Chapter 393

Lu Datou, following Chen Guanlou's instructions, took a gang of street hoodlums to the Tang family's wine shop that same day, ordering only a bowl of peanuts but occupying several tables.

Genuine customers, seeing this, quickly avoided the place and dared not step inside.

The Tang family's wine shop, owned by Su Pozi's natal family, had only seven or eight tables, cramped and narrow.

With Lu Datou and his men taking up half the space, the shop looked packed, menacing, and vicious.

The Tang shop relied on neighborhood business—ordinary folk's meals—and no customer would be foolish enough to enter a small eatery filled with street thugs and subject themselves to such discomfort.

In an instant, the Tang family's business vanished, yet they couldn't drive the men away.

Tang the owner, frantic, his lips frothing, didn't understand what he'd done to offend them. After a stalemate of two or three days, Lu Datou finally kicked his foot onto a bench and said, "My big brother's unhappy. You get it?"

"May I ask, sir, what is your big brother's surname? Might I have the honor of meeting him?"

Lu Datou tossed a peanut into his mouth and grinned. "You surely know my big brother—his surname is Chen, the Chen of Beijing's Chen clan. I'm just a lowly Tianlaomiao jailer."

Tang the owner suddenly understood, then thought again: the Tang family had never wronged Chen Guanlou, nor mistreated Chen Xiaolan—what was Chen Guanlou's intent? They'd coexisted peacefully for years; why suddenly send trouble? What was his goal?

If he had to find a link between the two families, Tang suddenly recalled: recently, his sister-in-law had been arranging her niece's marriage, and he'd heard a few times that she favored Chen Xiaolan's brother—Chen Guanlou himself—and had asked his elder sister to mediate.

Tang's elder sister was none other than Su Pozi, the mistress of the Su household.

He knew his sister's temper and character—had they offended her?

Tang the owner, furious and heartburned, blamed his family for meddling, and blamed Chen Guanlou for lacking kinship ties. Even if he disdained the Tang girl, he could've just sent word—why resort to such low tactics, sending thugs to torment him?

He knew well: Chen Guanlou didn't send anyone to confront Su Pozi directly, but instead targeted the Tang wine shop, because he despised Su Pozi—even loathed her. He was deliberately distancing Chen Xiaolan from her, giving Su Pozi no excuse to harass Chen Xiaolan.

But he was still furious.

Chen Guanlou sending Lu Datou to harass the Tang shop was a clear message: if he wasn't happy, no one else would be either. You may trouble him, but if you trouble his elder sister Chen Xiaolan, don't blame him for turning hostile.

In essence, Chen Guanlou disdained Su Pozi and the Tang family—he would never, under any circumstances, become kin to them.

Tang the owner swallowed his anger and spoke politely: "Sir, I understand the Chen family's meaning. Rest assured, within three days, there will be a reply. We will give the Chen family a proper accounting."

Lu Datou raised an eyebrow. "Talking with a smart man is easy. Since you understand my big brother's intent, hurry up—don't give us reason to come back."

"Yes, yes, yes. Don't worry—it'll be settled, no trouble to the Chen family."

"Good! Brothers, let's go drink at Guanmei Tavern."

"Big Head is righteous!"

"Big Head is generous!"

The gang cheered Lu Datou, spilled out of the Tang family's small wine shop, and vanished down the street.

Tang the owner shut down his shop immediately, went home, and called a family meeting, where he cursed his brother and sister-in-law until they were drenched in abuse.

"You're fools! Chen Guanlou has no parents, rose from nothing, and in just a few years climbed from jailer to jail official—do you think he's easy to deal with? You know your elder sister's temper; Chen Guanlou, such a man, would surely despise her. That he hasn't held a grudge is only because of the kinship tie. Yet you still asked your elder sister to mediate, forcing Chen Xiaolan to deliver messages. Given Chen Guanlou's nature, him not sending men to smash our shop is already him showing mercy out of kinship."

"Chen Guanlou went too far. Even if he refused, he shouldn't have sent thugs to harass the shop."

"He has no concept of kinship. If he truly cared about kinship, he'd speak properly. Even if he refused, he'd do so politely, preserving dignity."

Hearing his family's complaints, Tang the owner snapped: "The Tianlaomiao holds no good people—only villains. You expect a villain to be polite? What are you thinking? Maybe he already thinks not smashing our shop was generous." He paused. "There are countless men in the world—why must we marry into the Chen family?"

"It's because Qing Ya developed a crush on him. Brother, you know Chen Guanlou has a handsome face—rumor says courtesans pay to bed him."

"You spoil your children too much. If Qing Ya wants something, you must grant it? Now look—marriage failed, and we've offended him."

"Why does he look down on the Tang family? What's wrong with us? He's just a jailer—what's he got to pick at?"

"Who cares if he picks or not? If he doesn't want it, are you going to force him to marry Qing Ya? If you try that, it won't be a gang of hoodlums harassing the shop—it'll be your whole family dead. The Tianlaomiao villains have no other skills, but they know plenty of ways to kill."

"Brother, you're exaggerating."

"He's just a jail official, not an official—he can't just kill people."

"Fools! You're fools! Does killing require a knife? Can't you drown, die of a stroke, or be killed by ghosts at midnight? The Tianlaomiao villains mingle with all sorts—release any one of them, a bandit lord, and can our humble household withstand it? Bandits kill one, kill a family—it's all the same to them, no restraint. Back in Tianlaomiao, they'll get Chen Guanlou's favor. Think: if Chen Guanlou said he wanted our whole family dead, would the criminals locked up there not fight to do it?"

"Where's the law?"

"Chen Guanlou is Tianlaomiao—he's the law. Have you never understood what Tianlaomiao really is? You just parrot what others say. Your elder sister is a fool too—she thinks if she can control Chen Xiaolan, she can control Chen Guanlou. She doesn't realize: if not for Chen Xiaolan's sake, Chen Guanlou wouldn't give her the time of day."

Tang the owner felt like he was leading a herd of pigs. His whole family saw the problem as absurdly simple, assuming others would think like them—care about face, kinship, dignity.

They didn't know some villains exist only to satisfy themselves. If unprovoked, they'll play along, maintain appearances. But provoke them, and they'll flip the table instantly—regardless of kinship.

"We wanted to marry into the Chen family, not make enemies—why this?"

"Even if Chen Guanlou dislikes my sister, even if he's angry Chen Xiaolan was mistreated, he shouldn't treat the Tang family this way."

"He has no manners. No wonder he became a jailer—a crude man."

"What a waste of that face."

"Qing Ya should give up."