"I want it, but can you tell me why you knew I was going to buy this zither?"
"And why the shopkeeper was willing to sell it to you at such a high price?"
"He did ask me questions when I bought it," Qin Junyao asked sincerely.
With the magical space in her possession, Qin Junyao thought it was possible for her to earn five hundred taels, but she wanted to know why the shopkeeper refused to sell it to her.
"Ahem, we saw you coming out of the general store with Fu Zi. Later, we went to the general store, and the shopkeeper mentioned it casually. Fu Zi wanted to help you, and since I couldn't answer the questions, I asked the shopkeeper to find the gentleman who was selling the zither on consignment."
Qin Junyao understood; it seemed that gentleman agreed to sell it at a high price.
"General Zhao, I don't have paper or pen right now. Can I sign this IOU and then find you to exchange it for the zither?" Qin Junyao's mood soured again as she looked at the IOU, owing such a large debt before having anything.
Zhao Liangcai thought of Madam Qian at home. He tucked the box back under his arm, drew the dagger from his waist, and said, "No need. Just press your handprint." Su Dan Novel Network.
"Miss Qin, please extend your hand," Zhao Liangcai said, holding the dagger towards Qin Junyao.
Looking at the dagger, Qin Junyao was speechless. Was he afraid she would go back on her word and not pay for the zither?
This bearded man opposite her was indeed quite perplexing. How did such a person become a general?
Forget it, a cut that meant she wouldn't have to see him again tomorrow was worth it. Every time she saw this person, nothing good happened. Qin Junyao grumbled inwardly, half closing her eyes and extending her left hand.
"Be gentle."
"My dagger is sharp, you won't feel any pain when it cuts," Zhao Liangcai said, shaking the dagger a little boastfully.
Qin Junyao really wanted to crouch down, pick up a clod of earth, and stuff it into his mouth. She had to thank him for his sharp dagger for cutting her hand? This person...
"Alright, Miss Qin, press your handprint."
After Zhao Liangcai finished speaking, Qin Junyao didn't feel any pain in her hand. In fact, she felt nothing at all. That dagger was truly sharp.
She opened her eyes and saw that her hand was unharmed. Zhao Liangcai's left middle finger was bleeding from the tip.
"You," Qin Junyao's inner monologue instantly vanished, replaced by a strange sense of gratitude.
Zhao Liangcai extended his hand and dripped the blood from his fingertip onto Qin Junyao's index finger, signaling her to press her handprint on the IOU.
.
Qin Junyao hugged the zither and watched Zhao Liangcai, who was holding the IOU and running back. The trace of gratitude in her heart disappeared.
He ran so fast, wasn't he afraid she would delay him and thus used his own blood?
Seeing that there was no one around, Qin Junyao put the zither into her space and continued to look at the plants on the gobi. All her grand sentiments and sadness were gone, completely gone.
Zhao Liangcai ran back home. Suo Zi, carrying a large flag, was waiting for him at the entrance of his courtyard.
"Chui Zi, look, how's the new flag I made? Isn't it eye-catching?" Suo Zi swung the flagpole. The yellow tiger head on the black background was indeed very striking in the sunlight.
It was this flag that made Zhao Liangcai rush back.
"You're back so soon?" Zhao Liangcai grabbed a corner of the flag and unfolded it. He didn't like the words "Eight Divisions" under the tiger head.
Suo Zi planted the flagpole on the ground. "I didn't go. Deng Zi Tui went to Yancheng. Shall we just talk here at the entrance?"
Zhao Liangcai raised his hand and punched Suo Zi's shoulder. Suo Zi, as if unable to withstand the blow, stumbled backward, making Zhao Liangcai laugh.
"Chui Zi, you're in a good mood," Suo Zi followed Zhao Liangcai into the courtyard.
Seeing Zhao Rui, who was newly dressed, sitting by the stone table in the courtyard, he nudged Zhao Liangcai's waist from behind, making a "tsk tsk tsk" sound.
"Cousin."
"Brother Zhou is here, I'll ask Granny Ma to serve tea." Zhao Rui, acting like the lady of the house, greeted them and then went to the kitchen in the back.
"Quite a Casanova, aren't you."
Suo Zi's teasing earned him a heavy punch in the stomach from Zhao Liangcai.
Entering the house, Zhao Liangcai untied the bandage on his wrist and threw it into the washbasin. It was stained with blood and needed to be washed as soon as possible.
"You don't have any maids or servants around, are you just waiting for your cousin to come?" Suo Zi, unafraid of death, continued to provoke his childhood friend's nerves.
Zhao Liangcai gave Suo Zi a look that made him beg for mercy. "Alright, alright! I won't say it anymore. Don't look at me like that."
"Chui Zi, I'm telling you something important. The first batch of salt workers will arrive tomorrow. Don't you have a place for them to stay yet?"
Zhao Liangcai rubbed the bandage in his hand and replied to Suo Zi, "When they arrive tomorrow, tell them to dig their own underground dwellings. Can the tools be brought back today?"
"Deng Zi Tui brought two carts. If they're all in Yancheng, we can bring them back in one trip," Suo Zi sat on a chair, playing with a teacup.
After finishing the important matters, Suo Zi began to observe Zhao Liangcai. He must have done something he didn't know about today. His brows were relaxed, his gaze was calm...
If he sensed something was wrong, he had to find the reason. Suo Zi got up and walked around Zhao Liangcai, who was wringing the bandage.
Huh?
Suo Zi saw a white corner peeking out from Zhao Liangcai's collar. While Zhao Liangcai was air-drying the bandage, Suo Zi's hand moved like lightning, snatching out the IOU with Qin Junyao's handprint on it.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, Zhao Chui Zi, you're truly black-hearted. Five hundred taels! Are you planning for the girl to not be able to repay it and offer herself in exchange? I didn't realize you were capable of this."
"Don't snatch it! If you snatch it, I'll tear it up, and you'll lose both the person and the money!" Suo Zi circled the table, preventing Zhao Liangcai from catching him.
"Give it back to me, don't force me to act," Zhao Liangcai pointed at Suo Zi and warned him.
Suo Zi held a corner of the IOU with one hand and said provocatively, "Chui Zi, do you think your hand is faster, or mine?"
"Heh heh, what did you do to make the granddaughter of that old woman owe you so much money?"
"Zhou Suo Zi," Zhao Liangcai's anger clearly increased.
Suo Zi wasn't afraid of him. After all, this kid had practiced on him enough in the past. Now was the perfect time to know the "secret," so he couldn't let it go.
Zhao Liangcai was afraid Suo Zi would really tear up the IOU, so he could only answer Suo Zi's question.
"The zither I sold."
"A zither? That girl can play the zither? Did you fool her into buying a zither so you could profit from the price difference?"
Zhao Liangcai subtly shifted his feet. "She fancied a zither at the general store but had no money to buy it. I saw it and bought it for her."
Suo Zi rolled his eyes. "Who are you kidding? Could there be a zither worth five hundred taels at the general store? You bought it for her and still wrote an IOU? Zhao Chui Zi, confess honestly."
Zhao Liangcai was thinking whether to go around from the side or over the table.
He continued to speak, distracting Suo Zi.
"The zither at the general store only sold for fifty taels. I wrote five hundred taels, and Miss Qin herself agreed."
Suo Zi's interest grew even stronger. "Why?"
"It was placed at the general store by an old zither maker to sell. His great-grandfather liked a woman when he was young, but because of the betrothal silver, the woman married someone else."
"That woman once said that if he could make a legendary zither, she would leave with him."
"The zither was made, but the woman could no longer bear the torment from her in-laws and hanged herself. That day was his great-grandfather's fortieth birthday."
Zhao Liangcai's low voice recounted the story, which was exceptionally captivating. Suo Zi even forgot to grip the IOU tightly.
"And then," Suo Zi urged when Zhao Liangcai stopped.
"Then his great-grandfather married someone else, started a family, passed down his craft, and left a dying instruction to his descendants: when the zither reached a hundred years, find a general store to sell it on consignment, to a fated person who could answer a question."
"Put it at a general store to sell? A question? Chui Zi..."
"I told you to stop calling me Chui Zi!" Zhao Liangcai lunged forward when Suo Zi asked.
He grabbed Suo Zi's hands with both of his, making him lean back onto the table. He pressed down with one hand and with the other untied Suo Zi's belt, wrapping Suo Zi's hands to prevent him from accidentally tearing the IOU.
Ignoring Suo Zi's shouts, he grabbed his wrist and took the IOU from his hand, placing it back in his embrace.
Zhao Liangcai leaned down and pinched Suo Zi's cheeks to stop him from shouting. "Tomorrow, fifty pounds of weighted running. As long as your legs don't break, keep running. You..."
"Ah~~" Zhao Rui's scream echoed from the doorway.