Chapter 55 Mutual Abuse

Chapter 55: Verbal Sparring

Walking toward the city with his head bowed, Li Qi pondered how to renovate the Drunken Immortal House.

"Mister, please give me something to eat! I haven't eaten in days!"
"Good sir, show some charity, please."

As he walked, Li Qi suddenly noticed refugees scattered all around him. He felt quite puzzled because he clearly remembered not seeing this many refugees when he arrived.

Looking around in all directions, Li Qi cried out in shock, "Damn it! I took the wrong turn!"

Sweating profusely!

Li Qi was not very familiar with the roads in the suburbs. He glanced left and right, noticing not a single signpost. He wanted to find a refugee to ask for directions, but he was afraid of being swarmed by them. In these desolate outskirts, even if he were mobbed and ravaged, probably no one would ever know.

With no other choice, Li Qi had no option but to retrace his steps.

After walking for about the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, Li Qi realized that the more he walked, the more wrong things felt, as if he hadn't passed through this area just a moment ago.

Just as Li Qi was feeling extremely depressed, he suddenly heard a chaotic flurry of footsteps coming from behind.

Looking back, he saw a group of refugees clutching tattered bowls tightly, rushing toward him like madmen.

What on earth is this situation!

Frightened, Li Qi froze in place for a moment, staring dumbfounded at the ferocious pack of refugees.

Fortunately, those refugees were not aiming for him; they rushed right past him without even sparing him a single glance.

Once all the refugees had passed, Li Qi snapped back to his senses, his back already soaked in cold sweat.

That scared the hell out of me!

Li Qi panted heavily, patting his chest.

What on earth is going on here? Could there be demons and ghosts behind, or wolves and tigers?

Better make a run for it while I can!

Li Qi instinctively quickened his pace.

After traveling for about another half mile, Li Qi suddenly heard shouts echoing from behind a small patch of woods to his left.

"Give it to me, give it to me!"
"This is mine!"
"Please give me just one more, my child hasn't eaten all day!"

There were voices of both men and women, accompanied from time to time by the cries of children.

What is happening?

Li Qi stood hesitating in place for a moment, but ultimately unable to suppress the curiosity in his heart, he followed the direction from which the sounds came.

Li Qi passed through the small grove and came to an open grassy clearing.

In the middle of this grassy field, a small thatched shed had been erected. The refugees were frantically squeezing their way toward the interior of the shed, while those coming out of it each held a large steamed bun, looking ecstatic.

Upon seeing this, Li Qi suddenly understood. So someone was distributing food here! No wonder those refugees had acted like lunatics just now.

Suddenly, a woman's voice came from inside the thatched shed.

"Everyone, don't push, come one by one. Don't worry, there's enough for everyone who came! --- Hey, stop grabbing."

Eh? This voice sounds so familiar!

Li Qi felt like he had heard this voice somewhere before, so he walked over to investigate closely, but there were simply too many refugees to make out who was standing inside.

Standing at the back of the crowd, Li Qi jumped up fiercely a few times.

He vaguely saw five people standing inside: four men dressed as domestic servants, and in the middle stood a young maidservant. A large wooden table was set up in front of the five of them, upon which sat four large bamboo baskets filled to the brim with steamed buns.

Li Qi did not recognize the four servants, but that young maid looked extremely familiar to him.

Li Qi frowned and thought for a moment, then his eyes lit up. Hey! Isn't this the little maid who came to the Drunken Immortal House last time to buy stinky tofu --- what was her name again? Oh, right, Xing'er, or something like that, the maid of Lady Bai.

Lady Bai? Could she be nearby as well?

Li Qi's mind conjured up the image of that quirky and stunningly beautiful Lady Bai, and he thought to himself, "That chick is too shrewd; it's best to keep my distance from her."

Li Qi turned around, intending to leave.

Before he had taken two steps, however, he suddenly heard someone shout from behind: "Stop right there!"

Damn! Am I really this unlucky?

Upon hearing this, Li Qi immediately knew it was Lady Bai. Sighing, he turned around with extreme reluctance to see a graceful and poised beauty standing on the left side of the thatched shed.

This woman was none other than Tokyo's second most talented woman, Bai Qiannuo.

Li Qi was slightly startled, then immediately put on a look of surprise, cupped his hands, and smiled, "Oh! If it isn't Lady Bai, what a pleasant surprise."

Bai Qiannuo walked forward, a trace of fatigue lingering between her brows. Casting a cold glance at Li Qi, she asked, "I wonder what brings Young Master Li here?"

Damn! When did I offend this grand mistress again?

Li Qi could hear the heavy hostility in her words toward him, but without thinking too much about it, he let out a hearty laugh and said, "I was just passing by this area and saw someone doing a good deed, so I came over to take a look and see which great philanthropist was performing charity. I never expected it to be you, Lady Bai. Tsk tsk, who would have thought that Lady Bai is not only beautiful, but also possesses the heart of a Bodhisattva. Truly rare, truly rare!"

Bai Qiannuo did not seem receptive to Li Qi's flattery. She sneered and said, "Young Master Li's eloquence is truly remarkable. No wonder you've been able to play both sides recently and hog all the spotlight. This young lady truly admires you!"

How could Li Qi fail to catch Bai Qiannuo's sarcasm? He felt quite irritated. I've exhausted all my pleasantries, and not only do you refuse to appreciate it, but you also resort to sarcastic jibes—you truly don't know what's good for you. He immediately said coldly, "Lady Bai, what do you mean by that?"

"What do I mean? Don't you know clearly enough?"

Bai Qiannuo snorted and angrily rebuked, "Back then, Sister Wang kindly took you in, giving you food and shelter. It would be one thing if you didn't think of repaying her kindness, but why did you have to maliciously slander her? Furthermore, for the sake of greed, you colluded privately with Steward Cai, keeping it from Uncle Wu and Sister Wang while selling the stinky tofu secret recipe to Steward Cai behind their backs. A despicable, shameless, and ungrateful scoundrel like you still has the nerve to call others 'disloyal, unfilial, benevolent-less, and righteousness-less'? You are utterly devoid of shame."

This woman is really refusing to be polite! And that Madam Qin, why does she tell this woman about everything? She has zero sense of confidentiality!

Li Qi was, after all, a hot-blooded young man. Being scolded and reprimanded by a young woman for no reason, how could he swallow this insult? He immediately sneered, "And just what kind of thing are you? These are all domestic affairs of our Drunken Immortal House; how is it your place as an outsider to point fingers here? Besides, the secret recipe for stinky tofu was mine to begin with. I'll sell it to whoever I please—is that any of your business? Have some shame."

"You---!"

Bai Qiannuo said angrily, "A despicable scoundrel like you deserves to be punished by everyone."

Punished your sister!

Li Qi cursed inwardly, a cold smirk hanging on his lips as he said, "Oh, so me selling the stinky tofu secret recipe to Steward Cai makes me a despicable scoundrel who deserves the wrath of all, while you selling your couplets to him makes you a person of noble character and righteous wealth-seeking who deserves the adoration of millions? Where in the world is such logic? Truly laughable. If you ask me, we are just the older brother meeting the younger brother—neither of us has any room to judge the other."

Bai Qiannuo raged, "You scoundrel, stop twisting words to suit your sophistry! My selling couplets to him is my personal affair, having nothing to do with outsiders. But what about you? Did you ever consider the Drunken Immortal House? Did you consider Madam Qin? And how should we settle the score of your malicious slander against Sister Wang?"

"You annoying little woman are truly exasperating! Let me ask you, when did I ever maliciously slander Madam Qin? Have you gone stupid from eating too many steamed buns?" Li Qi scolded.

Bai Qiannuo's willow eyebrows rose in anger as she snapped, "You still want to quibble? Xiaotao has already told me everything. That day at the Qin residence, right in front of Uncle Wu, you cursed Sister Wang as---. Hmph! Uncle Wu must have been blind to take in an ungrateful wolf like you."

Two days prior, when she had visited the Qin residence, she found that Madam Qin and her maid both looked out of sorts, knowing for a fact that something must have happened. First, she probed Madam Qin, but Madam Qin was unwilling to elaborate on the matter. Therefore, she sought out Xiaotao.

Xiaotao was pure-hearted and young, so she hadn't understood Li Qi's intentions at the time. Later, seeing Madam Qin weeping before her late husband's memorial tablet, Xiaotao assumed Li Qi must have subsequently said something even more hurtful to Madam Qin. Nursing a bellyful of resentment and happening to be questioned by Bai Qiannuo about the incident, Xiaotao spilled everything to her, painting Li Qi out to be as evil as humanly possible.

Listening to this one-sided account, Bai Qiannuo had been so furious her lungs felt like they would burst. At the time, she had wanted to track Li Qi down and demand justice for Madam Qin, but on second thought, this was ultimately a domestic affair of the Qin household. Since Madam Qin herself hadn't said anything, it wasn't her place as an outsider to meddle.

Never did she expect to coincidentally cross paths with Li Qi here today. How could she possibly suppress this burst of anger?

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Apologies, I've been too busy lately, and the updates haven't been very stable. Starting tomorrow, I will resume releasing two chapters a day.
(End of Chapter)