Chu Lu's long silence made the boy think that he was still not satisfied with the share.

Chai Zhu hesitated for less than half a breath before changing his words immediately, "Four six, four six, you six and I four."

Seeing Chu Lu still silent, he gritted his teeth this time, finally showing a pained expression, "37% is fine, but you have to promise that the paintings you sell in the future must be under the name of my Chai family."

The surname "Chai" made Chu Lu look at him more. He didn't find any clues from his appearance, but he was met with a pair of eager eyes.

Chu Lu: "..."

He finally stopped being silent and said, "I seldom paint."

Chai Zhu's eyes lit up and he blurted out, "Isn't that better?"

Scarcity makes things valuable. Less is better. The less you have, the easier it is to sell at a high price.

Chu Lu's indifferent gaze fell on him, like a basin of cold water poured down on his head. Chai Zhu finally calmed down from his emotional state and realized that the other party's words were a rejection.

Although it was said politely, there was no room for maneuver at all.

Chai Zhu was very depressed for a while.

After a while, he carefully held the painting in front of Chu Lu and said, "Then at least..." and repainted the one in his hand.

Chu Lu glanced at him calmly and then looked away, and Chai Zhu understood.

——Or refuse.

Chai Zhu squatted there for a while in frustration, listening to the screams outside. He didn't hide in the corner like a little quail like before. Instead, he looked like he didn't care much.

Chu Lu glanced at him and didn't say much.

If it really was the "Chai" he was thinking of, the other party's behavior would be normal.

The sounds of weapons clashing outside became more and more obvious, and the people locked in the room could not help but whisper in fear.

Chu Lu, however, still sat motionless as a mountain in the corner where he had just slid down.

Chai Zhu couldn't help but looked at him again and again.

In fact, he had been curious about this person since he came in, but due to various reasons he did not approach him and talk to him right away.

He originally thought that they were the only two people of similar age in the room and that they would become friends sooner or later, but he never expected that the other party was not an ordinary person at all.

After the incident with the long-faced man who was taught a lesson, the people in the room avoided him even more.

This is a clear distinction, and it will be even more difficult for Chai Zhu to get by.

But in fact, Chai Zhu wanted to clap his hands and say good things about Chu Lu's actions.

"Niutou" and "Horse-faced" were notorious in Huizhou. They were businessmen, but in fact they were almost like bandits. They were the worst thing to be afraid of. Now that "Horse-faced" had fallen into the hands of the bandits, it was a retribution.

Chai Zhu secretly glanced at him for a long time and saw that the other party was still motionless.

He couldn't help it, and hesitantly approached Chu Lu, lowered his voice and asked softly: "This mess in the village now... is it really you who did it?"

Chu Lu tilted his head to look at him. The young man's face was still a little round. Although his face and body were dirty, his eyes were bright. It seemed that he was not caught by bandits at this moment, but rolled in the mud with his companions. His biggest worry was that he would be scolded by his elders when he got home.

I have to say, compared with a group of frightened middle-aged people, the boy looks quite likable.

Chu Lu smiled with an ambiguous tone, "I haven't been out before."

After hearing this, Chai Zhu couldn't help but curl his lips. He was so sincere, but this person still set a trap with his words.

——Not going out doesn’t mean not doing anything.

What is this called?

Sowing discord? Making trouble?

Oh, no, they are on the same side.

It should be called "Planning in the tent and winning the battle thousands miles away."

The more Chai Zhu looked, the more he felt that the person next to him was no ordinary person.

After all, he had been brought around by his aunt, and although he was far from being able to take on responsibilities on his own, he had his own set of skills in judging people.

He could tell from the beginning that this was not the child of a wealthy businessman.

He should be from a family of officials, not just an ordinary official.

He thought about several surnames: Wang, Xiao or Xie? Anyway, he couldn't get away from these.

If it weren't for the age mismatch, he would have thought that the person in front of him was the once-famous Xiao Fenggui from the Xiao family.

In fact, these bandits are also very good at selecting hostages. They cannot squeeze much money out of civilians, so it is not worth wasting food to feed them. Even robbing them is a waste of manpower. They dare not confront officials head-on, for fear that they will attract the imperial court to encircle and suppress them.

Therefore, the only unlucky ones were the traveling merchants who had a little wealth at home and traveled between the states.

Fortunately, these bandits also have "morality". As long as the ransom and toll are paid and their identification is revealed, they will be able to pass smoothly next time without any obstruction.

As a well-known wealthy family in Dayan, the Chai family traveled all over the country and naturally had established connections with both the underworld and the white world.

However, this time when Chai Zhu went to the capital, he did not go under the name of the Chai family, nor did he escort any goods. He only brought an old servant with him, and traveled light. He did not want to attract attention, but he did not expect that he would be robbed.

The Chai family naturally has no shortage of this ransom, but Chai Zhu dares not gamble. If the other party holds the heir of the Chai family in their hands, he will either choose to uphold morality or risk his reputation and blackmail him.

Are you kidding me?!

If there was really morality, would they still become bandits? Moreover, what the Chai family could bring to them was much more than being a bandit.

Therefore, Chai Zhu is now using the title of a descendant of a small family under the name of the Chai family.

He used some tricks and when he wrote the "family letter", he sent it directly to a business owned by the Chai family. The shopkeeper there was his aunt's confidant and a smart man. He thought he could see the request for help from their "young master" in the letter.

It’s a pity that I will inevitably be laughed at for a while after I go back.

Especially before going out this time, he personally rejected his aunt's suggestion that he bring more people with him.

Chai Zhu was thinking about this a little absent-mindedly.

But in fact, it is not true to say that the merchants who are regarded as fat sheep by the bandits are the most pitiful. After all, being regarded as fat sheep at least means they have value and there is room for negotiation. The children of officials who are mistakenly arrested are the most miserable. These bandits dare not fight with officials openly, but those who are mistakenly arrested cannot be released. Firstly, it will damage their reputation. Secondly, if they are really released, it may really cause trouble.

Therefore, the latter is usually dealt with quickly, and the body must be destroyed immediately without leaving any trace.

As for how the human-shaped gold mine next to it was mistaken for the young master of a wealthy merchant and brought back, all we can say is that those bandits were blind.

Chai Zhu didn't know that he had reached a subtle agreement with the people around him on the point of "eye lameness". If he really wanted to try to open the topic from this aspect, maybe he could succeed.

But even though he didn't notice this, Chai Zhu didn't remain silent. Realizing that Chu Lu didn't want to discuss the topic in depth, he changed the question, "The Mr. Liu you just mentioned is the one with the goatee who came two days ago, right? You asked that big fool to go see him, what is he doing now?"

Chu Lu glanced at him, smiled, and answered in a good-natured manner, "Probably preparing to go to the warehouse."

Chai Zhu suddenly realized.

Although the goateed man was a man who only cared about money and nothing else when they met the previous times, Chai Zhu could make a bet with the help of his fingers, which he had been using on an abacus since he could count. He was definitely a greedy old man who was only interested in money. The village was in such chaos right now, it would be strange if he didn't want to take advantage of the opportunity to make a fortune.

But going to the warehouse shouldn't make the third brother's face look like that, right?

Chai Zhu thought so and asked the question.

He saw the handsome young man smiled and explained in his usual gentle tone: "Maybe it's because... the armory is next to the warehouse."

Chai Zhu swallowed the words "How do you know?" that were about to come out of his mouth.

Based on what he had seen and heard in the past few days, he would not be surprised even if the man in front of him could draw a map of the power distribution of the village.

If I ask him how he knew that now, it would make me seem a bit retarded.

Although he was indeed curious, but...

Chai Zhu judged others by himself and felt that most smart people don’t like to talk to fools.

Even though he was the "fool" at this moment, he was unwilling to reveal his shortcomings, so he nodded as if he understood.

The handsome young man next to him glanced at him, and as if it was Chai Zhu's illusion, the smile on the other's face seemed to deepen.

——It must be an illusion...

Chai Zhu continued thinking along this line and found it quite funny.

The village was in such chaos, and someone was brazenly trying to get a weapon. Thinking about the picture just now, even if the third brother was really a big fool who only grew in height, he would probably be worried.

Think about it again, that goatee guy looks fake and smart. Maybe he's even smart enough to say that his actions were just following orders, and he walks away with a group of people in a swagger.

If this was really the scene, the angry third brother would have seen it.

Thinking of this...

He couldn't help but burst out laughing.

This expression was extremely incompatible with the uneasy atmosphere in the house.

Several people over there looked over here with an expression that said “this kid has finally gone crazy”.

Chai Zhu quickly suppressed his inappropriate laughter, buried his head in his knees, and trembled continuously.

At this moment, the door that had been kicked open by the third brother and had not been locked was suddenly pushed open a crack.

On the other side, the frightened wealthy businessman shrank and trembled, looking towards the door anxiously.

After a while, someone finally said in a trembling voice, "It's the wind."

There were sounds of relief coming from the other side one after another.

…

…………

Chai Zhu was not sure whether the door was blown open by the wind, but he was sure that the moment the door opened, from his angle, he happened to see someone outside making a gesture.

He recognized the vaguely familiar figure and found that person to be one of the guards here.

Before Chai Zhu could figure out what the gesture meant, the young man who had been sitting against the wall next to him suddenly stood up.

Chai Zhu was stunned for a moment. Although it was not very appropriate, a doubt that had always been there in his mind was particularly prominent at this moment.

——We were all locked up together for several days, so why did this guy look so suave and casual, as if he wouldn't be surprised to attend any banquet at any time?

Chai Zhu watched the young man walk out of the house and disappear.

The whispers in the room stopped, and everyone looked at the slender figure leaving with disbelief. Some people even closed their eyes because they couldn't bear to watch.

But for a long while, I didn't hear any special noise. It was very quiet outside, as if nothing had happened.

A glimmer of hope suddenly flashed in the gray eyes. Could they also...

Escape?