Chapter 112: Knife-Peddler

Yi Zhonghai hurried a few steps, coming up to Shazhu.

He adopted a deliberately emphatic tone and began performing for Shazhu.

"Shazhu, Elder Yi didn't sleep all night last night, thinking it over and over, finally figured it out—this matter is Elder Yi's fault. In front of the neighbors, Elder Yi solemnly apologizes to you; Elder Yi muddled it, did something he shouldn't have. Your Elder Mother also said a few words to Elder Yi. As the saying goes, 'a spit and a nail'—mistake is mistake, right is right. If Elder Yi lacks even the courage to admit fault, then Elder Yi has no reason to live."

Shazhu furrowed his brows, his gaze toward Yi Zhonghai carrying a hint of wariness.

Moral Heavenly Venerable is truly a tough guy who can pick things up and put them down.

Yesterday's character persona was stepped on by Shazhu into a pile of stinking dog dung.

His mind was in a tangled mess.

I originally thought Yi Zhonghai would slink away with his tail between his legs to make a living.

Little did he know.

Platinum-level athlete Yi Zhonghai, fully recovered in just one night, this morning openly disgusted Shazhu in front of the Siheyuan neighbors.

This apology.

Not even as good as that stinking dog dung.

"You wouldn't think that by apologizing to me you could whitewash yourself, would you! You're hypocritical, lacking virtue, petty, a bastard, a beast—tell me, with all this infamy, can you really whitewash yourself? And besides, you're narrow-minded."

Yi Zhonghai paused.

I never expected his little trick to be exposed by Shazhu in public.

His tone shifted.

He sighed wistfully and said: "Shazhu, whether you acknowledge it or not, it's all the same—I still say the old thing: I harbor no ill will toward you, Shazhu. This matter ultimately stems from my not thinking things through, from not clarifying things in advance, which led you to misunderstand Elder Yi. It's all my fault!"

The three words "It's all my fault" are filled with regret and self-reproach.

If it were the Shazhu of his previous life, he might well have believed Yi Zhonghai's lies, thinking Yi Zhonghai truly had his best interests at heart, willingly enduring the neighbors' misunderstandings and Shazhu's complaints, and making silent, arduous sacrifices—truly the epitome of a nice guy.

That old coot's trick of swapping concepts is played so smoothly, actually turning his act of writing a letter to report Shazhu into something portrayed as being done for Shazhu's benefit.

The reason given was that he didn't want Shazhu to be so flighty, wanting him to become a bit steadier so he could marry a good wife in the future.

Too bad Shazhu is no longer the Shazhu.

He has the bonus of experience from his previous life.

Shazhu isn't so easily fooled; to blindly believe Yi Zhonghai's lies for no reason.

"Old Yi, although people call me Shazhu, I'm not truly stupid; when I encounter things, I also think things over. If what you say is true, are you doing this for my good?" Shazhu countered Yi Zhonghai, "As the old saying goes, 'one who does no wrong in life fears no ghosts knocking at the door at night.' You've eaten more salt than I've eaten rice, and I don't want to hear tomorrow that you were scared to death by ghosts."

Yi Zhonghai, hearing that, felt his heart tighten, and opened his mouth to explain something.

Then he saw Shazhu wave his hand at him.

A gesture of impatience, as if shooing him away.

"Alright, enough talk—your words, you don't believe them, neither do I. I still say what I said yesterday: our two families will have nothing to do with each other until death. If you really come rushing over, I'll get drunk, beat you, break your leg, or you'll wake up at night to find yourself sleeping in the street—don't blame me for being ruthless; it's all your own doing."

What Yi Zhonghai wants is not the result of an apology.

It's the process.

As long as Yi Zhonghai makes an apologetic gesture toward Shazhu, whether Shazhu accepts the apology or not is secondary; they're aiming at the Siheyuan neighbors, and it's the neighbors seeing Yi Zhonghai apologize to Shazhu that constitutes Yi Zhonghai's goal.

The apology is a performance for the neighbors.

The hypocrite also took Shazhu's reaction into account; the only difference is that Shazhu's reaction appears a bit more intense.

The goal has been achieved.

Can't be bothered to stand around in the courtyard.

The hypocrite smiled at the onlookers watching the show in the courtyard, then stepped out toward the outside.

"Pah!"

Shazhu spat a mouthful of saliva at Yi Zhonghai's retreating back.

Suddenly he saw Liu Haizhong.

An idea instantly formed in his mind.

Reciprocity.

One good turn deserves another.

Since Yi Zhonghai used an apology to disgust me, I'll disgust him in return—he quickly went up to Liu Haizhong, after a bout of heavy flattery, Liu Haizhong agreed to the plan for Shazhu to disgust Yi Zhonghai as a couple, and set the time for tonight.

Disgusting Yi Zhonghai—sooner rather than later.

……

A knife-peddler appeared in the Siheyuan.

The knife-peddlers' tools are always lent, never sold; they carry their own knives through the streets, and when they meet households wanting to use knives, they first spare no effort demonstrating how their cleavers cut iron like mud and how their scissors are easy to handle, while a silver-tongued chat endlessly lists the many advantages of their cleavers and scissors.

It all comes down to the steel used in the knives, how meticulous the quenching is, how careful the forging, and how finely the finished product is polished, etc.

They gull the honest, simple folk until their eyes glaze over, as if the knife-peddlers held not cleavers and scissors but the heroic swords Gan Jiang and Mo Ye.

The implication.

The knife-peddlers' tools, forged through a thousand hammerings, can last a hundred years without damage, never rust, never lose their edge.

When you feel moved to buy a knife, they won't ask for cash; they'll lend you the tools directly—no hand‑over‑cash, hand‑over‑goods exchange. They give you the knives first, then come years or even a decade later to ask for payment, without requiring an IOU or guarantor; they simply jot down your name, and you can take the knives home.

When lending the knives, the knife-peddlers leave a mysterious prophecy, saying they'll return to collect payment when the prophecy comes true, and the repayment is usually several times the price of an ordinary knife.

The knife-peddler who has now come to the Siheyuan is a burly man in his early forties.

His full beard of side‑whiskers is his trademark.

Some people recognized the burly man.

Several years ago.

A knife‑peddler with the same full‑bearded face once set up a stall at the Siheyuan gate; back then only a few people took up the offer—Yan Fugui, Liu Haizhong, Yi Zhonghai, and the Jia Family.

He Daqing was cooking at the Yagangchang factory, missed this affair; Shazhu, selling buns, ran into some riot troops and that day earned himself a nickname.

This should be Shazhu's first direct encounter with the knife‑pawnbroker since his rebirth.

He vaguely heard some rumors about the knife‑pawnbroker.

With a hint of curiosity, he sized up the knife‑pawnbroker before him.

It was said that the knife‑pawnbroker left such a prophecy back then: the devils would be driven off, the bald ones expelled, the common folk would live happily, and then I would return to collect the knife‑pawn money.

After the stationed little devils learned of this, they repeatedly sent people to capture the knife‑pawnbroker; they seized this big‑bearded knife‑pawnbroker and, in front of the townsfolk, killed him outright.

The knife‑pawnbroker showed no fear; before his death he told the townsfolk that if he died, someone would come in his place to collect the knife‑pawn money.

Surely this big fellow with the same full beard must be the very person the deceased knife‑pawnbroker had said would come to collect his money.

The knife‑pawnbroker, following the rules of his trade, first spoke the prophecy he had left: "The devils driven off, the bald expelled, the common folk living happily, the knife‑pawnbroker comes to collect." Having stated the condition was fulfilled, he then proceeded to recite the names of those who owed him and the multiples of the amount due: "Yi Zhonghai pawned one knife, Liu Haizhong one knife, Yan Fugui one knife, Jia Zhangshi two knives — a total of thirteen times the original price."

To collect at thirteen times the original price of the knives.

Back then, pawning the knives felt great; now paying the bill lands you in the crematorium.

137,500.

For the Yan Fugui, Liu Haizhong, and Yi Zhonghai households, the amount they now owe the knife‑pawnbroker is, generally speaking, a bit steep.

He knows he cannot afford to lose face.

One by one, they gritted their teeth and paid the knife‑pawn money.

The sole exception.

That is the Jia family.

Initially seeking a small bargain, Jia Zhangshi pawned two knives at once; at the thirteen‑fold rate, she owes the knife‑pawnbroker 275,000.

Jia Dongxu's monthly wage is 186,000; the price of two knives amounts to one and a half months of his salary, so the short‑lived Jia is somewhat reluctant, and to avoid paying, the short‑lived Jia does not hesitate to pin a charge of extortion on the knife‑pawnbroker.

"275,000 for two knives — what do you think? Now a single knife costs just over 10,000. The person who originally pawned the knives to us wasn't you; we gave you the money. If someone else later comes to us for payment, should we pay or not? I tell you, you're just blackmailing; if I find the street office, they'll have you arrested."

Yan Fugui and Liu Haizhong kindly tried to persuade Jia Dongxu.

The state has its laws.

The trade has its rules.

The knife‑pawnbroker has his ways: after taking someone's knife and using it for years, when the owner comes to collect the debt, one must grit one's teeth and pay.

The knife‑pawnbroker's prophecy: the common folk would live happily.

If you, Jia Dongxu, refuse to pay this knife‑pawn money, you're openly saying the common folk haven't yet lived that happy life; if word gets to certain people, you won't get away with it.

Too bad.

Jia Dongxu's mind is now full of ideas to dodge the debt, with not the slightest thought of repaying.

Liu Haizhong and Yan Fugui's persuasion is like playing music to a cow.

If Yi Zhonghai stepped in instead, Jia Dongxu might actually listen to a few words.

Seeing Jia Dongxu refuse to give him face, Liu Haizhong was the first to become displeased, his tone somewhat cold: "Jia Dongxu, I ask you — will you pay this money or not?"

"I won't pay; why should I? He's extorting."

"Qin Huairu, do you mean the same?"

Qin Huairu couldn't bear this blame; she argued that as a proper married woman, when Jia Zhangshi was present she had the final say, and when Jia Zhangshi was gone, Jia Dongxu did — using that as an excuse to stay out of it.

Shazhu originally intended to take advantage of the situation to throw stones at Jia Dongxu, to keep him from getting too uppity.

As an enemy of the Jia family, Shazhu would be delighted to see them suffer misfortune.

If they had to pay over two hundred thousand, the Jia family would likely be scraping by for the next two months, and Yi Zhonghai might prematurely reveal his fox‑tail, staging years ahead a melodramatic midnight rescue of Qin Huairu.

Having rehearsed his lines in his mind, he was about to speak when Shazhu saw the deaf old lady leaning on her cane appear in the courtyard.

The atmosphere instantly tightened.

How did the deaf old lady come out?

Usually at this time, the deaf old lady would stay in her own home, enjoying the care of the Yi Zhonghai couple.

Before the crowd had even processed what was happening,

When the deaf old lady's gaze fell on the knife‑pawnbroker's face, and his familiar cheek entered her sight, she seemed to have suddenly seen a demon — her body trembled, her expression turned grotesque, filled with terror and fear.

First the crowd heard the deaf old lady shout "Ghost!" and then saw her dash off toward her home in the courtyard.

In her panic the deaf old lady even dropped her cane, her steps quickened, she stumbled a few times along the way, but managed to get home safe and sound, where the door was slammed shut.

A sudden, unexpected turn of events.

Truly, no one knew what those left at the scene should do.

"The deaf old lady has a ghost in her heart!"

Yan Fugui's eyes behind his glasses shone with wisdom.

How could the deaf old lady, upon seeing the knife‑pawnbroker, cry out a word for "ghost" and then, even more frightened, hide inside her own house?

By rights.

The deaf old lady and the knife‑pawnbroker ought never to have met face to face.

But that cry of "ghost."

What on earth is going on?

It completely defies logical thinking!

Just thinking that the knife‑pawnbroker was killed by the little devils,

it seems an answer has emerged.

"The one who betrayed the knife‑pawnbroker — could it not be the deaf old lady?"

Yan Fugui gradually began to figure it out.

The deaf old lady's reaction to seeing the knife‑pawnbroker was excessively abnormal, as if she had done something wrong and now feared the creditor coming to collect.

If this is true, the deaf old lady's identity is far from the simple picture the neighbors see; she is merely a lonely, helpless old woman with no family to rely on.

Yan Fugui even had some doubts, suspecting that there were many things Long Laotaitai had done that they didn't know about; otherwise, why would Yi Zhonghai write a letter to report her? The rice and white flour found in Long Laotaitai's home last year couldn't have been obtained by Yi Zhonghai, a fourth-level worker at the steel plant.

Feigning pity on one side while committing evil on the other, using pity as a cover for their wicked deeds.

Just thinking about it is terrifying!

Such a Long Laotaitai is simply another extreme.

Not only Yan Fugui among those present thought this way; someone else also realized the truth behind it.

For example, Shazhu.

According to rumor, She Dao Ren was betrayed and fell into the hands of the Japanese, and then was brutally killed.

The old saying holds true.

People are doing it.

Heaven is watching.

An upright person fears no crooked shadow.

Long Laotaitai's recent actions exactly corroborated those sayings.

Could Long Laotaitai really be a fish that slipped through the net?

Since she is a fish that slipped through the net, yet in the harsh environment of the Anti-Bandit and Suppression Special, they didn't arrest Long Laotaitai—this cannot be explained in just a sentence or two.

Someone is helping Long Laotaitai conceal her identity!

Shazhu's gaze moved from Long Laotaitai's home in Hou Yuan to Yan Fugui's person, met Yan Fugui's eyes for a moment, then shifted to She Dao Ren.

Behind the mystery lies another mystery.

Is She Dao Ren's visit this time merely to collect the money owed from the original credit purchase?

Or perhaps there is no genuine intention to investigate the truth.

This is well worth Shazhu's reflection.

Moreover, does this matter involve anything about Yi Zhonghai and his wife?

Wait a moment!

Shazhu suddenly became interested, realizing that even if he were reborn, he still wouldn't understand certain people and matters in the Siheyuan.

The more he pondered,

The more it was filled with mysteries.

And He Daqing, his departure also full of puzzlement—why must he run to Baocheng? Couldn't he just live with Bai Gua Fu in the Siheyuan?