Chapter 62

“You can’t be serious, right?”

After pulling his hand out of his pocket and looking at the scarf-wearing woman in front of him who had an aloof expression with her head tilted to the side, Leon’s mood instantly soured. Frowning, he protested, “The stuff you gave today was decent in quantity, but it’s just a spoonful of coffee powder, plus some bread and ham. The cost breakdown barely reaches two copper coins, tops! Charging this much is way too steep!”

“What?”

Upon hearing Leon’s complaint, the Scarf Woman blinked in surprise before turning around with a darkened expression, questioning sharply:

“You think all this is worth only two copper coins?”

Damn! To prepare this surveillance point across the street, the field operatives charged four gold coins! Just for ingredients alone, they reported two gold coins’ worth of expenses—these bastards have no shame!” “…”

Wait… You’re actually mad first? Is Old Chaer’s daughter this unreasonable? Looking at the unfriendly expression of the Scarf Woman in front of him, Leon, who had been ripped off early in the morning, couldn’t help but feel a surge of anger as well, darkening his face as he said:

“It’s definitely not worth it! I’ve eaten here several times;勉强算个老顾客。I should know roughly how much things cost!”

“Are you mistaken?”

The Scarf Woman furrowed her brows and said,

“Where did you get the idea of being a regular customer? I just opened today!”

“…”

Huh? You just opened today? So you’re not Old Chaer’s daughter?

Realizing he had mistaken the stall, Leon’s confidence wavered slightly, but thinking about the exorbitant silver coin charge, he still couldn’t help but argue reasonably: “Even if you’re not the same stall, charging one silver coin for these items is still too expensive.”

“Hmm hmm!”

Glancing sideways at the opposite building, noticing someone possibly watching from the target’s house, the Scarf Woman quickly ducked into her tent, pretending to be busy serving customers while absent-mindedly responding:

“How much would be reasonable then? Tell me a price!”

“…”

Ah, this… you’re really letting me set the price? Are you this casual with your business?

Stunned by the Scarf Woman’s unconventional tactics, Leon cautiously suggested:

“As for the price… previously at other stalls, these items were priced at two copper coins, but your portions are indeed generous, and the stove burns brightly…”

“I’ll also charge two copper coins!”

“…”

A few seconds passed without hearing Leon respond, so the Scarf Woman turned her gaze away from the opposite direction, somewhat impatiently saying:

“Still too expensive? Then…”

“No no, this price is fine…”

Leon was utterly speechless about the Scarf Woman’s business philosophy.

Raising a hand to signal a stop, he interrupted her further discounting and obediently sat back down, eating his breakfast tastelessly.

This person’s way of doing business is truly… like a joke, and she doesn’t even look at you while talking, always glancing at the opposite building…

Speaking of which, could she be something like a detective chasing after cheating spouses, or a lookout for criminals, or even a secret police officer tailing someone? Although generally speaking, it’s unlikely to encounter such coincidences, Leon couldn’t help but increasingly feel that this woman covering half her face with a scarf was completely off. At the very least, she didn’t seem like a coffee stall owner.

Noticing Leon’s gaze and detecting suspicion in his eyes, the Scarf Woman finally refocused her attention. Her almond-shaped eyes narrowed slightly, projecting an intense pressure-filled stare.

“Have you been staring at me? Do you need anything else?”

“Eh… No…”

Feeling slightly uneasy under her glare and realizing it was impolite to stare, Leon mumbled and turned away, chewing on his bread while absentmindedly looking down the street.

To be honest, if this Scarf Woman really is tailing someone, she’s probably either waiting for someone to pass through this street or observing the building across.

If my memory serves, the building across used to be the family dormitory of the Tongqi Factory, but after its closure, the bottom four floors were rented out as apartments.

However, due to its slightly remote location and the noise from the street, the business has never been good, and most of the units on the first and second floors are often vacant.

So if the Scarf Woman really is tailing someone, considering the line-of-sight obstruction from below, she should be monitoring from a higher position on the third or fourth floor, meaning her target should be among the residents of the first or second floor…

Hmm? Wait a minute! That window on the second floor just opened! And…

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“Customer!”

With a cold shout, a pair of shapely, firm legs stepped into Leon’s line of sight, completely blocking the view of the opposite building.

Leon looked up along those legs, past the slender waist, and the pair of fruits tied to thin branches, meeting two icy eyes filled with hostility.

“What are you looking at?”

After obstructing his line of sight to both her and the target residence, preventing any warning signals, the Scarf Woman’s gaze hardened even more as she questioned sternly:

“Or… what exactly are you looking at?”

“…”

Good grief! You really are tailing someone! Seeing her practically revealing her identity and now suspecting him, Leon couldn’t help but frown.

When this woman glares, her aura becomes as sharp as a blade, clearly not resembling a detective chasing adulterers, nor some petty lookout thief. She’s probably seen blood.

In the entire Capital City, anyone with this kind of presence who does tailing work is either a special forces member from the Military Department, a secret police officer from the Public Security Bureau, or even a rebel preparing for an attack. All three types are equally troublesome…

As Leon hesitated whether to pull out his Clearing Bureau credentials and gamble that she wasn’t a rebel but rather partly “one of us,” a loud roar suddenly came from the direction of the opposite building.

“Where is the person?!”

Looking up following the sound, Leon saw a scarred muscular man with bulging veins on his face sticking his head out of the second-floor window, roaring furiously: “Where did the person go?! Is this how you keep watch for me, Isa??!!!”

？！！！……

“I know it sounds hard to believe, but I really just wanted to buy a cup of coffee…”

Being dragged into the interrogation room of the Public Security Bureau and handcuffed to a chair, Leon glanced at the several secret police officers glaring at him and helplessly gestured toward the Scarf Woman.

“It’s not that I was intentionally纠缠her; I just ordered a coffee and two slices of bread, and she wanted me to pay one silver coin! That amount could buy half a ham, okay? My money doesn’t grow on trees; I earn it bit by bit through hard work. If you guys encountered such an absurd situation early in the morning, wouldn’t you argue with her a little?”

(End of Chapter)