Chapter 17: Who, Who The Hell Is Shoving My Face Into The House
“Sis, where is this?”
Lin Fan looked at the blue brick courtyard walls, the black lacquered gate gleaming as if newly painted, and felt something in his heart, but he still spoke up to ask.
Wang Shi didn’t speak, but smiled brightly as she took Lin Fan’s hand, pushed open the door, stepped over the threshold, and walked into the courtyard. It was very clean inside, the bricks underfoot still damp, with traces of having been cleaned in the brick seams.
There was a well in the courtyard, and a locust tree at least a hundred years old, blooming very lushly. In summer, one could enjoy the shade and appreciate the moon under it.
“Little brother, do you like it?” Wang Shi asked with a smile.
“Like, I like it.”
Lin Fan was certain that this was specially bought for him by his sister.
Wang Shi said, “As long as you like it, this is what sis bought for you. It was bought a few days ago, but sis saw that it had been abandoned for a long time and was in a mess, so she found people to clean it up and renovate it a bit, making it much more pleasing. If it weren’t for the fact that this location had no empty houses available, sis really wouldn’t have looked favorably on it.”
This is what it means to be rich and imposing.
And this location was in the city center, very expensive, extremely expensive.
“Sis, this won’t do, it’s too valuable.”
“Not valuable at all. Isn’t it normal for sis to arrange a place for little brother to live? Besides, sis has money, sis has a lot of money.” Wang Shi wouldn’t allow Lin Fan to refuse, and took out the prepared property deed. “You keep this safe and write your own name on it.”
Wang Changhai, who had just arrived, heard his wife say she had money, a lot of money.
He wanted to say, this is my money.
“Your sis is giving this to you, just accept it. She saw your living area in the shantytown and said it wasn’t a place for people to live, it broke her heart. Many things here were done personally by your sis, saying she didn’t trust handing them over to outsiders.” Wang Changhai said.
The words had come to this point.
Lin Fan understood that if he didn’t accept it, he would truly waste his sister’s hard work.
He took the property deed.
“Thank you, sis.”
“Why be a stranger with sis? Sis has no other requests, just hopes little brother can live comfortably.” Wang Shi said, then seemed to think of something, took Lin Fan’s hand, and sincerely said, “Don’t think sis is doing these things to tie you to Changhai’s side. Sis is sincere. No matter where you go in the future or what you do, sis supports your choices.”
Hearing this.
Lin Fan nodded, “I know.”
If it were someone else, they would definitely think this was a ploy to buy him off, but Lin Fan saw sincerity in his sister’s eyes; she was speaking from the heart without any falsehood.
“And take this silver too. Your expenses will increase in the future, and you’ve only been here a short time, so you definitely don’t have much silver on hand.” Wang Shi took out the money bag, full of broken silver.
This was because silver ingots are hard to spend, so broken silver is more practical.
“Sis, this won’t do.”
Lin Fan hurriedly refused. Giving a house and also silver, how could he ever repay this kindness in the future?
“Why not? Sis even gave you the house, what’s a bit of silver? Listen to sis and take it.”
“Then, alright.”
He took the heavy money bag.
He knew he now had ties in this world. No matter where he was in the future, even at the ends of the earth, he had to remember there was a sister here.
Wang Shi touched Lin Fan’s arm, carefully looked at his face, and smiled, “My little brother is just handsome, young and capable. Now he has a house and money, but seems to be missing a virtuous and sensible wife. The ones by sis’s side…”
Hearing this, Lin Fan hurriedly interrupted, “Sis, no need, really no need. I’m still young, and I still have to work under the hall master. Getting married too early is not good.”
Wang Shi smiled, “Alright, alright, no rush. Sis won’t introduce any. My little brother is just great, not fond of women, unlike your brother-in-law who can’t take his eyes off them. He doesn’t even think about whether he’s young or not. Little brother, you must not learn from your brother-in-law in the future. Men should be as pure and self-respecting as women.”
“Yes, sis is right.”
Lin Fan nodded repeatedly. Even if she said the hall master was a pig now, he would agree she was right.
This sister had given too much.
Almost even arranging his marriage.
Where was this a sister? This was simply a godmother.
Wang Changhai stood there, silent. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to speak, but he felt like an outsider now, unable to get a word in.
“Little brother, how many days until the Public Security Bureau exam?” Wang Shi asked.
“Ten days left.”
“Then study hard these days. Sis and your brother-in-law will go run connections for you now. No, your brother-in-law can’t go. He’s not smart and might say the wrong things. Let sis handle it.”
Wang Changhai: …!?
Enough already.
Whose wife keeps saying her man is no good?
Sigh, when can a man truly stand tall after marriage?
If Lin Fan knew the hall master’s thoughts, he would definitely say that the hall master had already stood tall. After all, keeping a concubine so blatantly, and sis allowing it without complaint—this was something many men dreamed of but dared not attempt.
Lin Fan was very serious about the Public Security Bureau exam and had been studying diligently lately. With his current grasp of the law, there shouldn’t be any problems.
“Thank you, sis.”
“Look, saying thank you again. You’re not allowed to say it in the future, or you’re being a stranger with sis.”
“…”
Evening, shantytown.
Zhao Er, a low-level thug in the Fierce Tiger Gang, dragged his weary body back home. Standing at his doorstep, he stopped, wiped the sweat from his face, patted his round face, and forced a smile.
“Mom, I’m back.”
He pushed the door and entered.
He had to act happy and relaxed, so mom wouldn’t worry about him. He had been hiding the fact that he was a low-level thug in the gang, but a loose-tongued neighbor told his mom that Zhao Er was mixing with the gang, fighting every day, and could easily get into trouble.
It made him so angry he wanted to argue with the neighbor, but in the end, he let it go.
He wasn’t home, and mom had trouble walking, sometimes needing to trouble the neighbors. If he soured relations, and something happened to mom with no one to help while he was unaware, what then?
But as soon as he entered the room, he was shocked to see two people in his home, while his mom lay on the bed, looking at Zhao Er with worried eyes.
Zhao Er recognized one of them—it was Yuan Jiang’s strategist, the white paper fan of their branch.
As for the other, he didn’t know him, but judging by his sturdy build, he was probably the strategist’s follower thug.
“Strategist Li, why are you at my home?” Zhao Er asked nervously.
He was just a gang low-level thug, with no reason to interact with the strategist, let alone be remembered by him. Once remembered, it was definitely bad news.
Strategist Li held a paper fan, full of smiles. “Zhao Er, you’re back.”
“Mm.”
“Good that you’re back. How long have you been in the gang?”
“Strategist, I’ve been under the hall master for half a year already.”
“Half a year isn’t long, but not short either. You’ve been diligent and serious in your work under the hall master, and he has it all in his eyes.”
In the current situation, the less they said about the matter, the more frightened Zhao Er became.
“Str-Strategist, is there something wrong?” Zhao Er swallowed, asking nervously.
Strategist Li tapped the table with his fingers and said, “The hall master killed someone. Originally, burying him would suffice, but it caused a big stir, too many people know. The dead man’s family has been making trouble at the government office. We need to hand someone over to take the blame. Are you willing to take the blame for the hall master?”
At these words.
Zhao Er’s face turned deathly pale.
Thud!
Zhao Er knelt and begged for mercy. “Strategist Li, please spare me. My mom needs me to take care of her. She can’t leave me. Please, Strategist Li, show mercy and let me go.”
Strategist Li ignored Zhao Er’s pleas and smiled. “The hall master knows you’re filial, so his meaning is that as long as you take the blame, the branch will treat your mom’s illness, and the branch will handle her living expenses afterward.”
The woman lying on the bed struggled to raise her hand and knocked over the medicine bowl beside her, startling Zhao Er into kneeling and crawling to the bedside on his knees, holding his mom’s hand. “Mom, what’s wrong?”
“Let, let me die.”
Her voice was faint, utterly dejected.
“Mom, don’t say that. I won’t take the blame, I won’t go. Don’t say that.” Zhao Er’s eyes were helplessly red. He knew mom didn’t want to burden him and was thinking of suicide.
Strategist Li gave a look to the thug beside him.
The thug instantly understood, walked to Zhao Er’s side, grabbed his hair, kicked him to the ground, picked up the bowl from the floor, smashed it, picked up a shard, and looked at Zhao Er mockingly.
“The strategist’s meaning is clear: you take the blame whether you want to or not. If you still say no, your mom dies now. If you’re willing to take it, the strategist will show compassion and really get treatment for your mom. So, how do you choose?”
Despair and helplessness enveloped him.
He knew they were definitely capable of it.
The hall master had killed someone, which would normally be fine, but the commotion was big, seen by the common people, including the body. If it hadn’t been seen and the matter hadn’t blown up, no one would care.
Even if the family made noise, it wouldn’t matter.
He was just scraping by at the bottom for a bite to eat, and now this had fallen on him. He knew he couldn’t resist.
“I, I’ll take it.”
This simple answer exhausted all his strength, leaving him limp on the ground like a marionette, his life controlled.
Strategist Li nodded in satisfaction, got up, and walked toward the door. The smell here was too foul; he didn’t want to stay a moment longer. He still had a banquet to attend later and was fantasizing about which girl to tumble with tonight.
He opened the door, about to step out.
Only to see Strategist Li’s expression stiffen. In his eyes, a hand reached out, grabbed his face, and pushed him back into the room with great force, leaving no room for resistance.
Who?
Who was grabbing his face and pushing him inside?
Exactly who?
Soon.
Sounds of crackling came from inside the room, accompanied by bursts of screams echoing in the evening dusk.
The unknowing would think someone was beating a child at home.
Godfathers, seeking monthly tickets, seeking follow reads—flip to the end to show the follow read page. Very important during new book period.
