Comeback of the Abandoned Wife ( Book 1 )

chapter 48: They Were So Screwed (1)

In a blink of an eye, it had been seven days since the winter festival. Wu family returned to the normal state as before. People did whatever they usually did. It seemed that they had forgotten the three broken incense sticks incident while inquiring the god already.

Wu Shi, the ninth son of the South Courtyard, and Wu Bai, the tenth, went to the gambling house every day after school since the ritual.

Everyone knew that one would lose nine times out of ten when gambling. They gambled and kept losing money. Within one day, they had gambled away the silver they won and the monthly allowance they received from the family. And eventually they loaned a huge amount of silver from the gambling house wanting to win everything back and signed an agreement promising that they would return it within seven days. Unluckily, they lost all the silver away within half a day.

Both of them got panicked because they didn’t have the guts to ask for silver from their family or tell them a word of it. Finally the shopkeeper of the gambling agreed to let them use their Corpse Bone Dragon Nail, Ghost Flute, and Dark Tooth Fan as the pawn.

Wu Shi and Wu Bai suspected how the shopkeeper knew that they had these three magic weapons at home. But soon they figured it out. Different sorts of gamblers came here, of course the shopkeeper should have been well connected. It was not strange if he knew about the magical weapons. They thus dropped the doubt and went home to get them.

The problem was that they had to get the keys to open the warehouse where the magical weapons were locked.

Wu Shi and Wu Bai had been patiently waiting at home for two days and finally they got a chance as Wu Qianbin and Wu Qiantong went out on patrol at the same time, they made an excuse to ask their mother to open the warehouse.

“Mother, everyone at school laughs at me for my shabby wearing, not even a decent pendant. I look even poorer than their attendants. I even have no face to go to school now.” Wu Bai complained holding her mother Dong Mingji’s hand, “mother, please allow me to find a few precious ornaments in the warehouse so that I can show them off in front of my classmates to shut their mouths.”

“Your cousins are wearing better?” Dong Mingji was not happy on hearing that her precious son was being bullied at school, “Last time when I went to your school, I saw that few were wearing more decent that you. How could they laugh at you? Take your waist pendant for example. It is made by pure jade and carved by a master in the imperial capital. Wait. Where is your waist pendant?”

Wu Bai was too guilty to tell the truth that he had pawned every valuable piece he had. “I left it in my room because it is disgraceful to wear it.”

“How can it be disgraceful? It’s…”

Wu Bai hurriedly interjected her, “Mother, do you know that every cousin from West and East Courtyard wears either antique jade pendant or bracelets or magical weapons. Any of them wears better than me.”

“Really?” Dong Mingji felt really uncomfortable on hearing that her precious son wore shabbier than others in the class. And she didn’t like the feeling of being laughed at by her sisters-in-law. Therefore, she stood up and took out the key to the warehouse, “Come on , come with me to the warehouse.”

Wu Bai was thrilled that his plan worked. He then followed his mother to the warehouse to select three valuable accessories for men, and then begged his mother to take him to the secret chamber to take a look at the magical weapons.

Dong Mingji had no heart to refuse him, thus she let him in.

Wu Bai took the chance while she was not watching to shovel the Dark Tooth Fan and Ghost Flute into his sleeves. After he walked outside the warehouse, he made an excuse to leave Shutong Yard and came to the carriage which was already waiting outside for him and Wu Shi as they had planned.

About one hour later, Wu Shi also joined him.

“Have you got them?” Wu Bai asked anxiously.

“Who am I? How can I fail?” Wu Shi smirked, “I came up with the idea to beg my mother to open the warehouse.”

Wu Bai smiled happily but soon felt sad, “if my father knows that I stole the magical weapon away for mortgage, he would break my legs.”

With Shi said as his grin faded, “Don’t worry. Your father and my father won’t use them lately. All we need to do is to redeem them before they find out.”

“But where do we get so much silver to pay them back? Oh wait. My mother gave me three pieces of valuable accessories that we can use to pay our debts.”

“Are you dumb or what? You need to wear those on a daily basis. If your mother doesn’t see them, what are you going to tell her?” Wu Shi rolled his eyes.

“You are right. Then what should we do?”

“The New Year is coming. We are going to receive a lot of red envelopes and by then we will have money to pay our debts.”

“Right.” Wu Bai smiled, “you are so smart.”