Chapter 30: Save me!

The shopkeeper next door got excited when he heard that.

He poked his head out and "taunted" the guest, his words laced with disdain: "Hey, you old codger, you can even tell the difference between things that only nobles have?"

Another customer who came to buy meat chimed in.

"Perhaps it's because I've seen too many 'important people' in this building..."

Despite the slightly malicious teasing from those around him, the guest remained unfazed, his eyes, weathered by life's many trials, now only showing a calm demeanor.

The butcher found it grating.

Holding a boning knife in his hand, he pretended to shoo people away.

With a fierce look on his face, he said, "Go away, don't get in here and ruin my business. Do you want some meat? If not, go stand somewhere else."

The other onlookers, finding it uninteresting, dispersed.

Despite the fact that the butcher does all the dirty and hard work, he is the wealthiest and most well-off man on the street, and his words carry some weight. While ordinary families only afford to eat meat during festivals, the butcher's family can eat meat every few days, and their dishes are very oily.

Neighbors and neighbors dared not offend him easily.

After the onlookers dispersed, the butcher asked the customer, "Old man, was what you just said true?"

The guest laughed and said, "Of course it's true."

The butcher pondered for a moment, then asked, "How did you know?"

He was also quite curious how the old man could recognize it as a monogram from a great distance, rather than an ordinary accessory.

The customer tapped the butcher's counter lightly with his finger and said with a smile, "That's not important. What's important is that you've lost. You have to accept your loss."

"Alright, alright, if I lose, that's a good thing! I'll go get you another two ounces of strong liquor to go with your dishes..." The butcher waved his hand dismissively. He had a high-paying job and didn't care about the "betting money." While waiting, the butcher leaned on his wooden counter with his arms bent and chatted with the customer. "Hey, old man, you sound so pretentious. Did you actually go to school?"

The guest said, "I know a few characters."

The butcher perked up at the news and slammed his hand on the table: "Old man, you know my kid's about to start his education..."

The guest asked him casually, "Do you want your child to go to school?"

The butcher nodded and said, "You don't need to teach him many words. I don't expect my child to become an official. With our family background, how could we be destined for high positions? Just teach him a few words, otherwise he'll get ripped off when settling accounts with people. This shop will eventually go to my child..."

"What if your child has literary talent or martial prowess? Would you support them? Literary talent requires studying literature, while martial prowess requires physical training, which will drain the family's savings."

The butcher felt the old man was mocking him, so he pursed his lips and quickly cut the meat, saying, "Someone like us? My kid isn't good enough for that. He just needs to learn how to butcher meat from me..."

In his memory, those who possessed the "Literary Heart and Flower Seal" or the "Martial Courage Tiger Tally" were all nobles. They were either high-ranking officials or extremely wealthy and powerful—in short, superior people. These people could scale walls and rooftops, and create things out of thin air—abilities only gods could possess.

They were just ordinary people who rolled around in the mud.

He's a butcher, so his child will definitely be a butcher too.

Others?

I wouldn't dare to hope for so much.

The customer looked at the butcher with a calm gaze, not daring to even daydream or fantasize, feeling uneasy.

He sighed and said, "The legacy of my family..."

The butcher was confused: "What is that?"

"It means that a son follows in his father's footsteps," the guest explained. "The son of a good blacksmith will learn to make fur coats; the son of a good bow maker will learn to make winnowing baskets."

The butcher was even more confused, but he was certain of one thing—this old man really could read, and probably quite a few!

He became increasingly confused.

These days, who doesn't respect literate people?

If that old man had gone out to teach children to read and write, he wouldn't have ended up like this. How did Yuehualou buy him back to work as a kitchen helper?

The butcher harbored doubts, but the customer didn't want to say more, and with business coming in, he could only suppress his thoughts.

He was thinking of taking the child to see the old man that night, bringing a couple more pounds of good meat, so that he wouldn't get sick from eating offal all day.

At the same time, the thugs also took Shen Tang away.

He first took a main road, and once Shen Tang's attention was diverted and she was no longer on guard, he suggested taking a shortcut into the alley.

The further we walked, the more remote and quiet it became.

Shen Tang finally showed some obvious unease.

Ask the man, "How far is it from the inn?"

The man replied, "Soon, soon."

After circling around two more alleys, Chen Tang asked again.

Are you sure you haven't taken the wrong turn?

The man grew impatient. With only a few steps left to their destination, he felt confident and raised his voice several times to threaten Shen Tang: "I said it would be soon, so why are you in such a hurry, young lady?"

Shen Tang sensed something was wrong and panicked, "I want to go back..."

The man chuckled, refusing to stop: "Too late!"

He kicked the door open and called out to the yard, "Business has arrived."

It was a very remote and dirty courtyard, with weeds growing in the cracks of the walls, and you could vaguely hear conversations coming from inside.

Shen Tang pretended to climb off the motorcycle and run away.

She had barely landed and hadn't even gotten her footing when the man shoved her forcefully into the courtyard. Losing her balance, she stumbled violently, then turned her head in fear and unease to look at the man and woman who were walking out of the courtyard.

The woman said, "What a beautiful wife! Lazybones, where did you trick her into this? Look at her delicate skin..."

As she spoke, she reached out and tried to pinch Chen Tang's face.

Shen Tang flinched away, glaring angrily at the man called "Lai Tou": "You, you, you weren't sent by Yuan Liang?"

Ignoring Shen Tang, he replied to himself, "She followed me obediently after just a few words. She may be good-looking, but she's not very bright."

The man next to the woman leaned closer to examine Shen Tang's face. Shen Tang timidly backed away, looking terrified and on the verge of tears.

The man licked his lips and chuckled, "What do girls need brains for? If women had brains, how would we do business? I'll take her to Yuehua Tower later; they've been urging us to order some good stuff."

The woman ignored her companion's generalization: "Moonlight Pavilion? Isn't that all male prostitutes? What would they need a maid for?"

Lai Tou and the man looked at each other and smiled.

A sense of lewdness permeated the space between the two, everything unspoken.

"You don't understand, we just give goods to people who come to our door."

"Exactly, women shouldn't meddle so much."

Lai Tou pushed Shen Tang's shoulder, preparing to lock her in a dark, filthy little room that reeked of an indescribable stench.

Shen Tang stepped aside.

Shame and indignation, he gritted his teeth: "You dare to sell me out?"

The woman sneered, her eyes suddenly sharpening. She reached out to pinch Chen Tang's flesh, threatening, "Don't think you're a little wench. Even if the wife of the Heavenly King himself came, we'd sell ourselves. Behave yourself! Or you'll regret it!"

Shen Tang dodged around the pillar, her eyes reddening as she did so, and cursed, "Aren't you afraid of divine retribution for doing this?"

Seeing that Shen Tang was getting more and more energetic as she ran, the three of them decided to work together to capture her and give her a good beating to teach her a lesson.

"Retribution?" Lai Tou spat and cursed, "I am God!"

"Qi Yuanliang, save me!"

The man said, "No one will save you even if you scream your lungs out!"

This little vixen is quite the runner; she's as slippery as an eel.

"I'm so scared!"

Shen Tang's voice was tinged with sobs.

The courtyard was so small that Shen Tang was quickly cornered by the three men, and the young woman, who was almost crying, shrank her shoulders.

The fear on his face vanished in the next instant.

"Yeah, right!"

Using the wall for leverage, he spun around with his long legs and swept horizontally.

(End of this chapter)