Carefree Farmwife: Training the Husband, Raising the Bun - Chapter 95

The dice cup in Ying Su’s hand shook even more violently, so fast that its shadow was nearly invisible, only the clattering sound of dice hitting the cup could be heard. 

Just as everyone’s attention was caught up in the blur of movement, Ying Su suddenly slammed the cup down hard onto the table.

Wang Ba scratched his bald head, full of doubt. Isn’t little Shen the one who can drop dice without sound? Why is there noise this time? If he hadn’t misheard, she had just rolled a “towering pillar”? But something felt off…

Bai Wu’s lips moved slightly behind Bai Chuyu, and Bai Chuyu’s ear twitched. Then he smiled warmly. “So, Miss Shen is a skilled hand as well?”

Ying Su tugged at her lips, clearly impatient. “Shall we open them already? Second Young Master Bai, don’t forget your word, this round, whoever’s points are lower gets to be the main partner!”

Bai Chuyu dipped his chin slightly. “Naturally.”

Wang Ba hurriedly interjected, “Then I’ll count to three. Second Young Master Bai, Sister, open together! One, two, three!”

As he counted, Ying Su lazily flicked her finger, lifting her cup. At the same moment, Bai Chuyu lifted his. As expected, his dice showed the same as before, a towering pillar, a single point. Only this time, Ying Su’s result was even smaller.

Wang Ba cried out in shock, “Sister, you—!”

Ying Su snapped her fingers, a faint smile on her lips, casual and careless. “Second Young Master Bai, a promise is a promise!”

She blew gently at the tiny pile of white powder on the table, a mischievous, almost provocative smile spreading across her face.

Bai Chuyu’s expression remained calm and gentle, though hidden within his sleeve, his hand twitched slightly. He clapped his hands together and laughed. “Interesting! Very interesting!”

No surprise that Bai Chuyu rolled another towering pillar. The real shock was Ying Su.

The dice had crumbled to powder, meaning she had no points at all.

“Interesting.” Bai Chuyu’s smile deepened, though his warm black eyes gave away nothing. “Miss Shen never fails to surprise. I concede this round.”

Seeing him admit defeat so readily, Ying Su smiled. “Men die for wealth, birds for food. I just can’t help myself when it comes to silver. Second Young Master Bai, I hope you don’t take offense!”

Wang Ba, meanwhile, still hadn’t recovered from the shock of watching dice shaken into powder. Staring at the empty remains, he suddenly felt all his years of gambling had been in vain. Who the hell shakes dice like this? This is too damn brilliant!

After discussing more details of the partnership, Bai Chuyu departed. He said he would be staying in Fengyang County for some time, and that the rest could be discussed another day.

Once Bai Chuyu left, Wang Ba grabbed Ying Su’s arm, his expression no longer merely ingratiating, it was more like a hungry wolf spotting meat, his eyes practically glowing.

“Sister, how did you train that trick? Who’s your master?”

Ying Su brushed at her sleeve, smiling. “Just a minor skill. I’ve no master. If Brother Wang Ba wants to learn, I’ll teach you.”

Wang Ba was overjoyed beyond words. After all, such tricks in gambling houses were never revealed, yet with just these two skills, he could win across the land. Ying Su, however, downplayed it and even generously promised to teach him, holding nothing back. That made Wang Ba feel she truly treated him as one of her own.

What had begun as merely taking her in to spite Liu Huang was now turning genuine. He secretly resolved to treat Ying Su better from here on.

Ying Su taught Wang Ba both the silent dice-drop technique and the dice-to-powder trick. Because of his years steeped in gambling, Wang Ba quickly grasped the knack of dropping dice silently. Though he couldn’t succeed every time, he managed it three or four times out of ten.

But as for shaking dice into powder, he couldn’t grasp it at all.

“Sister, why hide such gambling skills? If you wished, no one in the world could beat you!” Wang Ba asked in bafflement.

Ying Su only curved her lips. “A person must have principles, some things are done, others are not. It’s not that I can’t, it’s that I won’t.”

Her words left Wang Ba dizzy, but suddenly he remembered something. He turned to a subordinate. “Go, bring that brat Ma San here!”

The man rushed out, returning shortly with a tall, thin fellow of about thirty.

Wang Ba grinned at Ying Su. “Little sister, didn’t you ask last time whether Lu Da and the others saw anyone when they smashed your shop?”

A smile tugged at her lips. “So you really found something?”

“Heh, sure did. Tell her!” Wang Ba urged.

Ma San bobbed his head. “That day when we went to smash the shop, we ran into that street rat Li Ergou. On our way out, we ran into him again. I even asked him if his leg had healed, and when we left, we gave him a kick. That Li Ergou’s just a cowardly vagrant, bullies the weak, fears the strong. He wouldn’t dare set a fire.”

Ying Su’s dark eyes flickered. So, an old acquaintance? A playful smile touched her lips. “This Li Ergou, he’s from Dongjun Village, isn’t he?”

Ma San nodded. “Yes, funny enough, same village as you.”

Ying Su nodded without further comment. Last time, Li Ergou had smashed her house, and she hadn’t yet dealt with him. Now he dared jump out again? Did he really think she was an easy target?

The moon hung bright in the sparse sky, its silver light filtering through tree branches, scattering mottled shadows on the window lattice. In Sky Room No.1, Bai Chuyu still wore the same white brocade robes as in the day.

A shadow flickered and another person appeared in the room, kneeling respectfully behind him.

Bai Chuyu did not move, only lifted his hand slightly. The shadow rose, it was Bai Wu, who had stood behind him earlier that day.

“The young mistress has been safely escorted back to Jiangnan,” Bai Wu reported.

Bai Chuyu gave a slight nod. The warmth in his black eyes was gone entirely. Smoothing an almost imperceptible wrinkle in his sleeve, his clear voice carried a natural cold detachment. “And the man we sent, did he uncover her origins?”

Nearly swallowed by the darkness, Bai Wu replied, “Yes. We discovered Miss Shen’s background. She was born in Xiling Village, at the foot of Mount Xiling. Her grandfather was the village head, a licentiate scholar.”

“Her father is the second son of the family, literate; her mother is an ordinary village woman, illiterate. Five years ago, Miss Shen was deceived by a fellow villager, a scholar named Liu An, who lured her out and sold her into the Peony Courtyard of Fengyang City.”

“Refusing to entertain clients, she twice attempted suicide. After being forced to accept customers, she again tried to end her life. The madam then sold her to a broker, who in turn sold her to the Li family in Dongjun Village to ward off ill fortune. What happened after that matches what we discovered before, without discrepancy.”