Chapter 31: Black-Hearted Boss Wan

It had rained so hard yesterday, yet when Xi Jue went out this morning, he saw that the muddy ground had already dried completely.

Boss Wan had promised to deliver the roof tiles they had ordered today. Hua Qi had been thinking about it the whole time.

Dou Ming and Xi Jue shouldered their baskets and headed up the mountain early. Dou Ming had listened to Hua Qi mutter about it for a long time last night. Earlier, they had earned nine taels of silver. Buying cloth had cost three taels, ordering roof tiles cost two taels, the deposit for the bricks was three taels, they had lent Qiu Sheng nine taels, and Qiu Sheng had paid back five taels. So right now they still had six taels of silver on hand, and Qiu Sheng’s family still owed them four taels. Today they had to pay Boss Wan three taels of silver, which meant they would only have three taels left. Buying the bricks would still require another seven taels and five hundred coins.

Dou Ming listened and listened, then fell asleep. After hearing Xiao Cong say it this morning, it all boiled down to not having enough money. They did not have enough money for the bricks, and six days later, they would not have money to pick up the hoes either. Hua Qi also wanted to send them to school so that they could teach Yun Shan to read in the future. No matter how it was said, the problem was that they lacked money.

Early that morning, Dou Ming made up his mind. Today, when he went up the mountain, he would go hunt wolves. One intact wolf was worth six taels of silver. If he hunted two more, the money for the bricks would be there.

When they reached the summit of Yunling Mountain, Dou Ming let out a tiger’s roar. The small animals hiding in the forest darted even deeper inside.

“Monkey spirit, monkey spirit.” Dou Ming carried the basket in his mouth and came to the peach grove.

The monkey spirit leapt across the branches and soon arrived in front of Dou Ming. His tone was ingratiating as he said, “Lord Dou Ming, you were looking for me?”

“Xiao Cong said to pick another basket of peaches. I’ll come get it later.” As Dou Ming spoke, he was about to head toward the rear mountain.

The monkey spirit gathered his courage and asked, “Can peaches really be exchanged for money?”

“They can, but not much. They’re not that easy to sell.” Thinking of another thing Xiao Cong had reminded him about, Dou Ming turned back and said, “There’s a jar in the basket. Have the bees put honey in it. Today we’ll take it to the human town and sell it.” After saying that, he ran toward the rear mountain.

Xi Jue had already searched around the rear mountain for a while, but there was no sign of the wolf pack anywhere.

Dou Ming lay under the shade of a tree and asked a little bird on the branch, “Where’s the wolf pack that lived here?”

The little bird flapped its wings and chirped, “The she-wolf and two wolf cubs were killed. The wolf king knew this was your territory, so he moved away with the wolf pack.”

Dou Ming asked unwillingly, “Do you know where they went?”

The little bird hopped on the branch and answered simply, “No.”

“This pack of wolves sure picked a bad time to leave,” Dou Ming muttered quietly.

Xi Jue said, “If there are no wolves, then just catch some wild game. We’ll go down the mountain earlier and sell the things later.”

The leopard and the tiger split up in the woods, each searching for prey.

Xiu Niang got up early to knead dough and taught Hua Qi how to cut noodles.

Qiu Sheng started fiddling with his tools first thing in the morning, huffing and puffing under the tree as he made the ox cart.

Yun Shan lay in the cradle, babbling to himself. After Xiu Niang finished cutting the noodles, she was about to feed Yun Shan when she saw that his tightly clenched little fist was holding a few strands of hair. Puzzled, she pried open Yun Shan’s little hand and pinched out a few short yellow hairs. Two of them were black.

Xiu Niang frowned and asked Qiu Sheng, “Where did some furry animal come from in our house? Take a look. What kind of fur is Yun Shan holding? There’s yellow and black.” Their family did not keep a dog or a cat.

Tuo Tuo and Xiao Cong, who were playing to the side, froze. Among them, the only ones with fur were Xi Jue and Dou Ming. Both demons’ true forms had black and yellow fur. Who had turned into their true form this morning and had their fur plucked by the Little Temple Master?

Hearing Xiu Niang’s words, before Qiu Sheng could put down his things and come look, Hua Qi stood at the kitchen doorway and made up nonsense. “This morning, I saw a yellow-and-black cat running through the yard, so I carried Yun Shan over to look. Maybe when I wasn’t paying attention, he yanked out a handful of fur.”

“A yellow-and-black cat?” Xiu Niang could not figure out whose cat it might be. “A cat that color wouldn’t look good, would it? The cats in our village are all yellow, white, or yellow-and-white. I’ve never seen a yellow-and-black cat.”

There was laughter in Hua Qi’s eyes. The two big yellow-and-black cats in their family were not ugly at all. Who knew which one had been stroked by Yun Shan that morning? Furry ones shed fur. It was still better to be hairless like them.

After Dou Ming and Xi Jue returned, Xiu Niang pulled a handful of small greens from the yard and cooked a huge pot of noodles. Each person’s bowl had an egg nestled in it.

After they enjoyed a hearty breakfast, Qiu Sheng helped borrow an ox cart, and Xi Jue, Dou Ming, and Xiao Cong went to town to sell the game.

The honey sold for half a tael of silver at Old Pei’s. Together with the game they had caught today, they had one tael of silver in all.

Xiao Cong and Dou Ming sat in the West Market selling peaches. Xi Jue wandered the streets and, following Hua Qi’s instructions, bought three sacks each of rice and flour. He also bought a white puppy on the street.

By the time Xi Jue came back, Xiao Cong’s peaches had already sold three jin. The grain shop assistant, diligent and uncomplaining, delivered the rice and grain over. Dou Ming took them, one sack in each hand, and lifted the grain sacks onto the cart.

Seeing that Dou Ming had such strength, the grain shop assistant smiled and said, “Little brother, why not come work at our grain shop? With your kind of strength, you’d definitely earn a lot.”

“How much do you pay a day?” Dou Ming asked.

The grain shop assistant answered, “Twenty coins a day, with food and lodging included.”

Dou Ming shook his head. “I’m not going.” That little money was not even as good as carrying firewood down from the mountain.

The grain shop assistant smiled and did not try to persuade him anymore, then turned and left.

Thinking that there was something going on at home today, Xiao Cong did not wait for the peaches to sell out before taking the initiative to say, “Let’s go back. Boss Wan is delivering our roof tiles today.” Holding the little white puppy in his arms, Xiao Cong asked Xi Jue, “Is this for Uncle Dayun?”

Xi Jue hummed in acknowledgment.

When they reached the village entrance, Dou Ming tucked the puppy into his arms and even cast a concealment spell on it, ensuring the villagers would not be able to tell. He and Xiao Cong ran all the way to Uncle Dayun’s house. Dou Ming stuffed the little puppy through a gap in the fence and into the yard.

After doing all that, the two of them turned and ran home.

“Xiao Cong, Dou Ming.” Bailing stood inside her own courtyard and called to the older and younger one. “The rain stopped yesterday afternoon. Why didn’t Tuo Tuo come learn weaving?” It was too boring for her to weave alone. Having a child there to talk with was nice too. Bailing was quite willing to teach Tuo Tuo how to weave.

Xiao Cong said, “Tuo Tuo was at home watching Yun Shan yesterday.”

In truth, Tuo Tuo had pretended to forget about learning to weave. After Xiao Cong reminded him, Tuo Tuo had leaned close to Xiao Cong, lain beside his ear, and whispered, “Xiao Cong, I already know how to weave. Passing the shuttle through and stepping on the treadle. It’s way too simple. I learned it in one afternoon.”

“Then tell him to remember to come learn this afternoon,” Bailing reminded them. “Tuo Tuo talks a lot. I like talking with him. I finished weaving that bolt of cloth from the day before yesterday today. Tomorrow I’ll put on a new bolt of cloth, and I’ll teach Tuo Tuo how to arrange the threads.”

“Okay, I’ll tell him.” As soon as Xiao Cong heard that Bailing was going to have Tuo Tuo learn something, he agreed at once.

When the two of them ran home, they heard fierce arguing coming from the back. Tuo Tuo was standing in the yard with his ears perked up, listening to the movement behind the house. Yun Shan and Chun Hua were sleeping in the cradles under the tree.

Tuo Tuo anxiously waved at them. “Go take a look, quick. There seems to be something wrong with the roof tiles Boss Wan’s family hauled over. I heard Uncle Qiu Sheng shout something about the tiles being cracked.”

Dou Ming and Xiao Cong ran toward the back and ran into Dali, who had come carrying an iron shovel.

Dali patted his chest and said, “Dou Ming, don’t worry. You saved my life. If anything happens, I’ll definitely stand on your side.”

Dou Ming looked at Dali in confusion. This really was a strange fellow. Why was he everywhere? Why could he never be shaken off?

A ring of people had already gathered behind the house to watch the excitement. Every one of them stood on tiptoe, stretching their necks and craning their heads. When they saw Dou Ming and Xiao Cong, someone said, “The adults are arguing. What are children coming here for? Hurry back to the front.”

Dou Ming and Xiao Cong ignored them, squeezed through the crowd, and came to Hua Qi’s side.

“The roof tiles you hauled here clearly have problems.” Qiu Sheng held a roof tile that had already cracked and said angrily, “At first, I only checked the top two layers. They were all good. I didn’t expect that after opening it up, the top was good, but the middle ones either had gaps or were cracked.”

“Go ask around the households within ten li and eight villages. They all buy tiles from me. Have they ever run into cracked tiles?” Boss Wan frowned, his tone unfriendly. “You were careless when unloading the tiles and broke them, and now you’re blaming it on me instead. Why don’t you go ask around whether I, Wan, am so easy to bully?!”

The ten burly men who had come with Boss Wan to deliver the goods all stepped forward in unison. The watching crowd retreated two steps, afraid a fight would break out.

Hua Qi gave a cold snort and took one step forward. “It’s your tiles that are bad to begin with, yet here you are reversing black and white. Boss Wan, you’re not easy to bully, but do you think our family is easy to bully?!!”

“An outsider household sure talks big.”

Xiao Cong tilted his head to look. The speaker was precisely the assistant who had greeted them enthusiastically a few days ago. At this moment, his face carried contempt, and when he was not speaking, the corners of his mouth twisted crookedly. He clearly did not look like a good person.

Once Qiu Sheng and Xiu Niang heard this, they immediately understood. So Boss Wan was bullying Xi Jue’s family because they were outsiders. Outsiders had no relatives on this turf, and if they were bullied, they had no one to help them. Boss Wan had counted exactly on this point, which was why he dared to mix broken tiles in with good tiles.

“What’s wrong with being outsiders?” Hua Qi also understood the implication.

Boss Wan gave a derisive laugh. “Unruly folk from some poor place, I suppose. Want to extort me? Not a chance.”

“I think you’re asking for a beating!” Dou Ming’s fists clenched with a crackling sound.

Qiu Sheng remembered that Dou Ming could knock down an ox with one punch and hurriedly grabbed his arm to advise him. “Dou Ming, this is all adult business. You and Xiao Cong go back to the yard and watch Chun Hua and Yun Shan. We’ll reason with him some more.”

“That’s right.” Xiu Niang tugged Hua Qi and whispered, “You must stay calm. Xi Jue and Dou Ming’s strength is no joke. If a fight takes a life, they’ll be arrested by the authorities and thrown in prison! Huaniang, you must persuade them properly.”

Hua Qi agreed. “Don’t worry.”

“Fight? How are you going to fight? Your whole family of unruly people sure talks big.” The assistant’s mouth drooped downward, and he had a high-and-mighty manner. The way he looked down on people filled Dou Ming’s stomach with fire.

He charged forward without caring about anything. Qiu Sheng, who was holding his arm, was dragged into a stumble. Hua Qi reacted quickly and caught Dou Ming’s arm, shouting sternly, “Dou Ming!”

Qiu Sheng steadied himself and helped Hua Qi pull Dou Ming back. Strange. He was a man, yet he had almost been dragged into a fall by Dou Ming. Hua Qi was a woman, but she could actually hold Dou Ming firmly in place.

Xiao Cong ran over and tugged Dou Ming’s clothes, anxiously whispering, “Dou Ming, you’re not allowed to hurt people!”

There were rules on Yunling Mountain. Demons could not casually hurt people. Only if mortals struck and hurt demons first could demons fight back. The reason Hua Qi had kept enduring and talking to Boss Wan without taking action was exactly this.

“Hmph.” Dou Ming huffed harshly through his nostrils and glared viciously at Boss Wan.

Boss Wan felt a baseless panic. He thought to himself that this youth’s presence really could bluff people.

Hua Qi patted the little tiger’s shoulder and said to him, and also to Xi Jue, “We can’t use force. We can only win with wits.”

When Dou Ming heard this, he grew even angrier. His gaze toward Boss Wan and the others became increasingly sharp, as if he wished he could glare holes into their bodies. His brain had never been clever, and he had always won by force. Now that Hua Qi said to win with wits, wasn’t that just making things difficult for a tiger? He forced down his temper and asked Hua Qi, “What do you say we do?”

“I say we might as well fight our way over!” Liu Dali raised his iron shovel and spoke up against injustice for Xi Jue’s family.

“Dali! You—why are you here making trouble?” Qiu Sheng went to pull Dali back too. “Listen to Hua Qi and Xi Jue on this matter.”

Seeing Dou Ming stopped, and seeing that the man who headed Xi Jue’s family had never stepped forward to speak, while only a pretty woman had gone back and forth with them, the thin assistant looked down on Xi Jue’s group even more. “What’s there to reason about? I think you’re the ones who are the most unreasonable. You broke the tiles yourselves, yet you insist on blaming it on us. We won’t take this loss.”

Xi Jue’s eyes had been fixed firmly on Boss Wan the whole time, like a wild beast quietly watching its prey. For no reason, it made Boss Wan feel chilled with fear. He turned his head and saw Xi Jue expressionlessly staring at him. Boss Wan clicked his tongue and shifted his body away. From the looks of it now, this family seemed somewhat abnormal.

“That’s right. We won’t take this loss.” Boss Wan flicked his sleeve and took up the words. “If you keep acting shamelessly, then we’ll meet at the government office. We’re not in the wrong, and the honest official will definitely stand on our side. When the time comes, hmph, hmph…”

Xiao Cong held onto Dou Ming’s clothes and asked in confusion, “You’re in the wrong. Why would he still stand on your side?” If an ordinary person heard this, they would definitely hear the threat in those words. But these were demons. They did not even know who the honest official was.

“You…” Boss Wan choked.

The thin assistant hurriedly waved his hand. “Adults are talking. What are you, a child, interrupting for?”

“You’re right. We can’t take this loss. I, Hua Qi, am exactly the kind of person who can’t take a loss. Since you want to bully us because we’re outsiders, I’ll let you know that outsider households are not so easy to bully either!”

As soon as Hua Qi’s words fell, Qiaozi stepped out from the crowd. “Boss Wan, if you bully outsider households now, does that mean you’ll bully us in the future? When you open your doors for business, good goods are the hard truth. If you mix in bad tiles, then we won’t dare buy from you in the future either.”

“Exactly.” Liu Dali responded loudly. “Selling good and bad mixed together, and the price isn’t any cheaper than other people’s either. Who would still dare buy roof tiles from your family in the future?”

Xiu Niang said agitatedly, “That’s exactly the reasoning. What’s wrong with outsider households? Does that mean you can bully them?” Her family were outsiders too. Over the years, they had been bullied plenty. The bitterness and hurt could only be swallowed down by their own family.

“Who said anything about bullying outsider households? I only said they’re unruly and shameless in how they do things. The roof tiles were clearly broken by them, and now they want to extort me.” Boss Wan’s cheeks reddened slightly, and a trace of panic flashed through his eyes. There were some things that could not be said out in the open. Even if everyone knew it perfectly well in their hearts, they could not say it clearly. Once said, people would curse him for it.

The watching crowd discussed noisily. Most of them echoed Qiaozi’s words. Someone in the crowd whose family was preparing to build a house shouted, “Does your family really mix bad tiles in and sell them?”

“What bad tiles?” The thin assistant hurriedly said, “Our family doesn’t sell bad tiles. Go ask around yourselves. When has our family ever sold bad tiles?”

“I won’t waste words with you. The roof tiles were broken by you, but forget it. I’ve always been a tolerant person. Your family probably doesn’t have much money either. I’ll be generous this once and do a good deed. I’ll waive the remaining money. But I’m keeping the deposit.” Boss Wan did not want to keep talking, afraid the topic would be dragged back to bullying outsider households. He only wanted to end this matter quickly.

Hua Qi had seen Boss Wan’s panic clearly just now when bullying outsider households was mentioned. Since he was afraid of this matter, then Hua Qi would properly spread it for him.

“What’s this? The matter hasn’t even been sorted out clearly, and you already want to settle the money?” Hua Qi’s eyes were icy, and a sinister smile hung at the corners of his mouth, like some kind of cold-blooded creature.

This whole family was like animals, and all of them were fierce beasts. At this moment, the thought of retreat rose in Boss Wan’s heart. When firing tiles, it was unavoidable that some would come out bad. In the past, there had not been many bad tiles, and he had thrown them all behind the yard. With the last kiln, he did not know what had happened, but more than half the tiles had cracked. This had pained Boss Wan terribly.

It just so happened that at that time, Xi Jue had brought two children to his door to buy roof tiles. Boss Wan heard that Xi Jue was not a local, so he came up with a trick and mixed the badly fired tiles in with the good ones.

He had originally thought that this family had just arrived in a new place and would only swallow their anger when something happened. He had not expected the woman in their family to have such a strong attitude. But as for this family’s man, Boss Wan gave a cold snort in his heart. Though his presence was frightening, he had not said a single word. Clearly, he was a pushover.

But so what? They were only outsiders. Who would help them? As for the man and woman who had just stood up, he had seen many people like them before. At first, they might help a little, but later, who would treat someone else’s affairs as their own?

Boss Wan folded his arms and turned to get onto the ox cart. “I won’t say more to you. This is how it’ll be.” Though this family’s woman kept saying she did not want to take a loss, the men in the family were not taking action, so this matter could only end like this. There was a smug smile at the corner of his mouth. Two taels of silver, and that half kiln of ruined tiles had not gone to waste.

Seeing Boss Wan’s ox cart drive farther away, Dou Ming broke free of Hua Qi’s hand, his face full of irritation. “Why didn’t you win with wits? He’s already gone.”

“So what if he’s gone?” Hua Qi rolled his eyes at him. “He may have left now, but isn’t his shop still there? What’s the rush?”

“I think you’re just scared.” It could be seen that Dou Ming was truly furious. He actually dared speak to Hua Qi like this. Xiao Cong tugged at his clothes and said anxiously, “Dou Ming, stop talking.”

Hua Qi gave a smile that did not reach his eyes and snorted, just about to open his mouth to mock him. Beside them, Xiu Niang lightly patted Dou Ming and softly scolded him, “How can you talk to your mother like that? She’s a woman. Could you really expect her to go fight? Whether it’s men or women, fighting isn’t a good thing.”

“He’s not my mother.” Dou Ming immediately refuted it. “He, he is…” The little tiger could only glare helplessly. Hua Qi’s identity could not be said.

Xiu Niang looked at Hua Qi awkwardly. Seeing him turn and leave expressionlessly, she guessed that Huaniang must have felt bad after hearing those words.

The people watching the excitement still had not left. Some even asked Xiu Niang what method Hua Qi had thought of. Xiu Niang drove them off. “All of you, disperse, disperse. Every one of you is so busy watching excitement you don’t even need to eat?”

Qiaozi helped chase them away too. “Hurry home and eat. If you don’t eat lunch now, it’ll run straight into dinner.”

The departing crowd scattered. Qiaozi also hurried home to cook. Liu Dali followed Xi Jue’s family back to Xiu Niang’s courtyard. He considered himself on the same side as Dou Ming. If Dou Ming went to fight, he would definitely go help.

Next Chapter >