TATSD Chapter 56

When people get busy, time seems to pass quickly.

Yesterday, when Chen Sanwu came to the Ji family to repay a debt, he smugly shared how the people from the gambling den had come to Liu Qing’s house to collect money. Liu Qing couldn’t pay off his gambling debt, so he scraped together some interest money and barely managed to get rid of the debt collectors.

These past few days, Liu Qing has been so stressed that he hasn’t shown his face outside. It seems the situation with the gambling debt escalated, and being someone who cares about his reputation, he’s too embarrassed to go out in public.

As for the famous “Bun Beauty,” she has also disappeared from West Street, no longer selling her flatbreads.

Ji Wei picked a day with good weather, dressed in a new outfit, and headed to Liu Qing’s house with the gambling contract to collect his debt.

As the saying goes, “A centipede dies hard.” It’s not easy to completely drain someone like Liu Qing, who has a lot of shady friends. If it weren’t for his huge gambling debt, Ji Wei might not have had the satisfaction of collecting his debt so quickly.

When Ji Wei arrived at Liu Qing’s house, the door was tightly shut. He knocked several times but heard no response.

Not bothered, he banged on the door harder and threatened to break it down if no one answered. After shouting a few more times, he had gathered a crowd, forcing someone inside to come out and open the door.

“Why is it you?” Liu Qing’s wife, who had initially looked frightened, relaxed when she saw Ji Wei.

She patted her chest and stepped aside to let Ji Wei in. Without her blocking the entrance, people nearby peered curiously, only to be met with her fierce glare.

“What are you looking at? Keep staring, and I’ll dig your eyes out!” she snapped.

Her aggressive reputation was well-known, and even though it was just a threat, the onlookers quickly withdrew and closed their doors.

“What do you want? That deadbeat hasn’t been home for days. Who knows which woman he’s fooling around with this time? It’d be a blessing if he dropped dead on her bed!” Liu Qing’s wife cursed as she followed Ji Wei inside. Seeing he wasn’t responding, she shouted in frustration.

“I told you he’s not home! Why are you here?”

“How many days has he been gone?” Ji Wei asked.

“Since the gambling den people showed up, he hasn’t been back.” The mention of that day’s events made Liu Qing’s wife furious.

Liu Qing had never told her that he owed twelve taels of silver to the gambling den and had even mortgaged their property. They only had five days to come up with the money, or they’d lose their home.

It wasn’t just Liu Qing who was worried; his wife was too. She’d been scrambling to borrow money, only to be met with rejection everywhere. Even her own family had cut ties with her long ago. Despite her begging, all she managed to borrow was a measly one or two taels, not nearly enough to make a difference.

“That good-for-nothing! Why doesn’t he just die? It’s bad enough he gambles, but now he’s put our only home on the line. How am I supposed to find that much money? We’ve sold everything valuable, and now we don’t even have a pot to cook with…” All the frustration she’d been bottling up poured out as she cried. She was so consumed by her misery that she’d forgotten Liu Qing had once told her about his poor relationship with Ji Wei.

“Did Liu Qing mention to you that he still owes me twenty taels of silver?” Ji Wei casually said as he looked around the courtyard.

“If I ever see him again, I’ll— What?!” Liu Qing’s wife’s voice broke mid-sentence, her shock leaving her speechless. She stood there, stunned, staring at Ji Wei as if he were joking.

“Tw-twenty taels… You must be joking, right? I must’ve misheard.” Liu Qing’s wife stumbled back into the house, her mind reeling. But as she passed Ji Wei, he grabbed her by the collar.

She screamed, accusing Ji Wei of taking advantage of her.

“You know full well I’m not. Liu Qing made a bet with me for twenty taels of silver. He lost, and now I’m here to collect.” Ji Wei’s face remained cold as he explained.

“What did that bastard bet with you? Isn’t losing at the gambling den enough?” she demanded.

“Oh, he bet that the ‘Bun Beauty’s’ stall would outdo mine,” Ji Wei recalled, grinning. “But since she hasn’t been seen for days, it’s clear I won.”

Liu Qing’s wife rubbed her ears, thinking she must have misheard.

“That deadbeat bet with you… and what does that have to do with the Bun Beauty?” she muttered, her face gradually contorting with anger.

“So it’s that wench! I’ll kill her!” she shouted, storming toward the door. Before she reached it, she turned and rushed into the house, emerging with a kitchen knife.

She flung open the door, startling the eavesdroppers outside. When they saw the gleaming knife in her hand, they scattered in fear, not daring to mess with this fierce woman.

Ji Wei leisurely followed her to West Street. By the time he arrived, a crowd had already gathered to watch the commotion.

As he got closer, he saw blood on the ground.

Surprisingly, the one bleeding wasn’t Liu Qing, nor was it the Bun Beauty who had collapsed. Instead, it was Liu Qing’s wife, who had been so aggressive earlier. Her sleeve was soaked with blood, and she lay on the ground, too terrified to speak.

“What’s going on?” Ji Wei asked curiously as he stood at the door.

“I have no idea. I just got here myself.”

“I was just buying something on the street when I saw that woman charging over with a knife, so I followed to check it out.”

“Oh, you wouldn’t believe it! She was yelling all kinds of filthy things, calling someone a ‘fox spirit’ and worse.”

“As soon as she arrived, she went straight for Baozi Xi Shi with the knife, but Liu Qing stopped her.”

Liu Qing glanced over, and the person speaking immediately hunched down and lowered their voice, afraid of being overheard.

“That woman is Liu Qing’s wife, right? She waited until Liu Qing wasn’t paying attention and then lunged at Baozi Xi Shi. Liu Qing kicked her away. Baozi Xi Shi’s fine, but the knife slipped and sliced her arm. There’s blood everywhere, and everyone’s shocked.”

“No one called for a doctor?” Ji Wei frowned. The wound looked deep, and if the bleeding wasn’t stopped, she could lose too much blood.

“Of course, someone called for one. They just haven’t arrived yet.”

“Get out of the way! What are you all gawking at?” Liu Qing angrily kicked at a bystander near the door, nearly breaking the person’s nose. Furious, he barked a few more orders and moved to shut the door.

But Ji Wei wasn’t about to let him close it. He quickly stepped forward, holding the door open with a grin. “Brother Liu, when are you planning to repay the money you owe me?”

“What money do I owe you!” Liu Qing, already fretting over the debt he owed the gambling house, had forgotten all about the bet he made with Ji Wei. Seeing him now, he suddenly remembered. With no way to pay off the gambling debt, how could he have extra money for Baozi Xi Shi’s stall?

Ji Wei pulled out the contract from his sleeve, unfolded it, and held it up for everyone to see.

Liu Qing lunged forward, trying to snatch the paper, but Ji Wei anticipated the move. He quickly stepped back, dodging Liu Qing’s hand, and tucked the contract back into his pocket.

“You all saw that, right? There’s a handprint on this contract! Liu Qing made a bet with me, saying whoever’s stall closed down first would lose. I’ve had Aunt Zhou running my stall every day. If you don’t believe me, go check. But it seems Baozi Xi Shi hasn’t shown up for days now,” Ji Wei teased, his tone deliberately annoying.

At that, everyone turned to look at Baozi Xi Shi.

She immediately raised her sleeve to cover her face, but it was too late. The bruises all over her body were painfully obvious, and murmurs began spreading among the crowd.

“She’s just been under the weather, that’s all. She’ll be back at the stall in a few days,” Liu Qing gritted his teeth, glaring at Ji Wei as if he could kill him with his gaze alone.

“A married man like you, spending all your time at Baozi Xi Shi’s place—what do you think people are going to say?”

“You! How dare you slander me!”

“I’m only repeating what your wife told me. I went to your house to collect the money, but you weren’t there, so I came here instead,” Ji Wei said, glancing at Liu Qing’s wife. The doctor was still nowhere in sight, and she had been bleeding for so long that her face had gone pale.

“Your wife’s in this condition, and you don’t even care. Liu Qing, you truly have no heart,” Ji Wei shook his head, walking over to Liu Qing’s wife. He tore a strip of cloth from his clothing and tightly bound her wound to stop the bleeding.

Liu Qing’s wife, too weak to protest, whispered a soft “thank you” to Ji Wei before closing her eyes and lying back, panting for breath.

“Make way! The doctor’s here!”

A voice shouted, and the elderly physician from Xinglin Hall finally arrived, pushing through the crowd. He glanced around and, spotting Ji Wei, immediately assumed this must have something to do with him. Looking at the other familiar faces—Baozi Xi Shi, Liu Qing—he imagined a complicated scenario that was far from the truth.

Without waiting for explanations, the doctor pulled a bottle of hemostatic powder from his kit and instructed Ji Wei to tear open the woman’s sleeve. He poured the white powder onto the gaping wound.

The sudden pain caused Liu Qing’s wife to cry out in agony.

Once the shouting subsided, she locked eyes with Liu Qing and began cursing him, spitting out the most vicious insults and curses she could muster.

After applying the medicine, the doctor gave her a tonic to replenish her energy. Though she was still weak from blood loss, she managed to stand up and staggered over to Baozi Xi Shi. With a look of pure hatred, she spat in her face.

“You wretched woman! Seducing another woman’s husband! You’ll be drowned in a pig cage before long!”

With that, Liu Qing’s wife turned and stormed off without a second glance at Liu Qing. As she passed him, he reached out to grab her, but she shook him off with force and kept walking without looking back.

“Well, now that she’s gone, how about we settle our accounts?” Ji Wei smirked.

Liu Qing’s eyes were fixed on the spot where Ji Wei had tucked away the contract—his last chance at escape. If only that paper were gone…

Clenching his teeth, Liu Qing tensed up, and when Ji Wei’s attention momentarily wavered, he pounced like a tiger. He tackled Ji Wei to the ground and urgently called for Baozi Xi Shi.

“Hurry up! Grab the contract from him and tear it up!”

Though Ji Wei was strong, Liu Qing wasn’t weak either.

Tears welled up in Baozi Xi Shi’s eyes. She was still shaken by Liu Qing’s wife’s earlier threats but reached out with trembling hands toward Ji Wei’s collar. Before she could get close, Ji Wei bit down on her hand, making her scream.

“Useless! Can’t even do this right!” Liu Qing cursed.

Ji Wei refused to let go, using all his strength to roll to the side, knocking Liu Qing off him. In one swift motion, Ji Wei got to his feet, grabbed a chair, and faced Liu Qing.

“Ambushing from behind, Liu Qing—you’re as underhanded as ever!” Ji Wei taunted. “No wonder you got the better of me last time. If not for your sneak attack, I wouldn’t have ended up in such bad shape.”

Still not giving up, Liu Qing roared and charged at Ji Wei again. He ignored the pain as the chair crashed against him and engaged Ji Wei in a fierce struggle.

With blood on the ground and a full-blown brawl underway, it was only a matter of time before Constable Zhu of Changliu Town was alerted. Even if he hadn’t heard directly, someone was bound to inform him.

In less than half an hour, Constable Zhu arrived, fully dressed in his uniform and armed with a blade, rushing to the scene.

The door was locked, but Zhu didn’t bother knocking. With two sturdy men beside him, they kicked it open with a single blow.

“Stop this at once!” Constable Zhu’s sharp eyes took in the scene. “You two again?!” The floor is still wet with blood, but no injured party was in sight, Zhu couldn’t help but grimace.