Chapter 129: Wang Erdao

As soon as Miss Zhao stopped at the blacksmith shop, a middle-aged man rushed out from inside. He wore dirty clothes and looked untidy. When he saw Miss Zhao, he became very nervous and kept bowing and nodding, almost kneeling to show respect. His strange behavior quickly caught the attention of passersby, and Liu Liwa naturally stood by to watch.

The fat man next to Liu Liwa said, “This is the current manager of the blacksmith shop. He used to work for Wang Erdao’s family. But Wang Erdao couldn’t manage the business himself, so he had to step aside and let someone else take charge.”

Liu Liwa sneered and peered into the blacksmith shop. It was a simple shop where sales and production happened in the same space. One wall was hung with finished iron tools, while the other side had a large furnace and a workbench. A young man was squatting on the floor, pulling a bellows. The fire in the furnace was blazing, making him sweat heavily and look exhausted.

“Miss Zhao, what brings you here in person? If you need anything, you could have called for me to come to you and take your orders,” the middle-aged man said with a humble expression, bowing and scraping as if he were facing a goddess from heaven rather than Miss Zhao.

Miss Zhao glanced at Liu Liwa, as if to say, “You didn’t expect this, did you? I’m involved in this matter too.”

She looked at the blacksmith shop manager and said, “It’s nothing. Lately, business at my Clothing Boutique has been good. All the old stock has been cleared out, and we urgently need to produce a new batch of clothes. We’ve hired more tailors, so naturally we need a large number of cutting tools. I came specifically to check how many of the scissors, cutting knives, and other tools I ordered have been completed.”

“Don’t worry, Miss. As you instructed, we’ve been working day and night and won’t delay your matters,” the manager said nervously. “But as you know, Miss, because of your patronage, all our workers are busy making farm tools for Zhao Family Village. We’re short on hands, so there might be a slight delay. Please bear with us.”

Miss Zhao waved her hand with the noble air of an Empress and said, “I can give you a little more time, but the tools you produce must be easy to use and feel right in the hand.”

“Of course. We already have some finished products. I’ll have someone bring them for you to inspect right away,” the manager said urgently. He turned around and shouted, “Wang Erdao, what are you dawdling for? Hurry up and bring the scissors and cutting knives we finished last night for Miss Zhao to see.”

After hearing their conversation, Liu Liwa finally understood: they had an employer-employee relationship. Miss Zhao was the biggest client and financial supporter of this small blacksmith shop. Not only did she order scissors and cutting knives for her own Clothing Boutique, but she also had the shop make farm tools for the thousands of farmers in Zhao Family Village. This was indeed a huge order—no wonder the manager treated her like the Queen Mother of the West.

Wang Erdao came out holding a pair of scissors and a sharp cutting knife. His face was red from the heat of the fire, and his hair was neatly combed to prevent it from catching flame. He had a stubbly beard and an ordinary, honest, and simple appearance—the kind that could easily attract a woman like Xiuzhu, who was introverted, nearly reclusive, and had a tragic background.

But as Wang Erdao walked, a slip of paper suddenly fell from his sleeve. Liu Liwa reacted quickly, rushed forward, and picked it up. Looking closely, he saw it was a thirty Silver Taels IOU from a gambling house. The slip also drew the attention of others. Liu Liwa smiled and handed the IOU to the blacksmith shop manager, saying, “Business must be good, Manager. Even your subordinate spends money like a big spender!”

The manager took the IOU, looked at it, and flew into a rage. Blacksmiths were straightforward and rough men. Except for when they forced out a few polite words for Miss Zhao, they dealt with others directly. He slapped Wang Erdao hard on the head with his large hand, making him dizzy, and roared, “You worthless brat, gambling again! I just paid off your debts a while ago, and you swore to me you’d cut off your finger and never gamble again. But now you owe thirty Silver Taels? I won’t help you this time no matter what. Get out! Get out of here right now!”

The manager grew more and more agitated, kicking and hitting until he knocked Wang Erdao to the ground, blood streaming from his nose. Even so, Wang Erdao didn’t dare say a word or even try to block the blows, letting the manager beat and scold him.

As soon as the fight broke out, it drew a crowd of onlookers. An old neighbor shouted, “Lao Hei, take it easy. After all, Wang Erdao is your former young master. You’ve taken over his family property, and now you’re humiliating him like this—it’s really too much!”

Hearing this, the manager Lao Hei immediately stopped. Liu Liwa noticed that Wang Erdao, lying on the ground with a bloody nose, smiled at the corner of his mouth. He had done it on purpose.

He deliberately dropped the IOU, deliberately let the manager hit him, deliberately didn’t defend himself to make it look worse, deliberately drew a crowd so people would condemn Lao Hei for taking over what wasn’t his, forcing Lao Hei to face public criticism. In the end, Lao Hei wouldn’t be able to drive him away and would have to pay his debts again…

This guy really was clever. It seemed it wasn’t the first time he had used this trick. Liu Liwa sneered inwardly. But today, Wang Erdao’s clever plan was about to fail. The manager called Lao Hei suddenly burst into tears—a man in his forties, crying loudly as if he had endless grievances. The crowd immediately fell silent. Lao Hei wiped his tears and pointed at Wang Erdao, who was pretending to be pitiful on the ground, and raged, “Enough! I’ve had enough! I won’t carry this blame anymore! Neighbors and friends, today, in front of all of you, I want to make things clear. Yes, I, Lao Hei, was just a young apprentice. Back then, it was thanks to Wang Erdao’s father, my master, who took me in so I could have a full belly today. But my master passed away over ten years ago. All these years, I’ve been struggling to keep this blacksmith shop running. And him, Wang Erdao, as my master’s only son, not only didn’t inherit his father’s skills but became addicted to gambling. Every few days, he comes back with a pile of debts for me to pay. Neighbors, you all know we blacksmiths are low-class workers. We don’t earn much coin in a day. Besides, even if we had mountains of wealth, it couldn’t withstand gambling. Over the years, this good-for-nothing has gambled away everything. He even mortgaged the entire shop to the gambling house. If I hadn’t worked myself to the bone to earn Silver Taels to buy it back, we would have ended up on the streets starving. I’m not afraid to die, but no matter what, I must protect this shop. It’s the hard work of my master’s family for eight generations. My master showed me great kindness; I absolutely cannot let this shop be destroyed on my watch… This good-for-nothing swore to me he’d cut off his finger and never gamble again. I believed him time and time again, but he kept lying to me. Today, he’s in debt for thirty Silver Taels again. How am I supposed to pay that? Since we’re talking about it today, I’m laying it all out. Neighbors, you can say I’m a wicked servant bullying my master, or that I’ve taken over what isn’t mine. Whatever the bad reputation, I’ll carry it. But no way will I let this good-for-nothing ruin this shop!”

Lao Hei spoke through tears, sobbing uncontrollably, his words full of emotion. Many in the crowd were neighbors who knew a bit about their situation. Those who had been criticizing Lao Hei moments ago now turned their blame elsewhere. People’s opinions were fickle, and they could argue either way. Now everyone began to attack Wang Erdao: “That kid, you could tell he’d turn out bad from age three. He’s been stealing since he was little—no good.”

“Yeah, that’s right. Just the other day, I saw him getting beaten up outside the Four Seas Gambling House!”