CH 7

Update – To make it easier on the eyes (or the brain), I have decided to rename all mentions of “Third Master” into “Sanye” where appropriate (‘三爷’ in the raws). Since the author refused to give the debt collector a name despite being mentioned frequently, and the “nickname” doesn’t translate well into english. Hope this would make it much more readable. The earlier chapter will be edited accordingly.

“Mom, do you know anyone with a similar figure to elder brother?” Su Jin asked her mother, thinking that the perpetrator was likely to be someone familiar with them. Otherwise, it would have been a tall hurdle for the culprit to frame her brother.

Without much thought, a match immediately appeared in Qin Shi’s memory.

“Ah, someone who bears a resemblance to your brother, there is one that comes to mind – Su Liang from the second branch of the Su family. Since they are immediate cousins, there are inevitably some similarities in their appearances.

Soon, she understood the meaning behind Su Jin’s question and stuttered, “You … You mean… Su Liang… Ah, that scoundrel. How dare he… How dare he do this to… ”

The more Qin Shi thought about the possibility of that being the case, the more agitated she became. Her eyes were bloodshot as if she remembered something that convinced her. She was about to rush out in rage as though setting off to confront her mortal enemy, only to be stopped by Su Jin.

“Mother, please calm down. This is still a conjecture. I believe in big brother’s words when he said he did not owe the debt, so I will do whatever it takes to hunt down the person who had framed brother.”

“Xiao Jin, it must be him. I am sure of it. I recall that he had invited your big brother out a few days ago. When they came back, your big brother was drunk and unconscious. At that time, I could not understand it. Why would someone who would never come to visit us suddenly invite your brother out for a drink? As it turns out, this was his motive. That bastard! I’ll skin him alive!”

The current Qin Shi had lost all her rationality. As a mother, whenever she thought about the scene of her eldest son bedridden with lifeless eyes, she felt as if a knife had been twisted in her heart. Now that she realized her son had been framed, there was no way she could let the culprit off.

Su Jin pulled her mother and dragged her back to the room. With her mother’s current state of emotion, she was worried that another accident might happen if she left her mother alone.

She sympathized with her mother’s feelings. But even if the circumstantial evidence had supported the conjecture, Su Jin had to first confirm it with absolute certainty.  If Su Liang was indeed the person who harmed her brother, she intended to return the favour twofold.

With a cold expression on her face, Su Jin looked at Sanye and said, “Did you hear that? It shouldn’t be a difficult task for you to send some people to fetch Su Liang, right? Some things are better clarified in person.”

Sanye wiped the sweat from his forehead and affirmed with a trembling voice. “Yes, consider it done. We will send someone right away.” He gestured with his eyes and assigned the task to several underlings.

In just a few moments, the person in question was dragged over.

It was too much of a coincidence. The men hadn’t travelled far when they discovered a suspicious individual hiding behind the bushes nearby. He had been spying on the Su family from time to time. After interrogating the suspicious man, they found that he was the one they were looking for.

“What are you doing? Let me go! I have no money to help Su Dalang pay his debt.”

When Su Liang was caught, his initial response was one that made it seem like the Su family had become desperate and had resorted to borrowing money from their relatives.

Su Jin looked him in the eye and asked firmly, “Judging from the speed of your arrival, you must have been lurking nearby? Take a good look. Do you recognize these people?”

Su Liang was a little surprised to hear a voice that he did not expect. He was under the impression that Su Jin had been abducted by human traffickers, and would never return. Regardless, he frowned and mocked her.

“There is no place for you to talk here. Do you think you can act pompously just because you came back? God knows what unspeakable things you did while you were outside. Did you come back with your tail between your legs because it was too harsh for you to survive outside?”

However, he had to admit that his cousin had grown into a charming lady. With such an appearance, she might even be worth a fortune. Just in time when he was hard strapped for cash. The more he fantasized about it, the more nefarious his thoughts became. His malicious intentions were obvious from his eyes.

System#2250 clenched its fist in anger.

“Host, that guy must be up to no good. Look at those eyes. He must be planning something evil, hmph!”

“I can see that. That’s why I am ready to instill human virtues in him.”

Su Liang watched Su Jin gradually approach him. His eyes lit up as he imagined her to be a pile of money delivering itself to his doorstep.

“Oh? Let me hear about it then, the unsightly things which I did outside.”

As she said that, her hand reached out to grab Su Liang with a choke on his jaw, and she slowly lifted him up in that position.

The man’s face turned red due to the sudden interruption of blood flow. He kept struggling with his eyes full of fear.

Slamming him on the ground next, Su Jin then dusted her hands and pointed to the people from the casino again as she asked in a stern tone.

“These people, do you recognize them?”

By now, Su Liang was scared out of his wits. How did the lady in front of him become so terrifying? For a moment, he really thought that she would strangle him to death.

His eyes quickly followed the direction in which her finger pointed to. That was where Sanye and his lackeys were. Of course, he would recognize them.

At this moment, one of the lackeys under Sanye pointed his hand towards Su Liang.

“I have seen him before in the vicinity of the casino!”

Su Liang had an identical body build and even his facial features were pretty similar to Su Dalang.

Upon hearing that, Su Jin narrowed her eyes and directed a sharp gaze at Su Liang, sending him crawling back in fear.

“You incurred huge gambling debts, and thought up the idea of making my brother into your substitute. After inviting him out and intoxicating him into a state of drunkenness, you swindled him to sign the IOUs for you. Is that what happened?”

“Wrong, that’s not true. That had nothing to do with me. I did not owe any gambling debts. It was all Su Dalang’s own making. How can you shift the blame to me? It’s not me!”

Although Su Liang denied it at the top of his lungs, his legs were trembling uncontrollably. Deep down, he was afraid. His shirt had been drenched in cold sweat, and he felt a chill on his back. He knew that if he confessed here in this situation, it would be the end of him.

However, the obvious visible symptoms of panic attack betrayed him. Any spectator with a discerning eye would notice that something was amiss.

System#2250: “Host, he is lying. His heart rate has increased….”

Su Jin paid no attention to the system. With an intense chill in her eyes, she stared coldly at the man whose face had turned red due to increased blood pressure from continuous shouting.

It was a desperate attempt to cover up his guilt.

Su Jin was never a patient person. There was also no way she would miss the obvious malice when Su Liang looked at her. Even if he was not the culprit who framed her brother, Su Jin had no intention of letting him go.

Besides, it was now obvious that… they had not falsely accused him.

Su Jin angrily stepped forward and planted a heavy fist in Su Liang’s abdomen. Dragging him as though she was dragging along the corpse of a mutt, she slowly walked towards Sanye.

“Since he refuses to admit it, I shall hand him over to you. Drag him back to the casino and gather eye witnesses who had seen him gamble there. Even if he was meticulous in covering his traces, someone ought to have interacted with him. Once concrete evidence has been obtained, you can end his life on the spot.”

Hearing this, Su Liang, who had been moaning in pain with his hands rested on his abdomen, stopped his groans. He looked at Su Jin in horror and cursed her.

“You have a vicious heart. My parents will never let you go, you bitch!”

Witnessing the twist and turn of events, Sanye and his lackeys felt their hearts skip a beat as they broke out in a cold sweat. They were the ones who had broken the leg of Su Dalang. As it had turned out now that they had gone after the wrong person, they were worried about the lady’s retaliation.

Since an opportunity to appease the lady appeared, they quickly agreed.

“Don’t worry. You can rest assured that we will get the job done well.”

It was not rare for people to meet their end in a casino. There were plenty of methods to achieve that.

Sensing that they were serious about ending his life, Su Liang’s legs went limp and he knelt on the ground. He cried with a pale face.

“I’m not going! Don’t drag me over! I confess! It was me, I did it. I lied to Su Dalang and made him acknowledge the IOU on my behalf. The gambling debt was incurred by me. I admit all of that. I don’t want to go with them. Please spare my life.”

“Xiao Jin, I am your brother too. Please forgive me. I dare not do this again. I will never gamble again. That’s right! My parents can settle the debt. You need not worry. My parents have the money. They will take care of it. Please let me off.”

Su Jin looked indifferently at the person who was on the ground, begging for mercy in tears with snot leaking from his nose.

That’s right. The money can be paid back, but who will return her brother’s leg?

System#2250 chipped in furiously as it wrung its handkerchief, “Host, leave that scum to die!”

Duh. This imbecile is rotten to the core!