After rebirth, she became the favorite of the powerful minister.

Xu Chengjin and Yuan Ge looked at each other without saying anything. He just smiled and lifted his foot to hook up the chair under his feet. He pushed the man onto the chair and then pulled up the other one who had fallen to the ground and sat in front of him. He placed his folding fan against his chin and asked with a lazy smile, "Don't you want to fight anymore?"

Zhu Laicai's neck was finally freed. He nodded repeatedly after hearing the words. After nodding for a while, he hurriedly shook his head. As he shook, he felt that something was not right... Zhu Laicai had a sad face. He was really crying anxiously at this moment. He cried loudly, "Brother! Just tell me what you want to do! Don't scare me, brother, brother... I really can't stand being scared!"

Xu Chengjin patted his cheek and said, "Wang brother, do you know each other?"

The town is so small, and it takes only a few days to travel from east to west to make a living, so how could I not know him? Zhu Laicai nodded desperately, his double chin shaking with waves of excitement, "I know him, I know him, how could I not know him? Not only do I know him, but I am very familiar with him! Brother, whatever you want to ask, just ask, I will tell you everything I know!"

"That's fine... I heard that Wang Erjie was an honest hunter before, but he suddenly got addicted to gambling and couldn't stop from then on. In just a few months, he owed your Laicai Casino a huge amount of money. Is that true?"

"Yes, yes." Zhu Laicai nodded cautiously, but he breathed a sigh of relief and regained some of his playful smile. "That's true, but you know, I'm open for business. I can't kick him out if Erjiezi wants to come in, right? Besides, that guy is not a good guy. Honest? Oh, when your pockets are cleaner than your face, you can only be honest... He came to my place to gamble, and he was lucky for a while and won some money, but guess what happened?"

He was a person of unreliable character to begin with. After the initial shock passed, he talked about those romantic affairs with a lewd look in his eyes. He smiled foolishly and said, "It was drizzling that night, and my gambling house didn't have much business, so I thought I'd go back and rest early. But when I passed by an alley, I saw that guy flirting with a girl with a big tongue. When the girl refused, he threw banknotes at her. Tsk! I still remember the lewd look of that rich and arrogant guy."

Xu Chengjin was stunned for a moment, "What happened next? You just left?"

“How could that be possible!” Zhu Laicai became more and more excited as he spoke. He waved his hand and said passionately, “I know that girl! The girl from Zhang the butcher’s family has already been betrothed to someone from the next village. That kid got drunk and acted like a fool! How could I not save him? They got married last month, and I even sat at the head table! So, brother, this guy was honest when he had no money, there was nothing we could do about it… But after that, this kid’s luck never got better. He lost everything in a few days and had to borrow money from me. God has been merciful, I guess!”

He looks so carefree and doesn't seem to be lying.

Yuan Ge stroked the silver coins in his hand, raised his eyebrows and chuckled, "So, you are more kind than Wang Erjie?"

"Of course!" Zhu Laicai patted his chest and smiled, enthusiastic and proud. "To be honest, young lady, although I am not a good person, I am also an open and honest person! The concubines in my room are all willing, and I didn't force them at all! You say, I keep a woman who is unwilling and even hates me by my side, who knows if she will poison my food and drink and I will die directly, what do you think I want, right?"

This sounds very sobering.

Yuan Ge smiled and shook her head. With her smile, Zhu Laicai finally let out a breath of relief. He also grinned at Yuan Ge, but his eyes were still on the silver coins in Yuan Ge's hand. He leaned back slightly - this little girl looked like she had a kind face but a cruel heart, so it would be better to be careful and avoid her.

Yuan Ge played with the silver coins and asked, "During that time, were there any strangers around Wang Erjie? Or, in other words, were there people who rarely interacted with him before, but became frequent friends during that period?"

"How would I know..." Zhu Laicai thought for a while, "Miss, you can see that I usually stay in the backyard, and I will only go over to take care of things if something goes wrong in front. I only remember Wang Erjie clearly because he owes a lot of money. As for the people around him... well, you don't say! It's the butcher Zhang's family! There is also a good-for-nothing kid named Goudan in the butcher Zhang's family! That kid likes to steal and cheat on weekdays. All the neighbors here know his character, so he has always been alone. It was during that period that I saw Erjiezi coming to my gambling house with him a few times, and then I saw them leave together. I wonder if this counts as the people who 'frequently play together' as the girl said?"

Of course it counts.

Yuan Ge went out of the door holding a whole tray of silver ingots - Mr. Zhu, who felt that he had "survived a disaster", waved his hand and asked someone to bring a tray of silver ingots to make new friends, and hoped that the other party would come to the gambling house often in the future to lose back the silver he had given out. He seemed to have forgotten his previous excuse that he had no cash on hand, and he personally sent the two of them out of the door with enthusiasm and courtesy, and then wiped the cold and sticky feeling from his forehead embarrassedly.

……

Goudan is certainly not the real name of Zhang the Butcher's beloved son, but Zhang Goudan has been committing many evil deeds over the years, and the people in the town have long been complaining about him. As time went by, everyone only knew of the butcher Zhang's son Goudan, but had long forgotten Goudan's real name.

It was not difficult to find Goudan. Butcher Zhang's shop was located on the east side of the town, with fresh pig's trotters hanging in front of the shop. Ever since Butcher Zhang's daughter got married, the widower Zhang had lived with Goudan. According to Zhu Laicai, the relationship between the father and son was not good. Although they saw each other every day, they were just strangers living under the same roof. You ignored me and I ignored you, maintaining a kind of distant peace.

Butcher Zhang had a habit of opening his shop in the first half of the day and playing mahjong with a few regular friends in the afternoon. Usually, Goudan had just gotten up at this time. When the two of them found Butcher Zhang's house, they saw a sloppy young man standing by the stove in the corner, hunched over, looking for something to eat.

Butcher Zhang's family had no shortage of money, and their conditions were pretty good in the town, but the man in front of them was skinny, wearing a linen shirt that was obviously too big for him and so dirty that you couldn't tell its original color, and had a head of hair like a chicken coop. When he heard the noise, he turned around and blurted out a question, but when he saw Yuan Ge, he suddenly took a detour and asked, "Dinner...you guys, are you here to buy meat? My father is not here, so come tomorrow!" After that, he waved his hand, turned his back, and ignored the two of them at all.