AZG 05

Chapter 05

I didn’t want to pay any attention to him anymore, so I silently pushed past him and walked outside.

Zhao Gongzi, flying into a rage from his own embarrassment, grabbed hold of me and refused to let me go. “Just go say it. You won’t even help with a tiny favor like this—are you even human?!”

I ignored him.

Zhao Gongzi steeled his heart. “I have more red envelopes. How much do you want?”

I said, “Give them all to me.”

He scolded me for a quarter of an hour, and then handed over every single red envelope on his person.

I utterly failed to understand why he would do such a thing.

I went to find Second Brother Zhao, handed all of Zhao Gongzi’s red envelopes over to him, and said, “The Little Master accidentally smashed your paperweight. He didn’t dare tell you himself, so he asked me to inquire about how much money it would take to compensate you.”

Zhao Gongzi, who had been hiding around the corner spying on us, suddenly lunged out and roared at me, “Are you stupid?! I only had you come because I couldn’t afford to pay him back! You country bumpkin, do you even know what an antique is?!”

Second Brother Zhao offered me a pleasant smile. “Yixin, why don’t you go help out in the kitchen? I have a few words to say to Xiao Long.”

I was an orphan taken in by the Zhao family, so I had to listen to whatever they said. Thus, I had no choice but to head to the kitchen first, even though I was quite worried about Zhao Gongzi.

Behind my back, Zhao Gongzi let out a soul-tearing, furious howl: “Bullshit!”

I quickened my pace to leave.

In the end, Zhao Gongzi didn’t get beaten. Although his soul-tearing howl had no effect on me, it worked wonders on Fourth Master Zhao. Hearing the racket, Fourth Master Zhao rushed over to save him, declaring that one does not beat their children on New Year’s Eve.

Having regained his freedom, Zhao Gongzi immediately came looking for me. Cornering me in the kitchen, he rolled up his sleeves and rubbed his knuckles together menacingly. “Do you know what I’m about to do?”

I handed him all the red envelopes from my trousers pocket.

He roared at me again, “I already told you, I don’t care about your damn red envelopes!”

I said, “I have never seen so much money before.”

Zhao Gongzi snorted dismissively, “Country bumpkin.”

I said, “It’s all yours.”

Zhao Gongzi: “I don’t care. I’m going to thrash you.”

I broke down the logic for him: “It’s not worth it this way.”

This time I wasn’t lying to him; the money inside those red envelopes was enough to buy two of me. I had been sold quite a few times before, and I had never fetched such a steep price.

Zhao Gongzi: “Are you out of your mind?!”

I had offered him such sincere advice, yet he actually spoke to me that way. I felt very hurt and no longer wished to speak to such a loathsome person.

Zhao Gongzi said, “Fine, fine, I won’t beat you. From now on, you hang out with me, and I’ll cover you. Let me tell you, when you get your hands on money, you have to spend it. Have you ever been to a casino?”

I had been to a casino. My previous father claimed that my Bazi horoscope brought him luck, so he frequently took me along. Later on, he did indeed strike it filthy rich, but then he offended Fourth Master Zhao, and… well, that was that.

Ignoring my protests, Zhao Gongzi dragged me along to his family’s casino, making me watch him wallow in luxury and dissipation despite his young age.

Before long, his Eldest Sister dragged him out of the crowd by his ear.

Zhao Gongzi shrieked, “I won! I tripled my money!”

His Eldest Sister scolded him for a quarter of an hour.

Zhao Gongzi quickly changed his tune: “Qiu Yixin said he wanted to come! He made me bring him here!”

He really is incredibly loathsome.

Fourth Master Zhao stepped in to save him yet again, stating that one does not scold their children on New Year’s Eve, and added that he should keep Zhao Gongzi around to show me a good time, otherwise I would be bored.

Zhao Gongzi cornered me in a corridor alcove and asked, “Do you know what I want to do?”

I didn’t know, and I didn’t care to know.

He split half the money with me. “My friends are coming over in a bit, so I won’t have time to play with you. Play by yourself. And you’re not allowed to play with them; if they bully you later, my sister and brother will just scold me again. Why are you so annoying?”

Wonderful.

I took the money and went back to my own room to read. I loved reading. Reading brought me joy; reading allowed me to see another world—a world entirely different from the one I resided in.

I had been reading for a long time when I suddenly heard the joyful laughter of children outside my window; they were playing with fireworks.

On this very day last year, I was out on the streets selling fireworks and matches.

So I knew that children shouldn’t play with fireworks, as it was easy to get hurt.

But the injuries belonged to them, while the fireworks belonged to me—I could just watch.

I watched the fireworks for a while, until I spotted a dark shadow scaling the window frame and climbing onto the second-floor balcony of my room. He hurled a bunch of unlit fireworks at me.

I asked him, “Why didn’t you take the stairs?”

Zhao Gongzi roared at me, “Because I fucking felt like it! Play by yourself! You’re not allowed to watch us play!”

Based on my limited experience, he needed to see a doctor. He lost his temper far too easily; his liver fire was clearly raging.

After roaring at me, he went straight back to playing with his friends.

I picked up the fireworks he had thrown at me and spent a good long while carefully sorting through them. I only dared to play with the pop-snaps that made a loud noise when thrown on the ground, and sparklers.

Honestly, it wasn’t even that much fun. It was pretty boring. I still preferred doing other things.

I intended to finish this sparkler in my hand and then head back inside to play Sudoku, but the balcony door behind me was suddenly flung open. Zhao Gongzi squatted down beside me and roared in a lowered voice, “Can’t you squat inside the room to play?! Third Brother saw you! He scolded me again!”

I said, “You can’t play with fire inside a room.”

Zhao Gongzi scolded me again. While scolding me, he lit another sparkler for me, and once it was lit, he continued his tirade: “Are you even a guy?! All you ever do is play with this crap. How can you be so spineless! Damn it, what a coward!”

Ahhhhhhhh, I finally knew why Fourth Master Zhao had taken me in. Did they also find Zhao Gongzi incredibly annoying?! Even with a temper as mild as mine, I found him absolutely loathsome!

Zhao Gongzi tossed the sparkler aside, picked up a string of firecrackers, lit it, and said to me, “Watch and learn.”

The moment he finished speaking, he threw the sputtering, crackling firecrackers right downstairs, startling the entire courtyard full of children, as well as Sixth Brother and someone else who were hiding in the bushes.

Zhao Gongzi barked at me, “I told you not to throw things down there!”

Sixth Brother looked up and cursed at him, “Zhao Long, fuck your mother!”

The window right above my head swung open, and the Thirteenth Concubine poked her head out. “What’s wrong with Zhao Long’s mother?”

Eldest Brother turned to me and said, “Yixin, I am entrusting you with a very critical mission. Do not let Xiao Long cause any more trouble. Today is New Year’s Eve, so it’s not convenient to thrash him.”