After Transmigrating Into An Idiot - Chapter 9

The heavy rain showed no sign of stopping. From time to time, lightning flashed and thunder rumbled, as if beating down upon all the demons and monsters of the world.

But misfortune always sought out those already born into hardship. A sense of powerlessness rose in Qiu Liang’s heart.

She had returned excitedly with a banknote tucked against her chest, only to run straight into such an upsetting mess.

The original owner’s second brother, Qiu Ming, had actually become addicted to gambling.

What surprised Qiu Liang was that Qiu Ming had not only taken money to gamble, but had even dared to borrow money from the gambling house.

Was gambling-house silver something one could casually borrow? Even though she had never been to one, she knew there had to be countless tricks involved. With interest rolling into more interest, who knew how large the hole would become?

On the ground, Qiu Ming clutched his severed hand, his heart filled with despair. Where would the family find money to reattach his hand and set the bones? And where would they find silver to repay the debt?

He regretted it so much. Why hadn’t he held himself back?

It was all Mother’s fault. If Madam Bai had not, for once, given him over a dozen extra wen the day before yesterday, how would he have lost his mind and gone to the gambling house again before bringing Third Sister to the county town to earn silver?

The more Qiu Ming thought about it, the more he blamed Madam Bai. Back then, it was Mother who had entrusted someone to bring him to the county town, letting him follow such a gambling ghost of a master.

The burly man in the lead saw them crying and making a fuss, and said impatiently, “Hurry up and hand over fifty taels of silver. Paying back what you owe is only natural. Otherwise, I’ll chop off this brat’s hands and feet to settle the debt.”

“You’re lying. I only borrowed twice, five taels of silver altogether. Where did fifty taels come from?”

Qiu Ming opened his mouth to deny it, but he was terrified inside.

He had gone to the county town to apprentice under Carpenter Zhao. He was only provided with food and lodging, with no wages. That was the accepted rule. After all, he was there to learn a craft, and only after he mastered it would he receive pay.

So every time he went to the county town, Madam Bai would secretly give him a few wen, afraid that he would not have enough to eat.

At first, Qiu Ming had never thought of gambling at all. What use were the few wen in his pocket?

But after following Carpenter Zhao for half a year, he had seen Carpenter Zhao win money more than once, coming back with meat and wine. One time, Carpenter Zhao had even said he used two taels of silver to win thirty.

Qiu Ming’s heart was instantly stirred.

Once, while passing by the gambling house, he finally failed to hold back and walked inside.

At first, he only watched.

Later, he felt that he had seen through a few tricks, and he also saw plenty of gamblers betting one or two wen on big or small.

Qiu Ming could not resist following along and placing a bet. He thought that since it was only one wen, losing it would be losing it. But as he watched one wen become two, then two become four, his heart began to sway along with it.

When he had won ten wen, he lost it all back in one bet.

Qiu Ming regretted it deeply. He thought that next time, he would definitely stop in time. Once he won eight wen—no, once he won ten wen—he would leave.

But next time came, then another next time, and he sank deeper and deeper.

Qiu Ming only hated that he had too little money. If he had more capital, the bets he won would have earned even more. If he changed one wen into one tael of silver, then one tael would become two.

Unfortunately, he did not have that much money. Every time, he could only take a few wen and satisfy his craving a little.

Until not long ago, Carpenter Zhao lost a large sum of money and even mortgaged his house.

Qiu Ming was frightened and uneasy, afraid that he might not even be able to continue as an apprentice. But Carpenter Zhao gave him an idea.

“Good disciple, I remember you have a younger sister. She looks pretty good, but she’s a fool. Being a fool is good. As long as her face is decent, a fool is even easier to operate with. If you can bring her to the county town and make her a hidden-door woman, silver will flow like water straight into our pockets every day. Listen to me…”

His master’s words were like a demon’s whisper, prying loose his conscience.

His master had even promised to split the earnings fifty-fifty. If large amounts of silver flowed into his pockets every day, would he still have to worry about not having money to gamble? His luck was not bad either. He often won…

Thinking of this, Qiu Ming threw away the last bit of conscience he had. In any case, Third Sister was a fool. She could not marry into any good family, so she might as well sacrifice herself for him. Once he had capital and won even more silver, he would compensate Third Sister with good food and drink.

He had planned everything out, as if he had already seen his future self rolling in wealth.

Yet at this exact moment, Madam Bai had given him more than ten extra wen.

He failed to hold back for a moment and went to the gambling house. When he lost, he did not leave regretfully like before.

He thought that tomorrow, he would bring Third Sister to the county town. Tomorrow, he would have Third Sister receive customers. Tomorrow, there would be bright, white silver. So after someone egged him on, he gathered his courage and borrowed silver from the gambling house.

The burly man spat and took out two promissory notes. “Five taels? You think five taels is worth me following you all the way to this godforsaken corner? Open your dog eyes and look. It’s written clearly in black and white. Principal plus interest, fifty taels in one day. Even if you went to the Heavenly Emperor himself, you’d still have to pay obediently.”

These shabby paupers. They had no money and still dared to gamble.

After losing, they even dared to borrow. They truly did not know whether they lived or died.

If he had not heard from Carpenter Zhao that this apprentice’s family had a beautiful younger sister, he never would have lent money to such a poor wretch.

Qiu Ming immediately deflated and did not dare make a sound.

Seeing his old wife lying on the ground, unconscious, and then seeing his son like this, Qiu the Lame knew that the gambling-house people were not lying. His younger son had indeed gone gambling, borrowed silver, and signed his name with a fingerprint.

But fifty taels of silver—even if they sold the entire Qiu family, they would not be able to gather that much.

Qiu the Lame sighed softly, then moved two steps forward with his crutch.

“Let’s put aside how much silver is owed for now. My son has lost one hand, and my wife was kicked by you until her life or death is unknown. You people ought to give us an explanation too.”

Madam Bai had been clutching her chest and was just about to groan in pain. But hearing Qiu the Lame say this, she immediately closed her eyes and pretended to have fainted.

The burly man laughed from anger. “So you owe a debt and refuse to pay it, and now you want to extort silver from me? Why don’t you go ask around the county town? The last person who dared do this has grass three feet tall growing over his grave. Enough nonsense. Either hand over the silver, or hand over a person.”

As he finished speaking, his gaze deliberately swept toward Qiu Liang standing nearby.

With lightning flashing and thunder rumbling, he could not clearly see whether Qiu Liang was as beautiful as Carpenter Zhao had claimed. In any case, she was unmarried. No matter how ugly she was, as long as her body was clean, selling her to a lower-class brothel would still bring in several dozen taels. Then today’s trip would not be wasted.

Qiu the Lame noticed his gaze and said calmly, “We cannot take out that much silver right now. Give us a few days and allow me to gather it. You don’t want to force people to death and still not get a single wen, do you?”

After all, he was someone who had been to war. When he became ruthless, he still carried some presence.

Watching this, Qiu Liang thought that Qiu the Lame did have some brains. It was only a pity that he had been born into a farming family, lost a leg while still young, and had a useless son. It was truly tragic.

The burly man’s brows lifted, and his tone turned fierce as well. “Force people to death? That would make me happy too. Don’t use that kind of talk to scare me. If you have the ability, then have your whole family, old and young, die in front of me right now.”

Cheap people had cheap lives. Without silver, how much was a life worth?

As debt collectors, which of them did not have a little blood on their hands? They were not at all afraid of Qiu the Lame’s threat.

He was not stupid. These poor wretches feared death.

Qiu the Lame took a rough breath. His lips moved, but he could not say anything.

He tightened his grip on his crutch, and his gaze fell on Qiu Liang.

Qiu Liang’s heart jolted. Suddenly, she had a bad feeling. She did have silver on her, and she could repay fifty taels. But she knew better than anyone that once she revealed her wealth, she could forget about keeping even a single wen. Madam Bai would strip her clean and scrape away every bit of silver.

It might even become difficult for her to leave the Qiu family in the future. Even if she continued pretending to be stupid, the Qiu family would be on guard against her.

No one guarded against a fool. But what about a fool carrying more than one hundred taels of silver?

Qiu Liang’s mind spun rapidly. If she handed over the silver, she would cut off her own way out. If she did not, was she supposed to watch helplessly as the Qiu family handed her over to pay off their son’s debt?

Those burly men clearly were not good people. If she fell into the hands of gambling-house people who only saw silver, what good end could she possibly have?

Just as powerlessness rose in her heart, a figure walked over through the rain.

Song Jianshuang came under the Qiu family’s eaves, took out ten taels of silver, and handed it to Qiu the Lame. “Uncle Qiu, give them this silver first and have them grant you two days. It’s so late already. Best not to disturb everyone.”

For example, her. She had been disturbed.

After saying this, Song Jianshuang turned without looking back, walked next door, shut the door, and locked it.

Qiu Liang immediately let out a breath of relief. Heaven knew how worried she had been when she saw Song Jianshuang.

She had been afraid this woman would reveal that she had silver on her. Fortunately, the scare had passed without danger.

Qiu the Lame also let out a breath of relief. He handed the silver to the burly man, his tone lowering a great deal. “You all saw what sort of situation my family is in. Please grant us two more days and allow me to gather the silver.”

The burly man glanced toward the neighboring house. The sky was too dark, so he had not seen clearly what the woman looked like just now. Her figure was graceful, and her voice was clear and crisp. She had casually taken out ten taels of silver. So this broken village did have something in it after all.

He sneered and accepted the silver. “Tomorrow. I’ll come again tomorrow. Brothers, let’s go. Back to drink. This cursed weather is really troublesome…”

Tomorrow, once the sky was bright, it would also be easier to see who looked like what.

Seeing the burly man leave with his people, Madam Bai scrambled up from the ground, helped her younger son, and cried repeatedly, “Second Son, how could you be so muddleheaded? Are you trying to force your mother to death?”

As for Qiu Ming’s severed hand, no one mentioned it.

The Qiu family had no silver to reattach it for him. Now they still had to gather silver to repay the gambling debt. The worries were yet to come.

Qiu Ming knew this in his heart too. He lowered his head and did not make a sound, following Madam Bai inside. But the corner of his eyes swept toward the neighboring house.

Song Jianshuang had only moved here a few days ago, and Qiu Ming had not seen her yet. The day before yesterday, he had only heard Madam Bai mention her a few times. Just now, he also had not clearly seen Song Jianshuang’s appearance. But this young lady from the capital definitely was not short on silver.

After the courtyard gate closed, Qiu Liang consciously returned to the little woodshed.