The Empty Spirit Chapter 32: The Debt of Gambling

  When Wang Yaoyu shouted, Tie Tou and Mao Zi were stunned for a while, then immediately moved. Wang Yaoyu simply told the two clearly that he would continue to be responsible for catching them. His previous conversations with Shi Anguo and Le Yunxin had no one concerned, so no one went to listen.

  Tie Tou and Mao Zi both thought that Wang Yaozu was about to wash his hands of the matter, and the trouble had nothing to do with him. In this case, both of them became anxious, if Wang Yaozu got away, then they would be the unlucky ones. Even if the two of them joined forces, they wouldn't be able to withstand Shi An Guo's wrath.

  Because it was Shi An Guo's order, Tie Tou and Mao Zi had no choice. The two of them hastily told everyone to prepare the money by tonight. It was just a matter of drinking less wine, gambling less, and whoring less to save up the money. If they couldn't come up with it temporarily, others could help out first, but according to the unspoken rules among them, borrowed money must be repaid; otherwise, it would be considered a private punishment.

  By the time they got off work in the afternoon, the money had been almost fully collected and was handed directly to Wang Yaozu. Originally, this sum of money would not have been easily handed over to Wang Yaozu, but this time the two were afraid that Wang Yaozu might decide to withdraw from the matter, so now they just wanted Wang Yaozu to accept the money, and once he accepted it, he would have to take action.

  Three hundred silver dollars, Wang Yaowu didn't need to take out his own share at all. But looking at the three hundred silver dollars in front of him, Wang Yaowu was a bit worried. Three hundred silver dollars were not too many or too few, but the key was that they were all loose and not wrapped in red paper, making them heavy and troublesome. With just one careless move, he would drop one or two coins.

  The wallet couldn't hold it, and there was no way to wrap so many silver dollars in newspaper in the office. Wang Yaowu had no choice but to take out the public document bag that he didn't use much under his desk and put all the money in it. Wang Yaowu really didn't want to use a public document bag because on Shanghai Beach, there were too many people robbing public document bags. Wang Yaowu quickly let the rickshaw take him to Zhu's Bank first to exchange the money for banknotes, which was much more convenient.

  Since the money has been received, the matter will be settled tonight. Wang Ya Zu had been staring at Yan Fu Guan for some time and had basically grasped his gambling habits and rules. That night, he went to Yan Fu Guan's gambling den but did not see him inside. Finding someone is a matter of luck, and habits and rules can change with just one or two unexpected events, especially in recent days when the Shanghai Garrison Command has been very busy.

  Just as Wang Yaoyu was about to leave, he heard someone behind him shouting: "Remember, pay back the money in ten days. Paying off debts is a matter of course, even if you are an official who eats public food, you can't break this rule."

  "Alright! I've said it before, doesn't that count for something? You're not going to push me too far, are you?" Wang Yaoyu heard Yan Song's voice, and Yan Song seemed very angry, but he was forcing himself to keep his voice down. The reason was simple: if he couldn't pay off the gambling debt and it got noisy at headquarters, he would have to pay up with both money and face.

  "Isn't it just 100 silver rounds? I'll pay for him. Give me the change for this 300 silver round banknote." From a hint of disappointment to encountering a good opportunity, Wang Yaizu's heart fluctuated slightly. However, he now had a face as if seeing an old friend and helping that friend solve their troubles.

  "Yaozu, how is it you? This is my matter, no need to let you spend money!" Yan Song was very surprised at the sudden appearance of Wang Yaozu, and even more surprised that Wang Yaozu would take the initiative to help him pay back the money.

  However, when Wang Ya-zu took out a banknote with a face value of 300 silver dollars, Yan Song opened his mouth to stop him, but instead let him pass and hand the money over to the person who was urging him to repay. Within ten days, Yan Song had no confidence in taking out 100 silver dollars, and he had almost borrowed all the money he could borrow. Yan Song had originally been prepared to go borrow usury, although it was more risky, but when he was called into the account room earlier, he couldn't think of any other way.

  "Zhu's bank draft? That will be deducted 30 silver dollars, because this is not a foreign bank's banknote." After taking the banknote and checking the amount under the lamp light, the other party suddenly opened his mouth wide like a lion, ready to make a big profit. This time Yan Song was furious!

  "You think I'm easy to bully, huh?" Yan Song slapped him directly, his palm filled with hatred, and the opponent fell to the ground, bleeding from the corner of his mouth. Even a small head in the casino looked down on him, and when giving back money, they would intentionally find excuses to deduct thirty silver coins, making Yan Song so angry he wanted to kill someone.

  Seeing the leader being beaten, the thugs surrounding the scene immediately came over. The one lying on the ground even pulled out a dagger from his waist. Yan Song, who was furious, regretted not bringing a gun with him.

  Yan Song didn't bring a gun, but Wang Yaowu did. Such a good opportunity, Wang Yaowu certainly wanted to show off a bit. In an instant, Wang Yaowu pulled out the gun and pointed it around, then pointed it at the little head on the ground. Seeing someone pull out a gun, almost all the gamblers in the casino were scared away, and the whole casino was in chaos.

  "Attack the military officers, that's a capital offense. Even if I kill all of you here, we'll still be fine in the end. Do you believe me?" Wang Yaoyu was confident, two against five, and the worst-case scenario would be sacrificing Yan Song to kill all five people.

  "You dare, our boss is familiar with your headquarters' Deputy Zhang. This kid has shares in Deputy Zhang's company too. If you have the guts, fire a shot and see if our boss won't avenge me!" Seeing Wang Yaowu pull out his gun, the other side remained arrogant, trying to use their connections to suppress Wang Yaowu and Yan Deputy Officer.

  Vice Officer Zhang was a red man beside Commander Xiong and also the most trusted vice officer of Commander Xiong. As soon as Vice Officer Zhang's name was mentioned, Yan Song's face changed, although he was still angry, but also fearful. Vice Officer Zhang was really not to be trifled with.

  "If this matter gets out of hand, we'll pay you to get someone with a good reputation from your side to mediate. Let's clarify everything that happened today. So it's you people looking down on us military officers, this is a matter of face for all military officers. What do you think will happen to you in the end?"

  The four people surrounding him all had weapons in their hands, and Wang Yaowu's gun also opened the safety catch. As long as someone next to him moved, he would point at the person on the ground and kill him instantly. At such a close distance, Wang Yaowu was confident that one shot would be enough to kill him. Yan Song regretted his impulsiveness earlier, worrying that if things escalated, his troubles would multiply. However, he also knew that now was not the time to show any weakness. So, he too prepared himself for a desperate fight.

  "Little San, take this and get back 200 taels. Then return the IOU to Yan's family. As for you, Yan's family, we don't welcome you here from now on!" Although he was slapped in the face, the person who fell to the ground didn't want to make a big deal out of it either, as making a fuss wouldn't do him any good. If others were to comment on this matter, he would be the one at fault first.

  Holding the banknote worth 200 silver dollars issued by Zhu's Bank, which he had found in the casino, Wang Yaowu and Yan Song walked out of the casino together. It was only then that Yan Song fully came to his senses and began to feel uneasy about what had happened earlier. At the same time, he also started to fear Wang Yaowu, who had just helped him pay off his gambling debt, which meant that he had accepted the money from Wang Yaowu.

  What kind of person is Wang Yaozu? Yan Song himself was very clear. No matter how generous Wang Yaozu was, it was impossible for him to suddenly take out 100 silver coins to help him pay off his gambling debt. There must be something he wanted Yan Song to do. Now, Yan Song didn't dare offend Wang Yaozu at all.

  "That three hundred silver dollars were originally for you. Helped you pay back one hundred, and here are two hundred more. This money was collected from our people to buy information from you. Don't worry, only three people actually know that we need to find you to buy information, and I'm one of them."

  Two men walked on the road, Yan Song actually followed Wang Yaozu all the way, he didn't know where Wang Yaozu was going at all, but he had to keep following in Wang Yaozu's footsteps. When the two men walked for a while and felt that there were no people around, Wang Yaozu suddenly opened his mouth and stuffed the silver ticket directly into Yan Song's hand.

  "Yaozu, what do you mean by this? I'm grateful for your help in paying off my gambling debt, and I'll find a way to repay the money I owe you. But these 200 silver coins, I absolutely cannot accept. No matter what, I will not betray our Commander Xiong."

  Yan Song immediately returned the money to Wang Yaowu's hands. Who was his breadwinner, Yan Song was very clear about this. For these three hundred silver coins, he didn't want to take the risk of offending Commander Xiong.

  "Don't refuse for now. I remember there's a good wine house nearby. They usually close very late, let's go have a few drinks and some midnight snacks first. We can talk about whatever slowly."

  Author's note: Something came up and I couldn't update in time, sorry. I'm currently writing two books and having to think about the plot of both is exhausting. Headache. Gunsmoke Silent First Volume Empty Spirit Chapter 32 The Debt Owed