Chapter 46

Chapter 46

Seeing that his master seemed somewhat displeased, Shopkeeper Hu thought for a moment and ventured, "Master, did I give too little?"

"What do you think?" the man retorted without answering, looking at Shopkeeper Hu like he was an idiot.

Hearing this, Shopkeeper Hu was confused. His master had specifically traveled from the capital, showing how important this matter was to him, so why did he now think that giving the girl five hundred taels was too much?

Seeing Shopkeeper Hu look confused, the man let out a heavy snort. "Calling you an idiot is no mistake. How much does a rural family spend in a year?"

At these words, Shopkeeper Hu understood.

In Dongyan, a rural family of five or six typically spent at most ten to twenty taels of silver annually. If there were fewer people, the expenses were even less. If they could be self-sufficient in grain, they spent even less, since the biggest expenses for commoners were food and clothing.

He had given that girl five hundred taels, enough to cover her family's expenses for many years.

With plenty of money, she naturally wouldn't come back to pawn anything. In their current situation, finding her would be very difficult.

On the other hand, she might come back to pawn something again.

Her coming to them would be much faster than their going to find her.

After all, Qinghe County—not too big, not too small—had many mountains and valleys. Finding someone without any leads was truly no easy task.

Now that opportunity was lost.

Of course, his master was angry.

But on that day, he had given such a large amount for his own reasons and considerations.

After weighing it, Shopkeeper Hu decided to confess. At worst, he would be called an idiot a few more times.

"Master, it wasn't that I wanted to give so much. But the girl said her father was sick and needed five hundred taels to buy medicine, so I..."

Hearing this, the man frowned and interrupted before Shopkeeper Hu could finish. "You said the girl's father is sick? Needs five hundred taels for medicine?"

Shopkeeper Hu nodded. "That's what the girl said."

"So you gave her five hundred taels?"

"Yes." Remembering how he had been completely fooled by a young girl, Shopkeeper Hu's voice grew smaller and smaller.

"Are you an idiot? She says she needs five hundred taels for medicine, and you just gave her five hundred taels?"

The man's voice was calm, but Shopkeeper Hu knew this was the calm before the storm. He quickly kowtowed and begged forgiveness. "Master, I failed in my duty. I was blind. I deserve to die. Please..."

"Five hundred taels all used for medical treatment and medicine! Then what will she and her father eat? What will they use? Eat dirt? Can't that pig brain of yours be a bit more flexible? Do you just eat plain rice with nothing else?"

Hearing the man's barrage of questions, Shopkeeper Hu, who had been bowing and confessing, even forgot what he was about to say.

How... how was this different from what he had expected?

After a moment's thought, he understood.

His master was worried that they might suffer.

Although it was not yet certain that the girl was the daughter of the person they were looking for, this was the only clue in all these years.

What if she was?

In such matters, they’d rather believe it’s true than assume it’s false.

Even if it turned out not to be the case, they would only have wasted a little manpower and money. With a clue, continuing the search would be much easier than before, when they had no leads at all.

At the time, he had thought about that, but he feared that giving too much would arouse suspicion, since five hundred taels was already a huge amount.

Seeing the displeased look on the man's face, Shopkeeper Hu thought for a moment and said, "Master, I didn't think this through. But you don’t need to worry so much. Since the girl made up fake names and addresses, maybe the bit about her dad being sick is fake too."

The implication was that there was no need to worry about her going hungry; maybe she’s living it up now.

If Shopkeeper Hu had kept his mouth shut, it would have been fine, but as soon as he spoke, the anger the man had suppressed earlier flared up again.

"If you can't talk properly, shut up. Who would curse their own father for nothing? Besides, if it weren't truly hopeless, who would pawn their mother's keepsake? Would you?"

That did make sense. Shopkeeper Hu was momentarily at a loss for words.

Never mind. It seemed whatever he said was wrong. Better to say nothing, save himself a scolding, and avoid angering his master further.

Seeing him standing there dumbly, the man gave him an exasperated look. "What are you standing around for? Why aren't you sending people to search again?"

"Yes, yes, yes." Shopkeeper Hu hurriedly nodded. "Master, please rest. I’ll go take care of it now." With that, he bowed and withdrew.

After Shopkeeper Hu left, the man massaged his temples, picked up the jade hairpin, and stroked the hibiscus flower at its tail, slowly lost in thought.

For a long time, he sat there motionless, as if he’d turned to stone.

After another moment, he finally moved. He sighed over the jade hairpin, his lips moving as if he said something, or perhaps nothing at all.

Lu Wanxiao had no idea that thanks to her, Shopkeeper Hu of the Worry-Free Pawnshop had been chewed out thoroughly, nor did she know how many people in Jinghe County would soon be running around because of her.

****

At that moment, she was busy watching the drama unfold at the Fu residence.

After Lu Wanxiao and Song Changting’s party arrived at the Fu residence, they swaggered over to Fu Ziyi’s Qingfeng Courtyard.

But before they could even get comfortable, Lu Wanxiao quietly slipped over to Mrs. Liang's courtyard. Apart from the bed being tidied up, the rest of Mrs. Liang's room was exactly the way Lu Wanxiao had left it the night before.

It was unclear if Mrs. Liang wanted to leave it for Fu Ziyi's father to see, or for some other reason.

She hadn’t reported it to the police, nor had she cleaned up.

Mrs. Liang’s maid was standing guard at the door, but Mrs. Liang herself was nowhere to be seen.

Taking advantage of her spatial ability to hide, Lu Wanxiao circled the courtyard and finally found her in an inconspicuous little room.

Inside the room, a man was lying on the bed, but he didn’t look good.

His face was an unnatural red, as if engorged. The hand the doctor was checking for a pulse was covered in bulging veins, looking ready to burst any moment.

Beside him, Mrs. Liang looked back and forth between the man on the bed and the doctor taking his pulse, she looked anxious and tense.

Seeing this, Lu Wanxiao had already guessed who the man in bed was.

She thought to herself: just a fingernail’s worth of that stuff could drive an ox crazy, and they had used a whole packet. Yet it ended so fast.

So the guy passed out!

But this guy was way too pathetic. She’d only ever heard that these drugs made people even more energetic and tireless.

After using this stuff, this is the first time I've seen someone pass out mid... you know.

If you say it's because the dosage was too strong and he couldn't handle it, then how come that woman Liang is still sitting here just fine?

Although her face looks a bit off right now, tired, anxious, tense, with impatience written all over her face, like she's about to blow up any second.

But the fact that she raised hell early in the morning so the whole house knew at least shows that she didn't pass out together with her lover.

And then she even got rid of the leftover Ecstasy Powder in her own system, moved him from her room to here, and called a doctor to treat him.

So why did he pass out halfway and still hasn't woken up yet?

Really? That line of hers—"Every time he comes, he leaves me unable to get out of bed the next day"—how can she even say that with a straight face?

Is this that legendary love that makes people blind, heartless, and crazy?

Lu Wanxiao doesn't get it and doesn't want to get it.

But to throw her conscience out the window and praise him like that? That's true love, no doubt!

"Doctor, how is he?" Madam Liang spoke. Her voice was tired and weak, but you could still hear the worry and concern.

"Ah..." The doctor sighed. "Uh... well..." He hemmed and hawed, like he didn't know how to say it.

Lu Wanxiao had been about to leave, but seeing the doctor like that, she stayed.