usenovelonline Chapter 204 : Rules of the Jianghu
Chapter 204 : Rules of the Jianghu
Chapter 204: Rules of the Jianghu
“Yuan Jie, forget it, forget it, calm down, calm down, let’s not stoop to her level.”
In the office, Lin Mo patted Yuan Jie’s back to soothe her, afraid that his money patron might so lose her temper she would faint.
She had come to give him money — if anything went wrong, how could he explain it to Mrs. Jiang, how could he live up to Old Comrade Yuan’s trust? More importantly, the person and the price were at stake!
Having done an internship before, Lin Mo had learned one thing: the one who paid the money was the client. Who had ever not bowed to the client?
“What do you mean ‘forget it’? This is too much bullying — I’m going to fight her,” Yuan Jie said, brandishing a short peach-wood sword in one hand and a yellow talisman in the other, looking ready to go to war with the Rushuang Empress.
But Liu Rushuang sat calmly in her chair, propping her chin with one hand and smiling, “Who told you to call me a demon, huh? The boys like your brother all think that way — making a mountain out of a molehill. Don’t be upset about being a little odd; even being a little odd can be cute!”
Yuan Jie: →_→
Lin Mo: .
Hearing that, Lin Mo felt a chill and thought this was bad. He immediately let go, took two steps back and gave a strained laugh, “Yuan Jie, let me explain. I really didn’t say that. It was Wang Chu and Sichuan Girl who said it. I’m just a gullible friend — no, I was wronged!”
“Where are those two? I’ll go deal with them,” Yuan Jie said in a low voice.
Although she no longer shouted, her state made it obvious her anger meter was full. They said like begets like — this was just too much of a mismatch.
Liu Rushuang’s remark had been a dimensionality-reducing strike against Yuan Jie; calling her “a little odd” had already flustered Yuan Jie.
If Wang Chu and the other man had been on the scene now, those two would have had to become invisible to escape unscathed.
“Uh, let’s see… Sichuan Girl already got in a car to go home, Wang Chu probably left with my class monitor,” Lin Mo whispered.
“Heh—” Yuan Jie snorted coldly. “So that leaves only you, huh?”
“No, no, we’re on the same side. I didn’t say it. We’re brothers, we have loyalty!” Lin Mo hurried to explain.
He did not want to take the blame for those two idiots, but he feared trickery. Sure enough, in the next second Liu Rushuang opened her mouth.
“Men are all the same, right, little brother? Do you like someone who looks cute and lovable, or someone like me with curves?”
No sooner had she spoken than Lin Mo felt two murderous stares land on him.
“Ahem ahem, I’m going to pee!” he blurted, trying to get up to leave the battlefield, but the next second a peach-wood short sword was pressed at his neck.
“Speak up, I want to hear,” Yuan Jie sneered.
Lin Mo laughed nervously to bolster his courage. “Of course I like the cute type! Look at Sichuan Girl — you’re looking at Wang Chu, aren’t you? Aren’t all my friends that kind? And, for example, Yuan Jie, we’re bros, right?”
Nonsense — his life was in their hands. Of course he would tell them what they wanted to hear!
Yuan Jie’s mood softened at his words, but Liu Rushuang immediately added, “Don’t change the subject, little brother. I didn’t mean friends — I meant the romantic kind between a man and a woman. If it were you, what would you prefer?”
At that, Yuan Jie’s eyes sharpened again.
Lin Mo glanced at the Rushuang Empress and thought: if she wanted him dead, she might as well say so directly.
Now Yuan Jie’s expression made it impossible to say he preferred the cute type without sounding insincere; but saying he liked the buxom type would be courting death — either way was a dead end.
In the end, helpless, Lin Mo sighed and said, “I liked obedient girls, but I couldn’t resist those who were flirtatious — both sides were appealing!”
Yuan Jie: .
Rushuang Empress: ???
“Drop dead!”
Liu Rushuang took that as her cue, flung the cushion from under her and smacked it squarely on Lin Mo’s forehead.
“Hahaha, although you didn’t give the answer I wanted, I still liked that answer,” Yuan Jie laughed, patting Lin Mo on the shoulder.
There was no helping it — as long as Liu Rushuang was put in her place, Yuan Jie was happy; it was an ingrained habit from years of mutual targeting.
Liu Rushuang hadn’t even put on her shoes; she ran over and pinched him twice to vent, then after a while she spoke again.
“You’re saying you got a chunk of ink and a box of seal paste from somewhere and sold them to Uncle Yuan for two million?”
Lin Mo nodded. “Actually Uncle Yuan added a bit himself; the stuff probably wasn’t worth that much.”
“That’s right. My mom really liked Mozi — I don’t know what spell he cast on her. From what my dad said, those two items were worth over a million, though they didn’t say exactly how much.
I guessed it might be related to the two times Mozi went to give my grandfather massages; they couldn’t keep bothering him for nothing, right?”
It had to be said — Yuan Jie was very clever; with a little thought she guessed one of the reasons.
She had seen Lin Mo sweating after massaging her grandfather and then the elder’s relieved expression afterward, so she felt no trouble about her parents pooling money for Lin Mo.
After hearing the two, Liu Rushuang looked at Lin Mo with a slight pout and said resentfully, “I can do that sort of thing too, you know?”
“Originally, I wanted to find you, but who told you to run so fast that day,” Lin Mo glared at him.
Yuan Jie: “Who ran away?”
Liu Rushuang’s pretty face flushed slightly. “Ahem, nothing, giving it to Uncle Yuan was good too. I’ll wait for next time.”
Although she could have tricked Yuan Meng as well, hiding it for one more day was one more day earned — revealing it early only added risk. Besides, how could she admit that she rewarded people with her feet?
“Oh right, Sichuan Girl is famous now. The pair of hands in yesterday’s livestream — that was you, right?”
Suddenly, Yuan Jie spoke up.
“You found out too?” Lin Mo smiled and nodded.
Yuan Jie put her hands on her hips. “Of course! We’re buddies! The day we met, I followed her account.
Last night, the first person to send you a big gift was me. This lady spent twenty thousand all at once to boost your popularity. Tell Sichuan Girl later — the rich lady’s money must be fully returned, and the commoners’ money, we split seventy-thirty!”
Lin Mo: Σ(⊙▽⊙“a
“Strategist? Was it you, Strategist!?”
Even now, that classic movie’s cultural value was still on the rise — it should be nominated for heritage protection soon, or the Koreans would snatch it up.
That said, Yuan Jie’s approach was effective. If what she said was true, she indeed contributed to last night’s sudden surge in popularity. Otherwise, how could it have increased so fast?
By giving gifts and drawing traffic, more people could see the stream — and naturally, more would be attracted.
“What are you two talking about?” Liu Rushuang asked, a little puzzled.
Although she had seen Sichuan Girl’s account, she usually didn’t watch livestreams — at most short videos — and she hadn’t checked any today, so she had no idea what happened.
“You don’t even know?” Yuan Jie was momentarily surprised, since it had been quite a trending topic today. She immediately took out her phone, tapped open a few clips, and showed them to Liu Rushuang with a grin.
“Before, I remember your drawing speed wasn’t this fast. And your hands — why do they look different now?
I don’t even understand what’s going on in those women’s heads in the chat. What’s so exciting about a pair of hands, huh?”
Yuan Jie muttered in confusion, while the Rushuang Empress, staring at the screen, seemed to think of something, and a faint blush crept up her cheeks.
“Eh? Why are you blushing?” Yuan Jie asked curiously after noticing her look.
At her words, Liu Rushuang was startled, and quickly reacted, “Ah? No, no, maybe it’s just a bit hot in here.
But really, I didn’t expect your hands to be this nimble, little brother.”
As she spoke, she reached out her index finger and traced it lightly across the back of Lin Mo’s hand.
“Of course they’re nimble! The netizens are calling them ‘Happy Fingers of the Rich Lady’— ridiculous,” Yuan Jie said disdainfully.
Liu Rushuang chuckled softly. “You’re still young; you don’t understand the value of these hands, young people these days.”
“Who says I don’t understand! Those women are all no good — their minds are full of dirty thoughts, disgusting! Hmph!” Yuan Jie spat.
Liu Rushuang: “Hey! Why are you insulting people like that!”
Lin Mo: .
Yuan Jie: .
“Ahem, I mean, you’re right to scold them, I think the same,” Liu Rushuang said with a guilty laugh.
Then Liu Rushuang decided to ask Lin Mo to draw sketch portraits for her and Yuan Jie as well. For such a small request, Lin Mo naturally had no objection — he had never planned to hide his talent anyway.
Soon, Secretary Xiao Tian brought over the sketching tools. Watching Lin Mo’s fingers move quickly across the paper, leaving faint shadows, the two women had quite different reactions.
Yuan Jie exclaimed, “Damn, awesome, awesome!”
Rushuang Empress stayed silent, only pressing her legs together, her gaze fixed on Lin Mo’s hands.
In less than ten minutes, two portraits were freshly completed — one of childhood, and one ten years later.
Liu Rushuang ten years later looked almost exactly the same as now — anyone would think Lin Mo had drawn her current appearance.
But her childhood self had a bit of baby fat on her cheeks — the little softness was clearly visible.
“Wow~~ this is amazing, little brother! You must be exhausted; come, rest your hands, let big sister massage them for you.”
Liu Rushuang glanced at the sketches. Though they were lifelike, not so much as to make her gasp — but those hands, those hands were worth it.
As she spoke, she eagerly took one of Lin Mo’s hands into hers, gently massaging his fingers.
Before, Lin Mo had been the one shamelessly reaching to hold Liu Rushuang’s hand; now, it was completely reversed — offense and defense had switched.
Slap!
With a sharp sound, Liu Rushuang’s hand was smacked away by Yuan Jie. “Hey hey hey, talk if you want, but don’t touch! I’m seriously starting to suspect that you’re that ‘Blooming Wealth’ from last night’s livestream!”
“‘Blooming Wealth’? That’s the same username as my mom’s,” Liu Rushuang said with a pout.
Meanwhile, in the villa of Liu Rushuang’s parents, Mrs. Cheng was scrolling through short videos, laughing out loud.
She hadn’t expected that at her age, simply sending a few gifts in a livestream could land her on the trending page.
She’d just been bored yesterday and happened to stumble upon someone livestreaming art. The pair of hands were quite attractive and fast too. Although she couldn’t see the young man’s face, just from those hands she could tell he had strength — so she casually sent some gifts.
At first, she hadn’t planned to send much. But there was another woman in the chat who kept goading her — whenever she tipped, the other would tip more. Naturally, that led to some impulsive spending.
When she woke up today and saw that the livestream she watched had gone viral, and her username was known by many, she found it rather amusing.
Since Lin Mo had made money from it, he naturally had to treat them to a meal. At noon, after Liu Rushuang finished work, the three of them went out for a big meal.
It wasn’t as expensive as last time, but still cost more than three thousand yuan. Luckily, Lin Mo was now a small-time rich man, so he didn’t mind — after all, wool comes from the sheep’s back.
“I’m off then, see you after National Day!” Yuan Jie waved her hand, then sped away in her car.
Her family had travel plans for the holiday, so of course, she wouldn’t stay home.
After Yuan Jie left, Liu Rushuang glanced at Lin Mo and said, “So, little brother, now that we’ve eaten, should we go watch a movie, or head home? It’s your call — I’ll go with whatever. Don’t worry, I know the rules of the Jianghu!”
Lin Mo: ???
“What do you mean by that? You still want me to treat you to a movie? Trying to milk me further? Go home! Do you know how hard I work for my money!”
Liu Rushuang: →_→
“Forget it, just get in the car.”
He’s still young, she told herself. Still young. He doesn’t understand. I won’t get mad. I won’t stoop to his level.
Liu Rushuang silently comforted herself in her heart.
But as soon as Lin Mo got into the car, he received a solid punch to his ribs.
“Cheap shot!” Lin Mo grimaced, clutching his side in pain.
Liu Rushuang: “You’d better keep your mouth shut — before I really lose my temper!”
Lin Mo: .
She could flip her mood in an instant — truly a woman with no sense of martial virtue!