CH 6

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 him being mentioned frequently, and the “nickname” doesn’t really translate well into english. Hope this would make it much more readable.

Su Jin stretched out her hands and pushed open the familiar, but somewhat unfamiliar wooden door. All eyes in the yard turned to the new entrant.

Even old lady Qin, who had been crying with her hands hugging her head, was stunned. She let out a gasp of surprise and rushed to Su Jin.

Her fists continuously pounded on Su Jin without much strength as her voice shifted from joy to resentment.

“Xiao Jin1TL note: ‘小’ or Xiao is usually used as pet name to address people who are younger than you. In this case, Su Jin ‘苏锦’ –> Xiao Jin ‘小锦’, Mom’s Xiao Jin is back. You wretched little girl, where had you been? Could you even imagine the difficult time your mother had been through to search for you? How could you be so cruel? I’ll beat the hell out of you. I’ll beat…”

Her lamenting lasted until her voice choked, and she then hugged Su Jin while crying bitterly, relieving the heartache and pain that had accumulated.

She tightly embraced Su Jin, afraid that if she relaxed her grip, she would never see Su Jin again.

“Ooh, is that your daughter? With that appearance… you don’t have to pay the debt anymore. Just hand her over to us and all your debts will be cleared.”

Sanye narrowed his eyes and scanned the lady who had just appeared. The more he looked at her, the more satisfied he was.

“In your dreams, Ptooey!2Spitting sound effect”

Qin Shi scoffed at the man’s proposal.

The same Qin Shi, who was previously terrified to tears by the imposing presence of these brutes, had now behaved as though the roots of her existence had been threatened. She stared fiercely at the man who had just spoken, as if ready to pounce on him and fight back desperately.

Sanye wiped his face. His eyes were full of anger. He raised his hand to deal with the woman who forgot her fear of them.

Su Jin had intended to have a peaceful chat with the man who claimed to be here to collect a debt. After all, the creditor had the legitimate rights to claim back the money owed to him. She wanted to listen to the whole story. But before Su Jin had a chance to do so, the man had started to use physical violence.

Su Jin gave a deep sigh.

“It seems that the guy prefers to converse while lying down3TL note – There is a wordplay here that could not be translated in full. It contains a bit of sexual innuendo, In the raw, it was written as 躺着说话 – which could be interpreted as conversing in the bed…”

Since it was pointless to have a conversation in this situation, she leapt towards the man and threw a kick. Picking up a wooden club lying on the floor, she then continued and gave the remaining brutes a good beating.

Within a short time, the yard was once again surrounded by wailing.  The only difference was, the uninvited brutes were the ones crying now.

The members of the Su family were dumbfounded at the scene in front of them, as they prayed to the skies. This… wasn’t a dream right? When did Su Jin grow into a formidable fighter?

Even the three-year-old girl had stopped crying. She wiped away her tears and giggled as she clapped her hands.

Big bullies. Beat…. them up!

System#2250: “…” (…This one’s Host seems to have a high combat capability. She has no history of domestic violence… right?)

Looking at the group of men lying on the ground groaning endlessly in pain, Su Jin kicked the man who claimed to be Sanye again. She arched her eyebrows and ordered, “Hey, you. Explain what happened. Start all the way from the beginning.”

“Oh Great-Aunt4TL note: Another slang to show respect to the other party. Chinese language tend to enjoy using terms of family elder to elevate the position/status/regard for the other party. In this case, 姑奶奶 – Grand aunt., please spare me. I’m just a mere debt collector.” Sanye said in fear as he looked at the lady in front of him. When he recalled his previous proposal, in which he had suggested to forcefully obtain custody of this terrifying lady, he cursed at the guts of his former self.

“Cut the crap. Show me the debt contract in black and white. Who borrowed the money, when, where, why and how. Spit every single bit of information out clearly. Otherwise, you guys can forget about leaving this place in one piece today!”

When they heard the threat, the debt collector and his lackeys trembled with fear and scrambled towards her with the papers in their hands.

“Lad5TL note: The word ‘Lady’ which had not been completed. To imitate them stuttering when they elevated the regards/respect they paid when addressing the female protagonist… Great-Aunt, here! This document contains the handprint of Su Dalang. This is 100% authentic. There is no way we could fabricate this.”

Noticing that Su Jin had lowered her head in thoughts, Sanye seized the opportunity to rationalize their actions to her.

“We did break his leg, but there was a justifiable reason for it. We beg for Great-Aunt’s…”

Before Sanye could finish his words, Su Jin’s head jolted back up with obvious shock in her eyes. She grabbed him by the collar and gritted her teeth.

“His leg… You broke it?”

As these words left her mouth, she flung the man to the ground, and ran towards Su Dalang’s room.

Qin Shi, who had been beside Su Jin, woke up from her state of confusion and hurried after Su Jin. The rest of the Su Family followed closely behind.

When the door opened, the pungent smell of medicine began to drift out from the dimly lit room. She could only vaguely see a protruding outline of someone lying on the bed.

Su Jin called out in a soft voice, “Big brother…”

The silhouette on the bed trembled slightly and a broken and hoarse voice came from it, “Is… is that Xiao Jin? You are home… Good that you have returned… Glad to have you home. Our mother missed you so much.” (…Big brother too)

Su Jin came nearer and saw the thin figure lying in bed. He had a pair of depressed eyes, reflecting the vicissitudes of his life. His calf was twisted at a weird angle, being wrapped with a simple bandage, which probably barely had any effect. Her heart sank involuntarily at the sight of such a tragic scene.

From the memory of the body, Su Jin’s brother had always showered her in tender love and gentle care. Instead of mere lip service, he silently expressed his familial love for his sister with practical actions in his clumsy way.

Seeing his miserable appearance, Su Jin stifled up.

After a long breath, she looked at Su Dalang and asked in a determined tone, “Big brother, please confirm with me. Those debts that they claimed, were you the one who borrowed them? I will trust your words!”

Su Dalang murmured with trembling lips, “No, I have never done such things. I have never gambled. Brother has never owed any gambling debts!”

Looking at her brother who became agitated, Su Jin calmed him down.

“Yes, I believe my brother is not a person who gambles. I have faith in you!”

Touched by those words, her sister-in-law affirmed.

“That’s right, Xiao Jin. You must believe in your elder brother. No one knows his personality better than us. There is no way he would borrow money to gamble.”

Lu Shi held Su Jin’s hand tightly, as though she was grasping on to the last straw of their life. Her whole body was shaking.

Qin Shi wiped her tears, and followed suit.

“That’s right. Your elder brother would never ever do such a thing. But that handprint definitely does belong to him. Jin-er6TL note: ‘name plus -er’ A more intimate form of pet name, usually used by parents or grandparents to address a child, or a lover to address their significant other., Mum does not know what you had gone through while you were outside, but Mom understands that you are now different from the past. Please save your elder brother. He… your brother…” (…might have lost his will to live.)

“Mother, sister-in-law, please rest assured that I will take care of this matter. Stay here until I come back.”

Despite being told to stay put, Qin Shi could not bear to let her daughter face the group of men alone. Even though Su Jin had become stronger now, she couldn’t stop worrying as her mother.

She ran after Su Jin.

Su Jin shook her head and said nothing, but she felt a little envious of the original owner of the body. Even though she had a mother who loved her deeply, she didn’t cherish her mother and ran away from home to find her biological parents. She must have suffered some kind of brain damage.

The group of men outside had recovered well enough to support each other up from the ground, but no one had left the place. Although they had no intention of staying, Sanye prevented them from leaving.

As an experienced veteran in this line of work, he had developed a pair of keen eyes to judge others. While the lady from the Su family had extraordinary abilities, she was rational and could be reasoned with.

If they ran away in the midst of confusion without finishing the conversation, he had a feeling that Su Jin would not let them off easily in their next encounter. He had to seize the opportunity now to clear things up. In the worst case scenario, it would only end up with them experiencing some pain and bruises.

Su Jin paid no care to the thoughts of the men. She was in a terrible mood, as if a wild fire was raging in her heart.

Staring at the men coldly, she asked, “Have you ever witnessed Su Dalang enter the casino and place a bet? If my brother did it, I will agree to pay the debt. But if he had not, then I definitely will not let the matter rest!”

Sanye elbowed the person next to him, nudging him to answer. After all, a man of his position would not pay attention to those insignificant details. He only got involved when they had come to visit the house and demand for repayment of the debt.

“Great-Aunt, although I have not seen Su Dalang openly enter the casino since his face was masked, we do recognize him from behind.”

From the back? They assumed a person’s identity with only his body figure and size of his back?

Noticing that Su Jin’s brows had turned into a deep frown, he quickly added, “Besides, the debtor on the IOU is clearly recorded with Su Dalang’s name and his handprint acknowledgement…”

From what it seems, her eldest brother must have been deceived and became a scapegoat.