CHAPTER 474: CHAPTER 24: THE CONSEQUENCES OF OFFENDING A WOMAN

Seeing the wealthy customer getting off the car, the driver of the disabled tricycle hurried after him, and that face, at a glance, wasn’t it the con artist who tricked Xiao Xian and the others that day?

He was due for a windfall today. As he drove to the entrance of the Summer Villa, the taxi carrying the passenger next to him just happened to break down, with no repair shop in sight, allowing him to pick up this customer who looked rich at a glance.

The tricycle driver was also quick-witted. After the fake money incident was witnessed by Xiao Xian and her group, and after several consecutive unlucky days without scamming any money, it was likely that his luck was jinxed.

After getting on the tricycle, the customer asked where to buy local specialties, and the driver immediately brought up a store on the commercial street.

Among the local con artists, there are lone wolves and organized groups, with a variety of roles: those who swindle through fake performances, buy low sell high, and enforce consumer purchases, with so many tricks that travelers can’t guard against them all.

These people all have varying degrees of connection. The tricycle driver belonged to the lower tier of such a group. When he encountered ordinary customers, he’d swindle them out of a hundred or so with counterfeit money.

When encountering these well-dressed customers with wallets stuffed like a general’s belly, he would bring them to that store on the commercial street which sold high-priced fake goods, fleece them not just for a few hundred, but for thousands or tens of thousands.

The driver took the customer towards the commercial street, where the red-skinned disabled person’s tricycle was stopped by the roadside.

"That’s the con artist again. Who knows what trick he’s going to pull this time?" Xuerou wanted to warn the customer but thought about the incident at the entrance of Sunset District, hesitating since they were leaving Chengde the next morning. Starting trouble wouldn’t be worth it.

"No matter what trick it is, it’s all bad deception. I said I’ve had no good days since arriving in Chengde, I must have been jinxed by running into such a con artist from the start. No, we need to teach that person a lesson, I’ll go mess with his tricycle," Zhang Yiyi looked around and picked up a sharp rock.

"That tricycle isn’t worth much, even if it’s scratched up, it wouldn’t decrease its value by much. It’s less than what he scams in one night. We need to think of a more foolproof plan," The commercial street wasn’t crowded with travelers, which seemed to indicate its poor reputation as a scam street.

"Teach a lesson?" Xuerou blinked.

"Let’s do it," seeing Xuerou’s reaction, Xiao Xian knew she must have some idea.

So, after finishing their hot bowls, while their blood was still boiling with energy, they split into two groups. Xiao Xian and Zhang Yiyi went one way, and Xuerou went another, each to their own tasks.

This commercial street ran from east to west, with the entrance on the east and exit on the west. The inscription on the archway claimed it was built during the Guangxu Period. The gate bore the words Merit Pavilion, and nearby stood the Horse Dismounting Tablet, indicating that officials ranked fifth-rank or below had to dismount and walk when passing through.

Those group guides with a conscience familiar with the Summer Villa area would remind travelers upon arrival.

The prices on this commercial street included a high mark-up, and it was best to avoid shopping here. Despite being just across a road, it seemed rather desolate compared to the bustling snack street.

On the two-hundred-meters-long cobblestone path, the stone slabs were so well-trampled they gleamed smooth. Two rows of Yulan magnolias were planted along the road. Mid-July had already passed the bloom of magnolias, with only a few sparse purple flowers segregating pedestrians from the streetside stores.

Xiao Xian and Zhang Yiyi looked around as they walked, and saw some shops selling handicrafts, mostly similar stuff found in Beijing’s Wangfujing and other craft stores, reportedly wholesale from Yiwu’s small commodities market in Zhejiang.

After walking down most of the street, the shops shifted from selling handicrafts to selling specialty snacks, with braids from Tianjin, locally pounded rice cakes, and various sweet pastries. They had not seen the tricycle driver and the customer after coming all this way.

A few more steps and they finally found the people they were looking for.

The tricycle driver and the soon-to-be-fleeced customer stood at the entrance of a wild delicacies store, with several large bags of wood ear mushrooms, truffles, hazelnuts, and other local specialties.

"Boss, since you were referred by a friend, I’ll tell you. These truffles just came in a few days ago; whether you use them for soup, slicing, or stir-frying, the taste is absolutely superb," introduced a man with yellow-stained teeth and a greasy gold ring on his finger, fiercely sputtering as he spoke.