Chapter 5 Repaying Debts

  "Cough...cough..."

  Coming out of the eunuch's mansion in the town, the sky was as black as ink, and there were only faint lights on the street.

  Xu Qian had his hands behind his back and was coughing desperately.

  Deng Jian immediately said nervously: "Xu Xiaoguan, are you all right? If not, let's take a break on the road and I'll massage your back."

  Pounding his back... Xujian looked at him with a gloomy expression, he was afraid that Deng Jian would suddenly pound him to death.

  "It's nothing." Xu Qian spoke briefly this time, then paused for a moment, cleared his throat and said: "Also..."

  "What else?" Deng Jian's face was full of smiles, although he didn't know what had happened between Xu Qian and Wang Gonggong, but the current situation he understood very clearly. Xu Qian was now his superior, if Xu Qian told him to go east, he would have to go east. As a good running dog, he must adjust his attitude and adapt to this complex and ever-changing society.

  Xu Qian said sincerely: "Deng big brother, you just called me Xu Guanren and referred to yourself as a small person, this is too distant. What are we? We are brothers! Being brothers has no distinction between this life and the next, how can you be so distant? You just said that, it made my heart feel cold, I have always respected and revered you, regarded you as my Deng big brother..."

  Deng Jian was moved, although he didn't know if it was true or not, but at least Xu acted like it: "No, no, I should call you Big Brother Xu. Although Little Brother is a few years older than you, in my heart, you are just like my deceased brother."

  Son of a bitch... Xujian has lowered himself to this extent, and this guy actually says he looks like a dead ghost.

  But Xu Qian obviously didn't like direct knives, he patted Deng Jian's shoulder: "With your words, I'm at ease!"

  Deng Jian grabbed Xu Qian's arm, his eyes brimming with tears: "Xu Ge..."

  Xu Qian immediately said: "Right, where is my wallet? I handed it over to you for safekeeping just now, don't know if it's still there?"

  Deng Jian slapped his forehead, as if suddenly remembering, and hastily pulled out Xu Qian's purse, laughing and saying: "Just now I was afraid you'd lose it, so I temporarily kept it for you as your brother. Now it's returned to its rightful owner."

  Xu Qian took over the money bag, flipped through it, and immediately looked displeased.

  Deng Jian hurriedly asked: "Why is Big Brother Xu so depressed?"

  Xu Qian sighed and said, "I clearly remember that I had fifteen or sixteen taels of silver in my money bag, but now there are only four or five taels of silver and a few dozen copper coins left."

  "Heaven and earth are my witnesses, Brother Xu, you can't be suspecting me of stealing your silver? I, Deng Jian, am a man of honor and integrity, I would never do such a base thing. Clearly, when you handed me the money pouch, there was only this much silver inside. You must investigate clearly and not wrongfully accuse me, my reputation is as precious to me as my chastity."

  Deng Jian hastily explained that he had 'kindly' kept the money pouch for this Mr. Xue, but as a result, Mr. Xue directly added ten taels of silver to the pouch. Ten taels! Where would he get the money to repay?

  Xu Qian's face changed, and he said, "Your words seem to imply that I don't value brotherly affection and intentionally framed you? Is this really what you think of me? Unacceptable! I'll go ask Duke Wang right now..." He swung his leg and turned to leave.

  Deng Jian was startled and quickly placated him, saying: "Of course, I didn't suspect Brother Xu's intentions. Wait, wait, let's talk this over. Alright, alright, I admit it, I was wrong. I ate the pork fat and lost my senses. I'm sorry to my own brother. It was just a momentary lapse of judgment that made me take Brother Xu's silver to the gambling den, and I ended up losing everything. As for the missing ten taels of silver, I'll make it up to you. I'm too wicked, I've lost all sense of morality! How could I have taken my own brother's silver to gamble? Brother Xu is magnanimous, please don't hold this against me... What exactly is the relationship between Wang Gonggong and Brother Xu anyway?"

  Xu Qian said solemnly: "Don't ask what shouldn't be asked."

  Deng Jian suddenly stopped talking and looked at Xu Qian with a solemn and reverent expression. This kid is really arrogant now, and he even knows the secrets of Wang Gonggong. It seems that he can't be offended.

  Xu Qian's face eased up and he said: "Since you want to compensate, I won't stop you. Do brothers still need to settle accounts clearly?"

  Deng Jian's face was covered in tears, and the little chicken pecked at its food and nodded its head.

  Xu Qian said again: "Right, did you bring pen and ink with you?"

  "What's with the pen and ink? What are you going to do with them?" Deng Jian became vigilant again.

  Xu Qian said: "Of course, it's better to write an IOU, with black characters on white paper. It's not that I don't trust my own brother, but everything needs to have a rule, right? If there isn't one, it's okay. You can take me home first, and then you can come and write it. Don't be unhappy, a man should be optimistic."

  Deng Jian struggled to hold back the tears that were about to burst out, forcing a smile: "I'm very spirited, I'm very happy, fortunate to have burned yellow paper with Big Brother Xu as brothers, the Deng family ancestral tomb has risen with green smoke, haha...haha..."

  Xu Qian shook his head, too fake.

  A solitary lamp, an old wine pot.

  A bowl of wine downed, Xu Chang let out a grunt after drinking, his eyes somewhat unfocused.

  His mouth corners revealed a few points of bitterness, brilliant for a lifetime, gave birth to such a son, if this son learned half of his cleverness, how could he make such a big mistake?

  After the incident, Xu Chang didn't idle around. He was busy all day today, first handling things at the yamen, where he consoled the magistrates and clerks, then went out on the streets to arrest a merchant who was reselling medicine, framing him for mixing poison into his medicines.

  The reason for arresting the guest merchants is that they are outsiders after all, and have no background in the local area. And what the guest merchants were reselling was medicinal materials, which can be used to cover up the lie, saying that the root of the problem is not with the prescription, but rather with the people who bought the prescription and also caught the medicine, the real problem lies with the medicinal materials.

  The superiors and inferiors in the government office got some benefits, so everyone turned a blind eye, anyway it was just a deception. If County Master wanted to deceive, could eunuch Wang, the guardian of the town, not deceive?

  I thought things would end quickly, with a scapegoat in place and someone to vent their anger on the Wang Gong side, everyone was happy. The only unlucky one was that merchant, but Xu Chang didn't care, who made him come to Money Pond to sell medicine?

  But when Xu Chang returned, his son was nowhere to be found. After inquiring with the neighbors, it turned out that Wang Gonggong had invited him over. The thing Xu Chang worried about most still happened.

  A day's hard work was all for nothing, and he even lost a lot of money, but the most important thing is that his son was still gone.

  Is it still a home without children?

  Worked hard for a lifetime, nothing is left.

  What injustice! What injustice! In my previous life, I must have committed some great sin. This unfilial son, this unfilial son.

  Xu Chang sighed inwardly, another bitter cup to swallow. Now these unfilial sons were mostly beaten to death by Wang Gonggong, hoping to leave a complete corpse, tomorrow should go and order a good coffin...

  Suddenly, Xu Chang suddenly stopped moving, his afterthoughts only halfway through, and then his jaw almost dropped, the whole person petrified.

  At the gate, Xujian suddenly appeared, with a signboard-like smile looking at Xu Chang who was staring blankly.

  "Dad, I'm back. Why didn't you even close the gate of our compound today? What if some thief got in? There are so many bad people nowadays, and we Xu family are good people, but we might get robbed... Are you drinking again? I've told you before not to drink, a kilogram of wine costs over ten cents, that money could be used for my marriage instead. Nowadays getting married is getting more and more expensive..."

  Xu Chang was still stunned and remained motionless.

  Xu Qian was frightened, and rushed up to stroke Xu Chang's chest, shouting: "Dad, what's wrong with you? You can't die! I'm still counting on you to support me for the rest of my life, to find a wife for me, to buy a house for me..."

  Xu Chang suddenly woke up, and not only did he wake up, but the wine also sobered him up. His face was twitching with anger, "Unfilial son! How could I have given birth to such an unfilial son?"

  Xu Chang welcomed his son in a special way, he brazenly pulled out the ruler from his waist and without hesitation hit Xu Qian once, then scolded loudly: "You unfilial son, unfilial son!"

  Xu Qian hastily retreated with his head in his hands, bursting out of the door. After a while, he cautiously peeked inside and saw that Xu Chang's anger had dissipated, then carefully entered and said, "Father..."

  "Come on in." Xu Chang's anger dissipated.

  Xu Chang also found Deng Jian, who was gloating at the side, his eyebrows furrowed again, and he said: "Who is he?"

  Xu Qiandao said: "His name is Deng Jian, he's...my sworn brother." Then he lowered his voice and said: "Actually, he's just a handyman."

  Deng Jian's face was streaming with tears, and he hastily bowed to Xu Chang, saying: "Greetings, Uncle Xu."

  "Hmm...hmm..." Xu Chang was a very pragmatic person, but he still couldn't figure out Deng Jian's identity. Xu Qian's words were also unreliable, so he maintained a very amiable demeanor and said: "No need for formalities, no need to be so polite."

  Deng Jian came in strong, one thing after another. The little thief with the surname Xu was finished off by him, and Xu's father could also subdue this little thief. He had to fawn on him properly, who knows when he might be useful.

  He was about to curry favor, but Xu Qian nodded at him and said: "Deng brother, you go out for a while, help us keep watch tonight. Your big brother Xu is too straightforward, so he has offended many bad people. I'm afraid someone will come to assassinate him at night, don't be lazy, just keep a good eye on things."

  Deng Jian cursed in his heart, "You're just a third-rate thug under the great eunuch Wang Gonggong's command, guarding the house and yard. Are you worthy of being assassinated?" His face twitched with rage, but he finally decided to swallow his anger and remain silent. The thugs from Wang Gonggong's household were not only skilled in martial arts, but also adept at switching sides whenever it suited them.

  Deng Jianyi left, and Xu Changcai asked worriedly: "You saw Wang Gonggong, why can you come back unscathed? Also, this Deng guy doesn't look like a good person at all. What's his background? Didn't Father tell you before not to bring home any shady characters, or you'll make bad friends and be unlucky for the rest of your life?"

  Deng Jian hadn't gone far, and Xu's evaluation of him faintly reached his ears. His whole body was chilled to the bone, his eyes were blurry with tears, he raised his head at a 45-degree angle, gazing up at the starry sky, a pea-sized tear rolled down his cheek, wetting his collar. Then he took a deep breath and muttered to himself: "The Xus are indeed not one good thing."