After lunch, Zhou Gouqi who was bored to death sat on his own doorstep, looking at the snowstorm that might stop in a few days.
This man who was normally idle was actually not a local too. However, he came to Tianqing County much earlier than Chen Chao; over a decade ago. At that time, this man came here with some money and bought a vacant house. Then, he liked to sit at the doorstep in a daze. No one knew what he was thinking about.
Then one day, that 200+ pound wife of his came for a walk in this alleyway. No idea why, she fell in love with this man and insisted on spending her life with him. The man was unwilling at first, but he was no match for the fact that she would often come to his house to bustle around. After a few visits, the man resigned himself to his fate,
It was just that when the woman's family learned that their daughter fell in love with such a useless man and even insisted on marrying him, they refused to agree to it.
But who could have thought that the woman had her mind set on it. No matter what her family said, she insisted on marrying this man. Hence, right from the start, the man's relationship with his free father-in-law was rocky. Plus, this man had always been someone who did not want to lower his head. So these few years, the son-in-law and father-in-law really never met.
Even though it was his father-in-law's birthday a few days ago, the man did not pay a visit too.
The man was currently yawning at his doorstep when a figure appeared in the distance. A skinny man was looking around in the distance. Then, he came over with all smiles and sat down next to Zhou Gouqi, letting out a long sigh of relief.
Zhou Gouqi glanced at him and saw that he was carrying two flasks of liquor. Only then, did he smile as he reached his hand out, "As expected of my brother."
The skinny man handed over a flask of inferior wine that was destined to not cost more than a few pieces of Great Liang general currency. It was just that he immediately opened his mouth and said, "Bro, your wife seems to have gone over to the private school to look at men again."
Zhou Gouqi was totally unconcerned as he took a swig of wine, "If she's looking, then she's looking. How big a deal is it?"
The skinny man was taken aback. After hesitating for a moment, he said carefully, "I saw that sister-in-law seemed to be holding the man's hand and not letting go."
"That man must be a handsome fellow. My wife can definitely hold it in if he looks ordinary."
Zhou Gouqi drank his wine and rubbed his hands.
The skinny man took a look at Zhou Gouqi before whispering, "It's Mr. Cen."
Hearing this, Zhou Gouqi shot to his feet, a little angry.
When the skinny man saw the situation, he immediately pulled the corner of Zhou Gouqi's clothes, his face full of worry.
Although that Mr. Cen was a private school tutor, he was proficient in the Six Arts; a true-blue intellectual. If they really fought, the Zhou Gouqi in front of him might not be a match.[TL note: a perfect gentleman is said to excel in six arts; Rites, Music, Archery, Equestrianism, Calligraphy, and Mathematics. Since they hone both mind and body, they should be physically fit too.]
Zhou Gouqi snorted coldly. Sitting back down, he said in annoyance, "She could have been holding anyone else's hand, why must it be his!"
The skinny man laughed fawningly and whisper, "Bro, don't get angry, don't get angry."
In reality, the skinny man also did not know why this big brother of his seemed to be able to keep his cool with anyone, except for two exceptions. The first was the young warden who was staying opposite. Every time the two met, a quarrel could not be avoided. The other was that private school's Mr. Cen. Each time he saw him, his big brother would pull a black face.
After drinking half a flask of wine, the alcohol kicked in and the skinny man stopped paying that much attention to his words.
All kinds of random stuff came pouring out of their mouths.
"Bro, we're strapping six-foot tall men in any case. Being beaten by your wife all day, what are you thinking?"
"What am I thinking? Your Father doesn't think about it. Your Father won't die from a few beatings, what's the point of haggling over this?"
"Men shouldn't be like this. When I'm at home, if my wife does anything wrong, I'll give her a tight slap!"
"Being like you, Big Bro, don't you want face anymore? Don't you want to be the head of the household?"
The skinny man had a blurry look in his eyes, his face full of intoxication.
"Why? Can't I be naturally shameless? Scram, scram, scram! Your Father will give you a kick if you don't get lost!"
Zhou Gouqi kicked that skinny man. The latter staggered in the snow, teetering on his feet, but did not fall down.
After standing up straight, the skinny man was not angry either. He just waved his hand and shouted for his big bro to take care of himself. He would come and find him again when his wife was not home.
"Motherf*cker, Your Father almost believed what I said earlier."
Zhou Gouqi casually threw out that wine flask that he had pretty much drank finished. Then, he glanced opposite with drunken eyes. When he got up, he suddenly looked into the distance. Most of the intoxication in his eyes disappeared.
It turned out that a robust woman was currently slowly walking over from the entrance of the alley.
The man plopped his bottom back down and sighed in pain: It's over...
……
……
In the dead of winter.
Even if the heavy blizzard turned into a light snowfall now, the weather was so cold that there was actually no difference to the bottommost-level civilians. Those who could not make it through this winter still could not survive this winter.
Presently, along the streets of Tianqing County, there were many peddlers selling charcoal. They did not have any stalls either, they just laid a piece of rag on the ground and placed the charcoal on it. Then they placed another piece of rag on top to shelter it from the snow and wind.
The peddlers who were wearing cotton clothes that were not considered thick no longer had any strength to hawk their wares at this moment. They just looked at the few pedestrians on the street with hopeful faces.
There was a horse carriage that looked ordinary, but there was more than one horse pulling the carriage. There were two tall, fine steads with a robust physique, their furs like silk and satin. One look and it was clear that they were not ordinary. The horse carriage slowly drove over from the other end of the long street, landing in the eyes of the many peddlers on both sides of the street. The peddlers immediately perked up. But a moment later, their eyes dimmed.
They were very clear that wealthy families like this had long prepared the charcoal to tide over the winter. Why would they still purchase their charcoal at this time?
Except, the horse carriage stopped not far in front of the peddlers very soon. The young man driving the carriage jumped down and came over, saying that he wanted to buy all the charcoal on this street. The peddlers gave thanks one after another; agitated to the extreme.
This may seem to be a small amount of charcoal, but it might be the only possibility for them to survive this winter.
After paying, the young man packed the charcoal into a large cloth bag that was made from several pieces of rags, and carried it over to the horse carriage. It was just that when he was almost reaching the carriage, his hands already became empty.
Jumping in front of the carriage again, the young man picked up the reins before turning his head to look at the carriage and asking softly, "Mr. Lin, Xie Boan should have already arrived. Should we hurry up?"
There was only a skinny middle-aged man inside the carriage at this time. He was still wearing blue long robes in the middle of winter. Currently, he was sitting upright inside the carriage with a book in his hand.
Flipping through that old book, the middle-aged man who was called Mr. Lin said calmly, "There's no rush. Although Xie Boan's choice has no logic behind it, I want to see how White Deer's Xie Clan's most outstanding descendant in this generation will choose. This is considered our final test to her."
But the young man frowned when he heard this and said, "Xie Boan using our Xie Clan's banner is ultimately not a good thing. If that person becomes disappointed with our Divine Capital's Xie Clan and turns around to return to White Deer's ancestral shrine, what should we do?"
Mr. Lin smiled slightly and said, "Boyue, our Xie Clan isn't as good as you imagine. It's also not as lousy as you think. A large family clan needs a refreshing breeze and also needs a bright moon. But no matter how dazzling the stars are, there will always be places that can't be illuminated. People like Xie Boan are naturally scum. But before dealing with him, it's not that we can't make use of him to carry out certain deeds."
The young man called Boyue nodded his head and was deep in thought as he said, "Then, we still have to save that young warden, right?"
Mr. Lin nodded and said coolly, "That's of course. No matter how that person chooses, he’s indeed not in the wrong. He saved that person's life before as well. We naturally can't passively watch him die like that."
"Understood, Sir. It's just, don't know how that person will choose." The young man was a little curious.
Mr. Lin shook his head and said, "Actually, this choice in itself is wrong, so there's no answer either. No matter how that person chooses, the impression that she'll give to those big shots in our Xie Clan won't be too good."
The young man said, "Maybe they had long seen through this, that's why there's this step to make that person fall into a dilemma. At that time, even if she goes to the Divine Capital, she won't pose as great a threat as before too."
Mr. Lin nodded his head in satisfaction. Looking at this young man, he said with gratification, "You, child, can be taught."
