“You’ve got the wrong person.” Fei Xia shook off his hand and walked straight into the establishment.
Mo Zi thought to herself—wasn’t this pure nonsense? Mistaking one person was possible, but mistaking all three? Completely implausible. The man was in his forties, with a full black beard, a large nose with a fleshy mole on it. Though spring had arrived with lingering cold, he wore only a coarse hemp cloth shirt with rolled-up sleeves, revealing a whale-shaped tattoo on his forearm.
After Fei Xia shook off his hand, his gaze filled with disbelief as he called out to Si Er.
Shui She ignored him entirely, following close behind his eldest brother.
Only Chou Yu, lips pressed tight, his usual cheerful expression completely swept away, looked so coldly intimidating it sent chills down one’s spine. He stared at the other man for quite a while, then his mouth twisted in disdain.
“Brother Yu San, you…” The man’s face had changed from initial delight to embarrassment.
“Who’s your brother?” Chou Yu snorted, shoving him aside and striding after his two brothers.
After everyone had settled around a table, Mo Zi saw the man looking dejected, standing there gazing in their direction, seemingly hesitating whether to approach.
“Brother Mo needn’t pay him any mind.” Fei Xia followed Mo Zi’s line of sight.
“Such a petty man, ungrateful wretch—I knew long ago he’d never have good days.” Chou Yu called for a jar of aged wine, easily breaking the mud seal. Immediately the wine’s fragrance filled the air. “Look at his getup—he’s actually doing worse and worse. At his age, yet he looks like an errand runner for some gang—what a pathetic coward.”
“Little brother, he has nothing to do with us anymore.” Shui She took the wine jar and poured for Mo Zi, then filled cups for Zan Jin and the others one by one.
“That old bastard running around Hua Zhou for no good reason, pretending to be friendly, as if he’s actually happy we three brothers are doing well. It irritates me just looking at him!” Chou Yu’s temperament was such that he wouldn’t feel comfortable unless he spoke his mind.
“Enough.” Fei Xia, the eldest, spoke up. “Drink. If you won’t drink, then eat. Shut your mouth.”
With this unexpected incident, eating truly became just eating, and they didn’t learn anything from anyone. However, when that old acquaintance of the three Chou Yu brothers settled his bill, he was short one coin for wine, causing the waiter to grumble for quite a while. The man was apparently a regular customer and brazenly said to put it on credit for a few days—he’d soon have some income.
When the man begged pitifully, he didn’t glance once at Chou Yu and the others, making Mo Zi believe he at least had some masculine dignity and no intention of borrowing money from them.
After he left, Mo Zi heard the waiter complaining to the shopkeeper.
“Shopkeeper, your heart is too soft. How much wine money does that man surnamed Qiao already owe our establishment? Add it up—at least five or six taels of silver. How can you still let him buy on credit?”
The shopkeeper sighed. “You want to collect the debt? Consider who you’re dealing with.”
The waiter spat. “So what if he’s with the Whale Gang? The Whale Gang’s influence doesn’t reach Mian City—only in these past two years have some of their boat gangs started coming around. This is Hua Zhou’s prefecture capital, with the Governor’s Office, various government bureaus and departments, and provincial troops. Even if they wanted to cause trouble, they’d have to consider the location.”
The shopkeeper said, “You’re thinking too simply. The Whale Gang’s leader, Yu Zhong, is not to be trifled with. Two years ago we’d never even heard of the Whale Gang, but now—how many shops pay them protection money? If it weren’t for Old Qiao Si constantly sitting in our establishment, they’d probably have come collecting from me too. What’s five taels of silver? If we really had to pay those people, fifty taels wouldn’t be enough. Forget it—if he says he’ll repay, he’ll definitely repay. Most likely he’s got work. That work of his—you’re new here, so you don’t know. Usually there’s nothing, but when he does a job, he makes a killing each time. Last time he said winter months are his poorest—he has to wait until spring starts. We’ll wait too.”
Just then two more tables of customers wanted to settle their bills, and the waiter hurried off.
That night, Mo Zi tossed and turned unable to sleep. Somehow, the scene of encountering Qiao Lao Si during the day replayed before her eyes again and again. She could only throw on an outer garment and leave the cabin, wanting to clear her mind with some fresh air.
The deck was very quiet. Ships in port were like being in a mother’s embrace—everyone felt secure. Apart from those on night watch duty, people had either gone ashore seeking entertainment or had already entered dreamland.
“Brother Mo?” The mast clanged as someone climbed down from above—it was Chou Yu. “Still not sleeping?”
“You’re not on night duty tonight either, yet you’re not sleeping?” Mo Zi wasn’t surprised to see him. She’d long known the three brothers had extraordinary skills and probably extraordinary backgrounds too, but it wasn’t easy to ask outright.
“Troubled in my heart, can’t sleep.” Chou Yu had excellent vision, so the crow’s nest was his most frequent perch.
“Me too. That Qiao Lao Si—” Seeing Chou Yu frown, she immediately clarified, “I have no intention of prying into the grudge between him and you all, only interested in what work he takes to repay debts.”
Chou Yu was curious. “Why is that?”
“Don’t you think his work sounds somewhat familiar?” Mo Zi enumerated for Chou Yu, “One job earns a killing, no work in winter but busy in spring. Wouldn’t be a farmer, wouldn’t be a fisherman—sounds like shady business, more like—”
“Smuggling!” Chou Yu leapt up with an exclamation.
“Smuggling.” Mo Zi had tossed and turned unable to sleep precisely because this thought wouldn’t leave her.
“That old bastard loves wine and gambling—this is exactly the kind of thing he’d do.” Chou Yu seemed to forget he’d once been a smuggler himself. “Brother Mo, if he’s smuggling, he must have a safe covert route. We just need to follow him—why worry about getting into Yuling?”
“I’m only guessing—whether it’s true or not is hard to say.” Mo Zi was cautious. “Moreover, he has old grievances with you three brothers. I’m afraid inquiring about him will make you uncomfortable.”
“Brother Mo, the uncomfortable ones won’t be us brothers.” Fei Xia came around from the other end, Shui She following behind. “We three concealing our names and identities was out of necessity. Following Brother Mo all this time, relying entirely on your glory, we’ve finally lived without feeling stifled. Now it’s time to be honest and open as people—we can’t let our past drag Brother Mo down.”
The three Chou Yu brothers had once been unregistered residents of Great Zhou, so initially they only served as temporary boatmen, never staying in one place long, thus avoiding inspection by authorities. Later, though they helped Mo Zi with matters, once they disembarked they stayed in Wangqiu Tower, going between just two points, rarely moving about. After entering Hongyu, they moved even less. Finally, they had Mo Zi mix them in with Ding Xiu, Niu Gao and others to apply for temporary household registration. Jiang Tao was most likely to discover the three were unregistered, but at the time he was captivated by Bai He’s cooking skills and quite admired Mo Zi, so he didn’t pursue it relentlessly. Thus they obtained completely new identities, surname Lu, named Lu Xia, Lu Si, and Lu Yu respectively. At least, that’s what the temporary household registration recorded.
“What’s registered are our real names.” Chou Yu, seeing his eldest and second brothers appear like this, knew it was time to come clean with Mo Zi. “Big Brother said if we change even the surname our ancestors gave us and the names our parents gave us, we three might as well throw ourselves in the river together.”
These three throw themselves in the river? Would it be suicide or wreaking havoc on the Dragon Palace? Mo Zi knew this wasn’t the time to laugh, yet couldn’t help pursing her lips. “Come, let’s talk in my cabin.”
The four entered the cabin to find Zan Jin and Ding Gou also there.
“That’s no way to scare people.” Ding Gou patted his chest. “I just went across the hall to get a candle, came back to find the door open and no one there.”
Zan Jin gave him a slap that seemed quite forceful. “What do you need a candle for? Your eyesight isn’t bad at night, is it? Never had that problem before!”
Ding Gou suddenly coughed dryly twice. “Reading—is that not allowed?”
“Reading?” Chou Yu momentarily forgot the main topic, laughing sinisterly. “Or looking at pictures?”
Zan Jin had an epiphany. Hanging around these people, it was impossible not to pick up some of their ways. “Erotic pictures—” It was Mo Zi’s turn to cough dryly. They were all older than her, so, “Brothers, I am after all a young lady—please watch your words.” Getting back to business, “Fei Xia, if you don’t want Zan Jin and the others to stay, you can say so directly.”
Fei Xia said, “Zan Jin and Ding Gou are Brother Mo’s right and left hands, and also our good brothers. Besides, since we’ve decided not to hide anymore, it doesn’t matter who knows.”
Zan Jin and Ding Gou exchanged glances.
Ding Gou then asked, “Is this about what happened today?”
Chou Yu picked up the thread. “That man’s surname is Qiao, fourth in his family, people call him Qiao Lao Si. Qiao Lao Si was under the previous Whale Gang leader. Because he wielded an excellent staff technique, he was invited to the gang leader’s home to teach his youngest son. That youngest son was me. Qiao Lao Si wasn’t really my master—more like a hired instructor. After I learned his staff technique, because we got along well, he followed me from then on.”
“You three are from the Whale Gang?” Mo Zi hadn’t expected this. And sons of the gang leader, no less.
“That’s right. My father was called Lu Xi—he was a son-in-law who married into the family. The Whale Gang was established by our maternal grandfather, and because he had only one daughter, our mother, he took in a son-in-law. My father was unfortunately… fortunately selected. Though when he first married my mother, because she was dark-skinned and not good-looking, he wasn’t too pleased in his heart. Of course, that was only at first. Later, he became completely submissive to my mother, though partly because he couldn’t beat her in a fight.” Chou Yu was rambling off-topic.
“No need to talk about Mother and Father’s affairs.” Shui She intervened in time, otherwise at this rate, they might talk for three days and nights without finishing.
“In any case, apart from my mother, my father’s martial skills were the best in the gang.” What Chou Yu wanted to emphasize was this. “Father was good in everything except trusting one person too much. This person was my father’s sworn brother, the current Whale Gang leader Yu Zhong. Yu Zhong was brought into the gang by my father, and as Father rose step by step, his position rose accordingly. After Father became gang leader, Yu Zhong became deputy leader. His martial skills weren’t much, but he was extremely sinister and cunning. Mother’s intuition was always accurate—she told Father not to trust Yu Zhong too much, but Father always felt he was his only sworn brother who’d risked life with him, and didn’t take Mother’s words to heart. Three years ago, Mother was inspecting a branch hall on Father’s behalf when she was ambushed and killed. Father was so grief-stricken that his health declined day by day, and before long he passed away too. It’s also our fault, we three brothers were so wayward then—not one of us cared about gang affairs, though we were good at brawling.”
“A’Yu, these matters needn’t be said either.” Fei Xia reminded his little brother again.
“Fine, one sentence then—with parents gone and sons incompetent, the gang’s power was temporarily taken over by Yu Zhong. When Yu Zhong first became acting leader, he treated us fairly well, but once his position was secure, he grew cold. At that time, we discovered that our parents’ deaths might be connected to Yu Zhong. But his methods were faster and more ruthless than ours—he first arranged for people to commit murder and create a case, then bribed several of our attendants to steal personal items and leave them at the crime scene to frame us. Among those attendants was Qiao Lao Si. The county magistrate had already taken his bribes and actually condemned us to death, having us escorted to the capital with plans to finish us off halfway. Fortunately, we three had decent martial skills and managed to escape after much struggle. After that, we hid everywhere trying to survive until we met Old Guan and you, Brother Mo.” From then on, they’d truly lived freely, completely transformed inside and out.