At the end of a narrow, dimly lit alley, two figures in white robes stood facing each other.
Xie Jinzhu had backed the other person straight against the wall, finding their terrified expression—as if they had seen a ghost in broad daylight—utterly laughable.
To protect this man’s identity, the original host had kept her mouth shut from start to finish.
Everyone thought she had drowned herself in a pond after her secret of cross-dressing as a man was discovered.
But only Xie Jinzhu herself knew that the original host had never intended to drown herself!
That useless original host didn’t even have the courage to take her own life!
She had clearly been pushed into the water during an argument after realizing she had been deceived!
That scoundrel Su Weisheng, terrified out of his wits when he saw the original host fall into the water, had fled with the silver she had scraped together from her entire family!
But Xie Jinzhu had survived.
Since she was alive, she had to collect the debts owed to her from those who deserved it!
Xie Jinzhu sneered, “Su Weisheng, where are you planning to go with my silver?”
Su Weisheng’s face turned ashen as he gritted his teeth. “I have no idea what you’re talking about!”
“I never—”
“Have you forgotten that I still have the letters you wrote?”
Xie Jinzhu cut off Su Weisheng’s feeble excuses, her tone laced with subtle mockery. “You didn’t really think I burned all those things, did you?”
If the original host was heartless and ungrateful, then Su Weisheng was undoubtedly the cunning, black-hearted accomplice who had conspired with her.
After learning about the original host’s true identity as a woman, Su Weisheng had grown lustful, coveting her beauty, yet unwilling to ruin his own reputation for it.
So, he coaxed the original host into burning all their correspondence in front of him, aiming to leave no evidence.
The original host had indeed been fooled, but…
Xie Jinzhu couldn’t help but curse the fool in her heart. She looked at Su Weisheng, whose face had paled again, and said, “People at the academy recognize your handwriting, don’t they?”
“If I were to take those letters to the academy and bring this matter to court, then you…”
Xie Jinzhu let out a small gasp. “Wouldn’t you be completely ruined?”
Scholars valued their reputation above all else. Once their good name was tarnished, they had nothing left.
Even if he didn’t know whether Xie Jinzhu’s evidence was real or fake, or why her temperament had changed so drastically, he couldn’t afford to take the risk!
Su Weisheng quickly glanced around to confirm no one was nearby, and a malicious thought sprouted like wild grass in his mind.
Why not go all the way…
Forcing himself to calm down, Su Weisheng pretended to be composed as he opened the door. “Everything I did was for your own good. I had no choice. Come inside, and I’ll explain everything.”
Xie Jinzhu put on a convincingly delighted expression and smiled. “Sure.”
As Xie Jinzhu actually stepped inside, Su Weisheng lowered his gaze to hide the malice in his eyes and swiftly closed the door behind them.
The door shut out any possible onlookers from outside.
Pretending to latch the door, Su Weisheng grabbed a stick hidden behind it and gripped it tightly. “We’ve known each other for a while. I really didn’t want it to come to this.”
The hateful thing was that this person was still alive!
And she even wanted to hold his secrets over him!
Su Weisheng walked up to Xie Jinzhu, forcing a sinister smile onto his face. “You brought this upon yourself.”
“Die… Ah!”
The moment Su Weisheng suddenly raised the door bolt to attack, Xie Jinzhu, without any warning, kicked him squarely in the abdomen mid-air!
Xie Jinzhu sent him flying like a kite with its string cut. She looked down at the stick that had rolled to her feet and laughed mockingly.
“You really are a dog that can’t stay away from its shit bowl, stubborn as ever.”
Xie Jinzhu hooked the tip of her foot, letting the stick fall into her hand. She gestured with it, a mocking smile on her face. “Unfortunately, it seems you’ve misunderstood some details.”
The original owner was a useless, lazy good-for-nothing who couldn’t tell one grain from another.
Xie Jinzhu was not.
In her previous life, besides making money and conducting experiments, her hobbies included boxing, kickboxing, and mixed martial arts.
Beating up a mere bean sprout of a scholar…
The anger she had been holding back since opening her eyes over the original owner’s foolishness—who else could she vent it on if not now?
If she didn’t beat this beast until he was crawling on the ground searching for his teeth today, she would change her name to Xie Stupid Pig from now on!
Fighting to defend her name, Xie Jinzhu wielded both fists and stick without mercy.
Su Weisheng first grew furious, then tried to resist, and finally ended up crawling on the ground, wailing as his skin split and flesh tore.
Su Weisheng lay curled up in the corner, trembling as he pulled out a pouch. “Stop hitting me!”
“Your silver is here! I’ll give it all back to you!”
Xie Jinzhu used the blood-stained stick to lift the pouch, not even glancing at it before saying, “It’s short.”
The original owner had scraped together everything from the family, managing only thirty taels of silver in total.
Su Weisheng, now thoroughly frightened, wouldn’t dare to shortchange her, but thirty taels clearly wasn’t enough to solve the predicament caused by the original owner.
Su Weisheng opened his mouth and spat out a tooth covered in blood and flesh, his face ghostly pale. “This is all you gave me, you…”
“Borrowing my money comes with interest. Don’t you even know that basic rule?”
Xie Jinzhu poked Su Weisheng, who lay like a dead dog, with the stick and raised an eyebrow. “Do you understand ‘nine out, thirteen back’?”
“I’ll round it up to forty-five taels for you. For every tael short, I’ll break one of your teeth!”
The fact that Su Weisheng could covet the pitiful belongings in the original owner’s pockets was enough proof that he, too, was merely a fraud living in destitution.
The extra amount was equivalent to taking his life.
But if he insisted on not paying, Xie Jinzhu could take his life right now!
Su Weisheng didn’t dare resist, watching helplessly as Xie Jinzhu ransacked his place inside and out like a bandit.
When he saw Xie Jinzhu not even sparing a bolt of cloth or a chicken in the yard, he couldn’t hold back a mouthful of bloody foam, his heart aching.
Su Weisheng struggled to stand up. “I’ve given you the silver. Now return the things you mentioned!”
Xie Jinzhu, holding the cloth over her shoulder and clutching the flapping chicken in her hand, sneered. “Scholar Su, if you want to threaten someone, you need to pick the right moment.”
“What good does a dog’s bark at a time like this do, except provoke me to hand these things over to the authorities as evidence?”
Su Weisheng was so angry his legs went weak.
But Xie Jinzhu lazily said, “Don’t provoke me, or else…”
She raised her hand, startling Su Weisheng into falling to the ground, and sneered. “What do you think the consequences will be?”
Su Weisheng instantly fell silent. Xie Jinzhu chuckled and strode away.
She was in a hurry to buy medicine and save Old Mrs. Xie’s life, with no time to waste on this man.
This wasn’t over. She’d settle the score when she had time.
Xie Jinzhu tucked the silver away and quickly left the alley. At the intersection, she accidentally bumped into a woman in white and hurriedly stepped aside. “I’m sorry, you…”
“It’s fine.”
Xie Jinzhu thanked her hastily and hurried toward the medical clinic at a jog.
Upon finding the clinic, she blurted out the prescription the doctor had given, had the medicine prepared according to the dosage, and paid the five and a half taels for the medicine on the spot.
Not daring to delay for a moment, Xie Jinzhu grabbed the medicine and splurged on a fast horse-drawn carriage to rush back.
But as soon as she reached the village entrance, she ran into a familiar face dark with anger.
Second Aunt and Second Uncle of the Xie family were hurrying home.
Seeing Xie Jinzhu stepping down from a carriage, holding chickens and cloth in her hands, the two froze for a moment before Second Aunt let out a shriek and lunged at her: “You damned little beast!”
“Not only did you deceive us so badly, but now you’ve angered Grandma so much she can’t even get out of bed, and you still dare to squander the family’s hard-earned money!”
Xie Jinzhu hastily dodged the slap aimed at her face, hopping around in panic: “Second Aunt, let me explain!”
“Ow! Don’t grab my hand!”
“I was rushing back to bring medicine for Grandma! I bought the medicine she needs!”
“My hand hurts, stop grabbing me, ahhh!”