Wang Yunxiao did not remember when he had attended Old Blind Meng's banquet, only realizing that it must not have been too long ago when he saw the widow.
It was roughly two years ago, right around the time the war was drawing to a close.
Before that, he was certainly not a wandering orphan on the streets.
How old was the young wife that Old Blind Meng had married two years ago now?
The answer was not much older than himself, looking to be only about seventeen or eighteen years old.
There's a saying that one takes a concubine for her beauty.
The young lady was quite charming, with eyes that could entrap a soul and a good figure; otherwise, how could she have become the little wife of a wealthy and powerful tycoon?
The one with her, Old Blind Meng's own daughter, seemed only three or four years younger, about the age of a middle schooler just starting out.
There were even a few similarities between their features.
Truly, it was the evil old society.
In regard to these two... to call them sisters might not be wrong, given their ages, Wang Yunxiao was psychologically prepared.
Let me repeat, truly the evil old society, where the rich knew how to indulge... no, it is the tragic fate of women.
But as for why they could have lived safely up to now after Old Blind Meng bit the dust, that was somewhat beyond Wang Yunxiao's imagination.
Was it due to a peaceful social environment?
Or was it the lingering influence of Old Blind Meng's legacy?
Neither.
Seeing the two young girls clad in black and white nun's habits, Wang Yunxiao was full of question marks.
Huh?
Laozi, a mighty transmigrator, what haven't I seen?
I really haven't seen this scene!
This image was too shocking to the soul, so much so that upon first seeing them, he forgot the words he intended to say, standing there awkwardly in the moment.
Did Old Blind Meng play around like this before?
Laozi has grown so big, yet I've never seen such a script!
"I am Madam Cui, and I've had the honor to meet the Wang brothers," said the older girl, who seemed accustomed to this kind of situation, bowing slightly with a respectful gesture, softly explaining, "After old master's passing, the Church provided shelter for my mother and me, allowing us to live in peace until now."
Following traditional customs, married women generally prefixed their husband's surname to their own when introducing themselves, referred to as XX shi. But this was a right reserved for the official wife; ordinary concubines did not even have the right to take their husband's surname.
But what Wang Yunxiao cared about was not such details.
"Which Church?"
Madam Cui took out the cross hanging around her neck and stated solemnly, "We are now technical nuns at the Qianjin Church, with official identity proof."
The iron cross she exhibited also bore two rings of gears on it, with a hammer etched in the middle.
This style seemed a bit off.
Wang Yunxiao had never heard of it.
"Master had donated this mansion to the Church even before his death, and we mother and daughter are merely temporarily residing here. If you wish to use it, you just need to give notice to the Church. As long as you don't disturb our rest, we won't interfere with other matters," she said.
This Madam Cui spoke rationally, with clear logic, resembling someone who had been educated. They did not want to cause trouble and cleverly passed the buck to the Church, which could also be seen as a wise move for self-preservation.
Wang Yunxiao looked askance at Lv'er, "Why is there church business here as well? Have you greeted them properly?"
But Lv'er didn't seem to care, "Why bother with those foreign nuns? They're no saints. If we don't tell, where would they find out from?"
Well, aren't you just brilliant!
Wang Yunxiao thought to himself, I knew it, there's no such thing as a free lunch in this world.
School lunches are free because they're government-subsidized.
Expecting you, sir, to handle things properly is like hoping pigs might climb trees.
So apart from those five pieces of silver, everything else really depends on your ability to bluff, right?
As for those dumplings specially made with vinegar wrapper, Wang Yunxiao couldn't be bothered to haggle with him.
Anyway, by patching one wall with bricks from another, muddling through somehow, this gambling den... no, the proper term should be a card market, was sort of up and running.
In the courtyard were placed four or five low tables, paired with little stools.
Lv'er somehow got hold of a whole crate of over twenty bottles of unlabeled bulk liquor. It's safety was questionable, and one couldn't be too demanding about the taste, but the most important thing was that it was cheap enough, one cent for an ounce, five cents a bottle.
Then set up a small coal stove, drag over a sack of corn and potatoes, and that counts as all set!
And don't look down on the conditions, eating roasted potatoes dipped in chili salt, accompanied by two ounces of liquor, for the common folk that's considered a high level of consumption. Those who really don't have the money, can't even afford the roasted potatoes, they have to make do with gnawing dried herring to accompany their drink.
Around three or four in the afternoon, Lv'er's fair-weather friends began to straggle in.
It wasn't entirely made up of loafers like Lv'er; there were also lots of idle young men, laborers from construction sites, and old men who basked in the sun at the alley entrance... all sorts of people.
Seeing this situation, there definitely was significant market demand.
But what could you do, these days what else do the common folks have to entertain themselves?
Lv'er was hopping from table to table setting up card games, grinning like a pimp, no longer sleepy, no more mumbling, as excited as if he'd been injected with chicken blood.
He'd never conducted such big business before. In the past, he'd strut in with money to play the big shot, only to lose it all and be kicked out like a dog once broke; he had never been this much in the spotlight. Whenever he met the old and young regulars, they would warmly greet him as 'Brother Er', and it almost carried him away.
Wang Yunxiao sat with Guozi and Loach at the side, watching with a detached eye. The scene was indeed lively, but whether it would make money was another matter. Lv'er only knew how to gamble, he really didn't have the ability to run a gambling house. Relying solely on selling food and drinks and poker cards, he most likely wouldn't make much.
Loach looked around with his sneaky eyes and whispered to Wang Yunxiao, "Big brother, I'm afraid the liquor won't sell well, but we could possibly sell peanuts, melon seeds, candy, cigarettes, and such. Those are sure to sell!"
Wang Yunxiao thought it over and felt he had a point.
Once they arrived, the yard was filled with swirling smoke.
To be honest, his experience in this field wasn't much more than that of Lv'er; the only difference was a more agile mind, and the ability to learn from mistakes.
Cigarettes were hard to come by, but peanuts and melon seeds could be sourced from the squad leader's family.
Even without dabbling in illegal goods, simply running an entertainment venue like this could still be a way to make money.
Of course, this was a rather naive thought.
Society isn't that simple.
While Wang Yunxiao harbored thoughts of making big money, he didn't forget to pay attention to what was happening in the courtyard.
Inside the courtyard, there was a haze of smoke, shouts and calls, laughter and curses, a cacophony of voices. But overall, things were relatively orderly; everyone was there to play, not daring to gamble big money. Wouldn't you want to let people enjoy their chatter?
The Meng family mother and daughter hadn't yet returned at this time, they said they were working outside. Not sure what kind of work these technical nuns could do, anyhow, the whole scene was just oddly incongruent. By the time they finished work and it became dark, there were no electric lights here, naturally it was time to close shop.
Theoretically, it shouldn't disturb their rest.
As long as nothing unexpected happened.