Warring States Survival Guide
Chapter 52 - 29: Will It Become the Shame of the Transmigrator?

Chapter 52: Chapter 29: Will It Become the Shame of the Transmigrator?

The poor man’s Pulley Bow made by Harano was surprisingly powerful—anything he shot at close range died instantly. He was quite satisfied. After coming back, he busied himself in his room, hammering and tinkering to further refine and improve it, aiming to make it feel perfectly natural in his hands. While he was thoroughly absorbed in all this, Ah Man came back with Ah Qing in tow.

The two of them knelt in a corner of the mud-seat, not saying a word, just watching him take apart the parts, clanging and banging, twisting them around, putting them back together, just messing around endlessly.

After a while, Harano noticed they were still sitting there, refusing to leave, so he casually asked, "What’s up? Didn’t you guys try it already? Anything else you need?"

Ah Man froze, then said in surprise, "Shouldn’t you have something to say to me?"

Harano’s expression got even weirder. "What would I possibly need to say to you?"

"Really nothing? Think again!"

"What on earth do you want to say? I’m busy here!" Harano ducked his head again, hammering away, obviously not wanting to talk more with her.

Ah Man was startled by how he suddenly seemed to have amnesia.

If she’d won, she’d be chasing after Harano by now, hounding him for those three strings of coins—she’d hound him to the ends of the earth, and he better not try to dodge it, not a single coin less! But now that Harano had won, and won fair and square at that, with not a flaw to pick, he was acting like nothing had happened, not even mentioning the bet?

Even if he wasn’t actually going to chop Ah Qing’s head off, shouldn’t he at least use this chance to ask for some benefit?

She was surprised for a moment, then, being quick-witted, finally understood—Harano was letting her off the hook!

Ah Qing’s eyes also lost their usual coldness. She looked up at Harano in mild surprise.

Ah Man had made a fuss, which made her angry, and being lost to Harano made her feel even more ashamed and humiliated. But she’d never thought of reneging on the bet. For someone like her, the fact that she’d let Ah Man go through with the bet without firm objection already meant she’d agreed—her pride would never allow her to go back on her word for personal gain.

What’s more, back when she was gravely injured and near death, it was Ah Man who carried her out of the mountains, even starving herself to feed her—if not for being a burden for over half a year, she’d never have survived. Now Ah Man had lost her, and even if she really had to lose her head, she wouldn’t run.

She’d already steeled herself for the shame and humiliation, ready to endure it all silently until the day she could be free. But now Harano wasn’t mentioning it at all, as if this thing might just slide by here and now...

All of a sudden, she didn’t feel so ashamed about being lost to Harano. It didn’t seem so humiliating now, either.

She started to vaguely understand, while Ah Man was utterly convinced—Harano was actually kind of impressive, the way he handled people really was different: extremely generous and broad-minded. She even had a tiny bit of shame in her heart for judging a gentleman with a petty mind.

Before, when Ah Qing was sulking, she’d tried so hard to convince her to hang in there for a while. She’d even tried saying stuff like, if you’re too embarrassed to run, just put up with it even if Harano grabs your butt a few times—after all, you’ve eaten so much of his rice, letting him cop a feel or two isn’t exactly a loss... Nearly made Ah Qing furious again.

But there was no other way—Harano’s food was so good here, and he treated her respectfully. She didn’t want to leave. After losing the bet, she couldn’t find any excuse to back out, so she’d just tried persuading Ah Qing to accept her bad luck. Unexpectedly, Harano didn’t even mention the bet, totally giving her face, deliberately letting her off the hook—and she had to admit, she really admired him for that. She herself definitely wouldn’t have been able to do the same in his shoes.

She looked at Harano—she’d originally wanted to bicker and haggle, but standing there convinced and impressed, she could only sigh, "Alright, you’re something else, really impressive. But we’re not the kind to pretend nothing happened! No need for extra words. A loss is a loss, and what’s yours is yours! Here we are—kill or carve as you please!"

With that, she got up to leave—genuinely willing, for the first time in her life, to keep her word, standing tall and straightforward in the face of Harano’s generosity and integrity, never letting herself feel looked down on. Still, she had some sisterly feeling for Ah Qing, so when she reached the door she hesitated, then worriedly added, "Look, I’m just saying, don’t actually kill her or chop her up, and definitely don’t take her head off! Just boss her around sometimes, that’s enough. Also, don’t scold her too often—she’s actually pretty touchy, temper about as stubborn as a donkey. Be nice to her, alright?"

Harano was completely stunned, totally baffled by what was going on—What is with you two? I already gave you a way out—can’t you just take the hint?

If I act like I’m too busy and forgot, you pretend it’s nothing too. Later, when someone brings up the bet, you bicker a bit, "We’re here to pay up, but you didn’t ask," I act a little mad, and then everyone laughs it off. Wouldn’t that settle it?

What are you guys trying to do here, actually paying the bet?

What would I even do with that head—boil it for dinner?

He was speechless. Ah Man was really useful to him—she was his main source of intel about this strange new era. He’d never planned to actually do anything to her—forcing her to hand over Ah Qing’s head would only make things unbearably awkward, damaging the bond between everyone and making life miserable day to day.

If not for her constant nagging, pestering and going on and on and driving him nuts, he wouldn’t have even taken this bet in the first place.

Now that he’d won, of course he wanted the whole thing to just blow over like a joke—when it’s about betting someone’s head, how could it be anything but a joke? Who would’ve thought these two would actually play it by the book—he doesn’t mention the bet, and they do!