Chapter 47 Good news from the He family, the gambler's greed

When the dumb lady left, Jiang Ning specifically asked Liu Ming'an to take her all the way home.

When Liu Ming'an came back, Jiang Ning was already rolling out the dumpling skin.

"Jiang Ning, are you... okay? Why don't you go and rest, I'll cook." Liu Ming'an was a little embarrassed to talk about a woman's private topic.

"It's okay." Jiang Ning replied. Perhaps because of the spiritual spring water, Jiang Ning did not feel any discomfort, but the cloth belt filled with plant ash under her body was not very comfortable.

"Then I'll help you, I know how to make dumplings." Liu Ming'an said, without waiting for Jiang Ning's response, he washed his hands and started to wrap the dumplings with the skin rolled by Jiang Ning.

Jiang Ning took a look and found that Liu Ming'an did it properly, so she let him do it.

"I just came back and met my third aunt's wife. I chatted with her for a while." Liu Ming'an tried to find

something to talk about. "Well, what did you talk about?" Jiang Ning responded nonchalantly.

Liu Ming'an thought for a moment, and a smile appeared on his lips: "He Ping's marriage with the girl from Taohua Village has been settled on the eighth day of next month. He Yiyi and Chen Zuyin have also been settled, and they will be married in the first month of next year."

"So fast?" Jiang Ning was surprised at the efficiency.

"Marriage is a big deal. It's decided by parents and matchmakers. When the two siblings are of age, the second aunt is naturally anxious. Now it's good. Good things come in pairs." Liu Ming'an said with a smile.

Jiang Ning saw that the bright smile in Liu Ming'an's eyes was not fake, but genuinely happy, and couldn't help but sigh: "If Miss Yiyi knew that you could still laugh when you heard that she was getting married, she would probably cry again."

"Jiang Ning," Liu Ming'an called helplessly, and told him: "Don't tell others about this in the future. Yiyi is getting married soon, and it will be bad for the girl's reputation if it gets out."

"I only know you," Jiang Ning paused, and added: "Besides, I don't have that much free time."

Liu Ming'an thought so too. Jiang Ning was so cold, and he couldn't imagine her chatting with other people.

When the two of them finished their meal and turned off the lights to rest, Liu Ming'an suddenly remembered another thing.

"Jiang Ning, aren't you looking for Coach Zhao? Maybe I can help you."

Liu Ming'an's voice came from the side. Jiang Ning in the dark night opened his eyes and asked, "Tell me about it."

"Coach Zhao is not an official, and he doesn't eat public food. He just knows some boxing and entered the yamen through his uncle's relationship. He trains the constables and runners there and teaches them kung fu, so people call him Coach Zhao." Liu

Ming'an first briefly explained Coach Zhao's identity, and then said: "But there are some things that people in the yamen are not convenient to do, or they are too lazy to do, so they will entrust him to run errands, such as the announcement of the results of the Tongsheng examination."

"The announcement of the results of the Tongsheng examination?" Jiang Ning was very surprised.

"Yes," Liu Ming'an said, "I took the Tongsheng exam half a month ago. If nothing unexpected happens, I should be able to pass the exam and become a scholar. When Coach Zhao comes to tell me, I can take the opportunity to ask him about your background."

"When will the results be announced?" Jiang Ning asked. If it takes too long, she might as well ask by herself.

Fortunately, Liu Ming'an replied, "At the end of this month."

"What if he doesn't want to say it?" Jiang Ning asked again. If she went to Coach Zhao alone, she had plenty of ways to ask what she wanted to hear, but if Liu Ming'an went to ask, the situation would be very different, at least she couldn't force it.

Jiang Ning heard Liu Ming'an chuckle, and then said: "You don't know, this coach Zhao loves to gamble, and he has bad luck and often loses money. Almost all of his salary as a coach is squandered in the casino. So, this person is greedy."

Liu Ming'an said all, and Jiang Ning understood that he was going to bribe Coach Zhao with money to get information. Well, it's safer this way.

What Jiang Ning and Liu Ming'an didn't know was that Coach Zhao, who they were thinking about, was also targeted by another person at this time.

In Jinyufang, although it was close to the hour of midnight, there were still several gamblers lingering on the gambling tables in the lobby.

Coach Zhao was one of them.

"Big!" "Big!" "Big!"

Coach Zhao stared at the dice cup, his eyes were red with anger. He wanted to bet all his money on this one, thinking that he could win back all the losses before, and then leave.

Several pairs of eyes stared at Lao Yu's hand that opened the lid. Coach Zhao shouted hoarsely over and over again, pinning his hopes on the three dice in the dice cup.

However, things did not go as planned. When the dice cup was opened, the three dice inside were: one, one, four, small!

"Bang!" Coach Zhao could not help but hammer the table heavily, his eyes full of reluctance, but in the end he could only feel helpless. With an empty pocket and no way to continue, he had to walk out of the Jinyufang with his head down.

On the second floor of Jinyufang, Hu Laoliu stared at Master Zhao with interest, taking in all his moves.

"Zehua, what do you think is the most important thing for a gambler?" After Master Zhao opened the curtain and left, Hu Laoliu turned around and asked the monkey next to him this question.

The monkey answered without hesitation: "Luck."

"Wrong!"

"That's gambling skills."

"Wrong!"

The monkey shook his head, very puzzled. Is there anything more important than "luck" or "gambling skills" for a gambler?

The monkey looked around at the gamblers downstairs, and when he saw the winners' faces glowing,

he suddenly realized, "I know, uncle, it's money!" But Hu Laoliu shook his head and said, "You're still wrong!"

"What is that?" The monkey couldn't figure it out.

Hu Laoliu stood with his hands behind his back, looking down at the group of people downstairs with a bit of sarcasm and pity, and slowly said, "It's greed."

"Uncle?" The monkey frowned and called Hu Laoliu, not knowing why he was saying this now. Shouldn't they be discussing how to deal with that woman?

Just a few hours ago, the person who went out to get information came back. The woman with the veil walked around the town, buying this and that, so they found out the information.

It turned out that the woman was in a group with a scholar. They bought things at Chen's Rice Shop and left their address. The people from Jinyufang took a few copper coins and gave them to the waiter of Chen's Rice Shop, and they found out the woman's address - Lotus Village. They also learned that the man who was with her was called Liu Ming'an, the scholar who sold calligraphy and paintings and wrote letters for people by the bridge.

The monkey struck while the iron was hot and asked someone about Liu Ming'an's situation. Only then did he know that Liu Ming'an had bought a girl with broken hands and feet and a disfigured face at the last market. The monkey immediately thought of that woman. Her hands and feet might not be broken, but her face should be really broken, otherwise she would not have been wearing a veil all the time.

After the monkey told all this to Hu Laoliu, he saw that his uncle was in deep thought and silent. After a long time, he asked a completely unrelated question.

"How is Liu Ming'an's academic performance?" Hu Laoliu asked.

The monkey was startled and answered truthfully: "I heard that he is quite good. His father is a scholar and a teacher in the village. Many people ask him to write letters and buy calligraphy and paintings."

"Did he participate in this year's Tongsheng examination?" Hu Laoliu asked again.

"This..." How did the monkey know this question?

"Go ask someone!" Hu Laoliu knew Monkey couldn't answer the question as soon as he saw Monkey's expression, so he urged him.

Monkey didn't even have time to eat dinner, so he went out to find someone he knew who had taken the Tongsheng exam this year to ask if he had seen Liu Ming'an in the exam room. After getting a positive answer, he hurried back to tell Hu Laoliu.

"Hahaha... OK!" Hu Laoliu laughed when he heard the answer, leaving Monkey confused.

After that, Hu Laoliu walked out of the room, leaned on the railing and looked at the hall without saying a word. Until now, he finally spoke, but it was to discuss the so-called "greed" problem with Monkey.

"Uncle, that woman..."

Monkey started to speak anxiously, but was interrupted by Hu Laoliu: "Zehua, a gentleman's revenge is never too late even after ten years, why rush it now."

Monkey swallowed the words he had not said, and listened to Hu Laoliu speaking slowly: "In the heart of a gambler, there is a bottomless pit, in which lives a monster that can never be full. If he wins one or two taels of silver today, he will want to win two or three taels tomorrow, and the more he wins, the more he wants to win; on the contrary, if he wins today but loses tomorrow, on the third day he will only think about winning back the money he lost with interest. People who like to gamble don't know how to 'stop when they have had enough' or 'quit when they are ahead'..."

"Uncle, I understand what you mean. But I don't understand why you told me this? I don't like gambling." The monkey was confused.

"Hahaha..." Hu Laoliu laughed, then turned around and stared at the monkey's eyes: "Because I want to take advantage of a person's greed and kill him with a knife!"

At this moment, Hu Laoliu's cloudy eyes were filled with resentment, like a snake lurking in the dark, waiting for an opportunity to move. Even though the monkey respected him as a father, he couldn't help but sweat under such a gaze.