Shameless to the Core

The two people standing before him were his uncle, Shen Hong, and his aunt by marriage, Li Ling.

After inheriting his predecessor's memories, Shen Mu had no fondness for the pair. If anything, he felt a lingering disgust toward them.

His father, Shen Ning, had been a constable at the yamen. He had died in the line of duty during a mission.

The yamen had offered two forms of compensation: fifty taels of silver as a pension, or the chance to recommend someone to become a constable.

His predecessor's mother, Lin Wan, had originally wanted to take the fifty-tael pension. After all, Shen Mu had been only three years old at the time. She could hardly send him to the yamen to become a constable, could she?

But at this crucial moment, Shen Hong and Shen Mu's grandfather, Shen Yuan, had come to their door together. They had said they were willing to pay sixty taels of silver to buy the chance to become a constable.

The yamen required constables to reach the Ninth Grade Tendon-Changing stage. At the time, Shen Hong was only at the Fifth Stage Boiling Blood and didn't meet the yamen's recruitment requirements.

But because Shen Ning had died in the line of duty, the yamen felt guilty toward his widow and orphan, so it had offered them those two choices.

Between fifty taels as a pension and sixty taels in silver, Lin Wan had naturally chosen the latter.

Who could have guessed that after Shen Hong successfully became a constable, he would never mention the sixty taels again?

Lin Wan had gone to his door several times to demand the money. At first, Shen Hong had made excuses, saying he'd spent the silver greasing palms here and there and had nothing left. He promised he'd repay her once he'd worked as a constable for a few years and earned his wages.

That wait lasted ten years. Lin Wan fell ill and passed away, and the sixty taels never appeared.

In Shen Mu's view, if Lin Wan had had that sixty taels, she wouldn't have needed to take on such backbreaking laundry work. She wouldn't have worn herself out and died so young.

Shen Mu knew the disgust he felt toward the pair came from the memories he'd inherited.

Judging by the way they'd come calling today, they didn't look like they'd come to repay their debt.

"Xiao Mu, I heard you're planning to sell this house?"

Shen Hong asked with a warm smile.

"That's right!"

Shen Mu nodded. At last, he understood why they'd come. They had their eyes on the house.

"Xiao Mu, we're family, after all. Since you're going to sell it to someone anyway, why not sell it to your second uncle?"

Shen Hong said with a hearty laugh, "I heard you're asking sixty taels. How about this? Your second uncle will pay eighty taels for your house. What do you say?"

"Fine."

But Shen Mu wasn't about to lower his guard just because the man had offered more. He added, "But do you have eighty taels in cash, Second Uncle? If you do, we can go to the yamen tomorrow and complete the transfer."

"Xiao Mu, eighty taels isn't a small sum."

Li Ling immediately chimed in from the side, trying to talk him out of it. "You're still young. What if having such a large sum all at once attracts the attention of bandits?"

"Why not let your second uncle hold on to the money for you? When you get married one day, he can hand every last tael over. Tomorrow, we can go transfer the title deed first. What do you think?"

Shen Mu's mouth twitched.

He'd thought they might offer a tael or two, trick him into transferring the title, and then make off with the house.

He hadn't imagined just how shameless the pair could be. They wanted him to transfer the title without paying a single coin.

He was so angry he almost laughed.

These two really intended to suck him dry to the bitter end.

Shen Mu glanced at them and sneered. "Second Uncle, Second Aunt, do you take me for a three-year-old?"

"Xiao Mu, what do you mean by that?"

The smile froze on Li Ling's face. She then said with displeasure, "We're only doing this for your own good. And yet you won't listen to a word we say?"

"Heh."

Shen Mu sneered. "If I weren't short of money, why would I be selling this house?"

Seeing that, Shen Hong hurriedly changed tack. "How about this, Xiao Mu? Your second uncle will give you twenty taels first, and we'll transfer the title deed tomorrow. I'll pay you the remaining sixty taels over the next five years."

"Your father was my elder brother. Now that both your parents are gone, your second uncle is your only family. Of course I have a duty to look after you."

"I'm not giving you all eighty taels at once because I'm worried you'll waste the money. Don't worry, I'm only holding it for you. Twenty taels should be enough to tide you over for a while. How does that sound?"

The pair had probably discussed this before coming over.

If their first scheme didn't work, they'd raise their offer and keep at it until Shen Mu took the bait.

Buying a house with a hundred square meters of land for just twenty taels—and if he took his time selling, he might get a hundred taels for it...

However you looked at it, it was a windfall!

"Another sixty taels?"

Hearing that figure, Shen Mu felt a nameless fire flare up inside him.

If these shameless wretches hadn't come knocking, he would almost have forgotten about the sixty taels they already owed.

Since they were so determined to push their luck, he'd have to reclaim the sixty taels on behalf of his predecessor and his mother, Lin Wan.

That money had been his father Shen Ning's pension. He couldn't just let them write it off.

Of course, he couldn't get the money back right now.

But as long as he was alive, he would grow stronger in time and make Shen Hong repay that pension, even if he no longer needed the sixty taels by then!

"It's getting late, Second Uncle. If you don't have sixty taels in cash, you should head home."

Shen Mu took a deep breath to suppress his anger and smiled pleasantly.

As far as he knew, Shen Hong still hadn't reached the Ninth Grade Tendon-Changing stage.

But ten years ago, Shen Hong had already been at the Fifth Stage Boiling Blood. By now, he must be at least at the Seventh or Eighth Stage Boiling Blood. He was far beyond Shen Mu's ability to provoke.

Before he had enough strength, there was no need to bring up old debts and offend the man. That would only make an enemy of him for no reason, and Shen Mu wasn't foolish enough to do that.

"Xiao Mu, why won't you listen?"

Seeing that Shen Mu still wouldn't budge, Li Ling said unhappily, "Do you really think your second uncle would deceive you? As soon as we heard you were selling the house, we waited here for hours."

"He's your own second uncle. Would he really harm you? We're only doing this for your own good!"

"Why can't you tell good intentions from bad?"

Shen Mu didn't take the bait. He merely said with a smile, "Second Uncle, Second Aunt, I'm tired today. I'm going back to rest."

With that, Shen Mu went straight inside and shut the gate. Shen Hong and Li Ling had wanted to come in and keep trying to persuade him, but Shen Mu had already closed the gate and clearly had no intention of inviting them in.

Shen Hong and Li Ling looked rather awkward.

"Shen Hong, let's go. He clearly doesn't consider you his second uncle. From now on, we'll pretend we don't have a relative like him. We won't care whether he lives or dies."

Li Ling still wasn't ready to give up. She deliberately called out toward the courtyard before pulling Shen Hong away.

Once they'd gone a little farther, Li Ling frowned. "That brat's sharp as a tack. He didn't fall for it at all."

"He's eighteen years old. Did you really think we could fool him with a few smooth words?"

Shen Hong glanced at her with displeasure, then said guiltily, "We never repaid a single coin of the sixty taels we owed him back then. Now we want to get our hands on his house too. How could he possibly trust us?"

Li Ling glared at him and sneered. "What do you know? I call it giving it a shot, whether or not there's a date on the tree. We haven't got anything to lose."

Then she seemed to remember something and said excitedly, "Right! What if the brat died by accident? He's unmarried and has no children. Wouldn't the house be ours?"

Shen Hong's expression changed. He hurriedly lowered his voice. "What's going on in that head of yours? Are you asking me to secretly kill him?"

"If an eighteen-year-old suddenly dies at home, do you really think Constable Wang and Constable Wu at the yamen are just there to draw a salary?"

"If he died, we'd be the only ones to benefit. We'd be the first people they suspected."

"I can earn back a few dozen taels in a year. Why would I kill someone for that little money? What were you thinking?"

Li Ling shrank back and said, "I was just saying. The city's been unsettled lately. Maybe that brat will get caught in the crossfire and accidentally killed by some martial artist."

Shen Hong said, "Let's leave it at that. If he really does die suddenly, we can count it as a windfall from heaven. If he stays alive and well, there's no need to covet a few dozen taels."

"Hmph."

Li Ling snorted, displeased. "Easy for you to say. Ming will be eighteen next year. We'll have to register him for martial arts training then, and that'll cost a fortune. We'll have to spend dozens of taels over the next few years, too. Added together, it'll be several hundred taels at least..."

The two murmured to each other as they quickly disappeared at the end of Mist Glow Lane.

Shen Mu had no idea that selling the house had almost brought death to his doorstep.

That conversation with Shen Hong and Li Ling had truly shown him how uneven the world could be.

As a constable, Shen Hong's annual salary and under-the-table income had to amount to fifty or sixty taels.

And the only reason he'd become a constable was that Shen Ning had died in the line of duty. He was literally gorging himself on another man's blood and still wasn't satisfied.

Now, as soon as they heard he was selling his house, the pair had come scurrying over like cats scenting fish. They had taken greed to the extreme.

"Second Uncle, I'll make you repay the sixty taels you owe me sooner or later!"

Shen Mu murmured to himself, his gaze deep and unreadable.

"Bang, bang, bang!"

Shen Mu had just taken a quick bath when someone knocked on the courtyard gate again.

"Who is it?"

His voice was a little impatient. He assumed Shen Hong and Li Ling had thought up another sales pitch and come back.

"Sir, I'm a clerk from the property agency. I've brought a buyer to look at your house."

The shop assistant's voice came from outside.