Chapter 123

Chapter 123

In recent years, Yunlan City had been pouring effort into developing its tourism industry, and the streets of the Old City District changed by the day.

Guesthouses had quietly multiplied, convenience stores stood on the verge of opening, and a café was tucked away so well it was almost impossible to find.

But there were still some places that seemed to have been left behind by time, unchanged after more than twenty years.

For instance, the barbershop almost no one could walk out of smiling. Or the mahjong parlor.

The mahjong parlor was a little box packed full of everyday neighborhood life. Before you even reached the door, a complicated mix of smells hit you first.

The smoke of lifelong smokers had blackened their fingers, and it had blackened the walls and lightbulbs of the mahjong parlor too.

Three mahjong tables were set up inside, all completely full.

Overhead, an iron-bladed fan covered in dust creaked and groaned as it turned.

At the entrance, an auntie with a cigarette between her lips spotted Qin Ying from afar and smiled before she even came close.

She was just about to call out a greeting when the yellow dog by her feet let out a whimper and actually ran off with its tail tucked between its legs.

The scent on Qin Ying was too complex. Even the faintest trace of it was enough to make a sensitive animal instinctively afraid.

The smoking auntie froze. “What are you running for? You don’t recognize Qin Ying?”

The way she spoke to her dog was just like she was talking to a child. “When you were little and had no milk to drink, it was Qin Ying who brought postpartum meals over for your mother to build her strength.”

“If we’re being serious, you ought to call her Auntie.”

The auntie with the cigarette said this and then burst into cackling laughter herself.

Qin Ying knew her temperament and said helplessly, “Aunt Wang, stop teasing him.”

She was relatively gentle with people she knew. Raising the bowl in her hand, she asked, “I’m here to return Aunt Xu’s bowl.”

As soon as she said that, Aunt Xu, who was locked in battle inside the mahjong parlor, called out, “Just put it under my window.”

Qin Ying acknowledged her, then pulled Aunt Wang to the side.

“Aunt Wang, there’s something I’d like you to help me ask around about.”

She lowered her voice and pressed two packs of cigarettes she’d bought on the way into Aunt Wang’s hand.

Aunt Wang didn’t refuse them. She tilted her ear and listened for a while, and anger surfaced on her face. “Huang Jun is still trying to make trouble for you?”

“That bleep-bleep-”

The moment Aunt Wang opened her mouth, it was a whole garden of profanity. Even Qin Ying had to admire the richness of her vocabulary.

Only after Aunt Wang had cursed to her heart’s content did Qin Ying say, “I don’t have any evidence. Please don’t spread this around, Aunt Wang. Just ask about it quietly.”

There were plenty of busybodies on this street who could find things out, but Aunt Wang was famous for her outstanding intelligence-gathering skills and her airtight mouth.

Once Qin Ying asked her for help, she would absolutely never reveal it to a third person.

Aunt Wang nodded. “You can trust me to handle it.”

With that assurance from her, Qin Ying went home first.

At lunchtime, Aunt Wang came knocking. She was carrying two bundles of noodles in her hand.

“These are rustic goose-egg noodles made by one of my sisters’ families. You can’t buy these outside.”

She shoved the noodles into Qin Ying’s hands and declined the invitation to come in and sit. Standing at the courtyard gate, she began to speak.

“That brat Huang Jun got out of prison on September sixth last year. His mother and sister even wore red qipao dresses to pick him up.”

Aunt Wang’s information all came from people chatting in the mahjong parlor. All she had to do was casually steer the conversation toward the Huang Family, and someone would start babbling out the gossip.

Her face filled with contempt. “Those who knew, knew Huang Jun had been doing time for hooliganism. Those who didn’t would think they were picking up that son of a bitch from his college entrance exam.”

After cursing once, she continued, “After he got out, Huang Jun went to repair motorcycles.

“The shop belongs to some no-good cronies he used to know. It’s not big, but…”

Aunt Wang looked left and right, then leaned a little closer to Qin Ying. “The business isn’t clean.”

“Huang Jun’s old mother brags to everyone she meets, saying her son has actually made a fortune.”

“There’s a group of illegal racers up on Yangming Mountain. Huang Jun’s shop specializes in modifications for those people.”

Information like this, which the police might not discover if they weren’t paying close attention, came out of Aunt Wang’s mouth with effortless ease.
If there was anyone to blame, it was Huang Jun’s mother for not being able to keep her mouth shut when she played mahjong.

Show off too much, and naturally someone who couldn’t stand it would pass the word along.

After talking about Huang Jun’s job, Aunt Wang brought up another matter.

“Huang Jun went to prison for hooliganism. I heard that in there, people used him as that.”

Aunt Wang’s hand gesture was vulgar, but simple enough to understand.

“This came from someone who’d been in the same prison as Huang Jun. That man got out two years before Huang Jun did. He said the moment Huang Jun went in, the prison bully shoved it right up his ass.”

“He’d been ruined long ago. Couldn’t even be a man anymore.”

“But would you believe it? The second he got out, he found himself a girlfriend. You’d never guess who!”

Qin Ying played along and looked puzzled. “Who?”

Aunt Wang slapped her hands together and cursed furiously, “He Man!”

“You might not know who He Man is, but if I mention He Yue, you’ll definitely remember. She was one of the little girls Huang Jun hurt back then.”

“After that case, her parents thought it was shameful, so they changed her name and moved away.”

“Who would’ve thought that after Huang Jun got out of prison, the girlfriend he found was actually He Man?”

“Someone who works in the community told me in secret.”

“He Man and Huang Jun are renting a place together in the northern part of the city. Every day, that bastard beats her black and blue, but He Man refuses to call the police and refuses to break up with him.”

Aunt Wang shook her head, but she did not say anything like He Man was useless or disappointing.

Instead, she said, “My guess is, that girl is being threatened by Huang Jun. He must have gotten hold of something.”

The old aunties on the street might not have studied much, but they understood people’s hearts. One sentence hit the nail on the head.

“This isn’t a TV drama. No one goes crazy and falls in love with someone who once ruined and humiliated them.”

Then Aunt Wang changed the subject and looked at Qin Ying. “Do you think I should help call the police?”

Aunt Wang had earned her reputation out in the world by relying on one word: loyalty. After learning all this, she had already been furious for a long time.

Qin Ying did not want to leak even a hint of what she planned to do next, so she only said to Aunt Wang, “I’ll have my uncle keep an eye on it first.”

When Aunt Wang heard Qin Zhiguo’s name, she immediately let out a breath of relief. “That works.”

With the information delivered, Aunt Wang turned and left briskly.

Holding two handfuls of egg noodles, Qin Ying walked home deep in thought. The moment she entered, she nearly stepped on Huodou, who was squatting by the door.

“What are you two doing?” Qin Ying asked.

Han Lie and Huodou were squatting on either side of the doorway, like a pair of stone guardian lions.

Huodou was still in puppy form, its belly stuffed round and bulging. It let out two whimpering sounds.

Han Lie translated, “Huodou says that if you give it two tin cans, it will go burn that Huang Jun into ash.”

After a pause, Han Lie added, “I do not need tin cans. If that man troubles you, I will go slaughter him myself and offer him as a sacrifice to you.”

At that, Huodou turned its head and glared at Han Lie.

Despicable. He was actually trying to outdo it.

If it were not a little afraid of him, Huodou would have gone up and argued a few points at least.

Listening to all this talk of murder and arson, Qin Ying’s head throbbed for an instant.

She scolded them lightly, “No.”

The premise of solving a problem was that they could not create even more problems.

“Come inside first. Wait.” She looked at Han Lie. “How can you understand dog language?”

Before Han Lie could answer, Huodou, unhappy at being called a dog, stretched out one chubby little paw and secretly stepped on Qin Ying’s toes.

Han Lie scooped it up with one hand. His gaze as he looked at Qin Ying was also full of confusion. “I ate Qilin Meat.”

The Qilin was the king of beasts. Understanding animals was perfectly normal.

Qin Ying was speechless for a moment. Finally, she pointed at Huodou. “From now on, your name is Wangcai!”

If she kept calling it Huodou this and Huodou that, who knew when she might let it slip.

Ignoring Wangcai’s objections, Qin Ying carried the egg noodles into the kitchen. “We’re having noodles for lunch. Tonight, you two are coming out with me.”