The poor fear not to gamble, for having lost all, what remains to forfeit? Shu Guo Bing, swayed by little Cai’s temptations, lingered bodily in Rongcheng while his heart sprouted wings and soared to the grand city.
As he pondered, a rapt expression crept across his face.
Hong Yan mirrored him, slothful and gluttonous yet ever aspiring beyond her station. She scorned honest toil and modest trade, fixated solely on swift riches.
Their rural home proved untenable in any case. Better heed little Cai and venture to the metropolis.
Triumph meant utter reversal; defeat… ah, best not dwell. After such prolonged ill fortune, their turn must come. How could they fail?
Only Shu Lu held reservations, querying dubiously, “Why aid us?”
When Shu Guo Bing fell first under arrest, Shu Lu, pleas falling on deaf ears, had pinned hopes on Zhao Dong and Boss Cai.
Then, Zhao Dong deemed her valueless; Boss Cai ignored even her calls.
Shu Lu had ne’er been a princess. She had merely glimpsed the affluent realm in Zhao Dong’s fleeting company. Devoid of worth, he cast her aside, reverting her to her origins.
Little Cai’s stance mirrored Boss Cai’s.
And behind Boss Cai loomed Zhao Dong.
Could it be Director Zhao… Shu Lu harboured not just doubts, but vast hopes too, gazing imploringly at little Cai, eager for affirmation from his lips.
Little Cai merely chuckled, “I but point a path; I vowed no aid. What charity drives me? Take myself: were I useless to the boss, would he value me? To earn patronage, one must first prove one’s mettle and command respect. Grand cities teem with prospects. Your reversal hinges on your own showing!”
Little Cai spoke with pointed intent.
Shu Lu’s heart raced.
Should she prove useful to Director Zhao, fine days awaited!
As for her parents Shu Guo Bing and Hong Yan, Shu Lu despaired of them utterly. Such coarse, worthless folk even she disdained; Director Zhao would ne’er uplift them.
Shu Guo Bing grasped no subtext, or perhaps willed none. He clung to little Cai for succour.
In the end, little Cai lent Shu Guo Bing a sum.
“This covers your fares.”
Shu Guo Bing eyed the cash in little Cai’s hand with avarice, yet little Cai proffered it not to him, but to Shu Lu.
Shu Guo Bing gawped. Shu Lu clutched the money tightly, newfound resolve in her grasp, “So many grand cities abound. Which shall we seek?”
Little Cai nodded approvingly.
Of the Shu trio, Shu Guo Bing and Hong Yan proved utter fools; Shu Lu brimmed with cunning.
“I tasked a mate to divine it. The demon capital suits you best for fortune. Once there, reach my friend; he shall lend a hand.”
Little Cai recited a number. Shu Lu jotted it on her arm, deeming it unsafe, and committed it to memory through silent repetition.
“Thanks, Brother Cai.”
In that instant, Shu Lu truly thanked little Cai.
Little Cai smirked archly.
Shu Guo Bing yet lingered for a meal, but little Cai indulged him not, citing duties and departing, stranding the Shu threesome.
Shu Guo Bing spread his hands, “Quick, pocket the cash for me. Little Cai lacks manners, handing it to you. Since when does a wee lass mind the purse?”
Shu Lu held her tongue.
Hong Yan urged too, “What stalls you, fool? Hand the money to your dad at once. What does it look like, you clutching so much?”
Shu Lu stirred not. Hong Yan paused, then amended, “Ah, still shy with your dad? Fine, fine, not him then; give it to me, surely.”
Shu Lu lifted her head at last, her face a tapestry of expressions, “To Dad for keeping, and he squanders it on smokes and swigs. To you, and your funds fall to swindlers. Best it stays with me for now, else we ne’er reach the demon capital. This is our family’s pivotal chance!”
Shu Guo Bing and Hong Yan smarted at the slight. Shu Guo Bing yammered, “Insolence, utter insolence.” Hong Yan thwacked her thigh in fury.
No matter their theatrics, Shu Lu gripped the money fast, vowing to return it to little Cai should they press.
“You wretched chit, you set me at naught!”
Shu Guo Bing bellowed, raising a hand to her.
Shu Lu met his gaze defiantly, “Strike me, then. One blow, and I disown you. Pretend you ne’er sired me, and spurn any thought of my nursing you in old age. I hold my papers now; I go where I will, and you seek me in vain!”
The words escaped, and Shu Lu’s heart skipped.
Little Cai directed the Shus to riches in the demon capital, yet slipped the fare straight to her.
A father fond of drink, inept, and jailbird besides.
A mother idle, witless, ever duped.
What fortunes could such as they amass in the demon capital? They would but encumber her!
Once sown, such thoughts took root.
Shu Guo Bing and Hong Yan raged thunderously. Shu Lu softened her tone of a sudden, “I jest, truly. How could I bear parting from you? We three head to the demon capital for vast gains, to make mockers rue the day! Dad, why squabble o’er trifles? Ere jail, you bossed your own venture, sums in the tens of thousands passing your hands. Those were moneys… Have you forgot your past glory, and who cast you low?”
Fortune had nigh crested, only for foes to land him in irons. That grudge Shu Guo Bing nursed fiercely.
Riches in the demon capital, then vengeance: the yearning burned. Shu Guo Bing’s eyes veined red.
His foes? Wen Ying, Wen Dongrong: that vile father-daughter pair, both.
Shu Lu invoked the “writers’ wealth rankings” besides.
Shu Guo Bing, in durance, knew naught of it. Hearing Wen Ying had netted millions from mere tales, he snorted hot fury.
Against “millions”, the fare in Shu Lu’s hand paled indeed. Shu Guo Bing wheezed and waved it off, “Enough. Keep it if you must. First, fetch me fine smokes. Spare me your mum’s penny-pinching ways.”
Shu Lu obeyed at once, procuring fresh tobacco for Shu Guo Bing.
Jail time ill became a boast; the threesome slunk to the countryside for their scant kit, snatching clothes and papers ere hastening by cart to Rongcheng’s railway station.
En route, Shu Guo Bing demanded this morsel, that draught; Shu Lu, though it pained her, indulged all, proving far more lavish than Hong Yan, cozening Shu Guo Bing to buoyant cheer.
Thrice Hong Yan mooted minding the funds, only for Shu Guo Bing to quell her.
Shu Guo Bing felt a twinge of pride, even.
“Lu Lu’s grown; let her scamper errands. Time she toughened for the grand city. No shame in that!”
Hong Yan dared say no more.
Rongcheng North Station teemed eternally. Shu Lu volunteered for the ticket queue; Shu Guo Bing lounged against a pillar in idleness.
An hour passed, two; Shu Lu returned not. Shu Guo Bing grew restive, “Go seek her!”
Hong Yan elbowed through the throng to the booths.
Crowds jammed every window.
Old, young; men, women.
No sign of Shu Lu.
With hordes in the station, had Shu Lu fallen to traffickers or thieves?
“Lord above, I said we should mind the money!”
Hong Yan thumped her thigh, relaying it to Shu Guo Bing, who reckoned her eyes at fault.
Shu Guo Bing sought in turn, to no avail.
Only then did mild alarm stir Shu Guo Bing.
The couple, green as to grand ways, learned of police from fellow travellers.
Station broadcasts sought her thrice to no response; at the post, after half a day’s fuss, the constable quizzed Hong Yan at length and cautioned her. Rifling her baggage, Hong Yan unearthed a note; the words thereon blackened her vision.
“Mum, Dad: I head to the demon capital for work. Seek me not. Once I earn, I shall wire you for living.”
