Chapter 821: There's No Way I'm Giving It Back!

Yu Hongjin, grease still smudged around her mouth, asked, "What do you mean, up to no good?"

Yunxiang explained, "It means the innkeeper might have run into some bad people before."

"Oh, I see..."

Yu Hongjin blinked, then turned directly to the innkeeper and asked, "Innkeeper, have you ever met any bad people?!"

Yunxiang froze at the question, and Chen Changsheng was just as taken aback.

Yu Hongjin could be far too honest sometimes.

Father Song's hand trembled. He assumed they were giving him a subtle warning.

His face instantly drained of color.

"I—I..."

His lips quivered. "I haven't, I haven't..."

"Oh, really?"

Yu Hongjin smiled and looked back at Yunxiang. "He says he hasn't met any bad people."

"..."

Yunxiang was momentarily at a loss, not knowing whether to laugh or sigh.

Yu Hongjin grinned. "See? Just asking directly is so much simpler."

Chen Changsheng was thoroughly amused.

Father Song, meanwhile, had his heart in his throat.

What kind of good person would ask a question like that?

Moreover, that child's smile filled him with lingering dread, making him feel as though they were about to do something terrible.

After they finished their meal, Chen Changsheng asked, "Innkeeper, do these dishes cost extra?"

Father Song hurriedly waved his hands. "No, no, they're included in the room rate."

Seeing how terrified the man was, Chen Changsheng dropped the subject of money.

They were exhausted from several days of carriage travel and headed upstairs to rest.

Father Song breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

Only then did Song Bao finally dare to come out and wander the inn.

"You absolutely cannot do this again," Father Song told her.

Song Bao nodded, well aware she was in the wrong.

Father Song smacked his lips and mused, "Though looking at them, they don't seem like wicked people. Anyone traveling with a child can't be all that bad."

Song Bao nodded. She smacked her own lips and said, "Dad, I want to eat chicken too."

Father Song chuckled. "There should be some Chicken Soup left. I'll heat it up for you in a bit, but you have to keep it quiet. Don't let anyone find out."

It wouldn't do to waste the leftovers.

Getting a bite of meat to eat these days was no easy feat. Fortunately, their family had kept some savings from when they previously ran the inn. An ordinary household likely wouldn't even have rice broth to drink.

They had only just found a moment's peace when the little girl from earlier suddenly scurried back downstairs.

Yu Hongjin peered around the inn, occasionally pacing back toward the stairs.

Her furtive manner immediately made Father Song uneasy again.

Song Bao was momentarily at a loss.

To her surprise, Yu Hongjin suddenly scurried right up to her and tugged on her hem.

Song Bao shrank back slightly. "Wh—what is it?" she asked.

Yu Hongjin asked in a hushed whisper, "Do you have any alcohol?"

She blinked, looking exceptionally sincere.

"Huh?" Song Bao blanked for a second before hastily replying, "We do, we do. I'll send it upstairs in a bit, I'll—"

Yu Hongjin shushed her, waving her hands frantically. "Don't send it up! Don't send it up!"

Song Bao was completely confused.

"Just give it to me," Yu Hongjin urged. "Give it to me."

Song Bao nodded and went to fetch the alcohol.

"Um, Dad, where... where is the alcohol?"

"I'll get it."

Father Song went to fetch it, returning a short while later with a small jug of alcohol.

Yu Hongjin's eyes lit up. "How much is it?" she asked.

"It's free," Father Song replied.

Yu Hongjin froze, her brow furrowing tightly.

Father Song was taken aback. "Why are you looking at me like that, little girl?"

"You aren't running a shady inn, are you?"

Yu Hongjin looked at him with a trace of vigilance. "What kind of inn includes both food and alcohol for free?"

Father Song coughed lightly. "This alcohol isn't worth much, and at half a silver tael a day, your stay certainly isn't cheap."

"What?!"

Yu Hongjin's eyes went wide. "Half a silver tael a day!"

Father Song flinched in terror.

Yu Hongjin had come in later with Yunxiang, so she had no idea Chen Changsheng had paid so many silver taels.

"A shady inn! It's a shady inn!" Yu Hongjin declared.

Song Bao hurriedly tried to explain. "No, no, I just threw out a random price at the time! That's not how it is, it really isn't..."

Even as she spoke, Yu Hongjin reached out and grabbed the jug of alcohol.

Muttering about a shady inn, she hugged the jug to her chest and backed away.

"No, we really aren't a shady inn," Father Song pleaded, startled by the sudden turn of events.

The father and daughter were frightened out of their wits.

They were so panicked they entirely failed to notice Yu Hongjin backing further and further away until she slipped right out of the inn with the jug.

It wasn't until Yu Hongjin had vanished from sight that the pair grew tense again.

"What should we do? What do we do?"

Father Song fretted.

Song Bao said, "Dad, don't panic. We'll just refund some of it, just refund some."

The father and daughter held each other's hands, absolutely fraught with anxiety.

Song Bao said, "I'll go find her first. We have to apologize to that little girl. Dad, you go upstairs and find that master."

"Right, right, right."

Song Bao hurriedly ran out of the inn.

Meanwhile, Yu Hongjin had already ducked into a nearby alley.

Cradling the jug of alcohol, a smile on her face, she giggled. "Hehe, I'm so smart."

Free of charge? Hah! She figured if she drank too much, they would definitely try to wring silver taels out of her.

So she had simply grabbed a whole jug and made a run for it.

Now it was perfect—the entire jug was hers.

Yu Hongjin peeled away the paper seal, and a rich aroma of alcohol wafted out.

She smacked her lips and immediately started drinking.

She hadn't had a drop to drink in days and was absolutely craving it.

After guzzling for a while, Yu Hongjin let out a boozy burp, slowly becoming rather drunk.

"Hehe..."

Yu Hongjin let out a silly giggle. Whenever she drank, she was never all that bright.

Song Bao was searching along the street when she passed the alley and glanced inside.

She immediately froze.

"Little girl?"

Hearing the voice, Yu Hongjin turned her head.

She sobered up just a fraction.

Seeing Yu Hongjin's flushed face, Song Bao blinked in surprise and asked, "You wanted to drink alcohol?"

But Yu Hongjin just hugged the jug and said defensively, "This is mine!!"

She refused to let go, clinging to the jug as if it were her life.

Song Bao blanked again, thoroughly confused.

She recovered her wits and waved her hands. "No, I came to apologize. We really aren't a shady inn. As for those silver taels..."

"What silver taels?!"

Yu Hongjin jolted in alarm and blurted, "I don't have any silver taels! I don't have any!"

"I'm not asking you for silver taels, really."

Song Bao didn't even know how to explain herself anymore.

Sensing things taking a turn for the worse, Yu Hongjin hoisted the jug and poured the alcohol straight down her throat.

Song Bao's eyes widened, her face filled with sheer disbelief.

Gulp, gulp, gulp. Yu Hongjin drained the entire jug in one go.

"It's—hic—all gone!"

Yu Hongjin looked right at Song Bao and declared, "It's all gone. Anyway, I finished it all, so there's no way I'm giving it back to you!"

Song Bao stood frozen in place, unable to snap out of her daze for a long while.

Just what had she witnessed?

A small child had downed an entire jug of alcohol in just two gulps.