Chapter 65: I Want to Eat Watermelon!
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
After Zhao Yu finished dinner, he sat on the balcony, drinking beer as he thought to himself. The moon was bright that night.
Through the slots of the railing on the balcony, he could see the fruit stand of Da Feng Ge Fruit Co. downstairs. At the moment, the fruit stand was still lit, and Jiang Dafeng was playing chinese chess with an elderly man wearing black-rimmed glasses. The two were chatting idly as they played.
On the far side of the street came a few occasional dog barks. If one listened carefully, they could even hear the dance music from the plaza in front of the supermarket.
Zhao Yu leaned back and gulped down some bear, feeling rather relaxed. Ever since he had become a member of the Key Case Investigation Unit, Zhao Yu had not had a single day of rest. Other than spending all of his energy on the Lost Hand Case, he also had to deal with the various adventures the Miracle System threw at him. His busy life was like a continuously spinning wheel, giving him no rest. He had finally gotten to rest that day.
Lazily slumped in the armchair, Zhao Yu once again started to ponder about the Miracle System. Using the information from his notebook, he gained new understanding about the Miracle System. He realized that on the day Shan Jiaying had given him one-thousand yuan, the hexagram the system gave him was "Dui Zhen (Marsh and Thunder) hexagram." While today, before getting his prize money, the system gave him "Xun Dui (Wind and Marsh) hexagram." Both hexagrams had the word "Dui (Marsh)" in it. Also, he vaguely remembered that the day when he discovered Jiang Xiaoqing’s account theft, and had proceeded to extort five-thousand yuan from her, the system’s hexagram also had "Dui" in it. Zhao Yu felt that the word "Dui" had something to do with money. To confirm his theory, he looked it up online. According to Bagua terminology, "Dui" represented a marsh. Marshes existed in many places with wind and water, and was indeed a sign of wealth.
"Could it be, that when the system shows the "Dui" hexagram, I will get money? If so, then won’t I end up super rich if I keep going like this?" Zhao Yu thought. "But...if I do not deal with it properly, could there also be a risk of losing money?"
Maybe because of his habits from the Lost Hand Case, Zhao Yu wrote down everything from his thoughts and ideas to questions in his little notebook. He felt that if he could analyze the hexagram as carefully as when he was investigating a case, then maybe he could understand the hexagram explanations before long!
"Hey…Jiang, not bad!" The elderly man on the first floor playing chinese chess suddenly started yelling. "Why do you keep checking me? Don’t you have any better ideas?"
"What, Elder Hou! Hehehe…" Jiang Dafeng grinned as he spoke. "You’re much better than me! If I don’t keep checking you, then I’m done for!"
"Get outta here! Heh, but you do have the right idea!" Once Elder Hou finished his bantering, he sighed as he shook his head. "I heard from my wife that you won a lottery at the hospital again?"
"Hah! It was all just luck! Hahaha…" Jiang Dafeng was still carefully pondering his next step in the game, and spoke casually, "Maybe God was looking out for our poor family?"
"I’ve lived a long life, but I’ve never heard of a hospital that did lottery." Elder Hou was very serious. "Dafeng, just be more careful. Don’t meet some kind of scammer again! I heard that you’ve already won the lottery three times. Could it really be all a coincidence?"
The conversation drew Zhao Yu’s attention. He quickly stopped his pondering, and focused his attention on the conversation instead.
"Hey! What are you saying?" Jiang Dafeng slapped at his chest. "I’ve been a businessman for years, how could I not know if I was being scammed? It’s a famous hospital! Besides, I really did get the money! Two sets of ten-thousand, and one five-thousand. They immediately went towards my wife’s hospital fees, how could it be fake? If there really were problems, the hospital would’ve kicked my wife out already!"
"True! True!" Elder Hou thought about it then sighed. "But just be careful! There are just too many bad people in the world these days!"
"Check! Hahaha…" Jiang Dafeng clapped his hand like a child. "Checkmate, checkmate! Today I finally got my revenge, hehehe…"
"Two ten-thousand, one five-thousand?" Zhao Yu thought about it, and finally realized what it meant. Dafeng had been tricked by Jiang Xiaoqing! Zhao Yu had previously thought that when Jiang Xiaoqing tricked Jiang Dafeng, it was only to get him out of the store. But actually, she had tricked him in order to give her dad the money she had made from account theft. The girl was simply a genius!
But since she had gotten ten-thousand yuan the first two times, she had only gotten five-thousand this time, which meant she was missing five-thousand from before. Zhao Yu knew that missing five-thousand yuan had been because of him, and was used to pay his rent.
Thinking this much, Zhao Yu could not help but be a bit uncomfortable. Even though the way in which Jiang Xiaoqing made money was not very noble, it was to save her ill mother. Yet he had extorted money from the little girl, which was against the code of honor of the streets! He swore that he would never take her money again, no matter what!
Now that he was an investigator, Zhao Yu also had to look at the issue from the perspective of his job. After all, Jiang Xiaoqing’s actions were against the law! With someone as intelligent as her, the consequences could be disastrous. If something happened, she could very well end up like Li Dan! But it was okay because after an entire afternoon of pondering and consideration, Zhao Yu had finally come up with a solution to this problem. He only had to talk to the girl.
Coincidentally, Jiang Xiaoqing’s voice came from downstairs. "Dad, I’m done with my homework! Gonna get some fresh air now…"
"Go, go ahead!" Jiang Dafeng had always adored his obedient and smart only child, and usually let her do as she wished. "Just be careful, all your aunties are dancing at the plaza!"
"Oh…" Jiang Xiaoqing replied lazily, and was on her way out of the store when Zhao Yu called from upstairs balcony, "Hey! Kiddo, cut me some watermelon! I want the red ones!"
Zhao Yu’s voice attracted the attention of everyone. Zhao Yu waved furiously at Jiang Xiaoqing as he winked at her over and over, trying to convey his actual meaning.
"Hey, stupid policeman!" Jiang Dafeng hated Zhao Yu to the bone, and raised his head as he yelled back, "Who do you think you are? You want us to cut watermelon then deliver it to your room? Xiaoqing, go play, don’t mind him!"
"F*ck you!" Zhao Yu cursed. "Fatty, it’s not like I’m not paying you! If you don’t get it, I’ll just come down and crash your stand!"
"Huh? Who do you think you are? I won’t…" Jiang Dafeng stood up angrily.
"Hey! Dad, dad, dad…" Jiang Xiaoqing quickly realized Zhao Yu wanted to talk to her, and quickly tried to calm Jiang Dafeng. "It’s just a piece of watermelon. No need to get angry, you guys keep playing. Elder Hou, keep playing! I’ll go, I’ll go…" As she finished, the little girl quickly grabbed a watermelon and ran upstairs towards Zhao Yu.