The siblings turned around and saw a young man with a chestnut silk scarf on his head, dressed in a green pleated robe, with delicate and cunning features, poking his head in and smiling at Henry Walker, “Brother, are you alright?”

Henry Walker hadn’t spoken yet when Grace’s expression changed instantly. She grabbed the broom standing in the corner and shouted at the young man, “Jack Knight, you dare come here again!” With that, she swung the broom to hit him.

Of course, Jack Knight was just a nickname. This guy’s surname was Knight, given name James, and he was very agile, dodging Grace’s broom like a grasshopper, slipping to Henry Walker’s side, grinning cheekily, “A guest has come, sis, instead of serving tea, you’re offering me a broom? That’s not right, is it?”

“Get out of my house!” Grace glared, furious.

“Brother, you need to keep your sister in check.” James Knight said to Henry Walker with a mischievous smile.

“If I were in better shape, I’d have beaten you up already!” Henry Walker snorted coldly, “You’ve got the nerve to show your face here!” This James Knight used to be one of David Walker’s rowdy friends. That day, he and Henry Walker left the gambling den together, but after Henry Walker was ambushed, this guy ran off without a trace, showing no loyalty at all.

“Brother, you know me.” James Knight said with an embarrassed smile, “There were five or six of them, all big burly men. With my skinny arms and legs, if I’d stayed, I’d just have gotten beaten up with you. Following the principle of minimizing losses, I made a quick decision to go get help…”

“Second brother, didn’t you say you’d turn over a new leaf from now on?” Seeing the two of them dragging things out, Grace said anxiously and angrily, “Don’t hang around with these shady people anymore!”

“Sis, you go inside first. I’ll have a few words with him.” Henry Walker smiled at his sister, “Just for a moment.”

“Hmph!” Grace shot Henry Walker a fierce glare and stormed back to her room.

“No wonder she’s Aunt Wang’s daughter—fiery!” As soon as Grace left, James Knight sat down next to Henry Walker, “Brother, I heard you recovered, so I rushed over to see you. I’ve missed you these past six months!”

“You just missed freeloading, didn’t you.” Henry Walker sneered.

“Come on, brother, we do have some feelings for each other.”

“Cut it out.” Henry Walker raised his hand, “I have something I need you to do.”

“Brother, just say it.” James Knight straightened up a bit, seeing Henry Walker seemed genuinely angry.

“Do you remember what the guys who beat me up looked like?”

“I do.” James Knight thought for a moment, “There were six of them, all big and burly, and all unfamiliar faces. They definitely weren’t from our county, otherwise I’d have recognized at least one.” He looked at Henry Walker, “Brother, you’re not thinking of getting revenge, are you?”

“They nearly killed me. If I don’t avenge this, I’m not a man!” Henry Walker said through gritted teeth, “Go to Zhao Village and keep an eye out for me. If you see them, come report immediately!”

“Alright, no problem, that’s my specialty,” James Knight said, but then scratched his cheek and grinned, “But, following the principle of doing what we can, maybe we should just treat them like a fart and let it go…”

Henry Walker didn’t want to waste words with him and cut him off, “Once it’s done, I’ll give you two strings of notes!”

“How new are they?” James Knight stopped trying to dissuade him, but didn’t get too excited either. After all, Ming dynasty paper money had depreciated badly; old notes were worth less than a tenth of their face value, but the newer the note, the more valuable it was—a brand new string could fetch four hundred copper coins.

Henry Walker didn’t waste words either. He pulled out a stack of crisp new notes from his chest, counted out five hundred coins’ worth, and handed them over, “This is your advance.” Before leaving today, Miss Foster had given Henry Walker five strings of money as funds for surveillance. For this kind of lookout job, David Walker’s rowdy friends were far more professional than the The Foster Family’s hired hands.

This was two hundred copper coins! James Knight was drooling. He snatched it up, looked it over and over, then carefully tucked it into his chest, swallowing hard, “The other one and a half strings, are they this new too?”

Henry Walker nodded.

“Just watch me.” James Knight wiped his mouth, stopped talking, and dashed out like a shot!

……

For the next two days, Grace ignored Henry Walker with puffed cheeks, and the rest of the family looked at him the same as before. Henry Walker knew it was because he hadn’t fully recovered, was still hanging out with his old rowdy friends, and was handing out money, making the family completely lose hope in him. But he didn’t want to explain—first, it would only make them worry, and second, he was afraid his mother wouldn’t let him out. Better to let time prove everything.

The more he acted this way, the more his mother opened the door for him and Miss Foster, wishing they’d get married tomorrow so she could kick this hopeless scoundrel to his wife and let her deal with him!

So, after being looked down on by his family for two days, the third day finally arrived. Early in the morning, someone knocked on the door, “Is this Young Walker’s house?”

His mother opened the door to see two sedan chair bearers carrying an empty bamboo litter, saying they’d come to take Young Walker to the dock. The so-called bamboo litter was just a chair tied between two bamboo poles—the simplest version of a sedan chair.

Without another word, his mother and Edward Walker each took an arm and helped Henry Walker outside.

“Mom, do you have any message for Dad?” Henry Walker asked.

“Tell him to hurry up and die, so I can remarry!” At the mention of his father, his mother fumed. The two bearers, frightened, quickly carried Henry Walker out of the alley at a run.