Chapter 173: Friend’s Wife

“Mill Lane, the smallest house, next to an abandoned public well.”

“This should be the place.”

Half an hour later, Lu Wei stood in an exceptionally narrow alley, looking up at the small, two-story house before him.

The walls were a rough mixture of stone and wooden planks. Time had blackened and warped the wood. The adjacent public well had long since run dry, its opening haphazardly covered with a few broken boards, its rim overgrown with slimy, deep-green moss.

According to the directions he’d just gotten at the tavern, this was where Clara and her parents lived.

Lu Wei didn’t know what Clara’s parents did for a living, and had no memories of it either… But he figured they must just be two simple, honest, Ordinary people.

After all, pretty much any of the native townspeople with a sharp mind ran their own business.

That was the case for Old Yor, Elder, Old Fenris, and even Lady Bosa, who mixed tree bark into her bread.

But where there were successes, there were naturally failures—

They’d sell their farmland and livestock, scrape together enough money to open a shop, only for it to fail due to mismanagement, leaving them to survive on manual labor.

Clara’s parents were probably a classic example of such failure.

“KNOCK KNOCK.”

“KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.”

Lu Wei reached out and knocked on the courtyard gate. He waited for a good while, but no one came to open it.

But just as he was about to raise his hand again, a second-floor window was pushed open with a CREAK.

Clara stuck her head out and muttered listlessly:

“Didn’t you see the gate was unlocked?”

‘?’

‘So if the gate’s unlocked, I can just walk in?’

‘Quite the open-door policy you have.’

“Oh, got it.”

Lu Wei pursed his lips, pushed open the gate, and walked into the front yard.

The yard was small. A clothesline strung between a few crooked wooden poles took up most of the space, and a broken clay pot collecting murky rainwater sat in the corner.

Inside the house wasn’t much better.

Though it was two stories, each floor was only about thirty or forty square meters, not much larger than his little cabin.

He went up the stairs to the second floor. Aside from a small storage room, there was a slightly larger bedroom.

The bedroom door was open, and Clara was sitting on the bed, yawning.

She looked fine on the outside, but seemed to have no energy at all.

She looked like she had just woken up.

“I went to the tavern to look for you. They said you haven’t been to work in days.”

Lu Wei walked into the room and stood across from her, glancing around. “What’s wrong with you? Are you sick?”

“No, I’m just in a bad mood.”

Clara’s voice was listless. She didn’t even bother asking how Lu Wei had found her, and simply asked in return:

“What did you need me for?”

“Furen sent me.”

Lu Wei answered truthfully. “We just got back from the forest, but he can’t return to town for a little while. He was worried about you, so he asked me to let you know.”

“Oh.”

Clara lowered her eyes and just said, “Oh.”

And that was it.

‘Huh?’

‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

Lu Wei froze, his expression completely baffled.

‘After all, that was hardly the reaction you’d expect from a woman in the throes of a passionate romance.’

‘And something seemed really off about Clara’s state of mind.’

‘It was a complete departure from her usual cheerful, feisty personality.’

‘Did she get depressed, too?’

“Um…”

After hesitating a moment, Lu Wei decided not to leave just yet. He figured he should show some concern for this “friend’s wife” who was clearly in a foul mood.

“So… did you buy a cow?”

…

…

“So that’s what happened.”

A few minutes later, Lu Wei finally pieced together what had happened from Clara’s halting story, laced with frustration and resignation.

So, Freya was the one who interfered.

Three days ago, the noble lady had met with Clara and given her a lecture on “class barriers” and “strategic marriages among the nobility.”

And just like that, Clara was “forced into a breakup.”

It was a classic ‘break up the happy couple’ plot straight out of a soap opera.

The only difference was that the “snobbish mother-in-law” role was played by the “Evil Daughter big sister.”

All Lu Wei could do was express his regret.

And deep envy.

“It makes one so jeal… ahem, I mean, it’s such a pity.”

“But it can’t be helped.”

“After all, Furen really doesn’t have a say in the matter. It’s how all the great families are. Their children’s marriages are just another resource to be exploited.”

“In any case, at least you got some compensation.”

“I imagine Freya wasn’t stingy, right? It should be enough for you to buy ten cows.”

Sitting in the only chair in the room, Lu Wei offered this consolation, thinking that Clara had actually gotten pretty lucky.

But she just looked at him blankly and asked:

“Compensation? What compensation?”

“Huh?”

Lu Wei blinked. “The breakup fee, of course. Didn’t Freya give you any money?”

“No.” Clara shook her head in confusion.

‘???’

‘She didn’t give you money and you still agreed to break up???’

‘You just let a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity like that go to waste???’

“No, wait. If she didn’t give you money, why did you agree to break up with Furen?”

Lu Wei’s eyes widened in utter shock. “Did you get kicked in the head by a donkey?”

“I…”

Clara seemed to realize something just then. Her voice grew quiet as she lowered her head and mumbled:

“I just felt that what she said made a lot of sense, that I’m not good enough for Furen…”

“And you just agreed?”

“Yeah…”

“…”

‘Unbelievable. You were given a golden opportunity and you fumbled it!’

SLAP!

Lu Wei slapped his thigh in frustration, overcome with indignant grief.

Anyone who didn’t know better would think Clara was going to give him a cut of the money.

“I’m speechless. Such a great chance to strike it rich, and you just let it pass you by.”

“If you were even a little bit smarter, you’d have at least ten cows by now.”

“You could have even bought the Adventurer’s Tavern and become the owner.”

“It’s true what they say… a person can never earn money beyond the scope of their awareness.”

As he lamented bitterly, Lu Wei’s agitation wasn’t entirely due to his disappointment in her lack of ambition.

He was mainly pissed that Freya had managed to resolve the whole thing without paying any price.

After their first clash the previous night, he now harbored a deep-seated animosity toward this Evil Daughter.

An enemy’s success is your own failure. An enemy’s gain is your own loss.

So it was no wonder he felt so upset.

As for Clara…

‘What Lu Wei is saying makes so much sense…’

‘It was such a huge loss…’

She silently bit her lip, now filled with utter regret.

Though she didn’t understand everything Lu Wei was saying, the “ten cows” comparison made her instantly realize what she had missed out on.

“Wait, what if I go back to her?”

Suddenly, Clara raised her head sharply.

“If I say I’ve changed my mind, will she still give me money?”

‘In your dreams!’

“Almost no chance. With something like this, if you don’t seize the opportunity the first time around, you lose all your leverage. After that, you’re…”

Lu Wei shook his head wearily, about to tell Clara to stop dreaming.

But a second later, his voice died in his throat as an idea struck him.

“So there is another way?”

Clara’s face lit up. “Quick, tell me! What is it? What’s the other way?”

“I don’t need much, just a few Gold Coins would be enough!”

“And if that doesn’t work, I’ll even settle for getting Furen back!”

“…”

‘Just listen to yourself.’

‘Your vision is smaller than a paramecium’s!’

‘If you had a choice, you’d obviously go for the guy!’

‘If you actually married Furen, would you ever have to worry about a few Gold Coins again?’

“I can help you. I guarantee you’ll get a compensation of at least 10 Gold Coins, and you and Furen might not even have to separate.”

As Clara looked on with overjoyed surprise, Lu Wei said seriously:

“But I have one condition: if you get compensation, I get a fifty-percent cut.”

“No problem!”

Clara didn’t even have to think about it. She nodded eagerly and asked without a moment’s delay:

“What do I need to do?”

“It’s simple.”

Lu Wei stood up with a slight smile.

“Pack your things. Tomorrow, you’re coming with me into the forest.”