“Mm! Emily, all this money is for your dowry! No matter which young man you fancy, Grandpa will make the decision for you.”

Seeing Emily's anxious and uncertain expression, Mr. White naturally understood his daughter's thoughts.

“Grandpa!”

Emily immediately pouted in protest.

Mr. White seemed to suddenly remember something, his brows furrowing for no apparent reason, but when he saw his daughter’s lovestruck look, he could only pretend nothing was wrong and smile.

……

“Tsk, Mr. White really struck it rich this time. We all searched for so many days, so why does he get to take so much for himself? Sheriff Lewis, shouldn’t we squeeze the Bai family a bit? I think his daughter looks pretty fresh—would be just right to bring her back as a concubine, tsk tsk.”

A loafer who had helped search for Little Thompson looked at the Bai father and daughter with envy, jealousy, and even drooling, taking the chance to egg on the town’s Sheriff Lewis.

An official’s mouth has two sides: one eats the emperor’s grain, the other feeds on the people’s fat. If they could get a cut of those three hundred strings of copper coins, they’d surely pocket a few more for themselves.

Who would have thought that Sheriff Lewis, the official in charge of military and policing affairs in Xiyan Town, would simply lift his foot and kick the guy to the ground, angrily shouting, “Get lost! You think you can mess with Mr. White? With your scrawny frame, you’re not even a match for Emily White’s slap! If you want to die, go do it yourself! Don’t drag others in!”

With a cold snort, he turned and left, not even bothering to register for the reward.

That scoundrel—just looking at him was infuriating!

“Pah! Pah! What’s wrong with the constable today?”

Caught off guard and eating dirt, the loafer spat out mud and sand, confused as he climbed up from the ground.

“You idiot, you dare provoke Mr. White? Tired of living, are you?”

“Stay away, don’t get us in trouble!”

“Exactly, exactly, hanging around with this guy will only dirty our reputation.”

A group of loafers scattered as if avoiding the plague, keeping their distance.

But someone kind-hearted gave him a tip.

Half a year ago, a group of Baidi from the wild Xushu Kingdom came to town to do business. The nomadic Di people were all burly and thick-waisted, with fierce faces and loud, rough voices. Somehow, they suddenly caused a ruckus in town.

Before Sheriff Lewis and his constables could arrive, something happened that nearly made everyone’s jaws drop.

More than twenty of those Baidi were knocked down on the spot, all with broken arms and legs, and in the end, they had to hire a big cart to flee Xiyan Town in disgrace, never to return.

And the one who started it all was none other than the delicate young lady of the Bai family, who finished the job in less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.

The guy who tried to stir up Sheriff Lewis finally realized he was in danger, and quickly slipped away, not even bothering to claim the reward.

Compared to his own life, what are two strings of coins worth? The answer was obvious.

……

The small town’s stone-paved street had just been sprinkled with water by the shopkeepers on both sides, leaving it damp and keeping the dust down. The Thompson Father and Son walked down the street, followed by a group of servants and tenants, making for quite an impressive procession.

“Look! Little Thompson is back!”

“What luck! I thought he’d been dragged off by wild beasts or monsters!”

“Wasn’t he the one peeping through the window at the tofu beauty bathing that night?”

“Who else? The whole west side of town was in an uproar that night, and Little Thompson disappeared the next day. It must have been him.”

“Such a scoundrel! The good name of the The Thompson Family has been ruined!”

On the way home with David Thompson, John Thompson noticed the whispers and pointing around him, apparently related to his mysterious appearance at the foot of Kunlun Mountain.

He was sure that David Thompson heard it too, but this Grandpa just held his head high and strode forward, as if all the gossip was about someone else’s son.

Is this really okay?

“Fresh tofu! Fresh tofu! White and tender tofu! Made fresh this morning—great for cold dishes, soups, fragrant and tender…”

A cry rang out ahead, the voice soft and charming, conjuring up the image of a beautiful, mature woman in one’s mind.

Several young men were gathered in front of the tofu shop, laughing and making lewd jokes, clearly interested in more than just the tofu—they were eyeing the seller as well.

As soon as they saw The Thompson Father and Son, the hawking stopped abruptly. A beautiful woman with a blue-dyed headscarf and no makeup stared in surprise, then her face turned cold. She put down the brass tofu cutter, went to the door, and started to pull the door shut.

David Thompson suddenly stopped, looked at the beautiful woman closing the door, and said something that left John Thompson utterly dumbfounded.

“Look, that’s the tofu beauty. Son, if you like her, one day I’ll help you tie her up, strip her naked so you can look all you want—but you’re not allowed to touch her. The seed of a good son from our family can only be sown in the daughters of good families. Back in the day, your father led three hundred brothers to sweep across eight hundred li of Guanzhong, roamed the jianghu for decades—who dared say a word against us? All the heroes had to admit defeat. Our The Thompson Family is a family of status. As for a widow who brings bad luck to her husbands, hmph!”

Imposing! Overbearing! No explanation needed!

The dumbfounded John simply couldn’t believe his ears—he must have opened the world the wrong way.