Chapter 12: Do a Job, Love the Job

Clang! The blade swept past the Jailer's fingertips by a hair, the Waist Saber slamming hard onto the tabletop and instantly cleaving a small silver ingot in two. The silver on the table jumped from the shock, shattered bits of silver and copper coins spraying against the wall and ricocheting with a series of sharp cracks. Everyone in the room screamed in fright.

The Jailer and the Criminal Division Runner both yanked their hands back, staring in terror at the person holding the blade — it was actually Er Shazi, Pang Yu.

After that one slash, Pang Yu felt an awe-inspiring presence radiating from himself. Seeing everyone staring at him dumbstruck, he quickly recalled the moves from those martial arts films, held the saber horizontally above his head, thrust his left palm forward in a standing stance, dropped into a bow step, held his breath, and bellowed, "Ha!"

Runner Pang's posture was heroic, his eyes sharp as lightning, his face brimming with valor. If not for the gauze wrapped around his head spoiling the image, he would have looked exactly like a genuine master of the martial world.

The crowd was startled again, all stepping back in unison, staring blankly at this second fool of the Pang family. Was he stupid or had he gone mad?

Seeing everyone in a daze, Pang Yu felt he had thoroughly intimidated them, so following the martial arts film routine, he clumsily spun the saber in a full circle above his head and suavely sheathed it behind his back.

After sweeping his gaze around the room, Pang Yu did not wait for the Jailer to speak. He suddenly switched to a smiling face, took the initiative to pick up the two pieces of silver his blade had just split, and beamingly delivered them to the Criminal Division Runner and the Wild Jailer. "This is the hard-earned money for you two. Your brother here has helped you two older brothers divide it properly. What I ought to give, I will definitely give — no need for you brothers to lift a finger."

The Jailer still had not recovered his wits, his face already pale with fright. His hand trembling, he reached out dumbly to take the silver, but Pang Yu simply loosened his grip and let the silver drop to the floor. "This young master's hand is a bit loose. I'll still have to trouble you, big brother, to pick it up yourself."

That slash just now had truly intimidated the Jailer. The blade's edge had missed the Jailer's fingers by a hair's breadth. The Jailer did not need to think to know that he had kept his fingers purely by luck. Moreover, he had no idea that Pang Yu had never used a Waist Saber before, that he could not even control the blade's center of gravity when he struck, yet had still dared to swing it so fast. For the Jailer to keep his hand, green smoke must have been rising from his ancestral grave.

It took the Jailer a long while to catch his breath. He pointed at Pang Yu and raged, "You, you damn second fool, fine. I'll remember this. I'm telling my brother-in-law, and I'll, I'll make you pay."

Pang Yu raised his head and said, "This young master doesn't know your brother-in-law. If you've got the guts, tell your sister to come. This young master will have a heart-to-heart with her alone — guaranteed she'll be satisfied."

"You just wait!" The Jailer's face was full of fury. He did not even take the silver, nodded fiercely, turned, and left. The Criminal Division Runner, seeing Pang Yu acting so abnormally and now holding a sharp blade, feared that Pang Yu's stupid streak would flare up and he'd get hacked. He hurriedly muttered a thanks, took his silver, and fled the Shenming Pavilion right behind the Jailer.

Pang Yu shouted loudly at the Jailer's retreating back, "Remember this from now on: you can touch this young master's hairstyle, you can even touch his head, but his silver — absolutely never."

"Brother, you can't just swing this thing around recklessly." Jiao Guozha was drenched in cold sweat from fright. He came over and snatched back the Waist Saber. Ordinary runners did not carry blades — they only had iron rulers and clubs and the like. Jiao Guozha, as a backbone of the Fast Squad who often had to handle arrests, was the only one issued one. He had been just about to step in and dissuade those two men when, who knew, Pang Yu turned around and drew his blade. If that had cut someone, Jiao Guozha would never have been able to clear himself of responsibility.

Runners were all shameless characters, but today's Pang Yu also had a stupidly reckless ferocity about him, nothing like the image of him cowering and scurrying through the streets that day. Seeing this scene, Zhou Yueru no longer dared to throw a tantrum. So terrified she hardly dared to breathe, she quietly helped Shopkeeper Zhou up and left.

The Village Elder clutched his chest, gasping for breath. Zhou Yueru could leave, but he could not — he had not collected his silver yet. He had no choice but to suppress his fear and remain in the room. Fortunately, Pang Yu did not make things difficult for the Village Elder. He randomly picked a piece and gave it to him. The Village Elder fled in panic without even daring to check its purity.

Now that this irrelevant outsider had been sent packing, only the two sworn brothers remained. The three of them scurried all over the floor, picking up every piece of silver and copper coin that had been knocked to the ground by the saber strike.

While picking up silver, He Xianya said to Pang Yu, "Second Brother, um, well…"

"If you've got a fart, let it out."

"You really don't know who his brother-in-law is?"

Pang Yu asked, somewhat surprised, "Why should I know? Is his brother-in-law that famous?"

He Xianya looked at Pang Yu twice. "His brother-in-law isn't famous, but isn't he none other than your Runner Squad's squad leader, Wang Dazhuang? Wang Dazhuang is fiercest when it comes to protecting his little brother-in-law. How could you go and offend him so rashly?" He Xianya let out a long sigh.

Pang Yu froze, a surge of irritation rising in his heart again. That Jailer had mocked Pang Yu in the South Prison and publicly humiliated him in the Shenming Pavilion — those could be let slide. But the one thing utterly unacceptable was touching Pang Yu's silver. Pang Yu had deliberately meant to crush his arrogance. Who knew such an inconspicuous Jailer would have backing?

Pang Yu knew regret was useless now. He spat out a curse. "To hell with him. Whoever he is, so what if he's a squad leader? That still doesn't give him the right to touch my silver!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, Jiao Guozha and He Xianya both stood up and blocked the doorway.

Pang Yu asked, puzzled, "I told you to split the silver. What are you running to the door for?"

He Xianya gave a dry cough. Jiao Guozha, looking slightly awkward, spoke up. "Last time we split silver, Second Brother, you grabbed a handful and ran. We three brothers are close, but accounts still need to be settled clearly. We won't mention the past, but this time we can't let you just follow your nature again. Even though it's your lawsuit, we brothers still deserve a bit of hard-earned money."

Pang Yu spat and cursed, "Looking down on people, aren't you? Am I, Pang Yu, that kind of person?"

Jiao Guozha and the other man nodded in unison. Pang Yu took a couple of breaths, then finished gathering all the silver and coins from the floor on his own. After roughly estimating, he divided the remaining silver on the table into two equal piles, pushed one pile toward the two men in front of him, and said, "Yours."

Jiao Guozha pointed at himself and the other man, puzzled. "You're giving us half?"

"For you. The Document Receiving Office and the Punishment Office — I'll handle all the bribes for those myself."

He Xianya pursed his lips. "Second Brother, in the past you always just grabbed the money and ran. But now… don't blame your brother for not warning you — that monthly payment going forward, if the Zhou Family really does flee, it'll be gone."

Jiao Guozha also said, "Then why, Second Brother, did you offend Jailer Fang just now over a bit of silver?"

"Jailer Fang wanted to take what he shouldn't take. For that, I won't give him a single copper coin. I'm in big business. My view has always been: no cooperation, no profit. This time, it all relied on you two brothers' efforts. What I ought to give my brothers, I won't short you by a single coin."

Pang Yu waved his hand magnanimously. His concept of this silver was still a bit vague — in truth, what was on the table was already no small fortune.

"Second Brother, you're a true stand-up guy!"

"My Second Brother is truly generous!"

The two sworn brothers' impression of Pang Yu improved dramatically, though they felt Pang Yu seemed even stupider than before.

After giving Jiao Guozha a larger share and stowing his own silver, He Xianya could not help but look up at Pang Yu and ask, "Second Brother, what exactly was this big business you used to do? How come I've never heard you mention it?"

Pang Yu gave a smug humph, lifted his head, and said with an air of pride, "Finance."

"Second Brother, I've never heard of this 'finance.' Just what kind of trade is it?"

"Well, finance is a very profound industry. What is called finance is the study of the flow of money, allocating it to where the rate of return is highest, so as to facilitate the conversion of value…"

Jiao Guozha had just finished putting away his silver. He had no leisure to listen to Pang Yu's nonsense. He slapped the table and loudly interrupted, "What's there to study about money? 'Finance' — the meaning is obvious from the words. It's just melting gold and silver together. Like in a smelting shop, you melt gold and cast silver, just making the outside of the gold and silver look a bit nicer. No matter how you melt it, it'll never be a single bit more than the original. You might even add some trash bits, and in the middle, the guy doing the finance skims some off the weight. The appearance is nicer, but the valuable stuff is less."

Pang Yu burst out laughing. "Impressive! Big Brother hits the nail on the head — truly insightful. If Big Brother went into finance, you'd absolutely be a genius too."

Jiao Guozha pulled Pang Yu over, threw an arm around Pang Yu's shoulder, and laughed heartily. "Got no leisure for that smoky, fiery stuff. We do a job, we love the job — just do this official post well. I'm in the mood today. Let's us three brothers go to Qingfeng Market and do our yamen's real trade."

…

"Second Brother, take this melon. Third Brother, take off your Dalbo and load up some more eggs. You, the pear seller, stop right there. Let me have a look — local pears or Autumn White Pears? Let me taste one. Local dirt pears — get the hell away from me. That one over there, don't run! Haha, I spotted them — Purple Crisp Pears…"

Jiao Guozha was like a bull dressed in a Constable Uniform, rampaging unchecked through Qingfeng Market. Wherever he went, chickens flew and dogs jumped. Whether peddlers with stalls selling fruit and melons or small farmers selling their own produce, none could withstand his onslaught.

He Xianya had grabbed two chickens, a Dalbo full of duck eggs still slung over his shoulder. Pang Yu's hands were full of vegetables, fruits, and farm goods, his face alight with excitement as he followed behind Jiao Guozha.

Jiao Guozha rushed forward a few steps, seized the carrying pole of the fleeing pear peddler, and simply loaded the pears into his own Dalbo. The other nearby peddlers seized the chance to pack up their things and flee.

While picking pears, Jiao Guozha scanned his surroundings. Spotting a meat vendor ahead also frantically trying to hide his meat, he abandoned the pear peddler and sauntered slowly over to the meat stall.

The meat vendor was just lifting a pig's trotter to hide it underneath when he suddenly sensed something was wrong. He slowly raised his head and saw Jiao Guozha. After freezing for a moment, he finally forced out an ugly, fawning smile and held the pig's trotter out to Jiao Guozha.

By the time Pang Yu and the other man caught up, Jiao Guozha had freed his left hand. He took his scabbard and banged it twice against the meat block — bang, bang. The meat vendor flinched with each bang, and with a mournful face, fished out two more pieces of meat from under the counter.

"Take it!" Jiao Guozha shouted to Pang Yu. "Still short some lotus root. I know where that lotus root seller is hiding. Come on, this way."

"Now this is professional public service," Pang Yu murmured in admiration, watching Jiao Guozha's bustling figure. "Do a job, love the job. I'm starting to like being a yamen runner."