Chapter 57: Facing the Music

Before I went to bed, I spent the night contacting a few people so that I could get into contact with researchers and scientists who were working on environmentalism and faster than light travel. There wasn't much I could do but wait for their responses, so after sending a few emails, I went to sleep.

It didn't feel like I slept much at all, for the next thing I knew, Mu Rong Shu was shaking me awake.

"Remember, you promised me that you'll accompany me to the music store today!" she reminded me. I nodded and somehow managed to drag myself out of bed. I still felt lethargic, but I didn't have much of a choice. I promised my wife and there would be hell to pay if I broke it.

So I washed up, got changed, had breakfast and grabbed the key for my Toyota. I then drove my wife to the mall and followed her to a music shop.

"Hmm, they are mostly western styled instruments," she mused as she studied them closely. The sales assistant came over with a bright smile, bowing his head politely.

"Is there anything that interests you, ma'am?"

"Well…I'm hoping for more classical Chinese instruments, like the guqin or erhu," she explained. The sales assistant looked a little taken aback.

"I'm sorry, ma'am." He lowered his head apologetically. "But we don't sell those here. This shop only sells Western styled musical instruments like pianos, violins, cellos and basses."

"Ah, I see."

"Hmm…" The sales assistant thought about it for a moment. "But I believe there is another shop that sells Chinese instruments. I'm not very sure, but I believe it's a shop on the third floor, next to the acupuncture parlor. Take the escalator up and follow the path to the right. I can't remember how far away it is, but it should be there somewhere. Oh, there's a map next to the escalator on each floor, so you can check that just to be sure."

"What's the name of the shop?" I asked. The sales assistant looked embarrassed.

"I'm afraid I don't know, sir."

"That's fine," I assured him with a smile. "Thanks for your help anyway. We'll look for it."

"I hope you find it," he replied with a bow. "Have a good day, sir and ma'am."

We waved at him in a friendly manner before leaving the shop and taking the escalator to the third floor. Following his directions, we wound through a couple of paths, looking out for the elusive classical Chinese instrument shop, but didn't find it. We had to backtrack a couple of times and go one big round before we finally found it.

After completing a circle around the third floor, we saw the acupuncture parlor. Hurrying toward it, we finally found the damned Chinese music store, which was tucked away in a small space next to the acupuncture parlor.

We stepped into it, glancing around its interior curiously. It resembled my antique store, adopting a more classical aesthetic and using wood for its counters and shelves. It matched the older-looking models of the Chinese instruments like the guqin and erhu, which were also largely made out of wood.

However, there didn't seem to be anybody inside the store, which surprised us. I quickly checked the entrance, but there was no closed sign. Rather, it clearly stated that it was open. Yet there was nobody around to greet us. There wasn't anybody manning the counter.

Strange.

It didn't matter to Mu Rong Shu. She was already moving in to check the instruments out. Bending down next to an erhu, she reached out to stroke its wooden surface.

"Don't touch it."

Both of us froze for a moment, then turned around and caught sight of a sales assistant in a traditional Chinese costume sauntering out. She glared at us arrogantly, her lips curling into a sneer. She rudely shoved Mu Rong Shu away, but my wife was quick enough to avoid physical contact, already withdrawing to a safe distance.

"What do you think you're doing?" She asked with a frown.

The sales assistant merely studied our clothing, and her expression grew more condescending. She shook her head, her voice filled with disdain.

"Do you even know what place is this?"

"Er…yeah?" I frowned in puzzlement. "This is a shop that sells Chinese musical instruments, right?"

"If you know, then what are you doing here?"

My wife and I exchanged a confused glance. "We're here to look at and maybe buy music instruments, obviously."

The sales assistant burst out laughing, clutching her stomach. "You? Buy instruments? Do you know how much each of these classic antique instruments cost? Several hundred thousand yuan. Some of them are a million yuan! They are each meticulously crafted by master craftsmen, the very few experts who managed to keep alive the dying art of making such ancient instruments. Can you afford them?"

"Yeah, I think…"

"Don't lie!" the sales assistant snapped, interrupting me. "Just look at your clothes! You're obviously poor people, just want to come here and pretend to be high-class, but you can't afford anything in this store!"

"Why are you assuming that we are poor and can't afford anything in your store? Just because of what we are wearing?" Mu Rong Shu scowled. "What's wrong with our clothes?"

Nothing, if you asked me. We were wearing regular clothing bought from Uniqlo. They weren't exactly the cheapest of clothing, but they weren't branded or super expensive either. But from the way the sales assistant was speaking, she was treating us as if we were beggars wearing rags. That made absolutely no sense whatsoever.

"If you can't even afford nice clothing, what makes you think you can afford our hundred thousand yuan instruments?"

"Why isn't Uniqlo considered nice clothing?" I asked, bewildered.

"It's cheap! Your clothing doesn't cost even three hundred yuan!"

"So what? They are comfortable. What more can you ask for?"

The sales assistant wagged her fingers. "You couple are middle-class at best, but even so, these instruments aren't for middle-class. They are for the rich. Since you're obviously not rich, you can screw off. Don't taint the store with your poor presence!"

"That's enough." Mu Rong Shu took my arm and gently pulled me away. "Don't waste time arguing with this bitch. Her presence disgusts me. Let's leave."

"Whatever you say, honey." I swallowed my anger and followed her out of the store. The sales assistant continued to harry us.

"And don't come back!"

At that moment, a man in a suit hurried over, looking terrified. His eyes bulged when he heard the sales assistant shout at us and he immediately dropped to his knees, bowing his head in apology.

"I'm very sorry! Please don't listen to that idiot!" He then glared at the sales assistant, who had stopped at the entrance of her shop. "You're fired!" he bellowed, much to her shock.

"S…sir?" she stammered, dazed.

"You're…" Mu Rong Shu said, ignoring the stunned sales assistant. The middle-aged man wiped the perspiration from his balding scalp and gave a short bow.

"I'm Zong Cai, the owner of this mall," he explained quickly. "I'm very sorry for the way one of the staff here treated you. He lowered his head. "I didn't know you were coming, otherwise I would have personally come out to greet you!"

"No, you don't have to."

"Wait!" the sales assistant shouted. "This is making no sense! Why are you so deferential to this poor couple?! Why are you firing because of these…these nobodies?!"

"Nobodies?!" Zong Cai roared. "They are the previous owners of the Blood Pearl, as well as the Divine Sword relic that was auctioned off for twenty million yuan previously! They are the tomb explorers from the Mu Rong family! What nobodies!? If they are nobodies and poor, then what are you? You're just trash! You're not even worth a millionth of them, be it ability or wealth!"

"No way…!" the sales assistant slumped to the floor in disbelief, her eyes wide. "But…but why are they wearing such cheap clothing? That's impossible!"

"What they wear is none of your business!" Zong Cai hollered. "Who cares what they want to wear? If they want to wear Uniqlo, they have every right to! They bought an entire selection of clothing from Uniqlo! Who are you to decide what people should wear, huh? Are you a fashion expert?"

The sales assistant spluttered helplessly.

"Also, didn't anyone teach you not to judge people by their appearance? So you saw that they were wearing Uniqlo…and you assumed that they were poor and can't afford the Chinese instruments in your store? How did you even get to that assumption? You don't even know who they are, what their names are, or their identities, yet you jump into conclusions and make all sorts of assumptions based solely on their clothing and appearance? Without bothering to find out who they are? Who says rich people only wear branded clothing? So if they are rich they must wear branded clothing? Who made that rule? Isn't the definition of rich simply someone with a lot of money? How they spend their money is entirely up to them. Since when is rich defined as people who wear branded clothing? Since when does someone's clothes define their wealth?"

Then he paused and shook his head.

"You're fired. I don't want to say anything more than this. Get out of here before I call security. I'll be informing your boss about this personally."

"No!" The sales assistant pleaded as a pair of men in suits and sunglasses appeared out of nowhere and dragged her away. Where the fuck did they come from? "Please, no! Give me another chance! I promise I'll do better next time!"

"Did you give these valued customers any chance?" Zong Cai sneered as she was dragged away. He then turned to us. "Sorry for making you see such a farce. Please, pick whatever you like from the music store. I'll handle the transaction."

"I changed my mind." Mu Rong Shu shook her head. "I'll go back to the other music shop and pick an instrument from there instead."

"If that is what you desire, ma'am. Please let me know if you need any more help."

"No problem."

While they exchanged words, I couldn't help but ogle at him. Where the hell did he come from? It was almost a terrifying coincidence that he chose to show up right at the moment after the sales assistant expelled us from her shop. How did he know what was going on? How did he know that she was insulting us and kicking us out of the shop? Did he have surveillance everywhere or something? Or was this some convenient plot development that was contrived just so the sales assistant could get fired for some face-slapping moments like in every son-in-law or urban cultivator story ever?

Also, who the fuck judged people on their appearances? The sales assistant from the Western music instrument store had no such prejudice. He was polite and helpful, even pointing us toward the direction of this store without any resentment when it was clear that we had no intention of buying anything from his. He didn't look down on us because we wore Uniqlo, nor insult us for no reason other than because…our clothing were not branded.

This sounded like a cliché scene right out of a son-in-law or urban cultivator story. It was so unbelievable and unrealistic.

But it happened, and so we had to deal with it.

The sales assistant was surprised when he saw us return. "Did you not find the Chinese classical music instrument store?" he asked.

"We did, but I didn't find anything I wanted there," Mu Rong Shu explained. "I decided to get a piano instead of a guqin instead."

"Oh, okay. The pianos are over here, ma'am."

And so Mu Rong Shu bought a small piano and arranged for it to be shipped directly to our house in a few days. Satisfied, she left the store and I brought her to a nice little dim sum stall for dinner. While we ate, her smartphone buzzed. She checked her text message and scowled.

"What's the matter?" I asked, noticing her mood. She sighed.

"Seems like my relatives want me to visit Jiang Nan next week," she replied. "My relatives from my mother's side, I mean. They are having some Dragon Boat Festival thing going on, and my maternal grandfather wishes to see me."