Little Pink Starfish

The Former Pirates’ Deepest Respect

Er Gouzi squatted beside Yu Xiaoxiao, his face covered in bruises, and said, “That’s the fat guy’s daughter. Her name’s Qian Mingzhu.”

As someone not particularly well-educated, Yu Xiaoxiao heard “Mingzhu” (bright pearl) and didn’t associate it with the term “precious daughter.” She frowned and said to Boss Qian, “Why would you give your daughter a name like that?”

Boss Qian had heard people say his daughter was spoiled and bossy, and even that she’d never marry—but no one had ever said her name was ugly. “What’s wrong with the name?” he asked.

Yu Xiaoxiao replied, “I don’t care what the last character is—I trust you weren’t crazy enough to literally name her ‘Pig,’ but the pronunciation’s the same! Zhu Zhu? Bright pig? Shiny pig? That’s just uncultured. You’d be better off naming her Cat or Dog! Though, personally, I do like pigs. I love pork.”

…

Everyone present silently wondered: who exactly here lacks culture?

“Pfft!” Xiao Zhuang laughed. He was always the first to sync up with the princess’s weird thought process.

Er Gouzi, still sniffling from a nosebleed, added, “You give a kid a crappy name so they’re easier to raise.”

Yu Xiaoxiao looked at Boss Qian. “Is that your thinking too?”

Boss Qian… At this point, he had only one thought: I wish all these people would just drop dead!

That’s when Qian Mingzhu exploded. She yelled at her father, “I told you my name was terrible!”

Boss Qian roared back, “It means ‘precious pearl’—what’s wrong with that?!”

“A lot of people call me Qian Pig!” she shouted.

“What?!” Boss Qian would’ve jumped up and cursed the world if he could.

His daughter’s expression darkened.

Being a seasoned businessman, Boss Qian instantly understood. In aristocratic circles, merchants were the lowest class. Even if he, Qian Taiduo, was rich beyond reason, those highborn families still saw him as vulgar riffraff. His daughter had clearly suffered humiliation from some noble ladies.

“Sigh!” Yu Xiaoxiao looked at the father-daughter pair and sighed. “All because of a lack of education!”

“Shut up!” Boss Qian lost it. A bandit leader criticizing his education?!

“Speak nicely,” Yu Xiaoxiao smacked him on the head.

BAM! Boss Qian’s face slammed into the ground. He ate a mouthful of dirt and looked up with a nosebleed like Er Gouzi’s.

“Can you speak nicely now?” Yu Xiaoxiao asked.

Boss Qian whimpered and nodded, no longer daring to shout.

Yu Xiaoxiao scooted closer. “Is your daughter married?”

“What?!” Boss Qian shouted again.

“Oh right, you’re not well-educated,” Yu Xiaoxiao rephrased, “Does your daughter have a man?”

“I…” Qian Mingzhu screamed in outrage.

Xiao Wei immediately covered her mouth.

Boss Qian had no time to care about his daughter anymore. His eyes were glued to the pirates carrying money boxes out of the vault. That wasn’t just 40,000 taels—“You only gave a banknote for 40,000 taels!” he yelled at Yu Xiaoxiao.

“How much have we taken?” she asked.

A former pirate ran over and whispered, “Fifty thousand taels.”

Yu Xiaoxiao looked at Boss Qian.

“You said you’re reasonable!” he shouted.

“Okay, stop moving money,” she told the pirate.

“Aye!” he ran to tell the others to stop.

“What’s already out, we’ll keep. Returning it would be too much trouble,” she added.

“I don’t mind the trouble!” Boss Qian cried.

“But I do,” Yu Xiaoxiao said coolly.

“You—!”

“Speak nicely,” she warned again, raising her hand.

Boss Qian shut up.

Thanks to her decree, the pirates carried off an extra 5,000 taels.

“This counts as medical compensation,” Yu Xiaoxiao said. “I’m a reasonable person.”

“Your men set my building on fire,” Boss Qian mustered the courage to say.

Yu Xiaoxiao replied, “And I didn’t take any more of your silver for that, did I? That’s your compensation.”

Boss Qian’s chubby face twisted.

“You run a business—you need credibility,” Yu Xiaoxiao lectured. “We brought a banknote, and you wouldn’t honor it. Where’s your integrity?”

“The money’s gone. What more do you want?!” Boss Qian groaned.

“Apologize,” Yu Xiaoxiao lifted his double chin. “The customer is God. Apologize.”

Boss Qian…

“You won’t admit you were wrong?” Yu Xiaoxiao narrowed her eyes, and her gaze turned deadly. A banker without integrity? Absolutely unacceptable.

“S-sorry,” Boss Qian cried, tears and snot flowing.

“Not just to me,” Yu Xiaoxiao said sternly.

“S-sorry,” he turned to the former pirates and apologized again.

The former pirates stood straighter and saluted Yu Xiaoxiao with their highest respect. They’d robbed the man, burned his building, possibly ruined his daughter’s marriage prospects, and in the end, he still had to apologize to them. Compared to the princess, their old boss was child’s play!

As for how they recognized Yu Xiaoxiao despite her veil—seriously, what other woman could crush a stone into powder with one hand like it was nothing?

“I’ll come back sometime to chat about life,” Yu Xiaoxiao patted Boss Qian’s pudgy face and stood up.

Boss Qian really peed himself this time. This fierce woman wasn’t satisfied robbing him once—she planned to come back for seconds?!

“Withdraw,” Yu Xiaoxiao ordered.

The group carried, dragged, and hoisted money boxes out with joy. With Princess Linglong leading them, who would dare oppose them?

Xiao Zhuang ran over. “Princess, we leaving too?”

Yu Xiaoxiao glanced behind him. The Zhu Zhu girl had been tossed to the ground. “You keep an eye on them,” she told Xiao Zhuang.

He didn’t question it and followed the others out.

Yu Xiaoxiao walked up to Qian Mingzhu.

Thrown down hard, Qian Mingzhu had twisted her ankle. Seeing Yu Xiaoxiao approach, she couldn’t help but complain, “That bandit will never get a wife!”

“You hate him?” Yu Xiaoxiao asked.

“I’ll definitely kill him!” she snapped.

“Oh?” Yu Xiaoxiao grinned. Beating means affection, scolding means love. The deeper the hate, the deeper the love. They’d just met, and she already wanted to kill him? That’s deep.