TATSD Chapter 96

“Ah Qiu is helping me out here—”

As soon as Ji Wei mentioned this, Mao Lintie’s suppressed rage erupted. He shouted, “Ji Wei! How dare you say that!”

“What’s wrong with me?” Ji Wei was genuinely taken aback; he had only met Mao Lintie once.

It was because Ah Qiu had come to work here, and Mao Lintie had forbidden it. In a fit of anger, Ah Qiu had stayed in the back of the shop for a few days. Mao Lintie couldn’t sit still, so he stormed into the shop and caused a scene, which was how Ji Wei came to know Ah Qiu’s husband.

But now that he thought about it, he realized that Mao Lintie was likely here because of Ah Qiu.

“Don’t play dumb with me! Ah Qiu is a boy! I don’t believe you didn’t know that! I remember you married a boy too, right? Would you let your own come out and show their face?” Mao Lintie’s anger rose with each word, and his voice grew louder.

Mentioning Liu Yimian made Ji Wei frown. “Brother Mao, there are too many ears here. For the sake of Ah Qiu and Mianmian’s reputation, please choose your words carefully.”

Only then did Mao Lintie realize that he had spoken too loudly, drawing the attention of the customers. He felt a bit embarrassed but remained stubborn and silent.

“If there’s something to discuss, let’s talk in the back,” Ji Wei gestured.

“Lead the way.” Mao Lintie was quite rude about it.

Once they reached the back room, Ji Wei immediately closed the door, cutting off the curious glances from outside.

Mao Lintie sniffed, puzzled by the sweet scent filling the room. But when he saw Ji Wei’s face, he suppressed his curiosity.

“I would like to know how Ah Qiu is doing, Brother Mao,” Ji Wei said, noticing Mao Lintie’s reluctance to speak. He smiled. “After all, Ah Qiu is a friend of my Mianmian. Since he’s not here, it’s only right that I ask.”

“Is your friend going to school?” Mao Lintie scoffed when Ji Wei nodded. “He’s just a boy! Do you really consider him a man? Sending him to school? When he gets laughed at, won’t that be on you?”

Ah Qiu had only come to help Ji Wei for a month or two, but it was enough for the gossip to spread. Many customers who came to buy river fresh from Mao Lintie often asked about Ah Qiu. Some busybodies speculated that something had happened at home, suggesting that even boys had to go out and work, which only fueled Mao Lintie’s anger.

This eventually led to a fallout with Ah Qiu, causing him to leave home for several days.

Ji Wei calmly replied, “That’s our business. What has happened to Ah Qiu?”

Though he had sent Liu Yimian to study in the county and had also asked Ah Qiu to help in the shop, he didn’t have the time to advocate for the rights of boys. He certainly didn’t want to get entangled with Mao Lintie over these issues.

“I’m here to let you know that Ah Qiu won’t be coming here anymore, and I’m here to settle his wages,” Mao Lintie said, lifting his chin proudly.

“Is that Ah Qiu’s decision, or is it yours, Brother Mao?” Ji Wei asked calmly.

“What difference does it make?” The smile faded from Mao Lintie’s face.

“It makes a big difference. If it’s Ah Qiu’s decision, I will gladly hand over his wages. If it’s your decision, then I think it’s better to wait until Ah Qiu can tell me himself. After all, it’s Ah Qiu who is helping me, not you, Brother Mao.” Ji Wei stood up to pour Mao Lintie a cup of cool tea, meant to quench the thirst of the hardworking staff.

Mao Lintie took a deep breath and suppressed his anger, chuckling twice, prompting Ji Wei to turn and look at him.

“Of course, Ah Qiu asked me to come. He’s pregnant, and I won’t allow him to come here anymore. If you don’t give him his wages, I’ll take you to see the town head. If necessary, I’ll report you. Others may fear you, Ji Wei, but I, Mao Lintie, am not afraid!” he exclaimed excitedly.

But his words disappointed him.

Ji Wei was surprised that a boy could be pregnant, but he hid it well. “That is truly wonderful news! If Ah Qiu is pregnant, even if he wanted to come back, I would never dare accept him.”

“Just so you know.”

“This tea is cooling and refreshing, sweet and mild. Give it a try, Brother Mao.” Ji Wei pushed the cup towards Mao Lintie and then took off his belt, pulling out a silver ingot worth a tael and placing it on the table.

“What’s this?” Mao Lintie wasn’t stupid. He knew that Ah Qiu had never received wages here; he had only served tea and water. There was no way he could have earned a tael of silver.

He looked at Ji Wei with confusion.

“Since Ah Qiu is pregnant and Mianmian, as his friend, isn’t here to visit him, consider this extra as a gift.”

Mao Lintie quickly pocketed the silver, afraid Ji Wei would change his mind, his eyes betraying a hint of cleverness.

With the silver in hand, his anger towards Ji Wei lessened considerably.

“But I can’t let you leave empty-handed. This is a new product from my shop. Ah Qiu should like it, so take some to him for me.” Ji Wei had a few meat floss pastries left on the shelf, which he originally planned to have for dinner, but he hadn’t expected Mao Lintie to show up.

He wrapped them in oil paper and handed them over.

“Whatever Ah Qiu likes, just ask. I won’t charge you for it.” Ji Wei knew that before he arrived in this world, Liu Yimian had suffered greatly at the hands of the original owner. It was Ah Qiu who took the risk of being discovered by Mao Lintie to bring supplies to him.

Regardless of his motives, Ah Qiu had helped Liu Yimian. Since Ji Wei viewed Liu Yimian as his beloved, it could be said that Ah Qiu was also half a benefactor to Ji Wei.

But all of this was something Ji Wei didn’t need to mention to Mao Lintie.

Mao Lintie drank the tea in one gulp, clutching the bag of meat floss pastries, and confusedly pushed open the door to leave.

He came in seething with anger but left feeling dazed. No matter how he thought about it, he couldn’t understand why Ji Wei would be so kind to Ah Qiu.

Could it be just because Ah Qiu is a friend of his family’s boy?

Mao Lintie shook his head. Regardless of the reason, he simply wouldn’t allow Ah Qiu to seek help from anyone with the surname Ji in the future.

Ji Wei stood at the open door for a while. Without Ah Qiu, there would be one less person to serve tea and cook here. He couldn’t be doing those chores himself, so he needed to come up with a solution.

“Does anyone here know how to cook?” After shouting this, Ji Wei felt a bit regretful; these were all grown men, many of whom had mothers or wives at home. Who would cook?

However, to Ji Wei’s surprise, despite the sparse responses, four people raised their hands.

Brother Tian ran over and asked, “What’s going on? Is A Qiu seriously ill?” He had raised his hand too, but he put it down once he approached.

“You can cook?” Ji Wei looked at him in astonishment. Brother Tian truly surprised him; he was literate, hardworking, and he could cook too.

“I know a bit, just some simple stir-frying. It’s not as good as your or A Qiu’s cooking,” Brother Tian said, feeling a bit shy.

“That’s fine; you can take care of lunch from now on.”

“I can’t do that…”

Ji Wei patted Brother Tian on the shoulder and said earnestly, “You need to believe in yourself; you can do it. I’ll give you fifty wen a day. Make sure there’s meat and vegetables; I trust you to handle it.”

“Well… I’ll give it a try,” Brother Tian replied uncertainly.

“Since you’ve taken over A Qiu’s share, your wage will now be ten wen for every hour worked,” Ji Wei said with a smile. Brother Tian was so astonished he gaped, then bent over and bowed deeply to Ji Wei.

Many people noticed the commotion and turned to look.

“Alright, go back to your work,” Ji Wei said.

In the span of just one hour, Brother Tian had received two raises, which absolutely delighted him. Normally a quiet person, today he hummed a tune all day and smiled at everyone. Even without him mentioning the raise, everyone guessed it and congratulated him.

At the county school, outside the school building.

“Remember, you promised to take us to stroll down Yongle Street this evening!” Lin Tai called out to Liu Yimian, who was heading back inside.

Liu Yimian turned around and waved his hand, and Lin Tai, satisfied, looked down in his bag, rummaging for his keys. But after searching around, he couldn’t find them.

“Where did I put those keys again?”

Just as Liu Yimian stepped outside, he noticed the half-open lock and exclaimed. He and Lin Tai’s rooms were not far apart, and hearing the shout, Lin Tai rushed over.

“What’s wrong? What happened?” Upon seeing the lock, Lin Tai kicked the door open, revealing a room in utter disarray—clearly, it had been ransacked.

Lin Tai nervously glanced at Liu Yimian, worried he might cry. To his surprise, Liu Yimian only paused for a moment, then quickly crouched down beside the table and dragged out a box from underneath.

When he opened the lid, his heart sank.

The wooden box was also a mess; the bag that had contained silver coins lay on a pile of books—dry and deflated—indicating that all the coins were gone.

For a moment, Liu Yimian’s mind went blank until he heard Lin Tai shout, “Are you okay?!”

“…I’m fine,” Liu Yimian replied softly, licking his dry lips.

“Who could get in here?” Lin Tai circled the room but found no clues. Frustrated, he kicked the bedpost. Even without Liu Yimian saying anything, he figured they had lost money. “I’m going to call everyone out to see if anyone suspicious came by today!”

“There was one time before this,” Liu Yimian suddenly looked up. “It must be that same person!”

“What?” Lin Tai walked over and grabbed Liu Yimian’s arm. “You’ve encountered them before? Why didn’t you tell us?”

Liu Yimian hesitated, looking down. “It was when Ji Ge came to look for me. When I came back, my room was also in disarray, but nothing was missing. So I didn’t mention it.”

Lin Tai understood immediately that Liu Yimian had kept quiet to avoid making them suspicious. He felt a warm surge of gratitude, then quickly became angry again.

“Which jerk would steal in the school? That’s disgraceful! I’m going to find this person!” Lin Tai released Liu Yimian and dashed out without waiting for him to respond.

When Liu Yimian stepped outside, he saw Lin Tai knocking on the doors, calling everyone out.

Many were startled and gathered around, asking what had happened.

“Our school has been robbed, and you all are still standing there!” Lin Tai’s words were like a stone thrown into a calm lake, causing everyone to look at each other, trying to make sense of it.

“No way! This is a school!”

“Only students come here. Could there be a thief among us?”

“I just went to the library with Li Qing; he can vouch for me.”

“I just got back; it couldn’t have been me.”

“What was stolen?” Lu Yushu, reading upstairs, heard the commotion below and leaned halfway out of the corridor, asking with curiosity.