Jun Xie was in a conversation with Little Ke since he had nothing else to do. Little Ke feared him less these days â due to his changed behavior in the past few days. She was still fearful of going too close to him. However, she didnât abhor him much; especially his story-telling. The girl would carry an incense pot in Jun Xieâs room at the same hour every day, and would listen to his stories attentively. She would blink her eyes as she sat in front of Jun Xie. She followed the characters and emotions of each of the stories. She cheered, laughed, and cried with the characters. And, she felt excited when a handsome prince arrived in the story.
Jun Xie once told her the unfortunate story of the little mermaid. The little girl was so moved that she burst into tears. In fact, she cried for an entire day. Jun Xie swore to himself that he would never tell tragic stories to women again.
Those tears⊠could drown a person to death!
One day, Jun Xie was narrating the story of the monkey Sun being captured in the Eight Diagrams Furnace to Little Ke. Little Ke held an incense pot in her hands, and stood in front of him. She kept on blinking her eyes while she listened to the story. Suddenly, a bodyguard rushed inside and said, âYoung Master, Young Master Tang has arrived.â
âYoung Master Tang?â Jun Xie raised his head in confusion. He then searched for the memories related to this person in his head. He then said, âSend him in.â
A meatball started to roll towards him from the courtyard. It shouted as it continued to roll, âThird Young Master, Brother Mo Xie, please save me! Iâm stuck with a horrible problemâŠâ
Jun Xie was astounded to see a meatball talk. He eventually understood that it was a man as it came near him.
This person didnât seem to have a neck; at least Jun Xie couldnât see one. He had wide shoulders, short and thick arms and thighs, and a round head. The layers of fat in his body moved up and down in the air as he ran; they looked like the raging waves of the Yangtze River. He could be described as an opposite of a bamboo stalk. He didnât look like a human from any angle.
He walked in from the door of the courtyard. He kept on wiping his sweat; even though he had only walked a few steps. He seemed extremely tired. This person was the Young Master of the Tang family. His name was Tang Yuan. The status of this Tang family was at par with the Jun family.
Jun Xie thought, [He does look like him⊠but he looks bigger than before.]
âUh⊠Young Master Tang⊠Whatâs wrong with you? Why are you screaming for me to save you? Who provoked you this time?â Jun Xie held back his laughter as he looked at Jun Mo Xieâs best friend.
Young Master Tang looked angry, âBloody grannies! Who else but those slops from the Li and Meng familiesâŠ?!â He tried to open his eyes in between the thick flesh of his face, and succeeded in opening two narrow slits. He continued, âBrother, I was in the Thousand Gold Hall from the past ten days. Iâve lost hundred-and-fifty-thousand silver liangs! Third Young Master, please help me! Otherwise, my old man will beat me to deathâŠâ
Jun Xie was stunned, âHundred-and-fifty-thousand silver liangs! How could you lose you so much money? In fact, from where did you get so much money?â
Tang Yuan heaved a deep sigh, âI was winning at first. I had won around fifty-thousandâŠâ
âWhy did you continue to play if they werenât letting you win after that? What were you playing to lose so much money for? Youâve got some gutsâŠâ Jun Xie stared at him and asked.
Tang Yuan didnât dare to counter Jun Xieâs point. Instead, he grumbled, âDidnât you lose hundred-thousand liangs last month? Iâve only lost a little higher amount than yours⊠and youâreâŠâ
âWhy are you telling me all these things? Canât your Tang family afford to pay hundred-and-fifty-thousand liangs for you? Why did you come here yelling?â Jun Xie realized that these kind of people couldnât be judged on the basis of common sense. These people were the typical spend-thrift Young Masters.
âWould your own father kill you for an amount of hundred-and-fifty-thousand silver liangs? Itâs not that you havenât lost such an amount of money beforeâŠâ
âAfter I lost all my money⊠I told them that Iâll go home to get some more. Then, Li Bo started to provoke me. He said that everyone was tired⊠and that they would go away if I didnât stay there. I became angry⊠andâŠâ Tang Yuan looked at Jun Xie with a face filled with regret.
Suddenly, Jun Xie started to feel apprehensive, âAnd⊠what?â
âOne can lose his people⊠but not his face. I pawned my precious jade and sword for three-hundred-thousand silver liangs in an impulsive fit. I thought that I would win all my money back. But, I didnât expect⊠didnât expect⊠that I would lose it all,â Tang Yuan said in a hesitant manner.
âYou said that one can lose his people⊠but not face. I remember that your father spent a huge amount of money to buy the famed Snow Buster Sword for you. That divine weapon can cut iron like mud. That jade was made-up of Warm Jade. Your father had paid one-million liangs to buy those assets for you. And yet⊠you pawned them for only a three-hundred-thousand liangs? No one can make this kind of a loss in a bargain saleâŠâJun Xie was speechless. [This man is a complete rake!]
âI too have rules⊠you know⊠but, my mind had become numb. I canât even explain the state of my mind back then,â Tang Yuan grumbled.
âYou still have the pledge note⊠even if youâve lost your possessions. So, you can redeem your assets later on. I know that your father loves you a lot. He⊠at the most⊠will rebuke you. He wonât kill you over this. Moreover, your family has a lot of money. Is this such a serious problemâŠ?â Jun Xie grunted twice.
âNonsense! These two items are treasures. How can I not wish to win them back?â Tang Yuan replied in an indignant manner. âBut, youâre well aware of my Grandpaâs rules. You saw it yourself⊠what I had to endure the last time. One layer of my skin had been torn-off because of his beating!â
âAnd yet⊠you continued to gamble. What did you pawn this time? I know that you possess a lot of precious assets. But, you donât have anything else that was worth a million liangsâŠâ Jun Xie was an experienced man when it came to the psychology related to gambling. He knew that this fat friend of Jun Mo Xie wouldnât have been this anxious if he hadnât gambled away something he couldnât recover.
âYes⊠Actually⊠I didnât have anything valuable on me. So, I pawned my wifeâŠâ Tang Yuanâs face looked full of regret and a desire to end his life. âIâm not even married to her yet.â
âAh?â Little Ke gasped and widened her eyes in shock. She stared at Tang Yuan with disgust in her eyes. She thought in her heart, [It was difficult enough for the Young Master to become a better human being⊠and now this friend of his has arrived.]
âWhat? You pawned your wife? You pulled your wife into this mess?â Jun Xie nearly tumbled-off his chair. He felt that he would faint. This was too shocking! It was unthinkable!
[The son of the Minister of State Revenue went gambling⊠and lost the daughter of the Vice-Minister of Justice in a bet.] Grandpa Tang would pump-out all the fat and oil from this fattyâs body and use it as a fuel for the Sky Lantern if he came to know of this.
âI⊠I didnât drag her there⊠â Tang Yuan was on the verge of crying, â⊠but I signed a promissory note⊠pawning her for a million liangs⊠It was written in black and white. I signed it.â
âPig⊠you pig!â She was the daughter of the Vice-Minister of justice⊠and Tang Yuan was the son of the Minister of State Revenue. This incident had the capacity to affect the future and reputation of the two prestigious families. And yet, he had pawned his to-be-wife for a mere one-million liangs. âYou signed it as well! What happened to the one-million liangs?â
âOh My God!â Jun Xie was speechless. âHow did it become one million-and- five-hundred-thousand liangs? Wasnât it supposed to be only a million liangs?
âThe extra money is the price for granting me three hours to get the money. Please save me, Third Young Master. Iâve nowhere else to go.â
âHow can I save you? What made you think that Iâve such an amount of money?â Jun Xie said. [Are you serious? I can happily kill a person like you⊠and youâre expecting me to help a gambler like yourself? Thatâs another matter that I donât have this much money with me. But, even if I had this sum of money⊠I wouldnât have lent it to you.]
âI donât need money from youâŠâ Tang Yunâs spirits were lifted. He blinked his small eyes and said, âYou havenât visited the Thousand Gold Hall in the recent times. So, Li Feng and Meng Hai Zhou have put forward a condition that theyâll return the promissory note to me if I can bring you to gamble a few rounds with them.â
âDo I have such a high level of prestige?â Jun Xie shook his head as he thought about the wasteful ways of the original owner of this body. His fame in the gambling halls had transcended all notions of popularity!