Chapter 456 - 388: I Don’t Have Money, Don’t You?
"AH! AHH!"
Bloodcurdling screams echoed from the Li’s House.
Zhao Jun hurriedly led Li Xiaoqiao out of the house. A gruesome scene like that, a real flesh-and-blood beating, was no sight for a young girl.
As Zhao Jun pulled her out the door, the little girl kept looking back over her shoulder every few steps.
Seeing this, Zhao Jun quickly leaned down and tried to distract her. "Qiao’Er," he asked, changing the subject, "what did you have for breakfast this morning?"
Li Xiaoqiao looked up at Zhao Jun and replied, "Brother, I haven’t eaten yet."
"Oh my, why not?"
Li Xiaoqiao pouted. "My big brother just heated up some dry buns. I couldn’t eat them."
The dry buns Li Xiaoqiao mentioned were probably mantou, and definitely leftovers. Zhao Jun guessed Li Baoyu hadn’t even bothered to heat them up properly, just served them cold with some pickled vegetables and hot water.
With Li Dayong and Jin Xiaomei not home, Li Baoyu had just thrown a meal together, not bothering to cook any dishes or make porridge. First thing in the morning, trying to choke down a plain bun—of course the little girl couldn’t swallow it.
"Come on, let’s go to my house. I’ll have my mom make you something to eat." Zhao Jun led Li Xiaoqiao out of the Li Family’s Gate and into his own family’s courtyard.
Just as Zhao Jun and Li Xiaoqiao reached his front door, it opened, and Zhao Youcai stepped out.
"Uncle!" Li Xiaoqiao called out to Zhao Youcai.
"Hey, sweetie," Zhao Youcai replied, then looked at Zhao Jun.
Zhao Jun quickly explained, "My uncle and aunt left early this morning. They didn’t make breakfast, and Baoyu didn’t either."
"Ah!" Hearing this, Zhao Youcai quickly reached out to Li Xiaoqiao. "Sweetie, come on inside." As he spoke, he took Li Xiaoqiao by the hand, pulled the door open, and shouted, "Meilan, come quick! See what we have and make something for the child."
Hearing Wang Meilan answer from the inner room, Zhao Youcai gestured for Li Xiaoqiao to go inside.
Then, Zhao Youcai closed the door and turned back to ask Zhao Jun, "What about those two boys? If they haven’t eaten, they should come over too."
Zhao Jun chuckled. "They’re a little busy. They can’t make it."
"Why’s that?"
"Baoyu’s at home, teaching Ruhai a lesson."
"What’s he doing that for?" Zhao Youcai frowned and said to Zhao Jun, "Why didn’t you stop him?"
"Stop him? Why would I?" Zhao Jun said, annoyed. "You know what a big mouth Ruhai has. If he doesn’t get taught a lesson now, is he ever going to learn?"
In the past, whenever Zhao Jun saw Li Baoyu about to hit Li Ruhai, he would always intervene. But this time, Zhao Jun didn’t.
Because that kid was asking for a beating.
The Li Family was thinking about proposing a marriage alliance with the Liu Family. It was just an idea, and they hadn’t even formally spoken to Liu Tiezui about it yet. But Li Ruhai had already blabbed it all over the village. What kind of mess was that? What would the Liu Family think now?
It was supposed to be a good thing, and it would be a real shame if Li Ruhai’s big mouth ruined it.
That’s why Zhao Jun didn’t stop Li Baoyu today. In fact, he even snatched the stick out of his hand.
It wasn’t because he felt sorry for Li Ruhai. It was because it’s hard to control your strength with a stick. If Li Baoyu used a stick on his own brother, he might hold back. But if he used his palms, he wouldn’t have to worry. He could just let him have it.
After Zhao Jun finished, he saw that Zhao Youcai was silent, so he quickly added, "Dad, don’t you get involved in this, okay? Let Baoyu teach him a good lesson. We just talked about this yesterday, and by this morning, the whole village knows. Can you believe how fast that kid’s mouth runs?"
Hearing this, Zhao Youcai couldn’t help but nod. A flicker of fear went through him, too. If Zhao Jun and Li Baoyu hadn’t caught on in time that other morning, Li Ruhai would have blabbed about him and Li Dayong hiding their private stashes of money.
"Beat him! He needs a beating!" Zhao Youcai muttered through clenched teeth. Clasping his hands behind his back, he started to walk off.
Zhao Jun called after him, "Dad, heading to work?"
It was just a polite pleasantry, something to fill the silence.
But the moment the words left Zhao Jun’s mouth, Zhao Youcai turned back to look at him.
"What is it, Dad?" Zhao Jun felt a sense of foreboding and instantly regretted saying anything.
"Son!" Zhao Youcai grinned at Zhao Jun, which only made him feel worse. But since he was already in for it, he could only force a smile and ask, "Dad, is something on your mind?"
Zhao Youcai’s eyes darted around. He said to Zhao Jun, "Yesterday, that Director of Security from Yongxing called you. What did you tell him?"
"I turned him down, didn’t I?" Zhao Jun said cautiously. "We have important business tomorrow. How could we possibly go over there?"
As Zhao Jun said this, he deliberately emphasized the words "important business."
But he had barely finished speaking when Zhao Youcai pressed, "Then we can go after we’re done with our business tomorrow."
"What was that?" Zhao Jun froze, staring at Zhao Youcai in disbelief. His father was just looking back at him with a broad grin.
Zhao Jun asked tentatively, "Dad, when you said ’we’ just now... were you saying you want to go?"
"Yeah!" Zhao Youcai nodded, pointing first at Zhao Jun and then at himself. "Brothers fight side-by-side, and a father and son go to battle together. With our skills, if the two of us go to Yongxing to hunt that Wild Leopard... well, in the words of Big Pants, it’d be a sure thing."
Hearing this, Zhao Jun’s face soured. He muttered, "I might have had a little confidence if you hadn’t used his name."
"What did you say?" Zhao Youcai didn’t hear clearly and thought Zhao Jun was complaining about him. But since he was asking for a favor, he couldn’t be bothered to argue. He looked at Zhao Jun expectantly and pressed, "So, can we do it or not?"
Zhao Jun’s eyebrows furrowed with worry, but seeing his old man staring at him so eagerly, he had no choice but to say, "Dad, their brigade has a Hunter Team of about a hundred men, all with semi-automatic rifles. They’ve searched the mountains and haven’t caught that leopard. What makes you think the two of us can? Do we have three heads and six arms?"
"You kids don’t understand anything, do you?" Zhao Youcai pointed at Zhao Jun, then turned his head away with a look of bitter disappointment, as if scolding a child who wouldn’t live up to his potential. "Hunting that leopard isn’t about numbers. You need a strategy. Without one, you could have a thousand men and it’d still be useless!"
"So what’s your strategy, Dad?" Zhao Jun’s brow was tightly knit. ’If you had a strategy,’ he thought, ’wouldn’t you have caught that leopard ages ago?’
"Use a goat as bait!" Zhao Youcai threw his hands out and said to Zhao Jun with conviction, "Didn’t they say the leopard goes after goats every day? So, we’ll use a goat to lure it out."
"Huh?" Zhao Jun was shocked. He pointed toward the storeroom and said, "Dad, don’t you even think about our three goats. If you take them to use as leopard bait, you might as well not come home at all."
Zhao Youcai froze for a second, but he knew Zhao Jun was right. "Fine, we won’t use our goats. I’ll go out and buy one. How about that?"
"Ha!" Zhao Youcai’s words made Zhao Jun laugh. He looked at his father and asked, "Dad, you’re going to buy a goat just to lose it? How much have you already lost?"
Then, Zhao Jun seized the opportunity to dig for information. "Besides," he asked, "do you even have money? To buy a goat?"
"Who are you looking down on... Ah, well, I’m out of money." Zhao Youcai stopped mid-sentence, realizing his mistake. He clutched his pocket and said humbly, "I’ve only got a couple of coins in my pocket, and you’re the one who gave them to me."
But then, Zhao Youcai’s eyes lit up again. He looked at Zhao Jun and said confidently, "It’s just one goat, right? I don’t have money, but you do, don’t you?"
"I... I have money... Even if I have money... I’m not doing that." Zhao Jun remembered talking to Zhang Yuanmin. Using a goat to bait a leopard was something only a fool would do, but he definitely couldn’t say that to his father’s face.
"Fine, don’t do it then!" Zhao Youcai waved his hand in frustration. "We’re going there to solve a problem for their brigade. Won’t they provide the goat?"
Zhao Jun sighed inwardly. ’My old man has really lost his mind,’ he thought. He shook his head and said, "Alright, Dad, if you really want to go, go talk to Mom about it. If she agrees, I’ll call that Uncle Tao and arrange it for you."
"Are you stupid, kid?" Zhao Jun never expected that his calm suggestion would make Zhao Youcai fly into a rage. His father glared and yelled, "If I could talk to your mother about it, would I even need you?"
With that, Zhao Youcai kicked Zhao Jun in the shin, spun around, and stalked off with his hands behind his back, muttering and cursing as he went, "Useless Little Calf..."
"What kind of person is he!" Watching Zhao Youcai’s retreating figure, Zhao Jun didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.