CLS-Chapter 72

Chapter 72

“You said your name was Jin So-ah, right?”

“……”

Jin So-ah looked at Wei Yan-ho with eyes that contained an appropriate mixture of bewilderment and confusion.

What was this about? This person who absolutely never came out of his room corner was now getting some fresh air outside, and what does he say? Are you Jin So-ah?

This man had been mooching food in this house for what felt like a month already, and only now he was asking for his name. It was so absurd that Jin So-ah felt like his nose would get blocked, not just his qi.

‘So this is what rage sickness feels like.’

Feeling something boiling up from his stomach, Jin So-ah was able to advance one step further medically by experiencing firsthand the symptoms of rage sickness that he had only read about in books.

If that was the case, he should be grateful, but…

‘Grateful my ass!’

Jin So-ah ground his teeth with a crack. If this was something to be grateful for, then what in the world wouldn’t be worth gratitude! Everything would be worth gratitude!

“Yes, I’m Jin So-ah.”

“I’ve been thinking about it…”

“Thinking?”

“Yeah.”

Wei Yan-ho scratched his head slightly.

“No matter how much I think about it, there doesn’t seem to be an answer if things continue like this.”

“…Even if you didn’t think that way, there’s no answer anyway.”

“Yeah. Even I think the situation is serious.”

“At least you’re aware of it.”

“Hm?”

“Yes?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Weren’t you talking about yourself?”

For a moment, Wei Yan-ho frowned deeply.

“I have no answer?”

Jin So-ah asked back with an extremely serious face.

“Do you want an honest answer?”

“…No.”

Wei Yan-ho decided not to listen.

Sometimes in this world, it’s more comfortable to live without knowing certain things.

“Anyway, I think we need to somehow come up with money, don’t you?”

“I think so too, but there’s no corner where money would come from. What can we do?”

“…What an incompetent doctor.”

Jin So-ah burst out.

“It’s not like I don’t want to earn money! It’s because sister is so stubborn.”

“That’s right. She’s quite a unique woman.”

Usually people would take care of their own safety first before looking after others, but Jin Ye-ran seemed to have it the other way around.

But there was no doubt that Jin So-ah was a pushover too.

“A person can’t live by just eating dirt, right?”

“I think the same.”

“If you learned such good medical skills, you should earn some money and live comfortably.”

“…Even if not comfortably, I’d like to live without constantly worrying.”

“That’s right.”

Wei Yan-ho kept nodding his head.

How uncomfortable it was to live while constantly worrying.

He too had never lived comfortably for even a moment when he was with Baek Mu-han.

“So first we need to come up with money to pay it back…”

“Yes.”

“So how much is it?”

“I don’t know exactly, but I heard it’s roughly twenty nyang in gold.”

Suddenly, Wei Yan-ho’s eyelids trembled.

“H-how much?”

“Twenty nyang in gold.”

Wei Yan-ho’s head began to turn very slowly but surely.

So it was twenty nyang in gold.

Then in silver, that would be two thousand nyang.

Since one silver nyang could support a decent household for a month, two thousand silver nyang would be…

Steam began to pour out of Wei Yan-ho’s head.

“I’m not good at calculations, but is this strange?”

“It’s fine. Most people show similar reactions.”

“Isn’t it more amazing to have such a debt?”

“Originally it was over a hundred nyang. They disposed of all their possessions and paid back most of it, barely leaving that much.”

“R-really?”

Wei Yan-ho approached Jin So-ah, put his arm around his shoulder, and spoke subtly.

“See? Your family was extremely well-off. All that talk about doctors serving the poor is nonsense, right? Your father alone must have been living off that much money to maintain that wealth. Right?”

“……”

Jin So-ah wanted to argue something, but Wei Yan-ho’s words were all true, so he was at a loss for words.

“Hmm, anyway, it’s twenty nyang in gold, right? Twenty nyang in gold…”

Wei Yan-ho looked at the distant sky.

Today the sky was particularly damn clear.

“There’s no choice.”

Wei Yan-ho nodded as if he had made up his mind.

“D-do you have money?”

“Money?”

Wei Yan-ho tilted his head.

“What money?”

“Twenty nyang in gold.”

“Are you crazy?”

Wei Yan-ho pointed at Jin So-ah.

“Where would I have that much money! And even if I had money, why should I give it to you? You’ve been living without money and now you think other people’s money comes from digging the ground?”

Of course, money doesn’t come from digging the ground.

Money only comes when you threaten some pushover-like shop owner who happens to pass by.

“Then how do we get all that money?”

“We have to earn it.”

“How?”

“An eye for an eye! A tooth for a tooth!”

Wei Yan-ho ground his teeth lightly.

“What do you mean?”

When Jin So-ah tilted his head, unable to understand what Wei Yan-ho was saying, Wei Yan-ho smiled wickedly and opened his mouth.

“Where is that gambling den where your father was ruined?”

Jin So-ah’s eyes shook.

***

“Is he going out again today?”

Kang Cheon-rip, the owner of Golden Flower Hall, the largest gambling den in Hubei where all the gambling experts in the back alleys of Hubei gathered, was in a bad mood.

“This is why…”

A gambling den basically made money by taking commissions from gambling tables.

Clueless newcomers or those who didn’t know anything might think that gambling dens made money by having prepared gambling experts win against visitors and fleece them, but if such victories were repeated, no one would visit the gambling den.

While they might make a quick buck immediately, once gamblers realized they would lose to skilled gambling experts every time they went, they would eventually seek other gambling dens, and then the gambling den would be finished.

So gambling dens would mediate between gamblers, set up tables, and make profits by taking a certain amount from those tables.

But even that would become boring if it continued.

When a suitable mark appeared, pulling what they called “a job” to strip them clean was also a proper virtue of gambling dens.

Especially when young men from good families who weren’t involved in such circles, or naive rich people who didn’t know how gambling dens worked, visited the gambling den, that day would be a day to slaughter cattle and hold a feast.

But recently, perhaps because of bad luck, no such marks had appeared at the gambling den for several months.

‘Did word spread too much?’

It seemed that properly fleecing Merchant Seongsu had become widely known.

When word spread that someone had been ruined at a certain gambling den, wealthy people would avoid that gambling den for fear of meeting the same fate.

“Damn, I was too obvious about it.”

It was unavoidable given the situation, but the losses were considerable.

At this rate, this month’s profits would obviously be meager. His abilities might even come under suspicion.

“I need to come up with a method…”

Just as he was about to think about whether he should prepare a new gambling game, the door burst open and some man came rushing in frantically.

“B-Boss!”

“What! Did the government come to collect money or something! Why are you always making such a fuss about trivial things!”

“This isn’t trivial! One appeared, one appeared!”

“What appeared?”

“A mark appeared!”

Crash!

Kang Cheon-rip jumped up from his seat and the teacups on the desk fell to the floor.

But Kang Cheon-rip had no capacity to care about such trivial things.

“What? A mark? Are you sure?”

“That’s what I’m saying! Anyone can see he’s a mark, a mark!”

“Money? How much money did he bring? Is it long-term or short-term?”

“From what I checked briefly, he brought at least three nyang in gold.”

“Three nyang?”

Brilliant light shot out from Kang Cheon-rip’s eyes. The light was so bright that for a moment it felt like the room had become brighter.

“He’s here!”

Even if his deceased father came back to life from the grave, he wouldn’t be this happy.

Kang Cheon-rip naturally started doing a shoulder dance.

“L-let’s go! Let’s go quickly!”

“Wait a moment.”

“Why? What’s the matter now!”

“It seems like this mark is new to gambling dens. If you face him directly, won’t the kid get scared?”

“Th-that’s right.”

“So let’s watch for a while first. How about we let him win appropriately and then draw him into a big game?”

“Good! Great!”

Kang Cheon-rip nodded enthusiastically in excitement.

What did it matter if it was this way or that way.

Right now there were three nyang in gold before his eyes.

‘Three nyang!’

Three nyang in gold would more than make up for all the losses from months of just twiddling his thumbs. No, not only that, but it would be a proper score. He might even get a reward.

“Dokbi (One-Armed)! Where is Dokbi?”

“I’ve already called for him.”

“Heh heh heh, if Dokbi is ready too, there’s nothing to worry about.”

Kang Cheon-rip calmed his pounding heart and slowly left the room. Even if he couldn’t face him directly, he needed to check from a distance whether he was really a proper mark.

“Let’s go!”

“Yes.”

A warm smile bloomed on Kang Cheon-rip’s lips.

‘Today is company dinner day.’

Kang Cheon-rip was dreaming too early.

“He’s a mark, isn’t he?”

Kang Cheon-rip looked at the boy in silk clothes with careful eyes.

Having rolled around gambling dens for decades.

Now Kang Cheon-rip could distinguish whether someone was a expert or a mark just by looking at their face. His sharp insight began analysis, and soon Kang Cheon-rip, who had reached a conclusion, clapped his hands together.

“Janggu.”

“Yes, Boss.”

“Close the door.”

“Yes?”

“We don’t need to accept more customers. The God of Wealth has appeared here today.”

“That much?”

“No matter how much you wrap something in silk, it doesn’t raise the price of the goods. Look.”

Kang Cheon-rip pointed at the boy in silk clothes.

“Those half-closed, dim and hazy eyes, that snow-white skin from never having been outside! The hands visible under his sleeves don’t have a single callus. He’s someone who has barely held chopsticks with his own hands, let alone gambling tiles.”

“Indeed!”

“Moreover, those silk clothes are not only expensive but new! Obviously some young master from a great house came out to see the outside world and ended up rolling into this place!”

“Absolutely right!”

“Hm ha ha ha ha! The God of Wealth has appeared today! Just in case, sprinkle salt on all the windows to block the god’s exit and chase away evil spirits that might enter from outside.”

“That expensive salt?”

“Expensive? When three nyang in gold will be ours, you call it expensive! Sprinkle it freely!”

“Yes! Boss!”

As Janggu ran off hurriedly, Kang Cheon-rip looked at the boy with a sinister smile.

“Heh heh heh, what a windfall this is. I thought I’d just be twiddling my thumbs for a while after working over Merchant Seongsu, but today such a God of Wealth rolls in.”

The mark (?) receiving Kang Cheon-rip’s pleased gaze had no idea how the situation was unfolding, and kept yawning while looking around.