A Deal

Bei'an Prefecture City.

The sun was blazing high in the sky, and the crowds were dense.

Peace Avenue was as bustling as ever, with shops on both sides of the street doing brisk business and full of customers.

At the end of the street, a food stall was also packed with people, but these were not ordinary diners. They were either burly men with menacing faces, or shifty-eyed and cunning-looking individuals.

The group of more than ten people did not gather together, but each occupied a table by themselves. Anyone with a discerning eye could tell that they were up to no good.

The innkeeper and his staff moved about the dining room, serving dishes, pouring tea, and all smiles.

"Master Ning, please grant us a few more days. Our shop simply cannot come up with such a large sum of money at this time!"

The shopkeeper bowed respectfully, his smiling face masking an undisguised panic.

"Give us a few more days today, a few more days tomorrow, but if everyone were like you, what would we brothers be left to starve!"

Mr. Ning, who was speaking, was dressed in a soap suit, with the word "capture" tattooed on his chest. He raised his thick palm like a cattail leaf fan and slapped the boss.

With a cry of "Ouch!", the shopkeeper was sent flying backward, crashing onto a table, tumbling a few times before landing on the ground, groaning in pain.

"Damn it, you won't listen to reason, so here comes the punishment! Smash it!"

The sound of tables being overturned rose and fell, and tables, chairs, and benches flew everywhere. One after another, the men ransacked the food stall, scaring the waiter so much that he knelt down and begged for mercy.

One of them, with a large plum blossom tattoo behind his ear and on his neck, was wielding a long bench and swinging it violently, the sound of the blows echoing in the air.

In an instant, the food stall was smashed to pieces. The crowd only stopped when Master Ning stood up and raised his hand.

"If you still don't see the silver in three days, I'll let you taste what prison food is like!"

"Walk!"

A group of people followed Master Ning out of the food shop and walked along the street. Pedestrians around them all changed color and avoided him like the plague.

As we were walking, a voice called out from the roadside, "Brother Fang!"

Hearing the sound, Xu Fang looked in the direction of the voice and saw her lover waving at her from the roadside. She glanced at Xu Ning ahead, broke away from the group, went to her lover, and reached out to pat his waist.

"Cui'er, it's only been a few days, and you already miss your brother so much!"

"Slap!" Cui'er slapped his hand away and said, "Don't be so handsy in public, I have something important to discuss with you!"

"What important business is it?!" Xu Fang persisted, touching it a couple more times.

"Come with me!"

Cui'er turned and left, and Xu Fang followed her. Before long, they arrived at a secluded alley.

Seeing that no one was around, Xu Fang immediately stepped forward and pinned Cui'er against the wall, groping her all over. Just as he was about to undress her, Cui'er pushed his head away from her chest and said, "Wait a minute, I really have something important to do!"

"What important matters can wait until later!"

Xu Fang didn't stop at all. She grabbed Cui'er and rolled into the bushes by the roadside, followed by heavy breathing.

After a moment, Cui'er pushed Xu Fang away and, still dressed, asked, "Tell me, when are you going to take me away?"

Xu Fang frowned. "Didn't I tell you? Once I've saved enough money, I'll take you far away!"

"Hmph!" Cui'er snorted coldly, "By the time you've saved up enough money, I'll be an old maid."

"Don't worry, I'll definitely take you away." Xu Fang said dismissively, then changed the subject, "You said you had something important to do, what is it?"

Cui'er glanced around instinctively, then lowered her voice and said, "I have another big deal coming up. If it works out, we can run away together!"

"What big deal?" Xu Fang perked up immediately upon hearing this.

Cui'er whispered, "A business of killing!"

Cui'er's words made Xu Fang raise an eyebrow, "Kill who?"

Cui'er said, "Bai Mudan!"

"Her!" Xu Fang touched the plum blossom tattoo behind her ear and asked suspiciously, "Isn't that your second master's mistress? Why kill her?"

"What else could it be!" Cui'er explained, "Ever since my second master redeemed this Bai Mudan, he's been staying there every day, never even coming home, leaving my second mistress alone in her empty room all day long."

You know Second Madam's temper; she couldn't stand this. So, she gave me ten taels of silver as a deposit, telling me to find a swordsman on the black market to kill that Bai Mudan. She promised to give me another hundred taels afterward.

I suppose you're a lackey in the government office? You're most familiar with this kind of thing. Instead of looking for someone else, why don't you go and kill him yourself?

After we got the money, we ran away together, found a place where nobody knew us, bought a house, and lived a carefree life.

"One hundred taels!" Xu Fang confirmed. "Second Madam, are you really willing to spend one hundred taels?"

"How could this be fake!" Cui'er said, taking out a silver ingot. "Look, this is the deposit!"

Xu Fang snatched the silver ingot, her eyes shining, and exclaimed, "This is really a big deal!"

"Give me the deposit!" Cui'er said, reaching for the silver ingot, but she was no match for Xu Fang and was pushed away.

"Doing business doesn't require capital, but buying a good knife costs several taels of silver. Go back and tell Second Madam to prepare that hundred taels of silver. I'll go and get that Bai Mudan tonight."

Xu Fang walked out of the alley happily with the ten taels of silver ingots, thinking that she now had enough money for her grandmother's medicine for the second half of the year.

Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his head, as if something had hit him. "Ouch!" he cried out, quickly touching his head to find his hand covered in blood.

A quick glance around revealed the culprit.

A blood-stained stone ball rolled a few times on the ground before hitting the base of the wall and coming to a stop.

"That damned bastard dared to ambush your Master Fang!"

Xu Fang cursed loudly and looked around, but saw no one. She cursed a few more times before coming to the stone. Just as she was about to kick it to vent her anger, she noticed that there seemed to be patterns carved on the stone.

He bent down, picked it up, and examined it closely. "Hey, isn't this the pearl in the lion's mouth?"

Xu Fang had previously stolen the stone balls from the mouths of the stone lions in front of wealthy families' gates. They had some patterns carved on them, similar to the one in her hand, and could be sold for several dozen dollars on the black market.

He tossed the pearl in his hand, feeling its considerable weight, and his eyes lit up. "I was just wondering what a suitable object I needed! This is perfect!"

Putting away the precious pearl, Xu Fang covered her bleeding forehead and walked home without changing her expression.

As a hanger-on, it's common for me to beat others until they bleed or be beaten until I bleed. This little injury is nothing to go to a clinic for; it'll be almost healed by the time I get home.

He staggered back home, kicked open the door, and shouted, "Mother... Mother..."

"Cough cough cough..." A series of coughs echoed inside the house. A woman who looked to be in her thirties came to the door, coughing as she glanced at Xu Fang's blood-covered face and asked casually, "Who did you get into a fight with this time?"

"Who started the fight? I was just showered with money!"

Xu Fang spoke without hesitation, taking out a silver ingot and handing it to the woman, "Look, this is enough for you to buy medicine for half a year!"

"Your sister just had some medicine delivered over a month ago. You should keep this money for yourself. If your father sees it again, he'll just gamble it away!"

The woman took the silver, looked at it, and then handed it back.

Xu Fang casually pushed it away, saying impatiently, "Just take it. Why all the nonsense? Just hide it properly."

Hey, hurry up and get me some hot water! Can't you see my face is covered in blood?!