Xu Kou gulped down a bottle of vintage Western red wine from the 23rd year of the Jiushi Era, which cost at least 20 Taiping coins. Normally, Xu Kou would not spend so much on a bottle, but since Shen Yugui was footing the bill, he drank to his heart’s content.0

Finally, he left the brothel with satisfaction, under the brothel manager’s forced smile.0

In fact, Xu Kou had underestimated the price of this bottle of red. The imports cost 20 Taiping coins each. If sold in a restaurant, the price would be at least doubled. If sold in a brothel or villa, it would be at least tripled or quadrupled. So, a bottle of red wine like this would cost at least 100 Taiping coins. If Xu Kou wanted to buy a bottle, it would be way more than his initial estimate of half a month’s salary.0

Of course, 100 Taiping coins for a Daoist superintendent with a “side income” was nothing. Even someone like Liu Futong could amass 100,000 Taiping coins in three years. Even though there were disparities in authority among superintendents...0