Chapter 87: Reputation Is Money

Seeing the trouble he had stirred up and realizing that Uncle Qiu and Auntie Qiu still had to help clean up after him, Jiang Fan said gratefully, “Thank you, Uncle. Yezi should be willing to stay. She even told me she wanted to work with Xiaohua to persuade you to keep the shop open around the clock. Those two girls are very sensible. You and Auntie really should consider staying open all night. For now, help me cover the rent. I’ll have my wife pay you back when she returns.”

Uncle Qiu rose to his feet and said, “There’s no hurry. Pay it back whenever you’re more comfortable.”

After finding them a place to rent, Uncle Qiu even thoughtfully helped Zhang Chunge buy all the necessities for daily life.

When Yezi heard that the old couple was willing to keep her, she danced with joy like a child of a few years old.

At last, Chunge had a place to land and could sleep in peace. He returned to the rental house early. The two little girls helped Jiang Fan with tea and water, kept him company in conversation, and served him until well past midnight. Skinny Zai never showed up, and the gambling den never reopened.

When Jiang Fan returned downstairs, he saw Xiao Yuxin sitting at the shop entrance. He complained to her, “My wife said she’d do her best to come back today, but I still haven’t seen a shadow of her. She’s a liar too.”

Seeing that Jiang Fan was only thinking about Wang Wenyu and deliberately keeping quiet about the news that had already spread like wildfire through the streets, Xiao Yuxin teased him, “Maybe her elders know about you two and won’t let her come back to Dongguan anymore. Then I’d have to congratulate you: after just a few days in love, you’ve successfully returned to being single.”

The thing Jiang Fan feared most was Wang Wenyu’s family breaking them apart and forbidding them to be together.

Hearing Xiao Yuxin say this, he asked nervously, “Sister Xin, her elders wouldn’t already know about this, would they?”

Seeing the anxious look in his eyes, Xiao Yuxin stopped teasing him and said firmly, “Relax. That girl is so smart. She knows exactly when to tell her family about you two. Besides, you’ve only just gotten together, and her elders don’t have eyes that can see a thousand miles. How could they possibly know so soon?

It’s this late already, so she definitely won’t be back today. Aren’t you going to confess something else?”

Jiang Fan did not know that Xiao Yuxin already knew about the gambling den, so he asked in confusion, “Confess what?”

Xiao Yuxin pointed toward the shop and said, “Still pretending to be dumb? Do I need to remind you what happened tonight? Go get yourself a stool and tell me properly.”

“So that’s what this is about. You found out this fast?”

Jiang Fan obediently fetched a stool and sat beside Xiao Yuxin, then told her in detail everything that had happened.

Xiao Yuxin pursed her lips toward the hair salon next door and said, “Skinny Zai’s little mistress, Xue, is in charge of that salon. She kept peeking over here several times tonight and even went upstairs to look. She’d been waiting for you to come back. She probably wanted to use her pretty face to negotiate with you and settle this matter.”

“Some dimwit can afford a mistress, yet he even keeps her on credit. Does he have the ability to feed her? A grown man acting like a turtle with his head tucked in, and he still expects a woman to come talk to me about this?”

Hearing the lustful bitterness in Jiang Fan’s complaint, Xiao Yuxin could tell he was ready to take this matter head-on. She laughed and said, “You’re skinny enough to look like a monkey, perfect for stewing with spare ribs, and you’re calling other people dimwits.”

Jiang Fan stood up, flexed his right upper arm, and struck a bodybuilder’s pose. “I’m skinny, but I’ve got muscle. I’ve got shape. Don’t you know that?”

Xiao Yuxin laughed. “Fine, fine, you’re slim and well-built, a handsome man under heaven. Happy now? I’m warning you though, this matter is best handled slowly. The longer you drag it out, the more you stand to gain.”

“Now that I’ve got a family to support and the New Year is almost here, I still don’t have much money on me. I was planning to ask them for a bit of alms and have a prosperous holiday.”

Seeing that Jiang Fan had misunderstood her meaning, Xiao Yuxin grumbled, “A family to support? Does the girl need you to raise her? The profit I’m talking about isn’t these petty gains right now, but the long-term picture.

For something like this, when it gets resolved and how it ends matters a great deal. For them, it would be more valuable to spend a little extra money and settle it quietly behind the scenes than to handle it openly for free.

For a man of the underworld, face is money. Lose face, and no amount of money can always buy it back. Skinny Zai didn’t go to the gambling den partly for his own face, but more for Brother Lu’s dignity.”

Jiang Fan caught some of her meaning, but still did not fully understand the workings of this world, so he continued, “So you mean I should drag it out and not deal with it, let it ferment in the underworld, and damage Lu Zai’s face.

If he loses face, I’d at most get a little more money. The biggest winner would be Brother Hui, right?”

Xiao Yuxin picked up the thread and said, “Looks like you’re not completely stupid after all. You’ve begun to understand a few things. The longer this drags on, the more it spreads through the underworld. Not only will you get more money, but your own face will start to have value too, and people like Brother Hui will be more likely to take you seriously. Now think again: who’s the biggest winner?”

Jiang Fan did not answer. Instead, he stared at the hair salon door in deep thought.

Usually, after dark, there would be several flamboyantly dressed girls sitting outside the salon. Jiang Fan had not known what was going on before and thought they were just lounging there for fun. Only yesterday did he learn that it was a disguised way of soliciting customers.

Now, there was no one outside the salon. The familiar sounds of laughter were gone from inside as well. Through the gauzy curtain at the door, one could see the bright lights within and the silhouettes of people moving about.

Seeing Jiang Fan staring blankly at the salon without saying a word, Xiao Yuxin teased him, “With the girl not by your side, are you not used to it? Want to go inside and find some fun? Got any money on you? Want me to lend you some?”

Jiang Fan shook his head and answered the question with another of his own. “The longer it drags on, the more I gain. Interesting. Looks like today a blind cat has stumbled upon a dead rat. I’m the one who gets to make a little money.”

Seeing the greedy look on his face, Xiao Yuxin reminded him, “You can’t ask for too much money. As long as the face of it is preserved, that’s enough. Don’t leave people with the impression that you’re greedy.”

Jiang Fan suddenly understood and immediately grasped her meaning. “Don’t worry. I know how to keep my measure.”

Xiao Yuxin said in disgust, “You disappear for a moment and immediately start causing trouble, and you still say you know your measure. Do you even know what measure means?”

Now that he could see the prospect of profit, Jiang Fan grew excited inside and replied with a wicked smile, “I don’t know other kinds of measure, but the measure of something more than ten centimeters long, I know very clearly.”

Because of Jiang Fan’s joke the night before, she had spent the whole night unable to sleep. Xiao Yuxin smacked him hard and said, “You rascal, getting worked up again, are you?”

Rubbing his shoulder, Jiang Fan continued in an ambiguous tone, “Sis, wasn’t it you who started it?”

Xiao Yuxin glared at him. “When did I start anything?”

“You used your beauty to test my self-control. If that doesn’t count as starting it, what does?”

Their playful banter carried over into the salon next door.

When Xue heard Jiang Fan’s voice, she immediately came out of the salon and walked over to him. She extended her hand and introduced herself. “Brother Fan, hello. I’m Xue, from the same hometown as you. I’ve been waiting for you all night. Could you give me some face and find a place to sit and talk?”

Jiang Fan had seen Xue twice before, but had never paid her much attention. Now, seeing that she was not yet twenty, he noticed how the heavy makeup masked the natural prettiness of her face.

He did not shake her hand. Instead, he looked at her and said coldly, “Since we’re from the same hometown, I don’t want to make a woman look bad. But I’m not going to let that spineless turtle of a lover off the hook either. You’d be better off staying out of this.”