Chapter 3: Wanting to be a Private Detective

  Hualang saw that his sister was so clever, he knew he couldn't deceive her and this matter would eventually come to light anyway. After some consideration, Hualang told the truth.

  After Dà Huā Láng revealed the true situation, Huā Wǎn ér was suddenly surprised and said: "You and Zhōu Tíng have broken off your engagement?"

  Hualang nodded: "That's right, I have no feelings for Zhou Ting, and canceling the engagement is beneficial to both of us!"

  "Can...can this be the marriage arranged by grandfather? How can you cancel the engagement?" Hua Wan'er stared at Hua Lang, for a moment seemingly unable to accept that this was reality.

  Hualang heard this and curiously asked: "Is this a marriage arranged by grandfather?"

  Hua Wan'er nodded: "That's right, Grandfather and Zhou Ting's grandfather were sworn brothers. They used to be officials in the imperial court. Grandfather was a military general, while Zhou Ting's grandfather was a civil official. Because the imperial court valued civil officials over military ones, Grandfather's career wasn't very smooth. By Father's generation, they had fallen back into the butcher's line of work. Although Zhou Ting's grandfather didn't rise to high ranks, he still worked in the imperial court. The two of them had agreed early on that if their children and grandchildren had a boy and a girl, they would be married as a family alliance. This engagement between you and Zhou Ting was actually arranged by Grandfather when he was dying, with Zhou Ting's grandfather!"

  Hua Wannier finished speaking, but felt that something was off, yet couldn't quite put her finger on what it was. She looked up at Hua Lang and suddenly understood, saying: "Brother, Father should have told you about this matter, why are you still asking me?" After Hua Wannier said this, she felt even more that her brother had changed, no longer being so wooden and book-smart, but there were some things he just couldn't seem to remember.

  Hualang saw this and hurriedly smiled: "How could brother not know, brother just focused on reading books and forgot some details."

  After Hua Lang finished speaking, Hua Wan'er sighed and said: "Now that your engagement with Zhou Ting has been called off, I don't know what to do if Father finds out about this!"

  Hua Wan'er's sigh was beautiful, so naturally beautiful that it didn't need any embellishment. Hua Lang looked at her in a daze, and finally smiled faintly: "Then I won't tell Father, let's just keep it hidden for as long as we can."

  It's the best we can do under the circumstances.

  Later that night, Hua Wanyi cooked some dishes to eat. Since they had money now, the food was much better than before. When Hua Xingyi saw those dishes, his face changed instantly. He propped himself up from bed and asked sternly: "Where did you get the money to buy these things?"

  It's just some pork and chicken with vegetables, nothing strange for Hua Lang, but in Hua Xiangyue's eyes, having this kind of meal at home is too abnormal.

  Seeing her father like this, Hua Wanyou hastily comforted him, saying: "Brother saw that Father was seriously ill and needed some good food to nourish his body, so he went to borrow some silver coins. Father shouldn't blame him, hurry up and eat!"

  "Silver is really borrowed?" Flower Hung Ngai looked at Flower Lang, seemingly disbelieving.

  Hualang smiled slightly and said: "Of course it's borrowed, Father, please rest assured, after a few days when your body is better, I will go out to earn money to pay them back."

  Hua Xingyi looked at Hualang for a long time, then sighed and said: "A gentleman loves wealth, but must obtain it in a proper way. It's not that Father is overly suspicious, it's just that he doesn't want you to take the wrong path because of my illness."

  This sentence contained too much love, and after hearing it, the young man's eyes couldn't help but become moist. He helped his old father up and said, "Father, rest assured, your son is not a petty thief."

  After some persuasion, Hua Xingyi finally put his mind at ease and had dinner with Hualang and Huawan'er.

  From then on, Hualang dared not to spend money lavishly anymore. Each time, he would only take out some money to buy medicine, fearing that his father would say that he loved money and obtained it in an improper way.

  These days, Hua Xingyi's body has improved a lot, and he can already get out of bed and move around. From time to time, he goes to the courtyard to sharpen his butcher knife, and tells Hua Lang that once his body is fully recovered, he will hurry up and slaughter dogs to sell for money to repay debts.

  For this matter, Hua Lang was also very helpless. Now that he had money but couldn't spend it, it was really a troublesome thing. He thought to himself, if possible, should he do something to make money and slowly make those funds public?

  What can he do? In his past life, he only learned to solve cases and crack them, but had no idea about business. Although he liked literature and poetry, it was just a facade. Wanting to achieve something in the imperial examination is simply impossible.

  After some deliberation, Hua Lang decided to do what he was good at and become a private investigator.

  Is there a future in being a private detective during the Song Dynasty?

  The common people here, if they have grievances, often go to the county government office to file a complaint. If a murder case occurs, the government office will quickly send a detective to investigate. As a small person, who would come to find oneself to handle affairs?

  Thinking of this, Hua Lang suddenly felt a bit depressed in his heart, so he thought of going out for a walk to see if there was anything suitable for him to do.

  It was the time when the sun was setting in the west, although there was still some residual heat, it had cooled down a bit. The streets of Tianchang County were bustling with people coming and going, which was the most lively moment of the day.

  The young man wandered aimlessly on the street, feeling extremely bored. He thought of taking out his savings to do business, and with his extraordinary mind, even if he didn't understand commerce, he should be able to make a fortune.

  As he thought so, Hualang hurriedly went to the Guandi Temple, but as soon as he walked into a secluded alley, he was suddenly surrounded by three people. The three men were all sinister and evil-looking, and Hualang didn't recognize any of them. After surrounding Hualang, they burst out laughing in an eerie manner.

  While they were laughing so loudly, Hua Lang kept himself calm and asked coldly: "Who are you people, what do you want to block my way?"

  After the three men stopped laughing, one of them suddenly pulled out a knife from behind his back and pointed it at Hua Lang, saying: "If you know what's good for you, hand over the silver quickly. Otherwise, don't blame us for being impolite."

  The big man shouted angrily, but the flower gentleman just smiled lightly: "You guys are really good at joking, I'm poor and only have this set of clothes, where's the money? Are you looking for the wrong person?"

  Hualang said it lightly, as if he were a poor guy, but the three big men didn't believe him at all. The big man who had just spoken sneered and said: "You don't have money, who are you kidding? A few days ago when you came out of the county government office, what was in your arms, wasn't it money?"

  After hearing the big man's words, Hua Lang was shocked. Who else knew that he had received money from Zhou Si Ping except for Zhou Si Ping and the two doormen? How did these three men know about it?