Page 919

Outhouse?!

"Eh, Mister Sixth, you want to use the outhouse, huh? Well, you go ahead; I won’t be joining you. I’m not in a rush."

Loudmouth pinched his nose and stopped in his tracks.

But Liuzi just smiled benevolently and said, "Guang Douqiang, I’m not in a hurry either. Come on, say hello to your newest service client!"

Following Liuzi’s gesturing hand, Da Qiangzi saw two chamber pots with a suspicious yellowish substance on their surface. Unable to hold back, he retched loudly on the spot.

After scrubbing pots for three days straight, Da Qiangzi was sickened to his core. What made it worse was that every time he was dizzyingly hungry and about to eat, Liuzi only ever brought him steaming yellowish cornmeal porridge.

Just the sight of this porridge made him vividly recall the "scenery" in the pots, and his stomach would start churning, leaving him unable to take a single bite.

After many protests, Liuzi finally stopped bringing the porridge, only to substitute it with cornbread of the same nauseating yellow hue...

Leaning against the wall, weak-kneed and vomiting once more, Da Qiangzi stumbled and collapsed on the ground, filled with regret. If he’d known that "easy work" meant cleaning pots, he would have rather died than broken those bowls.

As if the disgust wasn’t enough, he ended up working an extra day for nothing.

It was only when Lin Yuan decided to let them go that Da Qiangzi finally breathed in the fresh air outside, feeling reborn.

Liuzi enthusiastically waved him off, almost to the point of tearful nose-blowing, "Mister Qiang, leaving so soon? I’ve hardly had enough time to serve you! Make sure to eat at our place again, but remember, don’t bring any silver. I’ll keep those pots just for you!"

The moment the word "pots" was mentioned, Da Qiangzi, who could barely walk due to his weak legs, zipped away without a trace.

He ran all the way back to the lodging Dawang had rented for him, and with his heart still racing, he glanced back anxiously.

Only after confirming Liuzi hadn’t followed did he finally relax and hit the door in anger, cursing, "Dawang, you unfilial son! You even scam your own father. Just wait until I’ve rested up; I’ll see how I deal with you, you wretched thing! "

So caught up in his cursing, Da Qiangzi failed to notice that the securely locked door he left behind was now strangely ajar.

"Eh? What’s going on? Could it be thieves?" A sudden panic rose in Da Qiangzi as he thought of the items hidden under his bed, and he rushed inside.

But then...

"Da Qiangzi! Boo-hoo, you heartless man! You’ve finally come back!"

A beautiful woman in her early thirties came running out of the house, crying and scolding. The little girl she was holding also swung her tiny fists, bawling ceaselessly as if joining her mother in accusing Da Qiangzi of his misdeeds.

Caught off guard, Da Qiangzi muttered an expletive and quickly turned back to secure the door tightly, even fastening the door latch properly. Only then did he turn around and pull the crying woman into the inner room.

No sooner had they entered when the door latch was sprung open by a small stone shot from who knows where.

"Oh, Xingxing, why are you here?" Still anxious, Da Qiangzi made sure to shut all the doors and windows in the inner room before hurriedly asking.

The woman was none other than Xingxing, the young widow who had once had an affair with Da Qiangzi.

However, she was no longer the gorgeous young woman she used to be.

Her child had been lost, and after following Da Qiangzi to the neighboring town, it took a long time to recover and eventually conceive again.

Unfortunately, the baby born was not a boy.

The sight of a baby girl instantly soured Da Qiangzi’s expression. Even though he already had two sons, he couldn’t shake the deep-seated preference for boys, priding himself on the belief that a real man’s offspring were male.

Da Qiangzi did not take to the girl, and as time passed, his interest in Xingxing waned.

Gradually, he showed less and less affection for both mother and daughter.

Thankfully, Xingxing was quick-witted, not as single-minded as Loudmouth, and knew how to keep a man’s interest. Thus, they managed to live in relative peace for a few more years.

But a few days ago, Da Qiangzi suddenly returned, claiming that he was going to do business with friends. Xingxing panicked at this news, fearing he would abandon them, and so she stripped him of all his silver before allowing him to leave.

However, Da Qiangzi wasn’t a fool. Though his business ventures in the neighboring town had consistently failed, whenever he did have some silver, he’d stash it away, only giving Xingxing a small portion.

Clutching this secret reserve, he returned to Zhuma Town, hid the silver, and then went to seek out Loudmouth and Dawang to feign poverty.