My Fantastic Chef Wife

386. He Knows He Is Wrong

Translator: Tracycbj

In the face of money and power, many people would easily get lost and take the wrong path.

Ye Xiaoxian asked Xiao Tongshu, “Do you have enough money to pay off his debt?”

Xiao Tongshu said, “No. We have forty or fifty taels of silver in from the account and we need the money to buy the ingredients for the next month. There are daily expenses to be covered. If we give them the money, we will have nothing left.”

Ye Xiaoxian thought for a moment before saying, “Okay. I’ll go with you.”

…

When Ye Xiaoxian arrived, Xiao Tieshu had finished hitting Xiao Baocheng.

Xiao Baocheng was beaten badly, but he didn’t dare to complain because of his guilt. He sat on the bench in dismay, his head hanging down. Xiao Tieshu was panting next to him. Wang Mudan felt a mixture of anger and pity with Xiao Baocheng, but she could do nothing about it. She was freaked out by the heavy debt.

When Wang Mudan saw Ye Xiaoxian coming, she seemed to see the hope. She pointed at Ye Xiaoxian and said to the men, “Do you see who has come? This is Mrs. Xiao, the wife of Xiao Baoshan.”

She wanted to intimidate the men with the identity of the general’s wife

However, the creditors didn’t buy it. Collecting money was their job.

The leader of the men said, “We are here to collect the money. According to the law, even the Emperor has to pay back his debt if there is any. We heard that General Xiao is an honest man. He won’t allow his cousin to deny the debt, will he?”

Wang Mudan said, “We will pay for the debt, but you have gone too far. How could a few visits to your brothel cost over two hundred taels of silver? You…”

Ye Xiaoxian interrupted Wang Mudan at this moment, “Aunt, please stop. We haven’t investigated the matter yet.”

Wang Mudan stopped talking and looked at Ye Xiaoxian.

Ye Xiaoxian looked at the leader of the men, “Can I look at the IOU?”

The man handed the IOU to Ye Xiaoxian. “Don’t tear it up. Even if you tear it up, we have a copy.”

“Of course, I won’t do that. We will pay off the debt. We won’t tear it up.”

Ye Xiaoxian took the strip and looked at it carefully. She returned it to the man and asked, “Could you please tell me how he owed you so much money?”

The man explained, “He came to our brothel with several rich young men many times. The rich young men took turns to pay for the bill. When it was Mr. Xiao’s turn to pay, he said he didn’t have the money. Our procuress asked him to leave. Two days later, he came again and asked for Xiaohong. He stayed with her for two hours and had some drinks.

Mrs. Xiao, our brothel is not an unlicensed place. It’s the most famous brothel with the highest expense. It costs a man only one or two taels of silver to visit the small brothels and he will spend twenty or thirty taels of silver on those brothels in the east of the city. However, it costs one or two hundred taels of silver at our brothel to sleep for a night and everyone knows about it. Before Mr. Xiao entered our brothel, we told him about the expense, but he insisted on visiting our place. Are we to be blamed if he owes the money? We are not doing charity.”

The man explained clearly, and Ye Xiaoxian heard it clearly.

She looked at Wang Mudan and Xiao Tieshu. “Uncle, Aunt, do you know now how Baocheng owed the debt?”

In this era, brothels were legal. They ran the business with a clear price list. The brothel should not be blamed when Xiao Baocheng pretended to be a rich man.

Xiao Tieshu said, “I heard it clearly. How can I not know? I asked this bastard not to hang out with the rich young men, but he didn’t listen to me. His mother encouraged him to befriend the rich men. What happened?”

Wang Mudan asked in a trembling voice, “Little Ye, what should we do now? We don’t have so much money. You…you have to help Baocheng. He is Baoshan’s cousin.”

Ye Xiaoxian stifled her anger and said, “Aunt, didn’t I help you a lot? I helped you open the restaurant and I bought you the house. I asked you many times to act cautiously and do solid work. Did you listen to me? Now that you owe so much money, you ask me to help you. How many times do I have to help you?”

“Well…” Wang Mudan complained in tears, “Baozhu married a good man, but Baocheng, Baoyang, and Baoxue have to be commoners. I feel upset, so I want Baocheng to make friends with the rich young men.”

Ye Xiaoxian grew angrier. “Aunt, everyone has his own destiny, and others can’t interfere. You think Baozhu is married to a good man, but you forget the hardship she suffered before. It was her fate to marry a good man. Has Baocheng ever suffered any hardship? Does he know how to earn his own living? Have you taught him to be a decent man? His capabilities are not matching his ambition.”

“Are you going to be jealous of Baofeng since you are jealous of Baozhu now? Baofeng is studying hard, and he will be a government official. Why can he take that path? It’s because of his efforts and our support. How about you? Has Baocheng ever worked hard? Have you urged him to study hard as his parents? You did nothing. You want to make your success by befriending the rich young men. You are dreaming. Even if he manages to make friends with them, he will be discarded because of his incompetence. You are crazy if you are jealous of Baoshan. He is a good fighter. Are you? He risks his life for our country and he almost died several times. Can you do that? If you can’t, don’t be jealous that he is favored by the emperor or envy what he has.”

Wang Mudan blushed, feeling ashamed.

Xiao Tieshu scolded Wang Mudan, “I told you. You have spoiled our son.”

After Ye Xiaoxian spoke, she looked at the family. “By the way, you need to understand why you could come to the capital city. If it were not Baoshan, you would be staying in the tribe. It’s not easy for Baoshan to stay in the city. He looks glorified, but many people hate him and want to take him down. As his family, you can’t cause trouble and put him in a difficult position.”

Ye Xiaoxian turned to look at the men. “Is there any rule in your brothel that says what to do when someone can’t pay off his debt?”

The leader of the men said, “Yes, of course. We should take away the valuable items from the house. If there isn’t any, we should cut off his hands and legs.”

Xiao Tieshu, Wang Mudan, and Xiao Baocheng instantly panicked.

The money was shared by the two families. If the men took it, they couldn’t run the restaurant.

Did they have to give away the restaurant?

Xiao Tieshu and Wang Mudan could only beg Ye Xiaoxian again, “Little Ye, can you help us think of a way? This restaurant is the only valuable thing we have. We worked hard to earn the forty or fifty tales and we can’t let them take away the money. Tongshu has a share as well.”

Ye Xiaoxian didn’t say anything.

“Little Ye, can’t you help us? If Baocheng’s hands and legs are cut off, we… Who can we count on for the rest of our life? He’s our only son,” Wang Mudan begged Ye Xiaoxian again.

Ye Xiaoxian said, “I can pay off the debt, but I have a condition. You have to conform to it.”

“Please tell us…” Wang Mudan said quickly.

Ye Xiaoxian said, “Baocheng made a mistake, but everyone makes mistakes. I can help him this time, but I can’t help him again and again. He can’t repeat his mistakes. He has to learn from his mistakes. Same with the others. If anyone makes the same mistakes and goes to the brothel and casino, I won’t help you again if the creditors come. My family doesn’t have much money, and the valuable items are gifts from the Emperor. Our money will be used up one day and we can’t keep providing for you. Do you understand?”

Ye Xiaoxian’s words were candid, but they made sense. She had warned them beforehand.

Everyone said, “Got it.”

Wang Mudan said quickly, “Understood. We won’t make any mistakes and get you and Baoshan in trouble.”

“It’s good that you know.” Ye Xiaoxian turned around and said to the men from the brothel, “Follow me. Go to the Xiao mansion and I’ll ask the butler to give you the money.”

…

After Ye Xiaoxian and the men left, the restaurant got quiet.

Xiao Tieshu wanted to beat Xiao Baocheng up again, but he was stopped by the others.

“Brother, it’s over. You have beaten him up. Don’t beat him again. Baocheng knows that he is wrong,” Xiao Tongshu said.

Xiao Tieshu shouted at Xiao Baocheng, “Do you know that you’re wrong?”

Xiao Baocheng nodded.

He felt guilty and ashamed.

The arrival of the men from the brothel scared him. If it wasn’t for Ye Xiaoxian, his hands and legs might have been cut off.

He would feel guilty even if his family agreed to give away the restaurant.

Xiao Tongshu advised Xiao Baocheng again, “Baocheng, go back to your room and take a rest. You have to do more thinking. When something happens to you, your rich friends don’t help you at all. Only our family can help you. Your friends only want to corrupt you. They don’t treat you as their friends. As for the prostitutes in the brothel, they won’t treat you sincerely. They try to get money from your pocket.”

Xiao Baocheng now realized that his uncle was right.

He returned to his room in low spirit and lay down motionlessly.