Chapter 170 - 169: Gambling Queen

"Mrs, Liang Hu, nice too meet you. I'm Yu Xiao Yun." Xiao Yun reached out her hand for a handshake but the old woman didn't return it back and instead stared at her hands in silence.

"You said, you're interested in my fabric?" Liang Hu stood from her seat giving a twisted smirk as she finished her words.

"Yes." Xiao Yun firmly repeated.

"Hm..." Liang Hu placed down the scissor and looked overall at Xiao Yun. "But do you know that my shop is going to close?"

Xiao Yun rose her straight brows. "Close?"   

"My shop is quite old you see and many people have ended their contract with my shop. Anyway, come in first. See if you have any fabric you like and go home with it." Liang Hu spoke as she entered the back room of the shop and disappeared without a trace. 

Xiao Yun slanted her head and entered the shop with her friends. Rolls of fabrics filled the room making no place for the people to enter the shop. With how rowdy the shop was with the fabrics around her, Xiao Yun wondered to herself how did the old lady was able to walk nimbly to the back room. 

Xue Xiu Yong looked at the rolls of dark blue fabric and commented fairly. "This fabric is very soft and smooth."

Zhuang Huan Wu nodded. "Not only they are soft, but the line cuts and the colors are also very vivid and rich."

"You know much about fabrics, don't you?" Xue Xiu Yong chided, a sarcasm could be heard from his words, but Zhuang Huan Wu didn't mind it the least. 

"My mother works in this field too, I know one or two things from her but certainly all the fabrics in this shop are exceptional."

Xiao Yun agreed with Zhuang  Huan's Wu words. That made her question herself why the old lady said that her shop would be closed soon. The fabrics were easily spotted by amateurs and there is in no way anyone would miss its splendor. 

When Xiao Yun walked over to see a gold fabric, suddenly she heard a racket from the entrance of the shop. An old woman with overly gaudy clothes and a fur fan walked over the shop, talking with the two old women who were playing Mahjong with Liang Hu before, the other old woman had left in advance. Judging by the tense air, the two old women don't have a good intention coming into the shop. 

"Pei Ren! What are you doing here?" The old woman named Yang Jia shouted. Beside her, Ou Tao also glared at her with the detest. "Old witch! How dare you step back in here?!" 

Pei Ren laughed mockingly to shake her shoulder. "Why shouldn't I come here? Sooner or later this shop and everything inside it would be mine!" 

"Would be yours? I know clearly that you cheated!" Ou Tan slammed the table beside her and stood up ready to beat some sense to Pei Ren. 

"It's rude to slander someone without any evidence, Ou Tan. I have given Ling Hua to choose. First, pay for her husband's debt or win the mahjong and I will forget the debt, but in the end, she lost." Pei Ren laughed aloud, "If you want to blame someone, blame for her inability to win from me!" 

"Blame her inability?" Yang Jia spat to her side, "you pitiful woman still holding a grudge because Xiao- Hua won a game once and demoted you from being the Gambling Queen!" Her words hit the sore spot on Pei Ren's heart, making her haughty laughter dropped down to anger. 

"Shut up!" she turned her face, bursting into the door beside her with a loud slam, "Where is Liang Hu? Come here! Today is your last day in the shop!" 

When she walked inside, the old woman halted her step at the view of a beautiful young lady and the two handsome young men. She narrowed her eyes to the clothing that they wore. Although Xiao Yun was wearing simple clothes that anyone could find anywhere, the old lady spotted a few brand names items on her and the two men behind her. 

Pei Ren was fast enough to turn her anger into a pleasable smile, but the four of them knew that the old woman wasn't a kind one after the scene that they saw earlier. 

"What can I help you with, customers?" Pei Ran acted as the owner of the shop, making the Yang Jia and Ou Tan to rebuked her words. 

"They aren't your customers! Step out from here, Pei Ran!" Yang Jia shooed but the old woman didn't budge. 

"I'm sorry for their rudeness, they're an old acquaintance here." Pei Ran spoke to Xiao Yun, her tone feigning innocence. 

"My name is Yu Xiao Yun from Azure company." Xiao Yun passed her the name card from her hand and Xue Xiu Yong came to peek from behind to whisper. "Xiao Yun, why are we here anyway?" 

"I have some business to deal here, would you mind and work with me to keep the other two busy for a moment?" Xiao Yun whispered back. 

Xue Xiu Yong still has some questions to ask, but it was the first request from Xiao Yun and he agreed immediately. "Alright." he turned back to Zhuang Huan Wu and brought them out by saying that he have something urgent that he forgot to buy in the shopping street. 

Pei Ran scanned the name card and rose her brows, "I have never heard the company's name before."

"I guess you haven't" Xiao Yun replied smoothly, "it's a new company."

"Oh-" Pei Ran replied a little disappointed that Xiao Yun didn't come from a well-named company. "And what did you came here for, Ms. Yu?" 

"I have come to make a deal with this fabric shop. I'm sorry to butt into your problems, but I overheard the conversation you three were having, but I think this isn't the right time to do so."

Pei Ran shook her head, as long as Xiao Yun came from a company that meant that she have money to buy the fabrics from the shop. "Of course, there's no way that this isn't the right tim-"

"Maybe you don't know this, young lady. But the woman here isn't the one you should be making deal with!" Ou Tan sourly commented in anger. Her friend, Liang Hu had been suffering from her losing her husband but Pei Ran shamelessly forced her to hand over the shop. 

"Be quiet!" Pei Ran stopped her from talking but she didn't back down and kept her explanation clear. 

"Liang Hu's husband has a debt with this old witch and this woman forced Liang Hu to sign a deal with her with the debt in the line! But she didn't win the game, she cheated!" 

"You should come again when you have your evidence before slandering me!" 

Yang Jia and Ou Tan have no word to return back and could only glare at her in anger. Xiao Yun swept her eyes over to examine the problems they were having. Tapping her fingers to the side of the shelve on her right, Xiao Yun spoke wisely. 

"Game?" 

"Gambling." Yang Jia elaborated, "this street before was a place where the winner of gambling could become the gambling King and Queen, but Pei Ran lost to Liang Hu and still detest her for that."

"Silence!" Pei Ran have nothing more than anger when someone talked about her past loss to Liang Hu. The shame and embarrassment she felt that day could only be satiated after she saw Liang Hu begging on her knees.

"Gambling..." Xiao Yun whispered a devilish smile hovered on the surface of her face. But her intention couldn't be seen by the Old women in front of her. 

"What a fascinating game. By gambling do you mean, Mahjong?" Xiao Yun glanced over the Mahjong table outside the shop from the window. 

"Yes." Ou Tan confirmed. 

"I have seen the quality of the fabrics and found it to be very mesmerizing to my eyes. May I ask if this shop buys the fabrics or is it hand made?" 

"Hand made, to be exact, the place that makes this fabric is right behind the shop. The fabric are specially made in a little different way that are fairly different from any other fabric that you would ever come across. Do you want to look behind, Ms. Yu?" Pei Ran spoke gently trying to make the deal go through with Xiao Yun. 

"Special?" 

"The fabric is weaved in a technique called Four Blossom." Ou Tan spoke from behind, "This is a technique that had only been passed in Ling Family from generation and generation."

"So there isn't any other fabric made with this weaving technique?" 

"No." Ou Tan replied firmly. 

Xiao Yun replied with the same exact pleasant smile, her eyes scanning the shop around to continue. "If I say I would be wanting to make a deal between my company and the shop. This shop would be yours in time and to be honest with you, after hearing that technique is only pass by Ling Family, I'm a little worried that the quality of the fabric would change." 

Pei Ran drew her brows. She clearly showed her dislike for being compared to Liang Hu. Pressing a smile, she asked back, "And may I know how much you will be investing in our fabric?"

"Our?" Ou Tan spat. "Don't daydream, Pei Ran this isn't your shop to make choices for!" 

Xiao Yun raised her hand gently toward Ou Tan with a comforting smile. Ou Tan looked at the angelic smile painted on Xiao Yun's face and forgot how to talk in a long second until she heard her talking. 

"3.5 million Yuan."