Chapter 55: The Old Fox (Please Follow Along)

Pei Hongyu slipped quietly back into the Song family residence.

Upon learning that his elder sister, exhausted from the day’s toil, had already retired to bed, he finally breathed a sigh of relief. As he passed through the inner quarters, not yet returned to his own room, an angry voice suddenly called out behind him: “Stop right there!”

Pei Hongyu’s heart gave a jolt at the sound. Turning, he saw his father, Pei Yingli, regarding him with a dark and disapproving expression, and his heart leapt into his throat.

“Where have you been today?” Pei Yingli looked him up and down, his voice cold and stern. “Do you know what day it is? Today is your sister’s father-in-law’s funeral, isn’t it?”

“I... I...” Pei Hongyu, already anxious, became even more flustered under his father’s scolding. He stammered, “I... I met a few friends here and went to drink with them.”

“Drinking with friends?” Pei Yingli sneered, “I suppose you weren’t just drinking—you went to the gambling house, didn’t you?”

No one knows a son better than his father. Pei Yingli was well aware that his son, spoiled from a young age, had long since acquired a taste for gambling—a vice he could not shake. Even during their days at the Song residence, he had noticed his son slipping out to the gambling house from time to time. Since the stakes were never too high and he himself was preoccupied, Pei Yingli had chosen to turn a blind eye.

But today of all days—on the occasion of Old Master Song’s funeral—the boy had snuck out again, returning disheveled and furtive, clearly having been beaten. This suggested the gambling was not trivial, and that he had gotten into real trouble.

How could a father not be furious?

“I... I...” The burden of thirty thousand taels in gambling debt weighed heavily on Pei Hongyu’s heart. Now, reprimanded by his father, he could scarcely meet his gaze, stammering incoherently.

“Scoundrel!” Pei Yingli, convinced by his son’s demeanor, snorted coldly. “Did you get into trouble outside?”

“Father, please save me!” Realizing his father had guessed the truth, Pei Hongyu ran over, dropped to his knees, and clung to his father’s leg, sobbing with snot and tears, “Father, you must save me!”

Pei Yingli, startled, glanced around to ensure no one was near before hissing through gritted teeth, “Shameful! Get up! We’ll speak inside.”

Pei Hongyu, though not clever, knew the courtyard was no place for such talk. Seeing his father stride toward the house, he hastily wiped his tears and followed.

Inside the room—

His mother, Madam Xu, noticed the unusual look on both faces and hurried to ask, “Master, Hong’er, what’s happened?”

Pei Yingli locked the door. Seeing his son cowering behind his mother, rubbing tears from his eyes, he grew even angrier and barked, “Out with it! What trouble have you gotten yourself into now?”

Perhaps emboldened by his mother’s presence, Pei Hongyu’s eyes darted away as he muttered, “Just... just some gambling debts.”

“Only gambling debts, nothing else?”

“No...”

Pei Yingli, hearing that his son had only incurred gambling debts and nothing worse, let out a sigh of relief and asked, “How much do you owe?”

“Thir...” Pei Hongyu raised three fingers but dared not utter the words that followed.

“Three thousand taels?” Pei Yingli’s brow shot up, thinking it was three thousand, and he pointed at his son in fury, “When did you start gambling such sums? Kneel!”

Pei Hongyu’s legs gave out and he knelt, trembling, “Father, it’s not three thousand... it’s... thirty thousand.”

Pei Yingli froze, his eyes widening, his voice distorting with disbelief, “How much?”

“Thirty... thirty thousand taels...” Pei Hongyu squeezed his eyes shut, shrinking, unable to meet his father’s gaze. “Father, I... I owe thirty thousand taels.”

“Master... Master!” Pei Yingli nearly collapsed from rage, his face growing pale. His wife rushed to support him, shrieking in alarm.

“Father!” Pei Hongyu, frightened by his father’s condition, hurried forward, patting his chest and back in panic.

As Pei Yingli regained his senses, he slapped his son across the face, his voice trembling with anger, “You beast!”

When Pei Hongyu fell back, clutching his cheek and spitting blood with a tooth, Pei Yingli still felt the punishment too light and moved to kick him again.

“Master, no! Don’t!” Madam Xu, seeing her son bleeding, wailed and threw herself in front of her husband, holding him back. “He’s still young! Please, don’t!”

She restrained her husband while exhorting her son, “Hongyu, apologize to your father—quickly!”

“Father, I was wrong. I truly know I was wrong!” Hongyu crawled to kneel again, sobbing and pleading, “I’ll never do it again—never! Please save me!”

“You worthless fool! Beast!” Pei Yingli, knowing his only son was his sole hope for the family line, restrained himself after a few kicks, his anger gradually cooling.

He exhaled heavily, suppressing his fury, and snapped, “Tell me everything you’ve experienced and everyone you’ve met these past days—every last detail!”

“Yes, yes...” Pei Hongyu nodded vigorously and obediently recounted all that had happened, whom he’d met, his streak of luck, and all his thoughts.

Pei Yingli listened, his eyes narrowing.

A seasoned man, he quickly sensed something was amiss: his son’s string of luck, his new friendships, and a gambling house willing to lend thirty thousand taels—none of it was right.

“Are you sure you’ve told me everything?” he pressed.

Having pieced matters together, Pei Yingli coldly demanded, “Had you offended anyone before all this?”

“Offended anyone?” Pei Hongyu blinked in confusion, thinking hard before shaking his head. “No one.”

“Be honest!” Pei Yingli, suspecting concealment, slapped him again.

Seeing his son’s aggrieved face, he barked impatiently, “You idiot! You’ve clearly been set up and don’t even realize it. At death’s door and you still try to hide the truth?”

“Really... truly no one!” Pei Hongyu sniffled miserably. “I don’t know anyone here, and apart from staying in, I only ever go to the gambling house. Knowing you and mother had plans, I was always polite and never made enemies.”

“Master, please stop...” Madam Xu wept, her heart breaking for her son. “It must be those scoundrels at the gambling house who deceived him. If you want to vent your anger, go after them—why blame Hongyu?”

“Foolish!” Pei Yingli watched mother and son sobbing together, his face twisting with rage as he paced.

“If that idiot had accidentally offended someone dangerous, we’d simply find an intermediary to smooth things over—not a great problem.”

“But the real issue is, he’s made no enemies, yet he’s been skinned alive at the gambling house. That’s the real danger!”

“Think! The gambling house profits from the rake—how much could it possibly make in a year? Would they casually lend thirty thousand taels?”

Drawing a deep breath, Pei Yingli murmured as he sorted his thoughts, “Who is setting this trap for us?”

“Who’s behind the gambling house?”

“Before we arrived in Heyang County, the local underworld had already been unified under the Green Sand Gang...”

“All the gambling houses here, large and small, should be under their control...”

“If it’s the Green Sand Gang pulling strings, then it makes sense the gambling house could produce thirty thousand taels to set this pig-slaughtering trap...”

“Damn!” His eyes narrowed as a sudden realization struck him. “I now suspect someone in the Green Sand Gang has their eyes on us—or rather, on the Song family’s legacy!”

“Then... what should we do?” Pei Hongyu shrank back, alarmed by his father’s deduction.

“What should we do?” Pei Yingli snorted, his narrowed eyes gleaming like a cunning fox.

A cold smile played on his lips as he said, “So, the Green Sand Gang covets the Song family’s fat piece of the pie? Well, it seems my plan to ensure a harvest in both good times and bad may yet prove useful after all...”