"A-Ming, is this the life you live now? Every day outside, either fighting and killing or drinking yourself senseless without doing proper work. Come on, come home with me." The beautiful woman's throat bobbed slightly, her eyes full of heartache as she grabbed Chen Jingming and tried to pull him back.
"Chen Zijin! Are you sick in the head? I already told you, I don't need you to meddle in my business! Take that man back to your grand manor in the prefectural city and enjoy your riches and glory. Mom and I will live quietly in the Bamboo Raft Houses! The two of us have nothing to do with each other!" Big Eyes Chen Jingming's face darkened as he shouted agitatedly.
"This is..." Fang Xuan glanced at the woman, then seemed to recall something. He patted Chen Jingming on the shoulder and said:
"Big Eyes, one brushstroke cannot write two Chens. Be nicer to your sister. You two talk. We'll be going first."
With that, Fang Xuan prepared to leave. This was Chen Jingming's family matter, after all. It was neither his place nor his right to interfere.
"Brother Xuan, I'm not going back with her. I'm going with you! This woman's gone mad. Ten years ago, she followed that man to the prefectural city, leaving a mountain of Gambling House debts for Mom and me. In recent years, they got rich in the prefectural city, but that man's health has failed, so she brought him back and wants me, her son, to look after him. How could there be such a good deal in this world? When they didn't need me, they threw Mom and me away like trash. Now that they need me, they come looking for me again? What do they take me for? A dog they can kick twice when they're unhappy, then toss a bone when they're pleased?"
Chen Jingming shoved away the hand tightly clutching his wrist, then quickly caught up with Fang Xuan, who had turned to leave.
Chen Zijin stared at the retreating backs of Chen Jingming, Fang Xuan, and the others, biting her lip hard as her face turned pale.
"A-Ming, how can you speak so harshly? What happened back then wasn't what you think it was... Why have you become like this? I remember you being so obedient and kind when you were little."
Chen Zijin murmured to herself. Then, as if recalling something, she gritted her pearly teeth and hurried after them, stepping in front of Chen Jingming, Fang Xuan, and the others.
"Chen Zijin, can't you understand human speech—"
Chen Jingming had just been about to curse at her.
Fang Xuan patted his shoulder, then looked at Chen Zijin, doing his best to appear friendly as he said:
"You're A-Ming's sister, right? There are some things I shouldn't be the one to say, but A-Ming is a brother I've gone through life and death with, so I'll presume to say a few words. Frankly, A-Ming doesn't bear you any hostility. It's just that Uncle Chen did some things back then that were indeed not quite proper. Ice three feet thick does not form in a single day. If you want A-Ming to acknowledge Uncle Chen again, honestly, that isn't very realistic right now.
"That's all I have to say. Whether you listen is up to you."
Chen Zijin looked at the silent Chen Jingming, then turned her gaze to Fang Xuan.
She took a deep breath, and her eyes became cold and disgusted.
"You're Fang Xuan, right? I've heard of you. You're A-Ming's big brother, a notorious hooligan in Pingjiang County. Ever since A-Ming started following you, he stopped attending school. He followed you around, bullying merchants and domineering the countryside, living every day neither like a man nor a ghost! Over the years, you've led A-Ming into doing many filthy things. I wasn't here before, so I didn't hold it against you!"
"But now I'm back. If you truly see A-Ming as a brother you'd go through life and death with, then keep your distance from him! A person like you might end up dying in the street someday, but my brother A-Ming is different. His future lies in earning scholarly honors and achieving great things! I don't want him to be like you, living a life hated by men and dogs alike in this tiny county town, unable even to guarantee whether he'll still be alive tomorrow! So whether I'm asking you or begging you, please let him go. Stop hurting him!"
"Shut your mouth!!!"
Before Fang Xuan could speak, Chen Jingming's face had already flushed crimson. He shoved her aside forcefully and cursed viciously:
"Chen Zijin, you don't know anything at all. Say one more word about Brother Xuan, and don't blame me for making a move!"
"You say I don't know? Chen Jingming! Wake up! I'm your sister, closer to you than blood to water! And this Brother Xuan you keep talking about is a thoroughgoing piece of trash! He oppresses ordinary people and lives by stripping away and squeezing dry their hard-earned blood and sweat! A-Ming, listen to me. Don't keep being muddleheaded. In a few days, you and Mom can return to the prefectural city with Dad and me. If you want to study and earn scholarly honors, I can hire the best tutors in the entire prefectural city to teach you. If you want to practice martial arts, I can invite those Martial Masters who have entered the realm from the martial halls to teach you!"
"If you keep following this rotten man, you'll only drag your life down into the abyss along with his!"
Chen Zijin was just as agitated, tears spilling from her eyes.
She wiped her eyes and looked at Fang Xuan with utter disgust.
In her eyes, everything bad in Chen Jingming's life had been brought about by Fang Xuan.
"It seems Miss Chen is truly very dissatisfied with me."
Fang Xuan, who had been about to leave, set his raised foot back down. He patted Chen Jingming on the shoulder, signaling him to relax first, then looked calmly at Chen Zijin. After thinking for a moment, he spoke evenly:
"Miss Chen, you're right. People like us lick blood from the edge of a blade. We have no tomorrow. And A-Ming did indeed become a hooligan only after following me. But have you ever considered how a widowed mother and her orphaned son, saddled with a pile of bad debts, were supposed to live in this world? You only see A-Ming fighting and killing all day now, but do you know why the once obedient A-Ming became this way? I'll tell you why: because there was no other way. If he hadn't joined them, he would truly have been bullied to death!
"You know nothing. All you can do is wield morality as a weapon with your mouth. You don't know that after you and Uncle Chen left, when those hooligans from the Gambling House came to collect debts, it was this hated-by-men-and-dogs-like hooligan in your eyes who bore the debts for him! You also don't know that when Auntie developed asthma a few years ago, it was us hooligans who scraped together money earned from those filthy things you speak of and hired physicians to treat her!
"Miss Chen, you're different from people like us. You can live every day in the prefectural city with your pillow undisturbed, be your wealthy young lady, never worry about being bullied, never worry about whether there'll be food tomorrow. You can speak lightly of morality and judge whether someone is good or bad from on high as you please. But we're different. If we aren't fierce enough, if we aren't vicious enough, someone will be collecting our corpses the next day!"
"That's enough. For A-Ming's sake, I'll leave it at that. Whatever path A-Ming chooses, I won't interfere."
As his words fell, Fang Xuan gave Chen Zijin a faint glance and strode away.
"You're Miss Chen Zijin, right? You're Big Eyes's sister, so I won't lay a hand on you. But if you speak ill of Brother Xuan again next time, don't blame me for not giving Big Eyes any face!"
One Line Sky, Water Monkey, and Chu Chong gave Chen Zijin cold looks, then quickly followed Fang Xuan away.
Chen Jingming said nothing. He merely gave Chen Zijin a disappointed look before leaving alone.
On the deserted Ten Li Long Street, Chen Zijin stared blankly at Fang Xuan's retreating back for a long while without speaking.
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