Chapter 162
162 Vicious Woman
Chang Gui got up from the ground and cupped his hands at Huang Yujiao. “Madam, you want to ruin that man’s wife in front of him before killing him. Each of these will cause me to lose my head. Besides, if this matter is done, my friend and I will need to have the money to escape! Forget it, why should I talk to you so much? I’ll take my leave.”
Seeing that Chang Gui was about to turn around and leave, Huang Jiaoyu shouted sternly, “Stop, can you really do it?”
Chang Gui turned around and bowed to her. “Madam, to be honest, I’m a little afraid. Why don’t you listen to my advice? Forget it! If I’m caught by the government office, I won’t be able to spend any money. Sigh! I’ll just live a stable life.”
Huang Jiaoyu recalled Zhou Rongxian’s appearance just now and thought to herself, The dead are haunting me, and the living are jumping around in front of me again. Do you really think I can’t do anything to you?!
“Just you wait.” Huang Jiaoyu stood up decisively and walked into the room. A moment later, she walked out with a few banknotes and looked at Chang Gui arrogantly. “This is 300 taels. After this is done, come and get the remaining 700 taels.”
Chang Gui suppressed the excitement in his heart and looked at the banknotes in Huang Jiayu’s hand with a bitter expression. “Madam, you have to pay me at least half of the silver first! That servant of theirs also has some martial arts. I have to find a friend with some ability to do it.”
Huang Jiaoyu glanced at Chang Gui and added a hundred taels to it. She handed it to Chang Gui. “Four hundred taels. If you succeed, you can come and take the remaining silver and run. If not, forget it.”
Seeing this, Chang Gui took the banknotes with a bitter expression. “Alright, Madam treats me well. I’ll settle it for Madam. Just wait for my good news.”
Huang Jiaoyu looked at Chang Gui with a dark expression. “You have to hurry up and do it. I don’t want to see that bastard strutting around.”
Chang Gui bowed and said, “Madam, don’t worry. It’ll take at most half a month.”
Huang Jiaoyu waved her hand in satisfaction. “Alright, hurry up and do it.”
“Yes, Ma’am.” Chang Gui withdrew.
Huang Jiaoyu leaned back in her chair and rubbed the jade bracelet with narrowed eyes. Yang Lianxin, you bitch. You like to snatch other people’s men so much. Just wait to see your daughter-in-law being played by other men! Bitch, wait for your son and daughter-in-law to join you.
Zhou Jia brought Li Yu to the Zhou family’s graveyard. After paying their respects at their grandfather’s grave, they went to Madam Yang’s grave. They saw weeds growing on the grave. It was obvious that no one had paid their respects for many years.
Zhou Jia pulled Li Yu to kneel in front of the grave and said sadly, “Mother, I’m married. This is your daughter-in-law, Li Yu. I’m unfilial…”
After Li Yu kowtowed to Madam Yang’s tomb, she pulled Zhou Jia up. “Xiao Xi, don’t be sad. Look, we’ve already returned to the capital. In the future, we’ll come to pay our respects to Mother during Qingming. Let’s clean up the weeds on Mother’s tomb first!”
“Yes!” Zhou Jia got up and cleaned up the weeds on the grave with Li Yu. After paying their respects, the two of them turned around and got into the cart by the roadside.
Chang Gui came out of the Zhou family with the banknotes in his pocket and cursed in his heart. As the old saying went, the needle in a wasp’s tail was the most vicious. Huang Yujiao was a vicious woman.
Chang Gui pulled on his shoes and sauntered to the casino on the west side of the city. The casino thug looked at Chang Gui. “Chang Gui, if you don’t settle the bill, you won’t be able to keep your claws.”
Chang Gui waved the banknote in front of him. “Isn’t it just a few dozen taels of silver? I’ll pay it back today.” As he spoke, he took the banknote into the casino and slapped it in front of the shopkeeper. “Shopkeeper, I, Chang Gui, am here to pay back the money.”
The casino manager glanced at the silver notes and smiled. “Yo-ho! Do you actually have the money? Why don’t you play two rounds today?”
Chang Gui took the banknotes that he had found. “No, I still have something to do! I’ll come back when I’m done.”
“Alright, come back when it’s done.” The shopkeeper watched Chang Gui’s back and said to the thug beside him, “I wonder where this kid found another source of wealth.”
The thug smiled and said, “Who cares where he found the money? As long as he has money to repay his debts, it’s fine.”
When Chang Gui came out of the casino, he secretly planned in his heart that when he met that group of people, he would say that Mrs. Zhou had given him a total of 600 taels of silver and had already paid 200 taels of silver. The remaining silver would be settled.
After Chang Gui had planned it, he went to buy two jars of wine and some meat and vegetables from the deli. Humming a tune, he walked through two alleys to a small house with a unique courtyard. He pushed open the door and walked in. Two young men were sitting in the courtyard, leaning against a bamboo chair and basking in the sun.
The few of them looked at the dishes and wine in Chang Gui’s hand and chuckled. “Ah Gui, have you become rich? You even have money to buy wine and dishes?”
Chang Gui placed the dishes and wine on the table beside the tall man’s chair and smiled. “Brother Qi Hu, I found a way to make money and came to find a few brothers to make a fortune together.”
Qi Hu removed the handkerchief from his eyes. He had a pair of hazelnut eyes, an aquiline nose, and a long cheekbone. One would feel a chill in his heart looking at him.
Qi Hu patted the chair beside him and looked at Chang Gui. “Tell me, what opportunity did you find?”
After Chang Gui carefully sat down, he said to Qi Hu, “Brother Hu, you know that I used to be a servant of the Zhou family in South City’s Aquarius Street. In the past few years, the Zhou family has not been as good as before. A few days ago, they even sold a group of servants. My mother is the wet nurse of the Zhou family’s patriarch, so Mrs. Zhou returned our family’s contract and kept my younger sister to serve the Zhou family. Yesterday afternoon, my younger sister came back to look for me because Mrs. Zhou wanted me to help her with something. I went over early this morning… She gave us 200 taels of silver as a deposit first. The remaining 400 taels will be settled after the matter is over.”
Qi Hu glanced at Chang Gui. “Then who is the scholar living in North City to the Zhou family? Why does Mrs. Zhou want to harm him?”
Chang Gui smiled apologetically and said, “Brother Hu, this is all the private affairs of a rich family. The eldest young master of the Zhou family lives in North City. I’m sure you’ve heard that Old Master Zhou and Old Madam Zhou each married a wife for Master Zhou. Old Madam Zhou and Madam Zhou have been unwilling to let go all these years. This is why they looked for us?”
Qi Hu thought for a moment and said to the two men sitting around him, “Haozi, Jiang Shuncai, tell me, are you going to do it or not?”
The man called Haozi had a sharp mouth and a monkey’s face. His eyes darted around, and he had a mouthful of buck teeth. The man called Jiang Shuncai was not tall. He was very sturdy. He had a round face with short, thick eyebrows and thick lips. He looked honest. They rubbed their hands and nodded.
Haozi rubbed his hands and smiled. “Brother, why not? There’s nothing left in my pockets now. A few hundred taels of silver are enough for us brothers to live freely for a few days.”
Seeing that everyone had agreed, Qi Hu turned to look at Chang Gui. “Give me the money for buying things.”
Chang Gui took out 200 taels of silver from the kiln and placed them in Qi Hu’s hand. “Brother Hu, I’ll hand the banknotes to you.”
Qi Hu looked at the banknotes in his hand and nodded in satisfaction. He smiled and patted Chang Gui. “Kid, you’re good. After this matter is done, we won’t forget your share. Haozi, go find Blind Wei and buy a handful of incense. Shuncai and Chang Gui, go to the Ten Families Alley in North City together and take a good look at the place before taking action.”