Seeing the Deed of Sale torn up, Wu Jinliang almost grinned from ear to ear again. Chuckling, he also glanced at Old Dong and only relaxed when he saw that the man knew better than to speak out.
In truth, when he had gone to fabricate the evidence earlier, he really had not wanted to take Old Dong along. More precisely, he had not wanted Old Dong to see it. But he had had no choice. He was unfamiliar with the place, and finding somewhere that sold the necessary supplies at short notice would have been difficult. Besides, he needed someone to pay.
Watching the shredded Deed of Sale fall to the ground, Bian Weikang let out a deep breath of relief and cupped his hands toward Shi Chun. "Senior brother... rest assured, I'll repay the money I borrowed from you as soon as possible. I'll write you an IOU right now." He turned to go inside and find a brush, ink, paper, and inkstone.
Shi Chun caught his arm. "Enough. The intention is all that matters. Forget the IOU. Would I distrust your character, Bian? If I didn't trust you, I wouldn't have lent you the money. There's no hurry to repay it. Take your time. We'll talk when you have it."
The corner of Old Dong's mouth curled upward, and he shook his head inwardly. The Chief was still the same old Chief. Even while brewing mischief, he never missed a chance to play the good man first.
No matter what Bian Weikang said, Shi Chun refused to take an IOU. With a wave of his hand, he told him not to see them out and simply led his men away without fuss.
But Bian Weikang still insisted on escorting them outside the Carefree Inn. He watched them go for a long time before returning.
As soon as he entered the room and saw the beauty waiting for him, Bian Weikang could not contain his feelings. He stepped forward for a tender embrace, only for Xiang Lan'er to press down on his arms and push him away again.
"Weikang, do you also think that because I came from a brothel, you can take liberties with me as you please?"
Xiang Lan'er looked up with tears brimming in her eyes. That woman of a thousand charms had become a picture of fragile sorrow, enough to stir pity in anyone who saw her.
That accusation sent Bian Weikang hastily waving his hands in denial, begging Xiang Lan'er not to misunderstand.
Xiang Lan'er said little more. Wiping away her tears, she silently fetched some supplies, then drew Bian Weikang down into a seat and tended the wounds on his forehead and hands with wifely care. Bian Weikang immediately basked in warmth and happiness. Men really were that easy to soothe...
After they descended the cliff, Big Stone finally could not hold back any longer and asked Shi Chun, "Chief, why didn't you take an IOU? Bian Weikang already has no way to repay the money. Without even an IOU, when will we ever get those fifty thousand gold back?"
At those words, Wu Jinliang chuckled without answering, and Old Dong also gave a couple of laughs. Neither exposed the truth then and there; they planned to tell Big Stone later.
Big Stone was no fool. One look at their wicked grins told him there had to be more to it...
Skyward City's Wangbo Tower stood beside the lake at the mouth of the gorge. It, too, was embedded in the cliff face, with imposing upturned eaves and a grand scale, and a considerable stream of customers coming and going. The "broad" in its Chinese name referred to the vast range of goods it traded, much like an enormous general store. Apart from shops selling their own products, specialty stores, and certain unusual businesses such as Liyun Tower, Wangbo Tower dealt in almost everything else. Almost no one trading in the same goods could compete with it.
At that moment, high in the tower, an office overlooking the lake and mountains held piles of neatly arranged account books amid elegant furnishings.
A woman of serene bearing rose from her desk and walked to the balcony railing to gaze into the distance. Her picturesque features radiated an easy grace. Her lovely face was complemented by a Goose-Yellow Dress fluttering in the breeze, her skin clear and fair. She looked as fresh as spring snow adorning a tree, and amid the lofty tower, shining lake, and beautiful landscape, she seemed part of a painting.
Her large eyes resembled her mother's. Her mother was Lan Qiaoyan, who oversaw Wangbo Tower in the Prison of Life, and she herself was that Miss Miao, named Miao Yilan.
Che Si stood nearby, giving a detailed account of how he had lent the money to Shi Chun.
After hearing the story, Miao Yilan murmured a passage to herself. "If everyone in the world were heartless, what meaning would there be in living? Mutual love is worth more than untold riches..." Longing shone in her eyes as she gazed into the distance, as though she yearned to find someone who would share such love with her.
Che Si hurried to explain, "All that talk about admiring Bian Weikang's loyalty and devotion was just a high-sounding excuse. He simply had his eye on Bian Weikang's promise to repay twice the amount. He wanted to make that money."
Miao Yilan turned toward him with an amused smile. "Couldn't he really have helped because of that 'loyalty and devotion'?"
Had this been when she first met Shi Chun, she certainly would not have said anything like that. When he had tried to get close to her, she had sensed that he wanted to climb through her connections.
Whether he was seeking connections could be set aside. The point was that no matter how amusing Shi Chun was, no matter how hard he tried to please her and make her laugh, she simply felt no attraction to him. From the outset, she had known there could be nothing between them.
The vast gulf in their status was only one aspect. Deep down, she also found it impossible to accept the strange smell clinging to the people of the Land of Exile, or the grime that would not wash away. It truly was not contempt. She could befriend them as equals, but she simply could not accept one as her man.
She considered her moral principles reasonably sound and disliked distinctions of high and low between people. Yet only after visiting the Land of Exile had she understood one truth: the gulf between poverty and wealth really could not be bridged by morality.
Whenever she occasionally thought of this, she felt quite sad.
Shi Chun's deliberate efforts to approach her had also put her mother, Lan Qiaoyan, on guard. She had immediately investigated his background in secret, and the findings had surprised her. The first thing she had told her daughter was, "That boy is a one-of-a-kind oddity." Then she had added with feeling that he was a man of "loyalty and devotion."
Naturally, she had asked what had happened. Her mother had then told her how Shi Chun had grown up eating food provided by the many households of the Eastern Nine Plains. After taking control of the Eastern Nine Plains, he had sworn before everyone that he had always remembered their kindness in squeezing food from between their own teeth to feed him. He would do everything in his power to get them out, and he promised that he would be the last to leave. As long as even one person present had yet to get out, he would never leave.
Over the following years, he had indeed kept his word, sending dozens of people out one after another.
The number might not seem large, but measured against the time involved and the size of the region, even she knew that the proportion was extraordinarily high.
What her mother truly wanted her to understand was that this was not the outside world. This was the Land of Exile. Outsiders could scarcely imagine how desperately those suffering natives wanted to leave and change their fates. Who knew how much blood had flowed beneath that desire, or how many bodies had fallen under its weight?
What it meant to give up dozens of chances to leave over several years was something outsiders could scarcely imagine.
The latest news said that more than a hundred people had left the Eastern Nine Plains in one group, and Shi Chun really had been the last person to leave.
It was after that investigation into Shi Chun's background that her mother had become less wary of his approaching her, more or less turning a blind eye.
Thus, when Che Si said that Shi Chun claimed to have helped Bian Weikang because of his "loyalty and devotion," Che Si did not believe it, but she believed it somewhat. Her mother had said that Shi Chun was a man of "loyalty and devotion" to his very bones, so perhaps that truly was why he had helped Bian Weikang.
And so those words-"If everyone in the world were heartless, what meaning would there be in living? Mutual love is worth more than untold riches"-had struck a chord in her soul.
Che Si knew nothing of those twists and turns and remained adamant. "Impossible. It was purely an excuse. He was after double repayment. The problem now is that Bian Weikang has no ability to repay anything. What if Shi Chun can't pay back those forty thousand gold?"
Miao Yilan smiled. "Even if he can't, we'll make him find a way. We can find him a job at Wangbo Tower and deduct it from his monthly wages until it's all paid off. We certainly won't allow him to default."
The reason she had immediately sent Che Si to deliver the money when Shi Chun asked for a loan-even one as large as forty thousand gold-was also something her mother had once said: if you truly helped someone with such loyalty and devotion, he would never forget it.
Of course, when she heard about the loan, she had assumed Shi Chun had encountered some urgent difficulty. In all the time she had known him, he had never asked her for or borrowed anything, let alone money.
"..." Che Si was somewhat dumbfounded. If the man could not repay the money, she would even help him find a good job? Was Wangbo Tower somewhere just anyone could enter on a whim? Was she making him repay a debt, or repaying a debt to him?
During his trips in and out of the Land of Exile, he had also heard about Shi Chun pursuing Miss Miao. Could it be... surely not? He could not help quietly studying her expression.
Just then, Old Dong's voice came from outside. "Miss Miao."
Miao Yilan turned and answered, "Come in."
Old Dong hurried inside and approached her, reporting cautiously, "Shi Chun is downstairs. He says he's here to visit you. Shall I have him brought up?"
Without permission, not just anyone could come to the upper floors of Wangbo Tower.
Miao Yilan smiled faintly. "Come to think of it, we really do meet every three months. I didn't expect that to continue even after leaving the Prison of Life. Since he's here, invite him up."
"Yes." Old Dong dipped his waist slightly, then turned and left.
Miao Yilan walked over to the desk where she handled her work and reached out to flick the feather set in a holder at its corner. It immediately swayed like dancing snowflakes.
It was a feather from a bird said to be almost extinct. With a gentle breath, its down would swirl and drift like flying snow, a lovely sight. Shi Chun had obtained it in the Land of Exile and given it to her, saying that only she deserved something so beautiful.
Later, she too had found it genuinely lovely and placed it at the corner of her desk as an ornament. Sometimes, when she grew tired of working and paused for a rest, she would blow on it and admire it. It was quite refreshing to her spirits, so she had brought it out of the Prison of Life to keep her company.
In the ground-floor hall, the various sales areas were arranged by category. Shi Chun put his words into practice and had Big Stone lead him to the book stall.
There was a vast assortment of books. After looking for a while, Shi Chun still did not know which to choose, so he asked, "Shopkeeper, which book sells best?"
The clerk had little appreciation for his ragged appearance. Only because Big Stone, accompanying him, wore the same Wangbo Tower clothes as the clerk did he refrain from making any snide remarks. He casually took a book from the shelf and tossed it in front of Shi Chun. "This one. It's our best seller right now."
Shi Chun looked closely and saw "Shanhai Lantern" written on the cover. Without even looking at the contents, he made his decision. "Good. This one, then. Give me two copies."