Chapter 17: The Fourth
According to Yang Jiulang, a local and brother of Lao Si, after Chai Yao was imprisoned, Doctor Zhao summoned him and Zhang Tan to his cell and asked who was willing to make amends. Whoever did so would be released. Both he and Zhang Tan knew that the "merit" Doctor Zhao was referring to must be the dirty work of shoveling shit, so they remained silent. Doctor Zhao promised him fifty coins. He still remained silent, but Zhang Tan did. Zhang Tan said, "Me!"
Yang Jiulang was certain that Chai Yao was murdered by Dr. Zhao, and Bi Xi was murdered by Chai Yao. The knife Dr. Zhao used to kill Chai Yao was Zhang Tan. Now Zhang Tan's whereabouts were unknown, so he must also be dead. When Meng Quan asked Dr. Zhao why he killed Chai Yao, Yang Jiulang, a local, said he didn't know.
Yang Jiulang had studied for a few years and could write and do accounting. He originally sold chickens at the morning market. In the Xinsi year of Shaoxing, Lao Si's brother Zhang Tan opened a goose stall in the northern market and spread rumors that Yang Jiulang's chickens had worms in their stomachs. Unable to prove to the locals that the chickens were worm-free, Yang Jiulang claimed to have found two-foot-long worms in Zhang Tan's geese. One day, the two men got into a brawl at the morning market, and Yang Jiulang lost. From then on, he had to obey Zhang Tan's orders and sell chickens at Zhang Tan's goose stall, paying him three strings of cash every month. Yang Jiulang was a gifted talker and a shrewd person, but Lao Si called him a shrew. After visiting the goose stall a few times, Lao Si was impressed by Yang Jiulang's eloquence and vacated a shed at his donkey stall for Yang Jiulang to raise chickens and sell donkeys for him. Lao Si trusted Yang Jiulang and always consulted with him. Until the year before last when Yang Jiulang was sent to Xinfan to beat someone up, Lao Si still said, "We're not beating anyone up, we're training your courage."
Meng Quan met Yang Jiulang in the Xinfan County jail. While Lao Si was working for Dr. Zhao, Yang Jiulang was imprisoned, so he had no idea what Lao Si had done. However, Yang Jiulang introduced him to a man named Pei Lin, saying he knew. Pei Lin was not only Lao Si's follower, but also knew Feng Xie, who had impersonated Xiong San and robbed Li Bing from the mountains.
Meng Quan also heard from Pei Lin that it was Feng Xie who robbed Li Bing from the mountains. Feng Xie didn't know about Xiong San. Feng Xie was from Chengdu and loved dog fighting. Ever since Dou Shuang, the dog lord, opened a dog fighting arena in Xinshi, Feng Xie went there every day to fight dogs. A dog that followed Feng Xie never survived more than three days. Feng Xie then took up stealing. Feng Xie was from Chengdu, and he only stole dogs from Chengdu, rarely leaving the city because he had to fight dogs every day. Feng Xie stole dogs to buy dogs, but he started late and his skills were poor. He often got into trouble and was kicked and beaten by the dogs, leaving him with no skin left on his body. Feng Xie then went to Dou Shuang for help. Dou Shuang called him a gambling dog. Feng Xie then went to Lao Si, Dou Shuang's enemy. Lao Si took him in and set rules for him. According to their original rules, whenever Feng Xie stole something from the market, he had to pay tribute to Lao Si first, no matter what he found. However, Feng Xie's skills were poor, his luck was bad, and he wasn't honest. He rarely paid tribute to Lao Si, using the money he stole to buy dogs. After getting dogs, he took them to Dou Shuang's dog-fighting farm. After his repeated denials, Lao Si stopped paying him any attention. Whenever he was beaten by Fan Gaotou Chi Qia Zi and came to complain, Lao Si would say, "I'm just a donkey seller, I can't afford to offend the ghost on the beam."
The fourth brother had told Pei Lin, "If that prostitute Feng Xie comes, kick him out." Those were old sayings. After meeting Dr. Zhao, the fourth brother told Pei Lin again, "Dig deep underground to find that prostitute Feng Xie." When the fourth brother said this, Pei Lin thought Feng Xie would be easy to find. But when he did, he couldn't find him. It wasn't hard to explain. Feng Xie didn't start his robbery in Chengdu, but went to Xinfan to rob people, because he didn't want the fourth brother to know. Feng Xie had a harvest, but he didn't want to pay tribute to the fourth brother, so he had to hide it first. Pei Lin wanted to find the physical evidence that Feng Xie denied, so he had to find the stolen goods he had hidden. So he went to find Feng Xie's lover, the widow Zhang. Zhang lived east of Wanli Bridge outside Xiaonan Gate. When Pei Lin saw Zhang wearing a pearl net on her head, he was sure that Feng Xie had been here, so he said to the widow Zhang, "If you don't tell me, you can become a woman riding a wooden donkey and have your intestines, stomach, heart, lungs, throat and tongue pierced by awls. It will be too late to tell me then." The widow Zhang rushed over and hugged Pei Lin's feet, saying that he had been here, had stayed for two days and then left. Before leaving, he said that he was going to a pawnshop, the most prestigious pawnshop in Chengdu.
The most prestigious pawnshop in Chengdu was the "Lu's House Pawnshop." Everyone in Chengdu knew about it, and behind its back, they called it "Lu's House Pawnshop." Pei Lin said that Wang Lu, the owner of the "Lu's House Pawnshop," hated being called "Lu's House Pawnshop." Yet, everyone in Chengdu called it that, initially because they didn't know how to pronounce "Lu." How could a single "Lu" have such a profound meaning that Wang Lu would call anyone who called their name "Lu's House Pawnshop" a "rotten brat"? To understand the ins and outs of this "Lu" word, we have to talk about Meng Shilang. Pei Lin explained that Wang Lu, a scumbag selling glass wine from Meizhou, wanted to open such a prestigious pawnshop outside Jinmafang. He didn't have the capital to pawn things, nor could he even afford to buy land. At the beginning of the Qianlong era, he was only able to open the shop thanks to Meng Shilang's financial support. Back then, there was no business. Chengdu had three pawnshops: one in Daxiangfang, one in Dongshi, and one in Qingyang Temple. All were established businesses with a history of 20 to 30 years, reputable, and offered a wide variety of items for pawn. Wang Lu, unable to compete with them, was quite resourceful. Seeing that the pawnshop business was stagnant, he took up reselling. The pawnshop not only pawned items but also collected antiques and precious treasures. Collecting antiques and precious treasures required a keen eye, while selling them required eloquence. Wang Lu's eye was average, but his eloquence was exceptional. Wang Lu's salesperson was still Meng Shilang. People who had visited the shop to sell treasures saw items they had sold at Meng's house, while others had seen treasures they had pawned elsewhere. Upon inquiry, they were certain that Meng Shilang had given them to them. Chengdu residents understood that Wang Lu's business was to buy goods for Meng Shilang, who was originally a comprador. Wang Lu would buy treasures and then resell them to Shilang, marking up the price by one to five times, but Shilang didn't argue. The pawnshop run by Meng Shilang outside Jinmafang relied on Wang Lu's eloquence and Shilang's money. As business grew, Shilang wasn't the only source of revenue. Yet, Wang Lu insisted that he belonged to the owner of the pawnshop. The character "盝" (盝) on his pawnshop sign was a combination of his first name and Shilang's last name. Anyone who read it separately was saying they were being torn apart, accusing him of ripping the owner off. Wang Lu couldn't bear to lose Meng Shilang, so he taught everyone in Chengdu how to recognize the character.
When Pei Lin went to the pawn shop at the Lujia Pawnshop, Wang Lu was cleaning the treasures. Wang Lu said, "Who knows who was here? Ask Cao Chang." Cao Chang was a newly hired clerk at the Lujia Pawnshop.
Pei Lin asked, "Where is Commander Cao?"
Wang Lu said, "It's lying across the street."
Pei Lin went to look for Cao Chang, but couldn't find him. Instead, he found Cao Chang's brother-in-law, Wei San. Wei San was not only Cao Chang's brother-in-law, but also a fellow officer under Dou Shuang. Wei San was a skilled dog trainer, nicknamed "Dog Professor." Professor Wei San told Pei Lin that Cao Chang was looking for Feng Xie. Feng Xie had sold a jade badger to the pawnshop of the Lu family, and Cao Chang took over the business, paying him 200 strings of cash. Later, Wang Lu, upon appraising the badger, determined it was defective. Wang Lu blamed Cao Chang and threatened to deduct his salary. He ordered Cao Chang to recover the 200 strings of cash he had paid Feng Xie. After searching for several days without success, Cao Chang came to find Wei San. Through Wei San's introduction, Cao Chang went to the dog stall to look for Dou Shuang. Wei San explained that Cao Chang had gone to Dou Shuang, the dog owner, to ask him to help him find Feng Xie. When Cao Chang went to the dog stall, Dou Shuang and his junior fellow apprentice, Qinghua Li, the head of the cat stall, were feeding the dogs and cats from the kennel. Cao Chang begged Dou Shuang to help him find Feng Xie, but Dou Shuang refused. Cao Chang then gave Dou Shuang the jade camel badger that Feng Xie had sold to the pawnshop, saying, "To be honest, Feng Xie has a tribute in his hands, not just one. I saw him take several when he went to the pawnshop. If you can find Feng Xie and recover my two hundred coins, the camel badger will be yours. If you have the ability, the tribute in Feng Xie's hands will also be yours."
The above is what Professor Wei San, the Dog, said to Pei Lin, the fourth brother of the old man, in the fourth year of the Gan Dao era. Pei Lin reported this to the old man, who then said, "That camel-badger must be the loot that Feng Xie stole, or one of the loot. We must go find Dou Shuang."
Pei Lin told Meng Quan that Lao Si actually didn't want to look for Dou Shuang. If it wasn't for finding Feng Xie so that he could get Zhang Tan and Yang Jiulang out of the Xinfan County jail, Lao Si would never look for Dou Shuang. On the way to look for Dou Shuang, Lao Si said that he didn't expect this matter to be so difficult. After all the things were found, he would have to ask Doctor Zhao of Xinfan County for an extra 2,000 strings of cash. In other words, his visit to Dou Shuang was worth 2,000 strings of cash. This price was not expensive. Pei Lin said that the grudge between Lao Si and Dou Shuang was as deep as an old hole, and the stuff inside could not be broken or pried out, and it was as hard as the iron and stone in the hole. This was cast in the 29th year of Shaoxing, and people and dogs died because of it, so it had to be made of iron, just like a knife that has to be hard and must see blood.
That year, Dou Shuang, a martial arts practitioner since childhood, left Leshan and traveled to Chengdu to join his apprentice, Qinghua Li, and then went into the dog-selling business. The first dog stall he chose was the mule stall at Dashiqiao. The stall owner agreed to sell the land, but Lao Si refused, saying that the land at Dashiqiao was under his control and that any sale or purchase required his approval. Dou Shuang was angry but did not cause any trouble at the time. Before the Spring Festival, Dou Shuang went alone to the donkey stall, beat up Lao Si's brothers, and stabbed Lao Si. Lao Si nearly died, and by the end of the year he missed the Chengdu market, losing half his annual earnings. After recovering from his injuries, Lao Si led his men to kill the dog feeder who had fed Dou Shuang's dog. Dou Shuang then sent another of his brothers to rape Lao Si's wife, Wang. Lao Si killed Dou Shuang's fierce dog. Dou Shuang also kidnapped Lao Si's illegitimate daughter, born by a nun named Lian. Two years later, the fourth brother, ready to fight Dou Shuang to the death, was persuaded by his wife, Wang, to "go to the temple and ruin your fortune. If you continue to be stubborn, you'll be skinned alive by the devil. Why rush to death? A truce is better than a fight to the death." The fourth brother, convinced by Wang's advice, spared Dou Shuang. His daughter still lives with Dou Shuang. In some mysterious way, the fourth brother and Dou Shuang became father-in-law and son-in-law, though neither of them acknowledged their relationship. Dou Shuang still wanted to take possession of the two livestock stalls that the fourth brother had acquired at the year-end fair, but the fourth brother refused, leaving Dou Shuang fuming with resentment.
Pei Lin said that when he followed Lao Si into Dou Shuang's dog stall that day, he saw the blue-flowered civet cat squatting nearby, feeding the cats. Lao Si offered 400 strings of cash, saying he wanted to redeem the jade camel badger. Dou Shuang asked why. Lao Si said, "This belongs to Feng Xie. Feng Xie is not a human being, but he is my subordinate."
Dou Shuang asked, "Where is Feng Xie?"
The fourth brother said, "Looking for it."
Dou Shuang was a man who understood the market and could see that the camel-badger with a broken leg was not worth four hundred coins at all. The fourth brother was so generous, which meant there was something else going on. However, he had to sell it. Because Feng Xie was a thief, and Feng Xie's things were stolen goods. Feng Xie was under the care of the fourth brother, and Feng Xie's stolen goods should also belong to the fourth brother. The camel-badger was Feng Xie's stolen goods, and according to the rules, it must be returned to the fourth brother even if the fourth brother refused to give a penny. Now that the fourth brother was willing to pay four hundred coins to redeem it, if he didn't sell it, it would be considered a violation of the rules. Dou Shuang knew the rules, but still didn't want to sell it. Because the camel-badger was in the hands of the fourth brother, the matter of finding Feng Xie had nothing to do with him. The tribute in Feng Xie's hand that Cao Chang mentioned had nothing to do with him either. Dou Shuang simply pretended to be in-laws with the fourth brother, saying that they were originally one family, so why not join forces to find him (Feng Xie). Let's not beat around the bush, Feng Xie has a treasure in his hands, you and I know it. With a treasure in hand, Feng Xie doesn't want to be found. Only the Donkey Gang and the Dog Gang can find him together. How about this: whoever finds him first gets 60% of the prize, and the other 40%. From now on, in September and November, I'll give you the big market spot. In October and December, I'll take over.
The fourth brother was unwilling to agree. This job was originally worth two thousand strings of cash, and with the two thousand more he was going to ask Dr. Zhao for, it was worth four thousand strings of cash. According to Dou Shuang, even if Feng Xie was found by the Donkey Gang first, 40% of the things would fall into Dou Shuang's hands, and it would cost one or two thousand strings to redeem them at that time. However, the fourth brother still agreed. It was important to find Feng Xie right now. With the Donkey Gang and the Dog Gang joining forces, there would be no problem finding Feng Xie. One or two thousand strings of cash, at most it would be one or two thousand strings of cash. At most he would ask Dr. Zhao for two thousand more, making a total of six thousand strings of cash. The fourth brother made up his mind, turned around and left, and when he walked outside, he told Pei Lin to go into the backyard of the dog stall to listen to what Dou Shuang said about him.
What Pei Lin heard that day was Dou Shuang talking to Qinghua Li. Pei Lin said - it's a good thing there was a leak in the window. He heard Qinghua Li say, if Lao Si found it first, there's a 40% chance he wouldn't give it to you, saying he didn't find it. Dou Shuang said this thing was stolen by Feng Jie, and we're just taking advantage of it. If he found it, he'd be powerful. Qinghua Li said, didn't you hear that Lao Si wanted Feng Jie's things, how could this camel badger be worth four hundred? If you found Feng Jie's things first, he would definitely use money to redeem it, just like before.
Dou Shuang'er laughed and said, "I dare to ask him for two thousand." Qinghua Li said, "You want four thousand."
Later, neither Lao Si nor Dou Shuang could find Feng Xie. Pei Lin said it wasn't because the Donkey Gang and the Dog Gang weren't powerful enough. How could a mere Feng Xie escape the eyes of these donkeys and dogs? If Feng Xie were alive, he would have been found. However, no one knew that Feng Xie was dead. His body was now in the cat stall in the yard next to the dog stall.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
