Before he could finish speaking, the burly man flew into a rage, leaping down the steps with a punch, as if to kick him: "Flip my dime, you brat! If you don't pay back that fifty taels gambling debt within three days, believe me, I'll break your legs!"
The young man was so frightened that he kept begging.
The passersby not only didn't come forward to persuade him, but instead all looked at him with contempt, clearly used to this kind of scene. Jiang Xiaohu, the most useless one, was the eldest grandson of the Jiang family, the richest family in Jiangnan. He was good at eating, drinking, gambling and whoring. When the Jiang family was wiped out and their ancestral sword manual and treasures were stolen, he didn't care. He gambled all day and lived off the charity of the smugglers. Who would sympathize with such a person?
However, luck is something that is predetermined by heaven and no one can stop it, so miracles often happen to this person.
"Brother Xiaohu!" A woman in black suddenly ran up, bending down to help him up while staring at the burly man with a face full of shock and anger. "Hey, what are you doing, bullying people like this!"
Jiang Xiaohu, who was on the ground, was also stunned for a moment, then overjoyed, as if he had seen a savior: "Sister, save me!" He quickly grabbed her hand and scrambled up. The huge man was hiding behind the girl who was a head shorter than him.
The two men were stunned.
The newcomer was dressed in a black robe and cloak, a rather incongruous outfit, but even a blind man could tell that she was a beautiful girl.
I'd heard this useless brat was popular with women, damn it, all he's got is a good-looking face! The burly man spat disdainfully, feeling both envious and resentful. Intending to show off, he stepped forward and said, "Bullying people? Your lover owes our Qiufeng Hall customers fifty taels of silver. What, you're going to pay it for her?"
The girl seemed unconvinced and turned to Jiang Xiaohu, asking, "Do you owe them money?"
"Yes, yes, my dear sister, please help me this time." Jiang Xiaohu said sweetly, intentionally or unintentionally pulling her into his arms to avoid the big man's hand. Brother, your appearance is too unpleasant. Let me take advantage of you.
"Don't worry, I have money," the girl reassured him after confirming, then took out a silver note from her bosom and handed it to the big man. "This is fifty taels. I'll pay it back for you. Please don't hit him anymore."
Seeing the two acting intimately and speaking in a tone different from others, the burly man became even more certain of his earlier guess. He reluctantly accepted the silver note: "Get lost! If I run into you again, hmph..." He didn't say anything more. Although Jiang Xiaohu was poor, he loved gambling but not money. Whenever he won money, he would give it to others in a moment of joy. His earlier threat to hit him was just to bully him for being useless and to scare him into showing off.
"Thank you so much, brother!" Jiang Xiaohu bowed and smiled obsequiously, then put his arm around the beautiful woman and left.
.
The madam of Yongcui Tower, a regular customer, was clearly not very welcoming. It wasn't until Jiang Xiaohu took a silver note from Qiu Lingling and handed it to her that she laughed and scolded him a few times before letting the two of them go into the room on their own.
As soon as the door closed, Jiang Xiaohu released her, his useless demeanor vanished, and he regained his former radiance, smiling happily: "Thank you so much for saving me, my dear Lingling. It's been two years. Where did Old Jin hide you? Come, let Brother Jiang take a good look at you. You've grown into a beautiful young lady, and you're getting prettier and prettier!"
Qiu Lingling found his change quite amusing: "Ha, Brother Xiaohu."
Jiang Xiaohu corrected: "It's Brother Jiang."
Qiu Lingling hesitated, "Jin Huanlai is not allowed to call me that."
Jiang Xiaohu glared at him: "You're going to listen to him?"
Qiu Lingling pursed her lips and didn't answer, instead asking, "Are you really broke?"
Jiang Xiaohu nodded seriously: "Yes, I'm extremely poor, and Lao Jin is stingy and won't lend me any money. Isn't that being a bad friend?"
"You're lying to me," Qiu Lingling chuckled, raising her hand to reveal a strangely shaped gold hairpin. "This is what I took from you just now. It's gold, worth at least a hundred taels of silver. And you still say you have no money?"
Jiang Xiaohu tilted her head to look at her, and smiled wryly: "I didn't expect my little darling to be so amazing now. Who taught you?"
“Master, that is, the old leader. I have been learning kung fu from him for the past two years.”
"Don't you become as bad as Lao Jin."
“He’s not bad, you’re the bad one,” Qiu Lingling corrected, rolling her eyes and hiding the hairpin behind her back. “If you don’t tell the truth, you can forget about getting it back.”
Jiang Xiaohu smiled and said, "Okay, how about I give it to you?"
Qiu Lingling was annoyed: "Give it to me?"
“Yes,” Jiang Xiaohu said solemnly, “this hairpin is worth more than a hundred taels of silver. I plan to give it to my wife in the future. If you agree to marry me, I will give it to you.”
"Oh, is that so?" Qiu Lingling blushed and reluctantly returned the hairpin to him. "I am Jin Huanlai's wife, I cannot marry you."
Jiang Xiaohu suppressed a laugh as he took the hairpin and put it away, saying, "I'll keep it for now. Whenever my little darling wants to be my wife, she can come and get it."
Qiu Lingling pouted: "Do you know where Jin Huanlai went?"
Jiang Xiaohu was taken aback for a moment, then stammered, "Perhaps... in Tianshui City, he's helping me with something."
Qiu Lingling immediately hugged his neck and pleaded, "I want to go to Tianshui City too, please take me with you?"
Her snow-white arms exuded a delicate fragrance that wafted into his nose. Jiang Xiaohu was dumbfounded, and it took him a long time to come to his senses. Was this the wife trained by Master Jin? Didn't she know that Grandpa Jiang was a man? If she did this again, I wouldn't be so polite. Although it's said that "one should not covet a friend's wife," if things get out of hand, don't blame me for stealing your wife!
Reluctantly pushing her away, Jiang Xiaohu coughed, "That won't do. I can't leave right now. Besides, the Lord of Tianshui City is an enemy of the Thousand Hands Sect. If you fall into his hands, Old Jin will kill me."
Qiu Lingling was shocked: "An enemy? Then why did you call Jin back!"
"Old Jin is so capable, he'll be fine. But if you go, things will get complicated."
"I'm really good too, I want to help him too."
Amazing? Jiang Xiaohu propped his chin on his hand and carefully examined her. Jin Huanlai, Jin Huanlai, such a delicate and lovely wife looks good at home, but you go out to eat and drink all day long. You have no taste at all. Look at your wife being taken advantage of and you don't even know it. What a pity, what a pity. Why don't you just snatch her away?
Of course, this idea is currently just a thought in my mind, and I dare not put it into action yet.
He sighed, whispered a few words in her ear, and then said, "Brother Jiang knows you're a good girl, so I'm telling you this, but you can't go to that place casually, or Old Jin will get angry."
Qiu Lingling wrote it down: "I understand, you're so kind!"
"Of course." Jiang Xiaohu accepted the praise without a second thought.
"Don't you know martial arts? Why are you pretending like this?"
"Because I have a great enemy who killed my family and tried to steal our Jiang family's sword manual and treasures. I can't let him succeed."
Qiu Lingling looked at him: "Do you want revenge?"
Jiang Xiaohu nodded: "I don't know who he is, so we need to find out." Then she added: "He's sending people to watch me every day now. You can't tell anyone about me, understand?"
Qiu Lingling nodded solemnly: "I understand."
Jiang Xiaohu smiled and said, "Go back first. I'll come find you when I have time." Then she coughed heavily and said, "Um, don't hug other people casually in the future, especially men."
Qiu Lingling stared wide-eyed, bewildered.
"Forget it, I'll discuss my wife's education with Master Jin another time," Jiang Xiaohu shook his head and looked at the door. "Those people are waiting outside. They'll definitely follow you if they see you know me. So you need to find a way to shake them off first. You can't take them to the Thousand Hands Sect headquarters and let them know that I'm related to the Thousand Hands Sect."
Qiu Lingling looked at him for a moment, then laughed: "That's easy, I have a way."
.
Business is better at night in some places. Since it is daytime now, there are few people entering Yongcui Tower and many leaving. Most of those leaving are maids who buy things for the young ladies.
Diagonally opposite Yongcui Tower, in a room upstairs in the inn, a small curtain hung low, and two people stood by the window.
“If I hadn’t known that girl was from the Thousand Hands Sect, I would never have imagined that Jiang Xiaohu had any connection with the Thousand Hands Sect,” Liu Bai shook his head. “Could it be that the Thousand Hands Sect is also interested in that item and deliberately sent her to get close to it…”
"No." The young master interrupted him calmly. Who was Jiang Xiaohu? He was a man who was known as the most useless person in the martial arts world, yet he had still managed to survive until now. If this stupid little cat were really sent, he would probably have all his secrets tricked into knowing before they even exchanged three sentences. Jin Huanlai was not that foolish.
Liu Bai frowned: "But he knows that girl."
The young man said, "I know her too."
Liu Bai was puzzled.
The young master sighed, "They could be partners, or they could be friends."
Below Yongcui Tower, stalls and vendors lined both sides of the street, and all sorts of people came and went. Some stopped to talk, some watched the excitement, some lingered at the stalls, and some carried small loads and called out their wares.
Liu Bai watched for a while and then laughed: "They're keeping a close eye on him. Jiang Xiaohu isn't having an easy time either. He doesn't seem to have any martial arts skills. He's been enduring this for so long. Could it be that he wants to use the power of the Thousand Hands Sect to take revenge? I wonder what kind of powerful figure his enemy is."
The young master asked, "Is there any news about our people?"
Liu Bai shook his head.
The young master remained silent, peering through the gap in the curtains at the opposite Yongcui Tower.
Liu Bai thought for a moment, then cautiously asked, "Why haven't they come out yet? The young girl and he seemed very intimate just now..."
It's not difficult to get close to the kitten, because even if you want to act intimately in public, she won't feel uncomfortable. But it's obvious that she trusts Jiang Xiaohu a lot, and Jiang Xiaohu loves her very much.
The young master glanced at him with a half-smile, his gaze somewhat cold.
Liu Bai seemed to realize something and quickly changed the subject: "Since she knows Jiang Xiaohu, those people will definitely follow her. They might trace it back to the Thousand Hands Sect. Should we...?"
“Not necessarily,” the young master said, a smile rising in his peach blossom eyes as he looked at the person coming out of Yongcui Tower. He turned and left. “Following her might not be easy. Let’s not wait any longer and go back.”
I never knew a kitten had this ability.
Cleverly dismissing the wicked servant
After wandering aimlessly outside for two days, Jin Huanlai finally couldn't help but miss Jin Yuan and decided to go back to visit. However, he was startled before he even reached the door of his room.
He stared wide-eyed, pointing at the old woman by the door, her face covered in makeup and carrying a bundle: "You...you are..."
"You're back!" Qiu Lingling rushed over and hugged him with a giggle.
Jin struggled and yelled, "How did you get like this? Hey, don't get my clothes dirty!"
Qiu Lingling immediately let go of him: "Ah, I'm going to wash." She rushed into his room, and with a "bang," Jin Huanlai was locked out and had no choice but to wait patiently.
The door opened quickly, and inside was another beautiful girl in black.
"I saw Brother Xiaohu today. Later, someone was following me, so I disguised myself like this to come back," Qiu Lingling pouted, displeased. "You were going to Tianshui City to do things for him, which is so dangerous. Why didn't you tell me?"
Jin Huanlai had never thought Jiang Xiaohu was such a good friend. He knew the girl wouldn't think much of it, but he still felt inexplicably flustered and felt like he was a complete idiot. So he kept quiet, lowered his head, walked into the door, took off his cloak and threw it on the back of the chair. Every movement was extremely awkward, as if he had done something shameful.
Qiu Lingling leaned closer, pulled his sleeve over, and smelled it: "Ha, it smells nice."
Jin was startled and jumped back quickly, angrily shouting, "What's wrong with you!"
Seeing that he was angry, Qiu Lingling was baffled.
Jin took a deep breath. What was there to be afraid of? Men were no strangers to such things. She was the dignified leader of the sect, and the girl was just a little girl she had picked up. How dare she try to control her? Despite thinking this, she still didn't have the courage to look into those big eyes. She had no choice but to bite the bullet and walk to the table to sit down. She said in a harsh voice, "I can go wherever I want. Why are you asking me anything? Go play by yourself!"
“I can help you,” Qiu Lingling followed him, leaned over the table face to face, rested her chin on her hand, and looked at him earnestly. “Look how amazing my disguise skills are.”
I'll come back only because Jin Garden is more comfortable than outside. Jin waved me off irritably. Damn it, even he despises this lame reason. Is Jin Garden really that good? It's just a few blades of grass and a few trees. I've never missed it before.
Noticing his bad mood, Qiu Lingling nudged him and whispered, "Jin, come back?"
Jin glanced at her once more, then got up and left.
Qiu Lingling asked anxiously, "Where are you going again?"
Without turning his head, he said, "Go see if anything's wrong at the church."
I still can't bear to part with it; it feels like having someone there to keep me company and wait for me.
.
Near the garden gate, two mute servants were collecting herbs. When they saw the two people walking one after the other, they quickly stopped their work and bowed.
Jin stopped in his tracks, his face expressionless: "Prepare water, I want to take a bath."