was simply about finding a quiet place to look around and walk around.

This damned thing isn’t even worth sketching.

We were all strangers—

Everyone started feeling regretful. They had thought that this field sketching session would include some adventurous exploring, but it turned out to be just wandering in a remote area.

”Director, we’re not just going to sketch in this godforsaken place, are we?” someone questioned.

The dean was a nearly fifty-year-old crumpled old man. When Lin Zifeng first reported to the Archaeology Department at Yunhai University, it was this broken old man who had arranged everything.

Lin Zifeng still vividly remembered his senile dementia.

”Students, this field sketching was actually just about taking you all out to see more and experience more. Although this place isn’t as bustling as our urban area, nor as dazzling as the city, the overall feel isn’t bad, right? After all, there are mountains and water, there are ’bridges over flowing water,’ and just behind the hill slope lies an ancient war site from the Warring States Period. Especially for you kids in the Archaeology Department, you should really go and see more, experience more; it’s definitely good for you...”

Bridges over flowing water? Give me a break.

Where are the bridges? Where are the houses? It’s just a few local run-down inns, and that’s it.

The dean’s words immediately caused more disturbances.

”Folks, listen to me,” the old man waved his hands, signaling for quiet below.

”Right! Where was I?”

The old man rolled his eyes in confusion and asked.

”...”

Faint—

There was another wave of dismay below; the old man’s forgetfulness had struck again.

”Director, you were talking about the ancient war site from the Warring States Period,” a young woman reminded him, raising her slick little hand in the crowd.

”Oh! Right, right, right. That ancient war site, you see, it was originally left from the Warring States Period. Later, students from the Archaeology Department can take a look. Although it’s very old, it’s still worth studying...”

”...”

Listening to the dean continuing to babble relentlessly, the hundreds of people below already felt a sense of powerlessness.

They couldn’t wait to go up and complain a few words.

By the time the old man had prattled for a long while, those in the audience were already tired of listening.

”Alright, that’s enough. Now go do whatever you were doing, but don’t stray too far. Later tonight, let’s all gather for dinner.” After finishing, the old man scurried toward the bus.

Only then did the hundreds of students breathe a sigh of relief.

”Brother Lin, how about we check out the back mountain?” Clearly, Shao Huo was still endlessly intrigued by this field sketching trip, his sleazy little eyes almost unblinkingly focusing on a few girls holding hands nearby.

”I’ll pass. You guys go have fun.” This field sketching trip was mainly for Shao Huo; otherwise, paying Lin Zifeng to come felt boring to him.

”Let’s go, Brother Lin. Since we’re here, let’s check out the area; we’re free anyway. Who knows, maybe Lady Luck will smile on us, and we’ll meet some girls,” Shao Huo said, giving him a wink.

”Geez—”

Reluctantly shaking his head under Shao Huo’s persistent persuasion, Lin Zifeng was about to light a cigarette when he heard an argument not far away.

”What’s going on?”

”What happened?”

”Come on, come on, there’s drama to watch.”

The surrounding student crowd excitedly rushed over with their phones, eager to capture photos. Lin Zifeng and Shao Huo were a bit perplexed: What was making everyone so happy?

...

”Damn, we get to watch a show as soon as we arrive. They even prepared a welcome program for us,” Shao Huo chuckled and led Lin Zifeng toward the noisy direction.

At the edge of the hillside greenery, a beverage stall auntie was grabbing a young girl, scolding and yelling at her while clutching her collar, preventing her from leaving. The auntie hurled all kinds of personal insults at her.

”I’m telling you today, you’re buying this drink whether you want to or not. Five yuan, and if you short me even a cent, I won’t let you go,” the auntie said, gripping the young girl’s clothes tightly, almost as if she would devour the girl if she didn’t get her money.

”Auntie, how can you be so unreasonable? It was clearly your drink that was leaking, and yet you still forced me to buy it. You’re being way too overbearing,” the girl, delicate-looking with large black-framed glasses and her dark, smooth hair cascading over her shoulders, expressed. Due to the auntie’s tugging, her blouse revealed a generous glimpse of spring beneath.

”What! You dare say my drink was leaking? If you hadn’t picked it up and then thrown it on the ground, would my drink have leaked?” The woman, glaring fiercely, clutched the young girl’s pink t-shirt. If the girl didn’t pay up, she probably wouldn’t be able to leave today.

At this point, the surrounding students started to feel uncomfortable with the woman’s shamelessness.

These small vendors, capitalizing on their locations at tourist spots, often set up their stalls and charged exorbitant prices for water, food, and snacks—like charging three yuan for a bottle of water that would usually cost one and a half yuan elsewhere. It’s sheer profiteering, and although everyone usually remained silent, these vendors were particularly exploitative.

The young girl’s situation was clearly one of being scammed.

”Hey, hey, hey, auntie, that’s not right. It’s just a bottle of drink; do you need to make the student so embarrassed? I’ll just give you the money,” a bystander finally couldn’t stand it any longer and intervened.

A couple looking like students stepped forward, pulling out a ten yuan note from their pocket and handing it over.

The young girl gave them a grateful look.

But the auntie refused.

”Kid, this is none of your business. I don’t want your money. Go where it’s cool and stay there,” the auntie obviously felt snubbed by the intervention.

”Auntie, what’s this about, huh?”

The boy’s girlfriend also started to get annoyed.

You’re offered money, and you still make a scene? Isn’t this clearly extortion?

”You, what are you trying to do?”

”We don’t want to do anything, just let her go. If you keep this up, I’m going to call the police,” the boy said, pulling out his phone, ready to take pictures as evidence.

”Oh my! He’s hitting me! Oh my, he’s hitting me!”

To everyone’s utter astonishment, the auntie suddenly sat down on the ground, crying and causing a scene claiming she’d been hit—

What on earth was this all about?