After leaving her aunt’s house, Shen Qingyue went straight to Back Street and saw Shen Dabiao packing up his stall. Somewhat surprised, she asked, “Is the wild boar meat already sold out?”
Shen Dabiao had only one thing on his mind—getting to the gambling den.
Ordinary pork sold for sixty copper coins per jin.
He’d sold his at fifty, so of course it went fast.
He pulled out the money pouch and deftly took out a string of coins, handing it to Shen Qingyue. “As agreed, we split the money from selling the pork fifty–fifty. This is your share.”
Shen Qingyue tossed the coins in her hand and reminded him meaningfully, “One string of cash equals one tael of silver. Seventy jin of wild boar meat only sold for two taels?”
Shen Dabiao paused briefly, then put on a troubled look. “It’s June—meat doesn’t keep well and spoils easily. I wanted to sell it quickly, so I set the price lower. Thirty coins per jin.”
Shen Qingyue saw right through him but didn’t press the matter. “Alright. Thanks for the hard work.”
Afraid she might stop him, Shen Dabiao tried to send her away. “I’ve got something else to do. You go browse around the streets on your own. We’ll meet in front of Yue Lai Inn in an hour.”
Shen Qingyue pointed it out bluntly. “You’re going to the gambling den.”
Shen Dabiao was just about to deny it when she continued—
“Perfect. I want to go too.”
“You want to go to the gambling den?” Shen Dabiao frowned and scolded her. “You used to play around, sure, but you never gambled. Gambling dens aren’t for young people—you shouldn’t go.”
Shen Qingyue replied sharply, “Ever since I can remember, even if you stole the money Mother hid in the cracks of the wall, you still went to gamble. That tells me the gambling den must be a very interesting place. I have to check it out.”
Shen Dabiao panicked a little. “You’ll lose everything!”
Shen Qingyue spoke breezily, “Isn’t Dad here? Even if I lose the family fortune, you can go do hard labor to earn money for me to gamble. Worst case, we can sell the house and farmland.”
Shen Dabiao was stunned.
Even when he’d lost badly, he’d never thought about selling the house or fields. Just listen to what the family’s little tyrant was saying now!
Make him do backbreaking labor—and even sell the house and land?
Wouldn’t the whole family become beggars then?
No, absolutely not—he couldn’t let her develop a gambling addiction.
Shen Dabiao plastered on a doting-father smile and coaxed her like a child. “The gambling den isn’t fun. Your mother has probably already cooked and is waiting for us to go home.”
Shen Qingyue lifted the corner of her lips slightly.
Shen Dabiao had been frightened—for the moment.
But only for the moment.
If he didn’t gamble today, he’d gamble tomorrow anyway.
He had to teach him a deep, unforgettable lesson.
“Today, I’m definitely going to the gambling den,” Shen Qingyue declared firmly, then headed in that direction.
Behind her, Shen Dabiao chased after her while shouting,
“Gou Dan, you can’t go to the gambling den—you really can’t… I’m begging you…”
When the words left his mouth, they sounded strangely familiar.
Hadn’t Liu Cuihua begged him like this many times before?
But he never listened—he went gambling again and again until he lost everything.
Now the tables had turned.
Shen Qingyue ignored him and walked straight toward the gambling den. Along the way, her gaze casually swept past Lin Xier and her father pushing a cart of napa cabbages, and she murmured unconsciously,
“It’s a famine year—there hasn’t been a drop of rain for five months. No one in the village can grow vegetables, so how can the Lin family still grow such big, good cabbages?”
Panting, Shen Dabiao caught up and replied casually, “The Lin family’s had incredible luck these past six months—whatever they plant grows, whatever they do goes smoothly. Everyone says Heaven’s favoring them. Others can only envy it.”
Shen Qingyue gave an “oh” and withdrew her gaze.
A quarter of an hour later, Shen Qingyue arrived at the gambling den.
What was happening at the entrance caught her attention.
A thin woman was clinging to a middle-aged man’s leg, begging desperately,
“Husband, please stop gambling! There’s no rice left at home. I painfully sold our Fourth Girl just to get five taels of silver—are you really going to watch our whole family walk into a dead end?”
The man kicked her away.
“Stop nagging and get lost! I’ve lost so much—if I don’t gamble, how am I supposed to win it back? I even had my fortune told today—it’s an auspicious day. I’m definitely going to win!”
Ignoring the dirt on her clothes, the woman clutched his leg again.
“Just let what’s already lost be lost—please stop gambling. Have pity on me… pity the children…”
Shen Dabiao had never wanted Shen Qingyue to go inside in the first place.
This was the perfect negative example.
“Qingyue, gambling is something you really can’t touch! Look at that man—he’s completely obsessed. He even gambled away the money from selling his daughter—absolutely insane.”
He even clicked his tongue twice after finishing.
Shen Qingyue’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Gambling really isn’t a good place.”
Shen Dabiao asked eagerly, “Then you won’t go in, right?”
Precisely because gambling was bad, she had to cure Shen Dabiao of his addiction.
Shen Qingyue replied with a single word—“Going.”
—and stepped into the gambling den.
Inside, the noise was deafening and the air thick with smoke and stench. Cheers and curses mingled together. Most players were shaking dice and betting on big or small, playing pai gow, or throwing pitch-pots. Every one of them stared wide-eyed, faces flushed red, necks bulging.
The moment Shen Dabiao entered, all his attention locked onto the tables—he completely forgot about Shen Qingyue.
He hovered around a “big or small” table for a while, and finally couldn’t hold back. Glancing guiltily at her, he said, “I’ll just play a couple of rounds.”
Shen Qingyue didn’t stop him. “Do as you like.”
The dealer finished shaking the dice cup and slapped it onto the table. “Big or small—place your bets!”
Shen Dabiao hurriedly put down his wager. “One hundred coins—big!”
Some bet big, some small—little bets of ten coins, big ones of dozens of taels.
Those who had bet shouted out the numbers they wanted.
“Big, big, big—!”
“Small, small, small—!”
The dealer lifted the cup. Three dice lay quietly inside.
“One, two, three—six total. Small!”
Shen Dabiao cursed, then consoled himself. “I’ll just lose a hundred to test the waters. I’ll definitely win next round!”
Once he placed that first bet, there was no stopping.
Round after round.
He lost far more than he won, until every last copper coin on him was gone.
People only get more heated the more they lose.
Unwilling to leave, Shen Dabiao shamelessly asked Shen Qingyue for money.
“Can you lend me some copper coins? I’ll pay you back for sure once I win.”
After witnessing his gambling addiction firsthand, how could Shen Qingyue possibly lend him any? She refused plainly, “No.”
Penniless, Shen Dabiao still wouldn’t leave.
He loitered around the tables watching, occasionally shouting along with the crowd. When he really couldn’t stand it anymore, he asked her again,
“Just lend me five hundred coins—three hundred will do. Worst case, I’ll go hunting with you again tomorrow.”
Shen Qingyue frowned slightly and said bluntly,
“Firewood gathering, herb collecting, fishing, hunting—you have to take only what’s appropriate. You can’t keep fixating on the animals in the mountains forever. Besides, the deep mountains are dangerous. Aren’t you afraid you’ll end up in a beast’s jaws?”
Last time, they’d been able to hunt over a thousand jin only because she’d used a strength talisman.
Star-coins were limited—she couldn’t afford to squander them.