The Reunion That Wasn't

“When I still had that immortal treasure of mine, the money just grew legs and walked right into my purse! I wouldn’t even blink at these petty coppers!” Lü Xiucai sneered, trying to look disdainfully at the shop assistant who had just kicked him out.

“Sorry, sir, but no matter what you say, we don’t serve on credit here.” The shop assistant sullenly finished, slung his white towel over his shoulder, and turned back into the main hall.

“Hey!” Lü Xiucai started to say something more, but the woman beside him stopped him. It was Tao’er, the wife he had bought with silver.

She untied the bundle on her back and pulled out two vegetable pancakes, holding them out to him.

“I don’t want them! You eat them! I, Lü Xiucai, am a proper man—do I look like I need to eat a woman’s leftovers?” He pushed the pancakes back.

He had wanted to go back to Niuxin Village to find Li Huowang, but he had no travel money. The distance wasn’t far, but he spent everything he earned the same day, never saving a cent.

He’d tried to find some of his old drinking buddies to tide him over, but the bastards had all turned their backs on him.

“So proud, huh? If you’re that proud, how come Lü Xiucai can’t even afford a meal?”

At the mocking voice behind him, rage flashed across Lü Xiucai’s face. He rolled up his sleeves and spun around, only to see Chun Xiaoman and Bai Lingmiao on a horse-cart.

“Oh! What a coincidence! It’s you guys! You’re going back to Niuxin Village? I’ll drive!” Lü Xiucai moved to climb onto the cart, only to be kicked back down.

“Did I ask you to get on my cart?” Bai Lingmiao looked down at him from beside the window.

Lü Xiucai staggered to his feet with Tao’er’s help and stared at the white-haired woman in confusion.

The feeling she gave him was suddenly very different from before. If the old Bai Lingmiao had been gentle and quiet, this one was arrogant and overbearing.

“Miss Bai, what’s gotten into her?” Lü Xiucai asked Chun Xiaoman, who was holding the reins.

Chun Xiaoman let out a soft sigh. “What else could it be? She’s just like you now.”

“Oh? She held Master’s sword too?!” Lü Xiucai’s round eyes went wide with shock.

“Xiaoman, stop chatting. Let’s go.” Bai Lingmiao ignored Lü Xiucai and pulled the curtain shut.

“Hey! Don’t go! Give us a ride! Are you going back to Niuxin Mountain? We’re headed the same way! Hey! Has Master gone back to Niuxin Mountain yet?” Lü Xiucai hurried after them, slapping the side of the wooden cart, but there was no response.

He followed them the whole way until the cart finally stopped in front of an inn. After having a shop assistant lead the cart into the back courtyard, Bai Lingmiao ignored Lü Xiucai and pulled Chun Xiaoman toward the main hall.

When Lü Xiucai and Tao’er sat down at the same octagonal table as them, Bai Lingmiao shot him a cold glare. “Did I say you could sit?”

“Hey! Miss Bai, don’t be so cold. We’re practically—” Lü Xiucai tried to cozy up.

“What relationship do we have? Are you a fellow disciple who escaped with me, or are you a member of my Bai family?”

A surge of anger welled up in Lü Xiucai’s chest. This woman used to be so nice; why had her personality become so insufferable? “Fine! It’s just one meal! It’s not like I’ll starve to death by skipping one!”

He grabbed Tao’er and moved to an empty table nearby.

Sensing the tension, Chun Xiaoman opened her mouth to say something but felt Bai Lingmiao kick her shoe. She fell silent.

Soon, four dishes and a soup arrived. Listening to the chewing and slurping at the next table, Lü Xiucai couldn’t help but swallow.

“Oh, right.”

Hearing Bai Lingmiao speak to him, Lü Xiucai pretended not to care and looked away.

“Don’t bother following us. Go beg somewhere else. Niuxin Village belongs to my Bai family. I decide who gets to live there, and as for you… just looking at you makes me sick.”

“What?!” Lü Xiucai jumped up. “You can’t do that! The Lü family troupe is staying there too!”

“Just because they’re staying there doesn’t mean it’s their home. If you dare to follow, I’ll kick the whole Lü troupe out too.”

Lü Xiucai tried to say something more, but faced with the sinister Second Spirit that suddenly appeared behind Bai Lingmiao, he couldn’t get a single word out.

He slammed the table hard, his eyes red, and dragged Tao’er with him as he stormed toward the door.

Watching his retreating figure, Chun Xiaoman said, “Miaomiao, wasn’t that a bit much? He is Troupe Leader Lü’s son after all.”

“I didn’t hit him or yell at him. How was it too much? Did you see how that brat treated his own father? Why should I help a scumbag who abandons his own family? Besides, was that how he was supposed to ask for help just now?” Bai Lingmiao finished speaking, picked up her fourth bowl of rice, and kept eating.

Having finally found a county town, Bai Lingmiao wasn’t in a hurry to leave. She planned to get a good night’s sleep at the inn before hitting the road again.

In the bustling market, Lü Xiucai grumbled resentfully, occasionally cursing under his breath through clenched teeth.

But no matter how fiercely he cursed, it didn’t stop the growling in his stomach. He glanced at the woman walking quietly and obediently behind him, then dragged her along to keep looking for food in the county.

But without money, where could they find food? By the time the sun went down, all they had was a belly full of water.

“Hey there, mate! Come here! Short on cash, are we?” A man in a dark alley beckoned to Lü Xiucai.

Lü Xiucai walked over in surprise. “What is it?”

The man opened his hand, revealing a few pieces of silver. Just as Lü Xiucai’s eyes lit up, the man with the two wisps of mustache quickly pulled them back.

Seeing Lü Xiucai’s eager expression, the man nodded toward Tao’er. “Three taels of silver. How about leasing your wife out as a concubine for a year?”

“Lease a concubine?”

“What, you don’t get it? I mean borrowing your wife’s belly to birth a son. Once the kid’s born, I’ll send her back to you in one piece.”

“Son of a bitch!” With a bang, Lü Xiucai’s fist smashed into the man’s face. Of course, the man fought back, and the two of them were soon tangled in a brawl.

Lü Xiucai was shorter and smaller, so he naturally got the worst of it.

When Tao’er rushed over to break it up, the man slapped her away. Seeing this, Lü Xiucai’s eyes went bloodshot.

“Son of a bitch! I’ll kill you!” Lü Xiucai pulled a small dagger from his chest, finally making the man stop his assault.

The man looked at Lü Xiucai’s murderous glare, snorted coldly with a hint of guilt, and turned away.

Once he relaxed, Lü Xiucai felt the pain all over his body. He swished his tongue around in his mouth and spat. Two back molars hit the ground, stained with blood. “Fuck! Why am I so goddamn unlucky!”