Chapter Six Old Dad

  Hehe, managed to update another chapter just in time! I'll come back and update as soon as I get the chance! On New Year's Eve, I wish everyone a happy new year with abundant wealth and prosperity, haha, it sounds a bit too cliché. Forever fast updates!

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  Qī Xiāng could also tell that Lǎo Diē's actions had been somewhat strange lately. Ever since he scolded her that one time, she hadn't seen him again. Every day, he still left her enough silver, but he never showed up in person. Occasionally, when Lǎo Diē came to visit her, although he concealed it well, his fatigue was still evident to Qī Xiāng's eyes. Since Lǎo Diē didn't want to talk about it, Qī Xiāng didn't ask either.

  She took out a jade snuff bottle from her bundle to give to her father, thinking that he must be living in the adjacent room. The west wing had only two rooms, Tianzi No. 1 and No. 2. She could hear some noise coming from inside the next room, so she pushed open the door and went in. To her surprise, she saw a man and woman whispering behind the mosquito net. Qiuli quickly dodged to the side and barely escaped the couple's pillow attack. Her face red with embarrassment, she retreated back out.

  The originally carefree old man became mysterious after arriving at Shazhou. Since he didn't stay in the neighboring room, perhaps that cunning fellow had arranged for him to go somewhere else. Coincidentally, Xiao Er came to deliver food, and Qi Xie crossed his legs: "I say, you guys claim to be the best inn on Shazhou, don't you think this food has a weird smell? And honestly, where did you hide my dad?" After speaking, Qi Xie deliberately exposed the dagger at his waist. It wasn't that he really wanted to ask the fellow anything, but since his father didn't stay in the neighboring room... his heart felt a pang of sadness. He just showed off like this so that those with power wouldn't dare to give him attitude.

  That fellow was taken aback at first, but soon reacted with a cold snort: "No money and still want to act like a big shot? What's the matter with you? If you two hurry up and settle your accounts for the past few days, I'll serve you good wine and food immediately. If it weren't for our boss being kind-hearted, we would have kicked you out long ago."

  Qī xié zhǐ jué nǎo dài hōng de yī shēng, zǒu zài lù shàng lián jiǎo bù dōu yǒu xiē fā xū, nán guài nà tiān lǎo diē kàn dào zì jǐ mǎi de dà bāo xiǎo bāo huì yǒu nà yàng de biǎo qíng, tāmen míng míng lián gěi kè zhàn de qián yě fù bù qǐ le, nà měi tiān nàxiē fàng zài zhuō shàng de yín èr yòu shì zěn me huì de shì qíng.

  "I'm a poor man from Guizhou, I came to this place with high hopes but ended up falling seriously ill and losing all my money to thieves. Now I have no way to return home. As the saying goes, 'when you're away from home, rely on friends'. I still know some skills, if you think I'm worthy, please give me some money so I can afford to go back to my hometown."

  The island is not big, and there are only a few bustling streets. Originally, she just wanted to come out and clear her mind, but unexpectedly ran into her old father.

  The surrounding crowd erupted in applause, but Qi's eyes had already welled up with tears. The impression of her arrogant and domineering father was hard to reconcile with the humble old man performing for a living in front of her. She was originally small in stature and easily hidden among the crowd, so it wasn't surprising that her father hadn't noticed her. Her father performed with great enthusiasm, seemingly using all his skills, but although the people around him looked happy, not many were willing to part with their money.

  Qī xiàng didn't want to interrupt her father's performance. In fact, she should have expected it earlier. They were originally refugees with little silver on them, but her father spared no effort to make her live comfortably in the best inn and eat the best food, while he himself went out to perform on the street. She couldn't help but think of the scene when she met her father at the kitchen door that day.

  "Who can guarantee that they won't encounter some mysterious trouble when going out? Today it's this hero, tomorrow it might be us. This is a little token of appreciation from me, please accept it." Just then, a young man with a refined appearance threw a silver ingot into Liu Yi's gong, and the crowd followed suit, contributing generously. Liu Yi repeatedly bowed to the crowd, his heart filled with joy that he could finally pay off the rent.

  After the excitement, people dispersed quickly, but if someone stayed a little longer, they would find that the generous young master and the performing hero were now shoulder to shoulder, discussing where to celebrate their victory.

  "I said this hero's kung fu is not bad, acting skills are even more superb, but the lines are a bit rustic." Qiuxi had her father's newly earned ten taels of silver hidden in her sleeve, feeling both sour and sweet in her heart. Her father was already at an old age, it was either she wasn't useful or she didn't understand things, thinking about this also made her nose twitch with sobs.

  The old man's face was smiling brighter than a flower, gently pinching the small nose of Qiying: "Life is too boring, I have to find something to do to pass the time. Ah, now it's hard to find someone to play mahjong with, brothers... Ah, never mind, never mind, let the young lady say where she wants to celebrate, Zhuangyuan Building or Kuiyuan Hall?"

  "The things in this island city are not used to eating, I think it's better to eat the things at home. Although only earned ten taels of silver, Lao Die still gave seven strings as pocket money, sighing in his heart that tomorrow will have to perform the trick of breaking big stones on his chest. As for the accommodation fee, it was not mentioned either."

  "Dad, my acting skills are far better than yours. Why don't we perform together tomorrow?"

  "Alright, alright, I know you well enough, don't I? You must be planning to put on some kind of 'selling one's body to bury one's father' play, and I'm not going to pretend to be a stiff corpse." When they returned to the Rujia Inn, they happened to run into the innkeeper's sedan chair stopping outside the door. Father also respectfully bowed to the sedan chair.

  It was an extremely ordinary sedan chair, and it was hard to imagine that it belonged to the owner of the most luxurious inn on Sha Zhou. However, what was unexpected for Qi Xi was that a woman in red dress would come out from inside, calling out "Father" as she saw Old Man Mo walking forward. Qi Xi also learned from the ladies in the TV shows and slightly bowed her head. Mr. Mo smiled at Old Man Mo and walked back inside.

  "Hmm, so the boss here is a woman, and she's being so attentive to Father. Is she Father's lover? I had thought this when I saw Moon Granny earlier, but this one looks like she's not much older than me. Is Father really a lolicon?"

  After returning to the room, Lao Die was stared at by Qi Xi with a sinister smile, making his back hair stand on end. He excused himself to go to the outhouse and slipped away, quickly arriving at the counter. While pretending to work, he would occasionally glance up at the second floor room. Originally, he wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to settle the debt that was owed, so his daughter wouldn't have to face the partner's scowl all day. Moreover, although Xiao Mo was taking care of things, it wasn't good to make her do something difficult.

  But the shop assistant said that the bill had already been settled. When he returned to his room, he found that today's shop assistant was unusually diligent, which made him a bit uneasy. Who exactly paid for this bill? Qiuxi always knew how to splurge when she had money... and there weren't many familiar faces in Shazhou anymore.

  "Dad, is it okay if you sleep here today? I'm afraid of the dark." The old man was taken aback. This child had the guts to commit murder and arson, how could she still be afraid of the dark? He didn't know what kind of trick she was playing, but when Qī Xiǎo suggested that the old man sleep on the bed while she slept on the floor, the old man's doubts grew even stronger. This child had really changed from before, or else she must have some ulterior motive for herself.

  The old man agreed, and at night, Qiuxi also snuggled into bed with a happy heart. Although the floor was a bit hard, she didn't have much to offer her father, so she went to sleep, thinking that there were big things to do tomorrow. The old man pretended to be asleep, waiting to see what "scheme" his daughter would come up with. Since childhood, this child had loved playing pranks, and if he was tormented by her tonight, how could he go out to perform and earn money tomorrow?

  Unfortunately, until midnight, except for the sound of that girl's snoring, nothing else was achieved. The old father shook his head and scolded himself for being overly anxious, picked up Qiuli lightly and put her on the bed, and he himself slept on the floor again. Looking at the bright stars outside the window, the old father comforted himself with a smile: "Ning'er, our daughter has grown up and is sensible now, don't worry, I won't let her suffer."

  That night, Qiying seemed to have seen a woman who looked like herself in her dream. She must be her mother whom she had never met. Mother, don't worry, I will take good care of Father.