Chapter 19: She Said the World Had Wronged Him and Him...
Wang Qing was completely dazed by the previous punch, his head still ringing, but the pain had already crawled through every nerve. The agony twisted his entire face into a grotesque mask.
Hearing Xiao Li's words, he bared his blood-stained teeth, a low growl escaping his throat as he pushed against the ground with both hands, struggling to rise.
But the foot planted on his back rendered him immobile, making all his struggles futile.
This was the ultimate humiliation.
"Brother Xiao, you and Brother Wang are both our own people. Why resort to such violence..." The gambling house manager, hearing the commotion, rushed over to intervene.
Xiao Li shot him a cold glare, freezing the manager in his tracks as he attempted to step forward. The manager could only force a dry laugh: "This... this... whatever misunderstanding this is, let's all sit down and talk it out..."
Unexpectedly, a rogue seized the opportunity, hoisting a wooden chair and shouting as he swung it with full force toward the back of Xiao Li's head. Unable to dodge in time, Xiao Li raised his elbow to block. The chair struck his arm with a dull thud, shattering into splinters.
A fierce aura erupted across Xiao Li's face. He kicked the man in the abdomen, sending him flying backward several meters as he vomited stomach fluids.
Seizing this opening, Wang Qing roared and surged to his feet, wrapping his arms around Xiao Li's waist and using his momentum to slam him against the wall behind them.
Seeing this, the underlings below hastily grabbed blades and clubs, swarming forward to attack Xiao Li.
The gambling house manager, witnessing the situation spiraling out of control, scrambled frantically upstairs.
Caught off guard, Xiao Li fell victim to Wang Qing's surprise assault.
His back slammed heavily against the wall, and Wang Qing, putting his entire body weight and momentum into the charge, drove his shoulder hard into Xiao Li's abdomen. Instantly, Xiao Li's stomach convulsed violently.
As the underlings' weapons were about to descend upon him, Xiao Li gritted his molars, a guttural roar tearing from his throat. He drove his elbows repeatedly into Wang Qing's back with brutal force.
Wang Qing coughed up fresh blood from the blows, his grip on Xiao Li's waist finally failing. A final knee strike from Xiao Li sent him sprawling backward, blood gushing from his nose.
The underlings, who had been advancing with weapons raised to strike Xiao Li, hastily changed course to catch Wang Qing instead.
Xiao Li pressed a hand to his abdomen, suppressing the rising nausea before striding toward Wang Qing once more. All traces of his usual roguishness were gone, replaced by sheer ferocity.
Even if Wang Qing's underlings still wished to stop him, none dared step forward now.
Wang Qing could barely stand, half-lying on the ground supported by several underlings.
Xiao Li approached, yanking him up by the collar, and snarled a threat: "Whatever grudge you have with me, bring it to me! Drag my mother into this again, and I'll send you to meet the King of Hell!"
Wang Qing stared back, his face a bloody mask, eyes filled with venomous resentment and defiance.
Suddenly, a shout rang out from upstairs: "What is going on here? Stop this at once!"
The underlings, spotting the figure standing by the wooden railing on the second-floor balcony, quickly played the accuser: "Proprietor! Xiao Li is trying to kill Brother Wang!"
Boss Han, seeing Xiao Li still gripping Wang Qing's collar, sharpened his tone: "Xiao Li, the position of authority in my gambling house hasn't even been decided yet! Are you already so arrogant as to try to take a life in my establishment?"
The veins on Xiao Li's hand bulged. He stared fixedly at Wang Qing, on the verge of releasing his grip.Wang Qing knew that with Boss Han present, Xiao Li wouldn't dare do anything more to him. He curled his lips into an extremely malicious smile on his blood-stained face and said to Xiao Li in a voice only the two of them could hear: "Your mother was just a worn-out whore ridden by thousands, and you won't allow people to talk about it?"
Xiao Li's hand gripping his collar suddenly tightened, a blue vein bulging at the side of his neck. His expression visibly turned violent almost instantly.
Wang Qing continued to smirk at him with malicious and vicious delight, thinking he had gained the upper hand.
Unexpectedly, Xiao Li swung the heavy sour jujube wood bench beside him and smashed it directly toward Wang Qing's head.
This blow truly split his head open and made the blood flow.
Even the petty thugs accustomed to big scenes were all frightened into silence.
Boss Han was also startled by this sudden move, both hands gripping the wooden railing on the second floor as he shouted sternly: "Xiao Li!"
Xiao Li raised his head, half his jaw splattered with blood. A mix of roguishness and ferocity intertwined on his excessively young and handsome face as he only said: "That job—I'll take it."
After speaking, he turned and walked out of the gambling house.
The underlings below saw that Boss Han didn't give any orders, so no one dared to stop him.
Boss Han watched his departing figure with an unpleasant expression, then glanced at Wang Qing who had his head smashed open and lay on the ground unknown whether dead or alive, merely instructing: "Get him a doctor."
The underlings below hurried to summon a doctor and clean up the main hall.
The gambling house manager followed Boss Han into the private room on the second floor, flattering: "The proprietor is truly brilliant. With just a small scheme, you've intensified the conflict between Wang Qing and Xiao Li, and even made that untamable wolf cub Xiao Li agree to kill Hu Xianbai. With the chain of a human life around his neck, whether he's a wolf or a dog, won't he have to obey your commands whenever you pull the chain from now on?"
But Boss Han shook his head: "Originally, I favored him because he had exceptional talent and didn't have as many schemes as Wang Qing. I helped him secure the position of authority. Since his seniority is less than Wang Qing's, to firmly establish himself he could only be completely loyal to me—this way both could be useful to me. But this youngster has been in prison before, far more cautious than ordinary people. Besides his mother being his weakness, he hasn't left me any other leverage. If I hadn't allowed Wang Qing to escalate the matter with Chen Lai Zi, I wouldn't have found an opportunity to make him handle this murderous task for me. Without provoking him, he wouldn't have agreed so easily. But you saw today—this youngster's ferocity is too extreme. Using him... I don't know if it's right or wrong anymore..."
The gambling house manager chuckled: "You only punished Zheng Hu and his men for the gambling house brawl. Some ignorant subordinates mistakenly speculated that you were dissatisfied with Xiao Li and wanted to suppress his group, then gossiped about his mother being the former top courtesan of Drunken Red Chamber. This news reached Wang Qing and his men—they were the ones who lost their heads and used it to humiliate Xiao Li. How can this be blamed on you?"
But Boss Han didn't smile. Stroking his short beard, he only said: "Enough. Since he's agreed to kill Hu Xianbai for me and retrieve the account book, follow the rules and get the silver ready for him."
The gambling house manager smiled and acknowledged the order.
Wen Yu had been doing embroidery all afternoon, and her neck felt somewhat sore.
She set down her needle and thread, rubbing her neck as she glanced toward the courtyard gate. There was still no movement outside the courtyard gate.
She lowered her long eyelashes, picked up her needle, and continued embroidering the double-sided embroidery whose outline had already been drawn.Hou Xiao'an's injuries were quite severe, and the physician ordered him to rest in bed for several days. With no relatives left in his family, he usually lived at the gambling house. Not wanting to trouble Xiao Huiniang and her son, he insisted on spending extra silver to stay at the medical clinic.
When those thugs pinned him to the ground and beat him, his clothes were smeared with muddy snow and became utterly filthy.
After Wen Yu settled him at the clinic and returned home to fetch Xiao Li's clothes for him to change into, she had initially intended to conceal part of the truth. However, Xiao Huiniang had already learned about the rogues' actions from several seamstresses who had resigned. Her son had been delayed washing clothes, and Wen Yu and Hou Xiao'an had not returned after going to buy inksticks—she guessed it must be related.
Seeing Wen Yu taking Xiao Li's clothes to go out, she assumed Xiao Li had been injured in a fight and insisted on going with Wen Yu, crying several times along the way and blaming herself for failing her son.
Watching Xiao Huiniang weep so bitterly, Wen Yu knew she couldn't hide the truth any longer and confessed everything.
Upon learning that Hou Xiao'an had been injured while standing up for her, Xiao Huiniang felt even more guilty and insisted on going to care for him personally. She asked Wen Yu to stay at home, fearing that Xiao Li might also return wounded with no one to look after him.
Wen Yu spent the afternoon sketching the embroidery pattern onto silk fabric, waiting for it to dry before starting to stitch.
Keeping her hands busy kept her mind from wandering.
Though she wasn't particularly close to the Xiao family yet, Xiao Huiniang had shown her kindness, and that rogue's character was fairly decent. Her situation here wasn't ideal, but it wasn't bad either.
If that rogue truly fell into the hands of the rival Hou Xiao'an mentioned, leaving only Xiao Huiniang, a widow, and Hou Xiao'an, a severely injured half-grown child, wouldn't they be utterly vulnerable to bullying?
Since that gang was so vicious, she, as the "maidservant" Chen Lai Zi had pawned to the Xiao family, would likely become their target.
Falling into the hands of such truly rotten people—Wen Yu didn't dare imagine what she might endure.
So, she fervently hoped that rogue would return safe and sound.
Just as she finished embroidering another small section of leaves, movement finally sounded outside the courtyard gate. Wen Yu looked up almost reflexively.
The heavy knocking came again. Worried that the rogue might be seriously injured, Wen Yu hastily set down her embroidery hoop and hurried out, calling, "Coming!"
She lifted the latch and opened the door, only to find a man and woman standing outside.
The man was gaunt, with prominent cheekbones, sunken eyes, and a harsh, mean expression. The woman beside him, head bowed, had tear stains on her face and looked submissive.
Before Wen Yu could ask, the man blurted out, "This is the residence of Master Xiao from the Kunqian Gambling House, right?"
Wen Yu nodded hesitantly and asked, "You are...?"
The man said, "I owe money to the Cosmos Gambling House. I heard that sending a bedwarmer to Master Xiao can settle part of my gambling debt."
He shoved the woman forward and said, "This is my sister, still a virgin. She's definitely worth my five taels of gambling debt!"
Wen Yu looked at the tearful girl who dared not speak, her brows slightly furrowed, and asked, "Who told you that?"
The man bared his yellow teeth and said, "Hasn't it spread everywhere? They all say Chen Lai Zi used a woman to settle thirty taels! This wretched girl—I told her to come find Master Xiao herself a couple of days ago, but she ran back crying and lied to me, saying Master Xiao told her to get lost."He offered an ingratiating smile, "So, I had her clean herself up and brought her personally to deliver her to Master Xiao today!"
Wen Yu immediately recalled the young girl doing laundry yesterday who mentioned seeing Xiao Li being stopped on the road by a woman crying to him. So this was what happened?
It turned out to be a misunderstanding stemming from rumors of her being used by Chen Lai Zi as collateral to the Xiao family.
She said to the man, "There's no such thing at all. It's all rumors spread by others. Moreover, since she's your sister, how can you disregard familial bonds and treat her like an object to be pawned off to others? Where is your conscience?"
The man, failing to use his sister as debt payment and instead being lectured, immediately flew into a rage like a mad dog: "This is my sister! Even if I sell her to the pleasure quarters, what's it to you? Who are you to interfere?"
He scanned Wen Yu up and down, then suddenly sneered sharply, "Could it be that you're the woman Chen Lai Zi used as collateral for Master Xiao? You're an ugly wench yourself—are you afraid that Master Xiao will disdain you after seeing my sister, so you deliberately won't let her enter?"
Hearing the man's shrill voice, several nosy neighbors immediately poked their heads out.
The neighborhood had already been gossiping about the Xiao family today, and his shouting promptly drew them out to watch the spectacle.
Wen Yu stood holding the door, her seemingly aloof and calm eyes carrying an indescribable pressure: "I've said it already—the Xiao family doesn't accept people as debt payment."
Unwilling to argue further with such filth, she was about to close the door when she heard him snarl in frustration, "Aren't you afraid of ruining a good thing for Master Xiao and having him punish you later!"
The neighbors hearing this couldn't help murmuring among themselves, saying this proved Xiao Li was indeed the type to bully men and women.
Seeing the neighbors' discussion and recalling how Xiao Huiniang had been worrying about Xiao Li's marriage prospects—now with his reputation further tarnished—Wen Yu knew today's incident would only make things worse if spread. How could he ever hope to marry a decent girl?
Since this matter somewhat involved her too, she declared, "What kind of person do you take our Second Master for? In all his years collecting debts at the gambling house, has he ever not handled matters impartially? When has he ever bullied men or women? I was tricked by Chen Lai Zi who exploited the old madam's soft heart to pawn me off as her maid. Since you see I'm unattractive, you should realize those rumors about him accepting beautiful women as payment are just baseless gossip—not to be taken seriously."
The man was rendered speechless by her words but still stubbornly retorted, "Some high-and-mighty whore raised in the brothels! As if he'd refuse if you shoved a woman at him!"
Wen Yu said nothing, simply staring at the man.
Under her excessively cold gaze, he felt inexplicably flustered, his voice unconsciously fading.
Wen Yu said coldly, "If you think he'll accept her, go tell him directly. Why waste words on me who has no say? Moreover, if people could choose their birth, who wouldn't want to be born into nobility? Should one's character be judged by origins? This world has wronged him and his mother. Having climbed out of that filth, what is there to mock? It's people like you—devoid of humanity, righteousness, and familial piety—who don't deserve to be called human!"
Without giving him a chance to respond, she slammed the door shut with a "bang," leaning against it to calm her breathing.
The man cursed violently outside, but she treated it as barking, completely ignoring him.She hadn't been this furious in a long time. Such scum who dared threaten to sell their own younger sister to a brothel—she must speak to the king about establishing laws to punish them!
Half an alley away, Xiao Li leaned against the corner wall with crossed arms. Tiny snowflakes settled on his dark lashes, and only when they accumulated did he slightly lift his eyelids. The bloodstains on his cheek had dried, his earlier ferocity and anger now concealed within the snowfall that had begun at some unknown hour.
The man who had been rejected at the door cursed and grumbled as he dragged his sister back. Passing the corner and spotting Xiao Li, his legs went weak. After several shifts of expression, he finally managed to squeeze out an ingratiating smile. Just as he stepped forward, he heard a single, indifferent word: "Scram."
Uncertain how long Xiao Li had been listening there, the man was terrified. Hearing this, he felt as if granted a pardon, hastily scrambling away with his sister in tow.
Only then did Xiao Li raise his eyes, gazing up at the thick snowflakes cascading toward the mortal world.
Wen Yu's words still echoed in his ears.
She had asked, was it the world that had treated him and his mother harshly?
Author's Note:
Ah, late meal time again! Sending red envelopes in the comments as apology, my darlings~
From now on, scheduled updates at midnight. If you don't see an update at midnight, don't wait—check back at noon the next day!
Updates only at these two times. No need to refresh at other hours, and don't stay up late waiting! (Hugging my cat while sending manual heart signs to you all~)
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