Huo Shuwen went home and told his wife about it. If it were any other petty thug, He Yi would naturally not have agreed. But Scarface was so close to them, and she had seen through his character.
When the paper mill and Huaxuetang (a type of teahouse) encountered trouble from local thugs, it was Scarface and his gang who helped resolve the situation. They did good deeds without seeking credit from the Huo family or Fengyue Tower.
There's no such thing as a favor that someone is obligated to help you for no reason; it's all about character. He Yi nodded and said.
"Alright, Mother Cen and Manager He should agree too, but Scarface still needs to keep these people under his control."
Huo Shuwen held his wife's delicate hand and could only nod repeatedly.
In the dim candlelight, the beautiful woman sat quietly, dressed in a simple, unadorned dress. Her face was slightly thin, yet possessed a natural beauty. Her eyes were lowered, and her long eyelashes cast a small shadow on her cheeks. Her nose was straight, and her lips were slightly upturned, giving her a friendly and warm aura. Her long hair was simply tied up, with a few strands falling across her face, adding to her softness.
"What are you looking at?" He Yi asked, her lips slightly parted, noticing the way Huo Shuwen was staring at her.
The eagle felt his mind was a little muddled. How could his wife get more and more beautiful with age? Looking at his fingers, which were constantly fiddling with the abacus beads, the man blushed slightly and asked shyly.
"Ayi, how about we go to bed early tonight?"
The beauty rolled her eyes and sighed inwardly. He Yi was actually quite pleased that Huo Shuwen was living off her. Not to mention that Huo Xiaolong and his sister weren't exactly bright.
He Yi felt that her parents' actions were a trap, and that keeping the man by her side was the best solution. He should eat and use his own food, be pampered and spoiled, and only she should be considered acceptable to him. This was not a method a normal woman could come up with.
But this can't be so tedious. It's not even completely dark yet, and the children haven't come back. If we lock the main room so early, how can we be parents? Don't think that just because Long'er is young he doesn't understand anything. Fengyue Tower is still a brothel. If this little dumpling is really like a blank sheet of paper, it would be a disrespect to the charms of the girls in the brothel.
"Too early, later."
Hearing his wife agree, Huo Shuwen grinned and began grinding ink beside her.
—The next morning
"Let me make this clear from the start: this is an opportunity we brothers worked so hard to get, a legitimate one. If anyone ruins it, don't blame me for turning my back on you."
As Fu Ping watched her husband reprimand her, her thoughts drifted back to yesterday.
Mother Cen still didn't grant her request, not out of refusal, but to explain it to her properly. She said that if she wanted to work at the brothel, she needed to discuss it with her family beforehand.
Also, she's at a crucial time right now, and Cen Ang told her to come back after giving birth. If Scarface still doesn't have a legitimate way to make a living by then, she'll let him stay home; he definitely can't keep doing the work of looking after people's brothels anymore.
"Brother, don't worry, we definitely won't let you down."
"Of course, my mother is waiting to show off to other old ladies."
The reason these people developed this kind of personality is that they were mostly the most pampered children in their families, and some were even only children. Children from truly poor families wouldn't run wild in the streets every day.
Their parents, seeing that their children could eat meat every day and bring some money home, let them be. Sometimes they could even take care of their family members and prevent them from being bullied.
They have no worries about making a living, but their reputation is not good.
The women who made the decision rented a house in Pingyang County, not far from the brothel. They used it specifically to make toothbrushes; Scarface and his gang were the ones who went there to work.
Before they went, they had already agreed with Scarface that, apart from him being in charge and receiving two taels of silver a month, everyone else would be paid according to the amount of work they did, with more work resulting in more pay.
Not only that, but meals and accommodation are also provided for those who live far away.
If it were just the brothers who were usually close to Scarface, those few wouldn't be enough; there would only be five or six of them. But since the gang leader had spread the word that he was going to walk the straight path, nearly twenty people came. They were all people who had been with him before, and most of them were decent people.
This job doesn't require any special skills; it's just physical labor. The materials are all pre-made; you just need to use a hammer to support the planks and hammer them in.
You earn three coins for each one you make. As long as you don't slack off, you can easily make one or two taels of silver a month.
It includes food and lodging, and there's no risk of injury or death.
"Is the food at Fengyue Tower really that good?"
"This is all communal cooking in our building; it's not considered good."
Erhei and Erya were the ones who came to cook for them. The burly young man couldn't stay idle at home, and he was getting anxious because he hadn't earned any money for almost a month. He could eat so much; he didn't want to eat the Huo family out of house and home.
Erhei wanted to ask Huo Xiaocheng to go out and do business, but the young man wasn't in the mood right now.
All he thinks about every day is sword practice and courtesans.
So Erhei and his junior sister came here to cook in the wok; it would be a waste if they didn't use their physiques for cooking in a large pot. That's what Zhang's mother said.
"So, how good is the food in your building?" Monkey asked, holding a plate of octopus fried rice.
The building was closed for a few days during the Chinese New Year, so Er Ya brought over the remaining octopus and stir-fried it with chili sauce.
"Come over and try it when you get paid another day!"
The monkey shook its head.
"No, no, I can't afford it. Your family is turning a brothel into a restaurant."
"Monkey, how much did you do today?"
"I made more than fifty this morning, how about you?"
"I did more than you! I did sixty."
Scarface sat in the main seat, looking at his brothers eating in the distance, and his somewhat fierce face softened.
These people can finally put their families at ease.
If there were no other choice, who would want to go down this path? The ignorance of youth leads to regret when you grow up, but it's too late. The one thing money can't buy in this world is a cure for regret.
————A Side Story from the Mo Family
"Junior brother, how much money does our sect have left? Give me some, and I'll pay you back after Wangji gets married."
The leader of the Mohist school clicked his tongue. It wasn't that he didn't want to take it; he simply didn't have any. You don't know the cost of firewood and rice until you're in charge. Those old folks are truly a menace, and the young ones are certainly big eaters.
"Senior brother... it's not that I don't want to give it to you, it's just that I really don't have any. The money in our family's accounts, plus my own savings, that's all we have..."
"Just five hundred taels?"
"Okay, that's all."
"Didn't I return five thousand taels to you before?"
The money Lu Wangji's biological father gave to the sect leader was all earned by his son himself. His father never imagined his son would get married so soon after leaving home.
"How about I borrow some from a farmer? They're the richest."
Lu Wangji's mother's head was spinning. "Why did you have to marry a courtesan?" she thought.
The woman had no objection to Mantuo's identity. After all, there were many men in the martial arts world who married courtesans. Didn't the First Blade and the First Swordsman both marry courtesans? Her Wangji was no different. His leg wasn't even healed yet, but the girl didn't mind. She was a really nice person.
I wonder if the thousand taels of silver she and her husband have scraped together is enough. It would be too shameful if she couldn't get married because of a lack of money. If word got out, the Mo family's reputation would be ruined.
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