pdf-ebookys Chapter 16 Casino Door-to-Door Service
Chapter 16 Casino Door-to-Door Service
As Xia Mo turned around, the unconscious boy opened one eye and, taking advantage of the darkness, took in Xia Mo's petite figure. The boy lay there, his breathing and heartbeat unchanged, as if the open eye was merely a muscle reaction.
Another quarter of an hour passed. After confirming that Xia Mo had left, the boy finally opened his eyes, propped himself up with his hands on the ground, and looked in the direction where Xia Mo had disappeared.
The boy's name was Huangfu Qian, the seventh son of the emperor, and also the youngest first War King of the dynasty, the Jiang King.
Huangfu Qian, who remained lucid throughout, pressed his hand against the knife wound in his abdomen, his gaze deep and unfathomable.
Huangfu Qianxiang: So it turns out that the girl was the one who truly saved her life two years ago.
Huangfu Qian looked down at his strong but scarred body, and after a moment of silence, his face turned completely dark.
He owes you a life-saving grace, and you must repay him with your life. If he doesn't repay it with his life, you'll charge him interest in this way!
The little girl was ruthless; she only left him a handkerchief to cover his shame!
Huangfu Qian realized that the small cave might not be safe anymore. He covered his wound and left in the night. However, Xia Mo's image and all the words Xia Mo had said lingered in his mind, especially one sentence that he could not let go of for a long time.
Xia Mo spoke in a gleeful tone, saying these perverse words: "Letting you die would be a favor to you."
Huangfu Qian, driven by a sense of danger, instinctively realized that there was a deeper meaning behind those words!
* * *
Early the next morning—
Anjia Village —
At the end of summer, Xia Sange went into the mountains early in the morning, followed by countless "tails".
The villagers of Anjia Village who had some free time all followed behind Xia Mo.
Qian Duoduo walked up to Xia Mo and said in a slightly embarrassed voice, "My family told me to follow you so that if we find any wild game, we can get a piece of meat. But I think... hehe... that's not very fair. I'll just stay with you for the appointed time. When the time comes and we go down the mountain, I'll say that I didn't get anything. How about that?"
Xia Mo glanced at Qian Duoduo, having other plans, and nodded with feigned modesty.
Once inside the forest, the villagers saw Xia Mo find a large rock and sit on it for half an hour. Most of the villagers who had followed him couldn't stand it any longer and began searching around where Xia Mo was, hoping to find some wild game.
With so many people, even wild rabbits would be scared away; they wouldn't stay put to wait to be caught.
Xia Mo doesn't always spread her divine sense; at this moment, she is breathing in the five elements to enhance her physical body.
After fifteen days of monotony, Xia Sange had gotten used to it. He picked up a tree branch and practiced writing on the ground, gesturing wildly. He had to learn to write the three characters that Xia Dage had taught him. If his elder brother tested him later and he couldn't answer, his elder brother would punish him like a teacher in a private school, hitting his palm with a ruler.
* * *
Anjia Village, Xiajia Village—
Instead of going to the county to look for work, Xia's father, mother, eldest brother, and second brother gathered in the main room, sitting around a square table, looking worried.
“Right now, apart from my little sister’s wild game bringing in some income for the family, the farmland won’t be ready until next year. There’s no other source of income for the family. And I’m the eldest brother, and you’re my little sister’s second brother. We can’t expect our little sister to support us, can we?!” Brother Xia said with a frown.
When country folk come to the city to find work, they usually look for jobs like carrying things to earn a few coins. But now, people have already asked them to take on those jobs, and nobody wants to hire them!
They must come up with a solution.
"How about I learn to hunt?!" Brother Xia said through gritted teeth.
Brother Xia nodded: "I'll also learn to hunt, so we can help each other out."
Xia's father and mother frowned.
If they could, which parent would want their children to do risky things?
That is, at this moment—
"Where are the Xia family members?!"
A voice carrying an aura of ferocity rang out from outside the gate.
Xia's father, mother, eldest brother, and second brother were so frightened that their hearts tightened, and they hurriedly got up and went out.
Eight burly men arrived, each carrying a thick stick. The leader had a scar on his face, clearly someone who had seen blood and was not to be trifled with.
"Who...who are you?" Xia's father was terrified, but he still stepped forward.
He is the head of the family; even if he's afraid, he can't back down!
"We are from Anping Casino!" the leader's voice boomed like a bell.
Curious villagers from Anjia Village came to watch, but fearing that the other party was eight burly, armed men, no one dared to approach and just watched from a distance.
"Anping County casino?" Xia's mother's face turned ugly.
The Anping casino has powerful backers in the government; they're not to be trifled with!
Xia's mother remembered the news that Aunt Ma had brought back.
That happened seventeen days ago!
She thought that since the scoundrel had said he wouldn't marry her, the matter of him selling Xia Mo to the casino would be over. But she didn't expect that the casino people... would still come!
Xia's mother felt cold in her limbs from fear.
"Nannan's mother?" Xia's father was unaware that the scoundrel had sold Xia Mo to the casino before their marriage. Seeing his wife's pale face, he couldn't help but wonder.
“No one in our family gambles, and we don’t owe any money to the casino, right?” Mr. Xia said with a forced smile.
"Zhao Daniu mortgaged his wife to the casino and borrowed twenty taels of silver. Seventeen days have passed, and Zhao Daniu hasn't paid back the money. We've come to take his wife away!" the gang leader said menacingly.
"Who is Zhao Daniu?" Xia's father and the others asked, puzzled.
The leader looked around at the Anjia Village people who were watching from a distance and found that everyone, like Xia's father and the others, looked confused when he called out their names. The leader remained silent for a few moments.
The scoundrel was so unpopular in Anjia Village that probably no one knew his real name except for the village head.
The gang leader said, "It's the name of that guy from your village who frequents the casino. Besides, he's dead and couldn't pay off his gambling debts. You wouldn't want our casino to lose money, would you?!"
The subtext is: the casino can't afford to lose out, so they went to the Xia family and made them suffer the loss.
When Xia's father learned who Zhao Daniu was, his face turned ashen.
"What does the gambling debt that scoundrel borrowed have to do with my family! And my daughter isn't married to that scoundrel! She's still unmarried!" Mr. Xia roared angrily at the gang leader.
If the ringleader says that, his daughter's reputation is ruined!
From now on, who would dare to propose marriage? Even if someone did come, it would be a scoundrel!
As soon as Xia's father thought about these things, his fear disappeared, and he was filled with anger that he had nowhere to vent.
"Ha, this is an IOU written by thugs," the gang leader said, ignoring what Xia's father was saying. "First, you handed the person over yourselves; second, we did it ourselves?!"
Xia's father, mother, eldest brother, and second brother gritted their teeth and stared intently at the people in the casino.
"We have nothing to do with these scoundrels! Why should we pay their debts!" Brother Xia roared at the casino staff like a wounded beast, thinking of his younger sister's damaged reputation.
If casino operators were willing to reason with people, there wouldn't be so many cases of people being ruined and destroyed by casinos!
“I have a third way,” the leader said. He knew that since Hunzi and Xia Mo weren’t married, the debt wouldn’t go to the Xia family, but… that’s what the higher-ups ordered, so they did it.
"What?" Xia's mother's voice trembled, choked with sobs.
Xia's mother placed her hopes on the third method, but little did she know...