Chapter 4

Li Yuechan looked at Wang Daming’s expression and couldn’t help but laugh, saying, “What’s wrong? Are you scared I might die?”

Wang Daming took a step back, “No, no, no, we really didn’t mean to, and look, you’re fine now, aren’t you?”

Li Yuechan untied the scarf from her head and pointed at her wound, “Look, this is all your doing. If I really died, you’d be in big trouble. How could you still stand here so steadily?”

Wang Daming swallowed hard as he looked at the blood-soaked gauze, “Then… then why are you here looking for me?”

Li Yuechan crossed her arms, “Why? I can’t let you hit me with a brick for free; you have to pay up!”

“What?”

“I’m telling you, there were six people passing by that day who can vouch for me. You guys are guilty of attempted murder, do you understand? Luckily, I’m tough and survived. If I had really died, you would have to be buried with me, along with some peanuts!”

Wang Daming was so scared that his legs trembled. He was just a punk who bullied kids and got into fights; he had never killed anyone, and he just happened to be involved yesterday.

He stammered, “But… but that brick wasn’t thrown by me!”

“Don’t give me that! You three are in cahoots. You teamed up to harm me, so you’re an accomplice! Even if you can’t get any peanuts, you at least deserve to be sent to a labor camp in the northwest for 20 years!”

“No, no, no… it can’t be that serious, right?”

Li Yuechan’s face turned serious, “Stop wasting time, hurry up and pay me!”

“How much do you want?”

“What do you think your life is worth? If you pay me, we can consider this matter settled. Otherwise, I’ll go to the police station and report you. Think carefully about it.”

“Then I… I’ll go home and discuss it with my family. Can you wait a moment?”

Li Yuechan tilted her head back, “I’ll give you five minutes!”

Saying that, she raised her wrist to check the time.

Wang Daming looked at the girl’s watch, and a flash of greed crossed his eyes.

Li Yuechan raised an eyebrow; she could see through the man’s expression. She smiled and rubbed her hands together.

About five minutes later, Wang Daming indeed came out, trembling as he handed over a stack of bills to Li Yuechan.

Li Yuechan took it and counted: eighty-two cents.

She straightened her face and said angrily, “Your life is worth eighty-two cents? Let me tell you, if you don’t come up with a hundred bucks today, this matter won’t be settled!”

Wang Daming’s eyes widened in shock, “What? A hundred? You must be joking!”

Li Yuechan chuckled, “If you don’t have it, should I go find your mom? If that doesn’t work, I’ll find your dad. Isn’t he working at the steel factory? I’ll just hang out at the factory gate every day. I don’t believe that if your son committed murder, he wouldn’t be willing to fork out a hundred bucks!”

Wang Daming, hearing this, quickly forced a smile, “No, no, no, it’s not that serious, haha, just wait a moment.”

Before long, loud arguing could be heard from inside, along with the sound of something breaking.

Li Yuechan looked up at the sky and shook her head helplessly, “With such a kid, they should just drown him in the potty!”

She wasn’t in a hurry at all, and she and Mao Duo squatted at the door, playing with crickets, waiting for the arguing inside to gradually subside.

After a while, Wang Daming finally pushed open the door to his house.

Li Yuechan took a handful of small bills, counting them like a chicken pecking at rice, then nodded, smiling broadly, “Alright, let’s call it even this time! But remember, there will be a next time, so be careful!”

Wang Daming watched the girl leave and quickly shouted, “You took a hundred bucks from me, you have to give me a receipt!”

Li Yuechan rolled her eyes at him, “Hmph, at least you have some brains!”

However, she was already prepared, pulling out a pen and paper, quickly writing a receipt and handing it to Wang Daming.

Wang Daming took the receipt and watched the girl’s departing figure, narrowing his eyes, then closed the door.

Li Yuechan then went to the second house, which belonged to a guy named Guang Ge, who was said to be the boss of that alley.

But Li Yuechan was no fool; she pulled out the medical diagnosis certificate from the doctor and, after some extortion and threats, finally managed to get back 200 bucks.

Looking at the 300 bucks in her pocket, she smirked, thinking this was just an appetizer; they owed her a life.

Next, she headed to the third house.

According to Mao Duo, the conditions there weren’t great; the dad was a temporary worker, and the mom was just making matches at home.

The eldest son of that family had three younger siblings.

As they walked, Li Yuechan noticed that this area was clearly much more rundown than the previous big courtyard they visited.

Mao Duo shook his head, “This Zhang Jinbu is quite slippery; he should have gone to the countryside a long time ago, but he fell and broke his arm, so he didn’t go.

Later, when his arm healed, the street office came to their house for work, but Uncle Wang, who was checking the toilets, got hit by a bicycle, so they made him fill in for a month, and he still didn’t go.”

Li Yuechan blinked; this guy was really unlucky!

The two arrived at Zhang Jinbu’s doorstep and found the door locked.

Mao Duo said, “Yuechan, I know a place Zhang Jinbu likes to go. I’ll take you there.”

Then Mao Duo led Li Yuechan left and right until they reached a secluded alley.

Mao Duo pointed, “Yuechan, I’ve seen Zhang Jinbu go in there several times, but there are people guarding the entrance, so I didn’t dare to go in. We can just wait here.”

Li Yuechan blinked; this place looked very familiar. Wasn’t this the black market mentioned in the book?

Haha, this really is a case of getting something for nothing!

She looked at Mao Duo appreciatively; this kid was really clever.