Chapter 500: Chapter 487: Bad Luck Strikes

“You’re saying, that’s Enji Village up ahead? And Manager Zhuang lives here?” At these words, Hu Da’s face lit up with joy, and his eyes sparkled.

“Indeed, it’s the undeniable truth. He lives right at the entrance of the village. See, that biggest house over there? You can tell he’s wealthy just by looking at it. You won’t go wrong visiting his house!”

Zhao Ziping hastily pointed out the way for the three men.

“Big brother, after all this twisting and turning, it seems we’ve finally found it,” Hu San chuckled to himself.

“Exactly, perseverance always pays off. Even though we’ve taken a roundabout route, we’ve finally found our destination. Not bad at all,” Hu Er also began to laugh, revealing his yellowed teeth, half of his front tooth was even missing.

“Alright, stop grinning like fools. It’s getting late. Do you have everything? If so, let’s get going. We need to report back tomorrow.” Hu Da said, then turned to Zhao Ziping, “Thanks, brother.”

Then he took a step towards Enji Village.

“Yes, yes, let’s go and return quickly, so as not to delay our next venture.”

Hu Er and Hu San chuckled again and hurriedly followed Hu Da.

Report back, a venture?

Should it imply that these three are up to no good?

And by their conversation, it seems like they were planning to target Zhuang Qingning…

Zhao Ziping’s eyes shifted quickly, then he left the trembling Zhao Sanke and Zhao Liu behind, rushing forward to stop the three brothers.

“Gentlemen, please wait a moment.” Zhao Ziping took a few quick steps forward, blocking the path of the Hu brothers.

“Do you need something else?” Hu Da appeared somewhat displeased.

They had already thanked this man and even overlooked his earlier rudeness. And now he was bothering them again, for what?

“Gentlemen, I have a proposition for you,” Zhao Ziping, seeing Hu Da’s impatience, quickly continued, “From your behavior, I assume you have received some work, and are heading to Zhuang Qingning’s house to stir up some trouble?”

“Such a coincidence indeed, I’ve had a grudge against that wench Zhuang Qingning for quite some time, and I’ve been wanting to teach her a lesson. Today I’ve brought along my brothers to help me put her in a sack and give her a good thrashing.”

“Surprisingly, I’ve run into you gentlemen today. Whatever spoils you want from the venture—be it money or people, you can take. But could you leave Zhuang Qingning to me?”

“Honestly, this wench owns a workshop and shop, and she’s pretty well off. I’m sure she has hundreds of taels of silver at home. When the time comes, you gentlemen may take the money as you please, I won’t ask for a penny. Even if you fancy her seven or eight-year-old sister, just take her. As long as you leave Zhuang Qingning to me…”

“Once this matter is resolved, I will furthermore present you with twenty taels of silver each, how about that?”

Zhao Ziping put on a sycophantic smile and expectantly stared at the three Hu Brothers.

Seeing that the brothers exchanged glances but kept silent, Zhao Ziping’s heart sank. He gritted his teeth and offered, “Or how about this, I’ll give each of you fifty taels of silver, as long as you leave that wench for me. Can we make a deal now?”

“So you’re saying, you’re her enemy?” Hu Da’s face darkened, he finally spoke, albeit with difficulty.

“That’s right,” Zhao Ziping nodded vigorously.

“Tonight, you had planned to put her in a sack and beat her?” Hu Da asked further.

“Yes,” Zhao Ziping nodded again, then smirked maliciously, “To be frank, I mainly want to ‘show her some colors’.”

The suggestive undertone in his laugh was evident. Even without asking, it was clear what he meant by ‘show her some colors’.

“Your grandmother’s leg!” Hu Da spat, his clenched fist whizzed through the air and slammed into Zhao Ziping’s cheek.

His sandy fist, exerting his full strength, hit Zhao Ziping’s head with a ‘buzz’. Zhao Ziping fell to the ground and immediately tasted a warm, metallic flavor flowing from his nose and the corner of his mouth.

Zhao Ziping touched his face and found his hand stained with fresh blood.

“Beat the hell out of this son of a bitch!” Hu Da spat, shouting, “Beat him to death!”

Hu Er and Hu San, having heard Hu Da’s order, rolled up their sleeves, clenched their fists, and began to beat Zhao Ziping.”

They kicked and punched continually.

Not only did Zhao Ziping bear the brunt, but his two companions, Zhao Sanke and Zhao Liu, were also brutally beaten.

“Gentlemen, gentlemen.” Zhao Ziping, now utterly disfigured, his nose and face swollen, began to kowtow incessantly to the Hu brothers, “Please spare me, spare me.”

“We can talk things through, if the money’s not enough, just say the word. We can negotiate…”

“At this point, this fool still doesn’t understand why he’s being beaten?” Hu Er scratched his ear, “How is he even stupider than me?”

“If he weren’t that idiotic, could he have spun such a scheme? We were the first ones to run into him, so we’re just beating him up. If he really did go to her house, wouldn’t he get beaten half to death and thrown out by Manager Zhuang?” Hu San sneered.

Speaking of this, they should have just let the three foolish pigs go. It would be fun to see them beaten till they couldn’t recognize their own parents.

“What are you babbling about? Even if Manager Zhuang is skilled, what if she happens to be weak? Who will suffer then? In such matters, it’s always safer to strike first. That’s the only assured way.”

Hu Da shouted.

Even a fool would understand the situation at this point. Needless to say, Zhao Ziping wasn’t that foolish. He was flabbergasted and looked at the three men in disbelief, “Aren’t you here to seek revenge on Zhuang Qingning?”

“Who told you we were here to cause trouble for Manager Zhuang?”

Hu San scoffed, “To be frank with you, we’re not here to cause any trouble. Instead, Manager Zhuang is our benefactor. Today, we finally had some free time. After just finishing an escort job and delivering the goods, we came to pay a visit to Manager Zhuang during our break. We just asked for the wrong direction and couldn’t find Enji Village, where Manager Zhuang lives. We’ve been going around in circles until now.”

So, the ‘report back’ they were referring to was about delivering goods they had escorted safely and not delaying the next escort job?

Zhao Ziping was suddenly as dumbfounded as a stunned hen. He slumped to the ground, overwhelmed.

Initially, seeing the menacing appearances of the three men, he thought he had stumbled upon a stroke of luck, encountering others who harbored hatred against Zhuang Qingning, just like him. He thought that he could take this chance to achieve his goal, and even shift the blame onto these three men, keeping his hands clean.

As it turned out, he hadn’t hit the jackpot; instead, he had run into an out-and-out disaster!