Chapter 485: He Yushui Gets Bullied

Inside Ganlutang, after the six half-grown children left, the old physician Ma Shouyi sat on a official's hat chair, took a sip of tea, and cursed: "A bunch of little bastards, causing trouble for half the day, I thought I could swindle some money, but I didn't expect that little son of a bitch to strike first."

He habitually raised his hand to reach into his pocket, wanting to take out that pocket watch to check the time, but his fingers came up empty.

Ma Shouyi's whole body suddenly stiffened, and cold sweat "whooshed" right out from his back.

He hurriedly rummaged through every pocket on his person, but it wasn't there; next, he turned the small clinic upside down as if he had gone mad.

That watch! That was a reward he had received while at the Qianyang Special Training Class; an ordinary person wouldn't be able to tell anything, but if it were seen by a peer, that would be bad.

His real name was not this; it was an undercover mission received in early '49, and his superiors gave him this new name, telling him to open this small clinic in Dian'anmen and wait for orders.

This wait lasted five years.

Relying on an ancestral medical book, plus a little skill in treating infertility he had learned from his grandfather in his early years, he had spent five years swindling and bluffing, and fortunately, he had never treated anyone to death. As for whether it worked, no one ever gave him feedback. The silk banners hanging on the wall were all made by people he hired; in the trade, this is called "baiting the nest."

The neighbors called him "Doctor Ma," and he took it quite well; life was so peaceful that he almost forgot who he was.

Ma Shouyi lit a cigarette and repeatedly pondered the events of the afternoon.

Suddenly, he stubbed out the cigarette butt, his eyes becoming sharp.

Tomorrow, he must find that watch back.

That big guy should be a middle school student; there were only the 13th Middle School and Hebei Beijing Middle School nearby.

Tomorrow morning, he would go to the 13th Middle School to look first.

He Yushui and the three other little girls came out of Kaorouji, while Xu Xinghai and his younger brother Xu Xingfu were also coming out of He Ji Restaurant, burping.

The two restaurants were not far from each other to begin with.

The two groups looked at each other and froze at the same time.

The kick Xu Xinghai had taken in the afternoon was still throbbing with pain, and at this moment, seeing He Yushui, his anger "whooshed" right up: "Damn it, talk about a narrow road for enemies!"

"Brother, beat them up!" Xu Xingfu also rolled up his sleeves.

Li Dahua stepped to the very front and blocked He Yushui behind her: "You stinking hooligans, what do you want to do?"

"What do we want to do?" Xu Xinghai sneered, "Settling the score from this afternoon, right now!"

Before he finished speaking, he lunged forward.

Li Dahua's Kung Fu was the best practiced; her stance was stable, and she started with a set of Small Grappling, beating Xu Xinghai until he was dizzy and disoriented.

However, as time went on, Li Dahua's weakness was exposed; she had little strength, and even after hitting Xu Xinghai for a long time, she couldn't do anything to him.

Conversely, Xu Xinghai relied on his great strength, and one punch landing on Li Dahua was enough for her to suffer.

He Yushui's body was agile; she kept circling around Xu Xinghai, wanting to take the opportunity to land a fatal blow.

Xu Xinghai had suffered at He Yushui's hands before, so he desperately avoided her and focused on hitting Li Dahua.

Li Dahua gradually struggled—she was only twelve years old, and her stamina was ultimately not as good as a fifteen-year-old half-grown boy.

She took a punch to the face, and her eye socket immediately turned blue.

He Yushui lost her temper and pulled a three-section staff out of her schoolbag, wanting to sneak an attack, but was blocked by Xu Xingfu.

This kid also had great strength; after being hit by He Yushui's staff, he grimaced in pain, but he kicked He Yushui regardless.

He Yushui was enraged, and the waving three-section staff began to greet Xu Xingfu's head.

Seconds and minutes ticked by, and it looked like the four little girls were about to suffer—

A figure rushed in from the side, as fast as a shadow.

Ma Yan had arrived.

She was half a head shorter than Xu Xinghai, but her movements were clean and crisp, and a side kick landed squarely on Xu Xinghai's chest.

With a muffled "bang," Xu Xinghai flew backward, fell to the ground, and clutched his chest, unable to climb up for a long time.

Xu Xingfu roared and rushed over; Ma Yan dodged to the side and used the momentum to jab her elbow into his ribs.

Xu Xingfu let out an "ow" and squatted on the ground, crying.

"Sister Yanzi!" He Yushui's eyes lit up.

Ma Yan shielded the four girls behind her and stared coldly at the pair of brothers on the ground: "If you dare touch them again, I'll dismantle your arms."

Xu Xinghai struggled to climb up, his lips pale; he glared at them fiercely, then dragged his brother away, stumbling as they ran.

When Yan Jiefang returned home, he heard his father's scolding coming from the room.

"... You have the nerve to eat after getting these grades? I pay for you to go to school, and you get me the third-to-last place? Where do you expect me to put my face as a teacher?" Yan Bugui cursed loudly.

Ever since his leg was broken, Yan Bugui had been lying in bed all day, and his temper grew more violent by the day.

The Yan teacher who used to always laugh and calculate how to save money was gone, replaced by a gloomy and irritable patient.

Yang Ruihua pulled Yan Jiefang into the kitchen, closed the door, and lowered her voice: "Jiefang, do you still have money? If we don't buy grain tomorrow, our family will really have to drink the Northwest wind."

Yan Jiefang was struggling intensely in his heart; the 150,000 he had been given by his Siqiang in the afternoon had all been paid to Xu Xinghai. He actually still had 3 million, but that was money he had earned by risking his life, and he didn't want to take it out.

"Mom," he reached into his bosom and took out the watch, "Siqiang didn't give me cash today, he gave me this. You take it to the pawn shop; it should last for a while."

Yang Ruihua took the watch, looked at it for a long time in the dim light, and asked: "Is this watch... valuable?"

"Siqiang said it's worth some money. Don't pawn it in Dian'anmen; go to Qianmen, the prices there are fair," Yan Jiefang said.

Yang Ruihua naturally understood the meaning, "I'll have Zhao Si from the Houyuan help tomorrow; he knows the ropes."

Yan Jiefang nodded.

Yang Ruihua carefully wrapped the watch, tucked it into her bosom, sighed, and said: "Don't provoke your father lately. He's bottling up anger inside, and nothing looks right to him."

"He's lying down all day, where does the anger come from?" Yan Jiefang curled his lip.

"It's all because of the He Family's commotion," Yang Ruihua smiled bitterly. "Once He Daqing and his wife left, that girl He Yushui has been living like an immortal. Every rest day, He Ji Restaurant sends dishes to her place twice a day, seven or eight plates at a time. She can't finish them herself, so she invites those little girls to eat together... Can your father feel comfortable seeing that?"

Yan Jiefang pursed his lips: "Mom, our family's life will get better. I will learn well from Siqiang and earn money to support the family in the future."

Yang Ruihua stroked his head: "Mom believes in you."

When He Yushui returned to the East Cross Courtyard with Xiaomi, Dahua, Xiaoqi, and Ma Yan, Chen Xueru had just arrived home.

She saw the injuries on Xiaomi and Li Dahua's faces at a glance, and her face sank: "Who did this?"

"Sister-in-law, it's Xu Xinghai," Xiaomi said eagerly, "He's a student who was held back a grade at our school. He tried to rob us this afternoon and was beaten by He Yushui, and then we ran into him again tonight... It's a good thing we bumped into Sister Yanzi!"

Chen Xueru walked into the room without a word: "I'm calling Tian Dan right now! This is outrageous, daring to commit robbery!"

"Sister-in-law, it's just kids fighting, calling Tian Dan won't help," Ma Yan said, pulling her back, "I'll go pick them up after school from now on."

"You still have to work. Let Ershuan go; he's just a name on the payroll at the Rolling Mill anyway." Chen Xueru turned to look at He Yushui, "He Yushui, you are not allowed to act tough anymore. If something happens to you, how am I supposed to answer to your brother?"

He Yushui curled her lip: "We can beat them..."

"Beat them, what beat them!" Chen Xueru was stern for once, "Listen to me on this."

The next morning, Yang Ruihua was waiting for Zhao Si in the front courtyard bright and early.

Seeing Zhao Si hurry out, she said with a smile: "Brother Si, my family really can't make ends meet anymore, so I wanted to pawn this watch. You know everyone, could you find someone to take a look at it?"

Zhao Si took the watch, weighed it in his hand, and flipped open the cover to take a look: "Oh, it's a foreign gadget! The Yan family has some savings."

"His father did business in his early years, and someone gave it to him as a gift." Yang Ruihua made up a lie.

"Alright, I'll go to Qianmen at noon and ask around." Zhao Si tucked the watch into his pocket.

At the same time, Ma Shouyi was already standing at the entrance of the alley opposite Thirteenth Middle School.

He waited from the early morning when the students entered school until the noon dismissal, his eyes aching from staring, but he didn't see that big guy from yesterday.

The wind in the alley made him feel cold, but his heart was burning with rage.

"I'll come back tonight." He gritted his teeth and turned to walk back.

Qianmen Street, Tonghexiang Pawnshop.

Zhao Si handed the watch over the high counter: "Sun Shifu, please take a look at this."

Lao Sun, behind the counter, took the watch, pushed up his reading glasses, and examined it carefully for a long while, his brows gradually furrowing.

"Master Si, this watch... I'm not quite sure about it." Sun Shifu looked up, his smile polite, "I mainly look at porcelain; for these foreign watches, you need to find a master who specializes in clocks and watches. Please sit for a moment, I'll go inside and ask."

"Alright, I'll wait for you," Zhao Si said.

Sun Shifu walked quickly into the back hall and pushed open the door to the Manager's office: "Sui Jingli, take a look at this!"

Sui Jingli took the watch, flipped it to the back, and upon seeing the serial number and the tiny plum blossom engraving, his expression changed: "A Military Statistics Bureau procurement watch, with a serial number. Where did this come from?"