pdf-ebookys Chapter 301 Encounter
Chapter 301 Encounter
"What's inappropriate about this? You are my friend, my brother's friend. What's wrong with having a meal together? By the way, how did you get yourself into this state again?" Lin Chuyi asked.
Wang Fugui smiled bitterly and sighed, "It's a long story."
Just then, the waiter brought the wine that Wang Fugui had ordered. Lin Chuyi grabbed the new wine pot and said, "Then come over and eat first. We can talk slowly after we finish eating. I have plenty of time now."
After Lin Chuyi finished speaking, he stood up first and went back to sit at Ping'an's table. After hesitating for a while, Wang Fugui decided to come over.
The dishes on their table were soon served. Lin Chuyi poured a glass of wine for Wang Fugui and Ping'an respectively. After they clinked their glasses, he asked them to eat the dishes while they were hot.
The dishes Lin Chu ordered were all the restaurant's signature dishes, a total of four meat dishes and two vegetable dishes. The portions of the meat dishes were quite large, and they took up the entire table.
Wang Fugui's stomach growled as he watched. After Lin Chuyi invited them to eat, he wanted to say a few polite words, but his hands would not listen to him, so he picked up the chopsticks and started eating. After taking the first bite of the hot chicken, he gave up struggling and began to eat the food with his head down.
He put down his chopsticks only when his stomach could no longer hold any more. He looked at Lin Chuyi and Ping An with a guilty look on his face, only to see that they had also put down their chopsticks.
Lin Chuyi even asked considerately, "Are you full? Do you want to order some more?"
Wang Fugui waved his hands repeatedly, "No need to order anymore, no need to order anymore, I'm already very full."
"Okay." Lin Chuyi nodded to Wang Fugui, then asked the waiter to clean up the table, and then ordered two snacks and a pot of tea.
When the tea was served, Lin Chuyi poured a cup of tea for each of the three of them. After doing this, she turned her head to look at Wang Fugui.
"I remember you said before that you would go back to Beijing to form a caravan and go south to purchase seafood. Since you are here, it means that you are indeed acting according to your previous plan. So, what happened that made you fall into this situation despite being well prepared?"
When Wang Fugui heard Lin Chuyi mention this, he wilted like a deflated ball. His shoulders drooped and the forced smile disappeared, leaving only sorrow on his face.
He lowered his head and was silent for a long time before he spoke: "When I got the prescription you gave me, I sold some of the seafood and raised enough money for the trip back to Beijing. I formed a new transportation team and happily brought the remaining seafood back to the capital."
"The journey back to Beijing was smooth, and I made a lot of money from the seafood. I was very proud of myself at the time, so I thought about organizing a caravan to go south again after the New Year."
"After spending the New Year at home, I started preparing for my trip south. Every one of the people I brought with me this time was carefully selected by me."
"It took a long time to select the people. By the time I carefully selected the caravan members and prepared the goods to be taken out, it was already the end of the first lunar month. I didn't delay any further and set off with the team directly."
"Although we encountered some minor troubles along the way, it was generally smooth. But when our team passed through Tujun Mountain in Mingzhou, a large group of bandits suddenly rushed down from the middle of the mountain. The bandits all held big knives and had ferocious faces. It was obvious that they were not easy to mess with."
"I saw that the situation was not good, so I immediately told the people in the caravan not to worry about the goods on the car, and to flee in all directions. It was important to save their lives. After getting my approval, the thugs in the team did not plan to fight the bandits head-on and started to flee in all directions."
"But who knew that these bandits were such desperate people, not only did they want to intercept our goods, they also wanted to take our lives!"
When Wang Fugui said this, his eyes turned red and tears appeared in his eyes. He took a deep breath, calmed his excitement, and then continued what he had not finished.
"After telling everyone to run away separately, I rode my horse and galloped forward. Several bandits came to intercept me. Seeing that I was running fast, they simply threw their swords at me. Fortunately, the horse ran fast, so I escaped."
"I didn't dare to look back at all. I just wanted the horse to run faster and faster. After running two or three miles, I dared to slow down and take a rest in a small forest."
"I only had time to get scared when I was resting. After I got over my fear, I started to worry about the safety of others. Those bandits are so vicious and evil. I'm afraid they won't end well if they get me. But they are all the people I brought here. I have to be responsible for them and can't just leave them alone."
"So, I got back on the horse and rode as fast as I could to the county town. I beat the drum at the gate of the county government office to appeal for justice, hoping that the county magistrate would send soldiers to go back with me to rescue the people. I successfully met the county magistrate, but do you know what he said to me after listening to my appeal?"
Wang Fugui said this to Lin Chuyi. Although it was a question, Lin Chuyi already knew the answer from Wang Fugui's expression that seemed to be neither smiling nor crying. But she still cooperated and asked, "What did he say?"
"He said that the bandits who robbed us were from Fufeng Village. That group of bandits has been around for a long time and existed since the previous dynasty. The imperial court once sent troops to encircle and suppress these bandits, but their mountain stronghold is easy to defend but difficult to attack, and the army's several encirclements and suppressions have never really hurt their foundation. However, after Fufeng Village was targeted by the imperial court, it became honest and no longer harassed local merchants. It only occasionally attacked outsiders and rarely killed people."
"The imperial court saw that the other side had restrained itself, so it stopped sending troops to attack. The two sides have been in a state of not interfering with each other. As a foreigner, I am unlucky to be targeted by them. Ha! Haha!"
Wang Fugui laughed so hard that all the tears that had been pent up for a long time came out. "Miss Lin, don't you think this is funny? I went to find the official who protects the people and asked him to help save people, but he actually advised me to just admit that I was unlucky!"
Although Lin Chuyi also felt that the local county magistrate was not very capable, if Wang Fugui said something slanderous about the county magistrate in public, it would be Wang Fugui who would suffer. Therefore, Lin Chuyi immediately interrupted Wang Fugui's speech and reminded him to pay attention to the surrounding environment.
Wang Fugui was so emotional just now that he spoke without thinking. After Lin Chuyi's reminder, he calmed down, omitted his attitude towards the county magistrate's behavior, and went straight to talking about his subsequent actions.
"I can not care about the loss of the goods, but the lives of the dozen people who went south with me are still unknown. Although the county magistrate said that the bandits would not kill anyone else, I have fought against them myself and I don't believe they will not kill people. For myself and their families, I chose to go back."