Chapter 246: Intimidating Atmosphere

The weather was pleasant—gentle breeze, not too strong sunlight, and no dryness in the air; perfect for going out. On Huahua Street in the southern part of the city, pedestrians had thinned out considerably by afternoon. The street vendors, upon seeing passersby, also spoke in much softer voices.

Lin Dong stepped into Baili Silk Shop, located in the middle of the street. The interior was spacious and bright, with long counters dividing it completely on three sides except for the entrance side. Behind the counters, a dozen or so clerks sat slumped, heads bowed, their eyes fixed on the counter at the center opposite the door. There, sitting was a middle-aged man in his forties, dressed in a blue-and-green silk shirt.

At that moment, the man was bent over calculating, the abacus beads clicking noisily. From time to time, he would lift his head and glance around. The clerks, clearly prepared and experienced, would straighten up immediately before he did. By the time his head and gaze moved over, they would already be standing upright, chests out, eyes fixed on the entrance, with a faint smile on their faces.

When the man lowered his head again, as if receiving some command, everyone seemed to relax simultaneously, becoming listless once more. Behind the clerks, rows of shelves were neatly arranged, displaying silk fabrics whose luster could captivate any woman.

Lin Dong entered and scanned the store several times before walking forward six or seven steps. Finally, a clerk behind the counter noticed him.
“Sir, what kind of fabric are you looking for?” the clerk called out from afar.

Instantly, the middle-aged man raised his head and glanced at Lin Dong. He seemed distinguished, but his clothes were rather ordinary—good quality, but not at the level of fine silk. Just as he was about to turn his attention back to the ledger he had been calculating, he caught a glimpse of two bodyguards behind Lin Dong, each carrying a dozen gift boxes. He stood up right away.

In a silk shop, most customers were ladies and young ladies. Men who came here usually did so to buy gifts for the women they wanted to impress. Such men tend to be more generous than those ladies dazzled by the splendid silk. If Lin Dong’s clothes were ordinary, even his generosity would be in vain—he might at most grit his teeth and buy a lower-quality silk. But with two bodyguards, his status was clearly not as simple as his clothes suggested. Moreover, the bodyguards carried many bags, clearly willing to buy whatever they saw.

“What are you all standing around for? Hurry up and greet the customer!” Jiang Dafu, the middle-aged man and owner of Baili Silk Shop and Baili Cloth Store, shouted at his employees.

In an instant, all the employees sprang into action, wearing enthusiastic smiles as they turned to greet Lin Dong together.

Taking out a money bag, Lin Dong casually threw it on the table behind the counter where the middle-aged man was standing and said nonchalantly, “I was passing by and thought it was the perfect time for summer. I came in to take a look—any good materials? If so, get some for me according to the value in this bag.”

Jiang Dafu’s eyes lit up. Such confidence and manner clearly indicated a generous person. It had been a long time since he had seen someone who spent money first before choosing goods in his silk shop.

He remembered the last time was probably before the New Year, when a young lady brought along two jealous young men. Their spending style was just as generous.

As Jiang Dafu was lost in thought, Lin Dong tapped the counter with his right hand, waking him up. Glancing at him unhappily, Lin Dong asked, “Are you deaf or mute?”

“I heard you, I heard you,” Jiang Dafu quickly nodded, not annoyed at all by Lin Dong’s attitude. It was only natural for a wealthy young master to expect respect; after all, he would treat others the same way himself.

Hastily opening the money bag, Jiang Dafu’s smile widened instantly as the gleaming gold inside filled the room, impressing even the employees.

After a quick glance and rough estimation, Jiang Dafu’s mouth stretched wide enough to fit an egg inside.

Wow—twelve ingots, each weighing two taels. Converted to silver, that was a total of 240 taels.

If he could sell all of it, it would equal the shop’s usual two days’ worth of sales. Given this young master’s generosity, the profit could even reach five or six days’ worth. If he were a bit more ruthless, it might even equal over ten days’ profit.

While pondering whether to be ruthless or slightly less so, hoping the customer would return, Lin Dong knocked on the counter again without hesitation and said coldly, “What kind of silk shop is this? With customers here, the employees don’t greet them, and the owner doesn’t either. Do you expect me to greet myself?”

“It’s my fault, my fault,” Jiang Dafu quickly put the money bag in the drawer and then glared resentfully at his employees, ordering, “Hurry up and bring out all the good silks in the shop for this young master to see.”

The employees immediately rushed to the shelves at the back.

Behind Lin Dong, Liu An, whose face was already tanned and who appeared quite strong, felt a sense of familiarity upon seeing this scene and was filled with emotions. If he were at the counter, he would likely have started introducing the silks in the shop to the customer long before Manager Lin arrived.

“Look at these useless guys of mine,” Jiang Dafu said with an awkward smile as he saw Lin Dong’s displeasure. He quickly asked, “What’s your surname, sir?”

“Lin,” Lin Dong replied, casting a disdainful glance at the workers who were busy turning pieces of fabric onto the counter. “These guys are truly useless.”

Behind him, Liu An, somewhat dissatisfied, stared at Jiang Dafu, expecting a response from him.

“That’s right, that’s right…” Jiang Dafu nodded eagerly. “These days, all workers are useless. To be honest with you, Master Lin, I fired one a few days ago. Guess what? He stole silver from the shop! Such people…”

Liu An couldn’t help but step forward to speak, but Liu Hua pulled him back, giving him a look as if to remind him not to say anything if the boss had asked him to stay silent.

Taking a deep breath, Liu An remained quiet.

“That’s not necessarily true. Your judgment is flawed—you only pick the useless ones,” Lin Dong replied casually. He glanced at the fabrics laid on the counter, flipped through a few, then walked toward the right side of the counter.

Jiang Dafu’s heart skipped a beat. This expression clearly showed dissatisfaction!

He hurriedly followed behind the counter and said with a smile, “Master Lin is right. It’s indeed my fault for having poor judgment. With the same salary, why aren’t the workers I hire as good as others’?”

“Surely it’s because you underpay them,” Lin Dong said nonchalantly, pointing at a sky-blue embroidered silk on the other side and signaling to a worker, “Bring it here.”

Jiang Dafu was stunned and speechless for a moment. The worker quickly nodded. He had been upset by Lin Dong’s constant criticism of his workers, but seeing Jiang Dafu’s reaction made him feel much better. He became more energetic and, after fetching the silk Lin Dong had chosen, even eagerly unrolled it, pulling out a few feet to show it. “Master Lin, your taste is truly excellent. This silk is genuine Jing embroidery. Its color is bright and gorgeous. Wearing clothes made from it will surely give you a noble and elegant appearance—perfect for a young man in your early twenties.”

“It’s good. Unroll it for me,” Lin Dong ordered. “Stretch it out a bit more.”

“Sure!” The worker nodded quickly, grabbed both ends of the silk, and slowly pulled it apart, covering his entire upper body except for half of his head.

Lin Dong examined it carefully before nodding slowly, “This is good. I’ll take it. Put it aside for now; I’ll decide how much to buy later.”
Jiang Dafu was overjoyed—having the first piece made things much easier from here on.
“Come here, come here! Bring out all the top-quality fabrics from the store and show them to Young Master Lin.”
Most of the clerks rushed over instantly. Wherever Lin Dong pointed, a clerk would take down the fabric and hold it up at the counter for him to compare.
Before they could even reach halfway, all the clerks, including Jiang Dafu, were standing there, each holding one end of a fabric, waiting for Lin Dong to make his choice.
“Not bad!” Lin Dong went to the far right and waved at the guards behind him. “I’m not familiar with these fabrics. You all check them out—take them if they’re good.”
Jiang Dafu was delighted and quickly nodded and smiled at Liu An and the other man. “Don’t worry, brothers. Our Baili Silk Shop has been around for a hundred years. We would never pass off inferior goods as high-quality ones.”
Liu An couldn’t help but smirk. While Baili Silk Shop indeed had a century-long history, he knew full well whether they would resort to such practices. The blue silk that Shopkeeper Lin had seen for the first time was indeed high-quality, but it was by no means Jingxiu silk.
There was a significant price difference between the two.
Since Shopkeeper Lin had instructed them not to speak, Liu An didn’t dare say anything. He set down all the gift boxes and began to examine the fabrics one by one, from left to right, together with Liu Hua.
With their elbows on the counter, no one noticed that Lin Dong’s palms were slightly angled toward the table in the center of the counter.
What no one else noticed either was that the drawer under the table slowly opened, revealing some silver coins and a black money bag.
By the time Liu An and the other man had examined half of the fabrics, the black money bag rose slowly along with Lin Dong’s left palm, reaching the ceiling. It stopped only when Lin Dong’s palm remained still. Meanwhile, the drawer under the table slowly closed after Lin Dong released his right palm.
No one saw that a money bag was mysteriously floating at the top, closest to the wall inside the counter. Lin Dong’s left palm was still controlling it from afar.
After Liu An and the other man had checked each fabric, Lin Dong looked at them and asked, “What do you think?”
Liu An hesitated, but remembering Lin Dong’s instructions, he stayed silent. Liu Hua nodded and, under Jiang Dafu’s eager gaze, said, “I can’t tell if they’re good or not, but they seem okay.”
Jiang Dafu smiled brightly and looked at Lin Dong. “Young Master Lin, I told you before—how could your judgment be poor? These fabrics are all the finest we have in our silk shop.”

“Well then…” Lin Dong pondered for a moment before slowly saying, “Calculate how much silver is needed. If there’s any left over from the 24 taels of gold I gave you, add one horse at a time from left to right. If not enough, have the delivery guy settle the bill with me later. Also, get all the fabrics from the warehouse—nothing old that’s been stored for years.”
“Of course, of course! Did you all hear that? Hurry up and get the new fabrics from the warehouse!” Jiang Dafu snapped at the workers, gave Lin Dong a forced smile, and headed toward the central counter, thinking about how much silver he could make per horse.
By the time the workers had returned the fabrics to their proper places and gone to the warehouse, Jiang Dafu decided that since this young master Lin was just passing by, it would be best to take full advantage of the situation. Suddenly, the money bag on the roof shot back into Lin Dong’s hands, then vanished in an instant under the astonished gazes of Liu An and Liu Hua.