Chapter 31: The fastest and easiest way to make money

**Volume 1: First Steps into Another World**

The man sneered, "You truly are a forgetful noble, aren't you? I am Plum Blossom Thirteen. We gambled together before. Have you forgotten so quickly?"

"Plum Blossom Thirteen!" Zu An recalled Plum Blossom Twelve mentioning him. He was the most powerful of Mei Chaofeng's thirteen adopted sons, having already reached the third rank.

The thought was a bit galling; it seemed everyone had a higher cultivation level than him. He also marveled at how suicidal the previous owner of this body had been, actually associating with such people for gambling.

"Where's my twelfth brother?" Plum Blossom Thirteen asked in a deep voice.

"Twelfth brother? Why are you asking me?" Zu An immediately distanced himself, simultaneously curious why the man had sought him out so quickly.

"Don't play dumb with me. Someone saw him leave the city with you. Why has he still not been heard from?" Plum Blossom Thirteen said coldly.

"Oh, right, I remember him now," Zu An's mind raced. "Not long after he and I left the city, we ran into someone named Tan. He went after them, and we separated. I don't know what happened after that."

"Tan? Could it be Tan Wei, that traitor?" Plum Blossom Thirteen mused.

Zu An said, "Since that's settled, I have urgent business to attend to." If the person had been the charming female assassin from "Scissor Seven," perhaps he would have been interested in chatting a bit longer. But he had no time for a fierce, scarred, unpleasant man.

"Wait!" Plum Blossom Thirteen grabbed his shoulder.

From the force on his shoulder, Zu An immediately judged the man's strength to be far greater than his own. He suppressed the urge to strike. "What else do you need?"

Plum Blossom Thirteen pulled a piece of paper from his robe. "Time's almost up. Shouldn't you settle your gambling debt?"

"What? Gambling debt?" Zu An looked utterly confused.

"You're not trying to renege, are you? It's clearly written in black and white, and it even has your fingerprint on it," Plum Blossom Thirteen sneered.

Zu An quickly focused his gaze and saw that it stated he owed the other party one thousand taels of silver, followed by a vivid red fingerprint. Seeing these, fragments of memories flashed in his mind. It seemed he had followed Plum Blossom Thirteen to a gambling house, lost everything, and then borrowed from him, ultimately losing a total of one thousand taels.

Damn it, this guy truly was a waste, a good-for-nothing. No wonder everyone looked down on him; even a maid dared to scold him to his face. Zu An found himself despising his past self in this world. Living was simply a waste of food. One thousand taels of silver was equivalent to 1,800,000 Chinese Yuan in his previous life!

"You said you'd have money to pay me back once you entered the Chu manor. Where is it?" Plum Blossom Thirteen extended his hand. "If you don't have the money, I'll chop off your hands as per our agreement."

"I am the son-in-law of the Chu family. Do you dare touch me?" Zu An said, steeling himself. Although he had earned some silver from Ji Xiaoxi and Plum Blossom Twelve, it was nowhere near 1,000 taels. And even if it were enough, he wouldn't use it to pay off that dead man's debt. Why should he pay money that was "owed by skill"? Moreover, he now had the formidable backing of the Chu family.

"If you truly owe him 1,000 taels, I advise you to pay it back honestly. In this world, the power of vows and contracts is extremely strong. Anyone who violates them will suffer heavenly retribution. Even the Duke's mansion cannot protect you unless they pay the debt on your behalf." A cool voice came from the pavilion. It was the woman who had spoken earlier.

"There's such a beauty hidden here?" Plum Blossom Thirteen finally noticed the woman in the pavilion, a hint of admiration appearing in his eyes.

"Are you planning to flirt with me next?" The woman tilted her head slightly, looking curious.

Plum Blossom Thirteen chuckled, "Flirting, why would I..." But his gaze suddenly fell on the green wine flask she was holding. He seemed to realize something and quickly let out a forced laugh, changing his tone. "Young lady, you misunderstand. Our Plum Blossom Gang is a legitimate organization; how could we do such a thing?"

Zu An was curious as to who this woman was and why the previously arrogant Plum Blossom Thirteen dared not provoke her. He seized the opportunity to take the IOU from the man's hand and examine it.

Plum Blossom Thirteen scoffed, "What, you want to tear up the IOU? I have a backup copy; tearing this one won't do any good."

Zu An ignored him and quickly read the entire document. His eyes lit up. "According to the agreement, the final repayment deadline is three days from now. Why the rush? I'll pay you back in three days."

Plum Blossom Thirteen frowned. He hadn't intended to let Zu An off so easily, but after glancing at the woman in the pavilion, he finally agreed. "Alright, if you can't pay it back in three days, even the Heavenly King won't be able to save you."

With that, he took back the IOU and left sullenly. He needed to report today's findings to the gang leader immediately so he could prepare.

Zu An couldn't help but look at the woman in the pavilion. "He seems to be very afraid of you?"

The woman in the pavilion smiled faintly. "He isn't afraid of me; he just doesn't want to cause trouble for his gang. By the way, I'm curious how you plan to come up with 1,000 taels of silver in three days?"

Zu An returned to the pavilion, a cheeky grin on his face. "If you're willing to lend it to me, I can go after him right now and pay off the debt."

The woman looked at him in surprise, then couldn't help but say, "You, sir, truly have thick skin."

Zu An sighed. "There's no other way. In any world, honest people are the most disadvantaged. One naturally needs to have thick skin."

The woman shook her head and took another small sip of wine. "I'm not familiar with you, so why should I lend you money? Besides, I don't have that much."

Zu An wasn't annoyed. He chuckled and said, "Then, considering we've had a drink together, could you tell me what the most profitable industries in the city are? I'll try my luck."

The woman put down her wine flask and looked him over. "You're quite interesting. If you're asking about the most profitable industries in the city, the Chu family's salt and iron business definitely comes first. After all, most people in the world are ordinary folk. They need to eat, they need to farm; these two things are indispensable in all aspects of life."

"Then there's the Yu family's primordial stones. That's a highly lucrative industry. Primordial stones are rare and precious; each one is priceless."

"Of course, those are business ventures. If you're strong enough yourself, you naturally won't lack money."

Zu An rolled his eyes. "If I were strong enough, would the Plum Blossom Gang be threatening me?"

"Then there's nothing for it," the woman said with a carefree smile.

Zu An then said, "Actually, there's another way to make money quickly and easily."

"Oh? What is it?" The woman seemed interested.

"I once heard a very handsome man talk about a theory," Zu An said seriously. "He said that the women in this world are infinite, while our energy is finite. If you use finite energy to pursue the infinite, you're bound to lose. So, he decided not to chase endless women anymore, but to focus on one wealthy woman. The more I think about it, the more sense it makes. I've decided to learn from him."

"Only you in the entire world could put being a kept man so refreshingly and elegantly," the woman said, quite dumbfounded.

"Young lady, would you consider me? I'm good in bed and not clingy... ah, no, I mean I'm handsome, charming, and considerate," Zu An boasted about himself.

"Haven't you already successfully become the Chu family's son-in-law? And you're still trying to lure other women?" The woman spat, "Scumbag!"

Zu An paused. "You know me?"

"I didn't at first, but your conversation with Plum Blossom Thirteen just now made it easy to guess," the woman said with a faint smile. "A few days ago, it was all over Mingyue City that the princess of Mingyue City, the eldest daughter of the Chu family, got married. And her husband was not a young master from an aristocratic family, but a useless good-for-nothing."

"To be honest, I was curious before how someone as outstanding as Chu Chuyan could choose such a husband."

"But after seeing you, I suddenly understand a little."

Zu An puffed out his chest. "Is it because I'm handsome?"

"No, it's because you're shameless enough." The woman stretched, revealing incredibly graceful curves across her chest. "I've been out long enough. I must go. Perhaps we'll meet again."

With that, she turned and walked into the bamboo grove behind her, leaving behind an elegant and graceful silhouette.

Watching her leave, Zu An felt a sense of loneliness and melancholy. Though she had smiled occasionally in the pavilion, there seemed to be an unspoken sadness in her brows.

"I wonder what she's so sad about." Zu An thought for a moment, then suddenly paused. Why act like a melancholy intellectual? Weren't you just lusting after her? Shaking his head, he put aside his thoughts and decided to go find Yu Yanluo first.

At this time, Plum Blossom Thirteen rushed all the way to the Plum Blossom Gang's main headquarters in the south of the city, then ran directly to the leader's study.

"It's bad, Leader..." As he pushed open the door, he heard a woman's startled cry from inside and froze. A naked woman hastily scrambled to find something to cover herself.

"If you don't have a good explanation, you'll get twenty lashes from the punishment hall later." A burly, one-eyed man sat at the desk, grabbing the flustered woman's hair and forcing her back to her knees under the desk.

Muffled sounds... Only the woman's indistinct noises remained.

Plum Blossom Thirteen swallowed, thinking how fair Tan Wei's wife was. Hearing the man's questioning, he quickly said, "I just ran into Zu An."

This formidable one-eyed man was naturally Mei Chaofeng, the leader of the Plum Blossom Gang.

"Who is Zu An?" Mei Chaofeng leaned back in his chair, a look of comfort on his face.

"He's the one you asked Twelfth Brother to deal with earlier," Plum Blossom Thirteen quickly replied.

"The Chu family's son-in-law?" Mei Chaofeng immediately straightened up, his eyes snapping open with a fierce glint.

Cough, cough... The sound of the woman retching came from under the desk.

Mei Chaofeng glanced down, then nonchalantly looked up. "Last time, Old Twelve messed things up, so I gave him another chance. What, has he still not handled it?"

Plum Blossom Thirteen replied, "We received news earlier that some brothers saw Twelfth Brother leave the city with him yesterday morning. I thought it was a sure thing, but Twelfth Brother still hasn't returned, yet Zu An has reappeared in the city."

"What happened?" Mei Chaofeng frowned, also realizing something was unusual.

Plum Blossom Thirteen answered, "I asked him, and he said that shortly after they left the city yesterday, they encountered Tan Wei, and then Twelfth Brother went after Tan Wei, and they separated."

"Wuwuwu." Hearing the name Tan Wei, the woman under the desk became agitated, clearly struggling to get up, but Mei Chaofeng held her down tightly, preventing her from moving an inch.

Plum Blossom Thirteen felt his throat go dry. "Godfather, could Old Twelve have been... by Tan Wei?"

"Impossible!" Mei Chaofeng waved his hand. "Tan Wei is far inferior to Old Twelve in both cultivation and cunning. He couldn't cause much trouble."

"Report!" A gang member ran to the door. "Some of our members found Tan Wei's body outside the city."