The Prince Bing, who had been out gallivanting all night, walked into the courtyard, his folding fan twirling in his hand, performing Cantonese opera steps and singing a song.
Prince Bing reached the entrance of Uncle Rui's tailor shop, sat on a table while singing, and smiled at Uncle Rui.
Uncle Rui smiled and said, "Bing, what's got you singing so happily?"
Prince Bing laughed and said, "I'm just in a good mood!"
At this point, Uncle Rui noticed a red mark on Prince Bing's neck and asked, "Bing, what's with that red mark on your neck? Did something bite you?"
Prince Bing laughed and said, "You wouldn't understand."
He turned and got off the table, singing again. Seeing Li Yu walking over with a washbasin, he greeted him, "Officer Li, good morning!" and then continued upstairs.
Li Yu had just reached the tailor shop entrance when he saw Prince Bing greeting him with a sunny smile, then singing and fanning himself as he walked upstairs. Curious, Li Yu asked Uncle Rui, "Uncle Rui, what's up with Prince Bing today? He's so cheerful!"
Hearing Li Yu's question, Uncle Rui said, "He must have been out messing around. He even has a red mark on his neck!"
Li Yu exclaimed, "No wonder he's so happy, he must have been having a good time!" He then ignored Prince Bing and went to wash up.
Just as Rooster Fu stepped out, he saw Prince Bing standing at his door, seeming to be reminiscing and muttering to himself, "That woman from last night was truly passionate. It's a good thing Ah Ba wasn't there, or things would have gotten ugly!"
Rooster Fu deliberately coughed behind Prince Bing.
Prince Bing jumped, turned around, and saw Rooster Fu. He said to Rooster Fu, "Rooster Fu, why did you suddenly appear? You scared me!"
"This is my doorstep. What's wrong with me being here?" Rooster Fu said.
Prince Bing pointed at Rooster Fu and laughed, "That's, that's..." Then he turned to go upstairs. Just as he took a step, he heard Ah Ba's voice from upstairs, "Bing, why did you come back so late?"
Prince Bing retracted his foot and turned to ask Rooster Fu, "Why did Ah Ba come back? Didn't she say she was going back to her hometown for a few days?"
Rooster Fu said, "She came back yesterday at noon and has been looking for you for a while now!"
Li Yu, seeing Prince Bing in a panic on the stair landing, asked, "Bing, Ah Ba's looking for you. Why are you so flustered? You wouldn't be afraid of your wife, would you?"
Hearing Li Yu's words, Prince Bing said to Li Yu, "You wouldn't understand."
Ah Ba also heard Li Yu's voice upstairs, but couldn't hear what was said. She asked, "Officer Li, have you seen Bing?" Then she walked downstairs.
Prince Bing panicked upon hearing Ah Ba's words and the sound of her coming downstairs. He quickly said to Rooster Fu, "Ah Fu, let me hide in your place for a bit!" Then he pushed Rooster Fu into his room.
Ah Ba saw that Li Yu hadn't answered her question, so she came down to him and asked again, "Officer Li, did you see Bing? I think I heard you calling his name just now!"
Li Yu didn't answer Ah Ba's question again, but looked at Rooster Fu's room with a smile.
Ah Ba, seeing that Li Yu still didn't answer her, was about to scold him. However, she noticed that Li Yu's gaze was fixed on Rooster Fu's room, and she understood. She thanked Li Yu and then went to Rooster Fu's door. "Prince Bing, I know you're in there. Don't think you can hide from me!"
Prince Bing, hearing Ah Ba say this, said to Rooster Fu, "This Li Yu is such a traitor! He told Ah Ba that I'm here! Ah Fu, what do we do now?"
Rooster Fu said to Prince Bing, "Ah Yu has already told Ah Ba that you're here. What else can I do? Why don't you just go out?"
Seeing no response from inside, Ah Ba started kicking the door. She kicked it while saying, "Open the door, or I'll kick it down!"
Rooster Fu said to Prince Bing, "Bing, it's not that I'm not helping you, but the landlady is about to break down the door. If she breaks it down, you're still going to get in trouble." Hearing Rooster Fu say this, Prince Bing could only resign himself to opening the door.
Ah Ba saw that Prince Bing had opened the door and said, "Prince Bing, did you go out messing around last night? I came back early this morning and couldn't find you at home!"
Prince Bing covered his neck and replied, "I went to a friend's house for drinks last night and got drunk. I slept there. I woke up this morning and came back right away!"
Ah Ba's anger subsided upon hearing Prince Bing's explanation. She said, "Then why did you hide from me, Bing?"
Seeing that he could get away with it, Prince Bing said, "I was just afraid you'd suspect me of being out all night, messing around."
Ah Ba was about to apologize when she saw Prince Bing's hand covering his neck and said, "Bing, what's wrong with you? Does your neck hurt? Let me rub it for you." Then she reached out to rub Prince Bing's neck.
Prince Bing saw what Ah Ba was doing and panicked. He quickly dodged her and said, "It's nothing, I'll go see Doctor Jin and I'll be fine!" Then he turned to leave for Doctor Jin's clinic.
Ah Ba saw that Prince Bing was going downstairs and said, "Bing, that Doctor Jin, he's no good. We should go to the big hospital!" She reached out and grabbed Prince Bing's clothes. Prince Bing was eager to leave, and when Ah Ba pulled him, he slipped and rolled down the stairs.
Li Yu saw this and immediately went over to help Prince Bing up. "Prince Bing, are you okay?"
Prince Bing, holding his waist with one hand and leaning on Li Yu with the other, said, "This is all your fault! Why did you tell Ah Ba I was at Rooster Fu's?"
Li Yu argued, "I didn't tell Ah Ba that you were at Rooster Fu's! You can ask Uncle Rui!"
Uncle Rui, seeing Prince Bing fall, also rushed over. Hearing Li Yu's words, he said, "Landlord, Li Yu really didn't tell Ah Ba that you were at Ah Fu's!"
At this moment, Ah Ba came down the stairs to Prince Bing's side. She was about to say something when she saw the red mark on Prince Bing's neck. Immediately, she twisted his ear and shouted angrily, "Prince Bing, you have curry chicken all over your neck, and you still say you didn't go out messing around? I worried about you all night for nothing!"
Prince Bing grabbed Ah Ba's hand that was twisting his ear and said, "Go easy, go easy, Ah Ba, go easy. I was wrong, there are so many people here, give me some face. We'll talk about this at home!"
Ah Ba, hearing Prince Bing say this, pulled him up by the ear and went upstairs.
At this time, Uncle Rui smiled and said, "This landlord is really heartbroken!"
Li Yu laughed and said, "The landlord is truly as licentious as he is miserable!"
Rooster Fu also laughed and said, "This is perhaps the price of licentiousness."
The three of them laughed and went about their own business.
Li Yu finished tidying up and went to the police station. As he left the courtyard, a scream came from Prince Bing on the third floor! Li Yu shook his head and smiled as he left the courtyard.
Hearing the scream, the neighbors in the courtyard all laughed.