15 Making Friends (2)

Li Ming thought for a while then said, "I'm going to charge the tea and the snacks 15 silvers. Do you think it's alright?"

They all discussed for a long time until the blue print was ready. By the time they finished, it was already lunch time.

Li Ming asked the maids to bring the food out and went towards one of the wall of the front door of the inn.

She put her hands on the wall and closed her eyes. When she opened them again after a few seconds, there was a bulletin board on the wall.

Li Ming pulled out the blue print and murmured a spell. The next moment, the bulletin board was covered with a beautifully prepared sheet with the same contents as the blue print only more organized. The borders of the bulletin board was beautifully decorated with designs.

The contents on the board were :

Cost for 1 day stay = 50 silvers

(with three meals a day provided by the inn)

Cost of one time meal for the customers who are not staying at the inn = 30 silvers.

Cost of tea and snacks = 15 silvers.

Special Dishes of the Black Jade Inn :

Cost of 1 plate of each dish = 50 silvers

Cost of 1 plate of desert = 40 silvers

Cost of 1 bottle of soda = 80 silvers

Cost of 1 glass of special wine = 500

Silvers.

Game play :

The customers who wants to play the special games of the Black Jade Inn will be charged according to hours.

The price for one hour is - 20 silvers.

Thank You!

Everyone looked at the board and sighed when they saw the price of one glass of wine.

It was the highest price they had ever seen just for a cup of wine.

Li Ming came back to the table and they all started to eat their lunch. For next half an hour they all talked about the affairs going on in the capital city.

When they all finished the lunch, Li Ming took out Three bottles of soda and pour them into 14 glasses.

Wei Rong picked up his glass and looked at it with surprised eyes.

"Ming, is this not the same material as those?" He asked while pointing at the glass jar and the painting frames.

"Your guess is correct. This is called glass. Are they not better then those small cups?" She asked with a small chuckle.

"Yes Yes. These are much better and beautiful." Wei Rong said as he drank the soda.

Everyone liked the chilled soda. After everyone was finished, it was the time for starting the game.

But when Li Ming placed the board on the table, Wei Rong realized that it was different from the one they had used before.

But before he could ask, Li Ming said, "We are going to play a new game and trust me it is more exciting. I think you will get hooked to it."

Although they didn't understand what she meant by hooked but they all focused on the explanation that Li Ming was giving about the game.

"This game is called 'Stratego'. It is a strategy based game and only two players can play one at a time. The board is of 10 by 10. Each player commands 40 pieces representing individual soldiers and officers in their army. The goal of the game is to discover and capture the opponent's flag, or to capture so many enemy units that your opponent can't make any more moves. Players are not able to see each other's ranks, so discovery and misinformation are important factors to the game."

Li Ming told them the rules two more times and after everyone was less or more understood the basics, they started the game.

Li Ming's first opponent was Wei Rong. The game barely lasted for 15 minutes before Wei Rong lost the game.

The next opponent was Wei Min who lost after 10 minutes. The other members also played with her but everyone lost within 10-12 minutes.

After everyone had lost once they all discussed among themselves for a few minutes and then the game started again.

This time everyone played better than the last time except Bai Liang who lost exactly after 10 minutes, two minutes earlier than before.

After three hours of continuously playing the game, everyone became better and Wei Rong even lasted for half an hour before loosing.

They all took a break and talked about how much fun they were having.

"It is really a great game. I don't remember when was the last time I had this much fun." Wei Min said.

"See, I told you that you will like it." Li Ming said with a smile.

"Lets play another round and then you can busy yourself in the preparation of our dinner." Wei Rong said with a smirk.

"Shameless!" Li Ming rolled her eyes but then started the game.

Wei Rong was really a smart player. This time he lasted for nearly 50 minutes. Bai Liang and Yan Jhong also lasted for nearly half an hour.

By the time this round completed, it was already evening.

Li Ming took out a paper and pencil and started calcuting with Madam Fu.

After a few minutes, she finished her calculations and placed the sheet in front of Wei Rong.

"Take a look at the bill and then deposit the money to Madam Fu. I'm going to prepare the dinner." She stood up and left.

Wei Rong picked up the paper and read it out. After he finished reading, they all realized that Li Ming had nearly robbed them.

The total amount was more than 2800 silver taels.

Wei Rong took out three pouch and gave them to Madam Fu. "Each of them contains 1000 silver taels. Take the extra as our thank you."

Madam Fu bowed and left. Wei Rong again looked at the sheet in his hand and laughed out loud.

"This girl really knows how to do business. Although, at first glance it appeared that she is providing everything in cheap amount but when you look at the overall income, you will realize that she is actually in benefit." Wei Rong said to his brother.

"She's interesting and most importantly, she's humble. Even having such high level of cultivation, she has no arrogance." Wei Min said and the others also nodded their heads.

The servants and Elder Fu also heard them and they all felt proud after hearing praises of their master. Most importantly the people who were praising her were all from the families of high officials.