Cheng Xiaofan thought this, but felt a bit shameless, finding excuses for himself after doing something like this.
If you're going to make excuses, you might as well blame it on fate.
If that's not shameless, what is?
Forget it!
The best excuse is to blame it on the dragon inside him.
The dragon's nature is lewd!
Those four words are enough!
For breakfast, Cheng Xiaofan didn't eat at the guesthouse. He casually had a bowl of wontons on the street before heading to the park's exhibition area.
"Brother Cheng, you're here!" Luo Cheng called out from a distance when he saw Cheng Xiaofan.
Originally, Luo Cheng always called him Mr. Cheng whenever he saw him. After Cheng Xiaofan's repeated corrections, he changed to calling him Brother Cheng.
Cheng Xiaofan walked over with a smile and asked, "Have you eaten?"
Luo Cheng smiled and said, "My two workers and I have already eaten!" He then led Cheng Xiaofan into the tent.
As soon as Cheng Xiaofan entered, he saw the two paper figures on the ground.
On the chests of the two paper figures were two holes, as if burned by fire, stained with blood. However, the blood now looked somewhat darkened.
He bent down, picked up the two paper figures, crumpled them into a ball in his palm, rubbed them together, and threw them on the ground.
Puff!
The crumpled paper, thrown on the ground, ignited into a flame.
Cheng Xiaofan squatted there, staring intently at the flickering flame.
Amateurs watch the excitement, while experts observe the skill. Within the burning flame, Cheng Xiaofan immediately saw an old Taoist priest waving a peach wood sword and performing a ritual.
However!
No one else could see anything in the burning flame.
Only Cheng Xiaofan's heaven-defying eyes could see the Taoist priest performing the ritual within the flame.
Not only could he see the old Taoist priest in the flame, but he could also discern the priest's intentions from the "qi" (life force) emanating from him.
As the flame died down, he had basically grasped the situation of this Taoist priest.
Heh heh!
Cheng Xiaofan couldn't help but let out a cold laugh in his heart. It turned out this Taoist priest, with a face shaped like an inverted triangle, was known in the martial world as Daoist Hong.
As for his real name, no one knew, and he himself had forgotten.
He was invited by Lu Xiaofei's father to the furniture exhibition to help Lu Xiaofei.
When Daoist Hong was using dark arts to create this paper figure, he hadn't yet thought about how to help Lu Xiaofei win Shen Ruobing.
Because of this, Cheng Xiaofan found no information related to this aspect from the "qi" emanating from him.
However, from Daoist Hong's "qi," Cheng Xiaofan could confirm that this fellow was a master of forbidden arts, a typical evil practitioner within the Taoist sect.
It could also be seen that Daoist Hong usually kept a low profile. Otherwise, someone like him would have been eliminated by other Taoists long ago.
One thing was certain: Daoist Hong was quite aware of Shen Ruobing's identity as a craftsman. He knew that to help Lu Xiaofei win the championship at this furniture exhibition, the first step was to eliminate Shen Ruobing, the threat.
For this reason, Daoist Hong had conjured two paper figures made with dark arts in the middle of last night, attempting to destroy Shen Ruobing's furniture bed.
Fortunately, a protective barrier was set up around the furniture bed yesterday, which not only destroyed the enemy's paper figures but also caused a backlash to Daoist Hong.
Cheng Xiaofan knew very well that a character like Daoist Hong would absolutely not give up so easily and would surely come up with new tricks.
Today's furniture exhibition was destined to be anything but calm.
In Zhuxi Village, everyone knew that Cheng Xiaofan was the most mischievous child in the village when he was young; there was nothing he wouldn't dare to stir up.
Even now, Cheng Xiaofan hadn't changed this small trait.
If Daoist Huang wanted to cause trouble, he wouldn't mind it at all.
In life, doesn't it feel too lonely sometimes if you don't stir up a little trouble?
He cleaned up the ashes on the ground in the tent, clapped his hands, and walked out.
It was already past eight o'clock, and the park had become lively. Looking around, the entire furniture exhibition area was bustling with people, filled with laughter and chatter.
Merchants from all over gathered here, moving around.
Exhibitors were also enthusiastically promoting their furniture to the onlookers.
Every exhibitor knew that if they could win the championship at this exhibition, their furniture would have no problem with sales in the future.
At the park's exit, there was a giant electronic screen, which displayed the furniture from various exhibitors in rotation. There was retro style, post-modern, avant-garde, European and American styles, and some exhibitors even showcased futuristic sci-fi furniture.
To attract attention, exhibitors used every trick in the book, with endless creativity. It truly embodied the saying, "There's nothing people can't imagine, and nothing they can't do."
However, to have their furniture promoted on this electronic screen, exhibitors had to pay a hefty price.
At this moment, Shen Ruobing, accompanied by Bai Yiling, arrived fashionably late.
The moment Shen Ruobing saw Cheng Xiaofan, her face turned red all the way to her ears, unsure of where to put herself.
To ease the awkwardness, Bai Yiling took the initiative to greet him: "Xiaofan, Ruobing and I didn't see you at breakfast. Did you come here early?"
Cheng Xiaofan immediately nodded: "Yes, I came to inspect the furniture to see if it was damaged. Fortunately, everything is fine."
Shen Ruobing had already heard from Bai Yiling about the sabotage that happened in the middle of the night.
After all, it involved her furniture, so she couldn't remain silent. She said, "Master, who was the person causing the destruction?"
Cheng Xiaofan smiled and said, "It was the Daoist Huang that Lu Xiaofei mentioned yesterday. He was supposed to arrive today, but unexpectedly arrived last night and acted ahead of time."
"Fortunately, I set up a defensive line around the furniture in advance, so it wasn't damaged."
Bai Yiling looked around. The other areas were very lively, but this place seemed quite deserted. Occasionally, a customer would stop by but wouldn't bother to look at the furniture in the exhibition area.
"It seems this spot isn't good! It's too deserted!" she said with some anxiety.
Cheng Xiaofan smiled and said, "It's okay. Later, that Daoist Huang will help us create buzz for the furniture. This time, we're exhibiting here like Jiang Ziya fishing – waiting for those who are willing to take the bait."
He asked Luo Cheng, "Luo Cheng, do you have playing cards with you?"
Luo Cheng smiled and said, "Brother Cheng, I do. I couldn't sleep last night, so the two workers and I played Guandan for most of the night!"
Cheng Xiaofan laughed, "Since we're idle anyway, take out the playing cards, and let's play Guandan. Goddess Bai, Ruobing, you two come and join us!"
Bai Yiling smiled and said, "Xiaofan, look at those exhibitors, they're desperately promoting their brand furniture right now, but we're here playing Guandan. Isn't that inappropriate?"
Cheng Xiaofan laughed and said, "What's appropriate or inappropriate? As long as we have fun!"