Chapter 05 Chapter 5

On the way, the postman who was walking with Zhang Tou couldn't help but ask, "Zhang Tou, why did you let that postman sell the kettle to Jiang Huai?"

There was a hint of questioning in his words.

You know, if they only rely on the salaries given by the court to escort these prisoners, it would be better not to make this journey. Those who can make this journey, except for some who really cannot be avoided, all hope to squeeze some money out of the prisoners they are escorting.

However, there are some rules for squeezing oil. If you really squeeze it without any care, if one of the exiled people has an official as their family, they will be in trouble. It is not worth it to affect their future for such a small amount of money.

Therefore, in order to squeeze out the money, at the beginning, these prisoners must be made to suffer as much as possible, and then while they still have money on them, they can make money by selling some things. This transaction is a one-time payment, and even if they sell at a high price, it is easy to explain, and it is not convenient for the other party to specifically target them for such a small matter.

The first commodity they squeezed out of their bodies was the water bottle. The prisoners had to be extremely thirsty so that they would know how valuable an ordinary water bottle was and would be willing to pay a high price for it.

When the plan is implemented, no one else is allowed to sell these things to prisoners. After all, this is equivalent to giving away the benefits that should have been enjoyed by themselves.

"Don't you forget his identity?" Zhangtou glanced at the soldier who was speaking and warned.

Given Jiang Huai's status, they had to treat him with caution and not be too nice to him. After all, the Jiang family's crimes were too serious. But if they did something to him alone, those who had received favors from the Jiang family might take this opportunity to repay them, and they would be the pawns for repayment.

These people who have received favors may not dare to stand up in front of the emperor, but dealing with them will not expose yourself at all.

Especially since the kettle was presented by the postman in front of many people, if he directly rejected it, it would be obviously targeting Jiang Huai.

Of course, Zhangtou did not express these considerations, but just let the other party understand.

"Besides, do you think he has any silver on him?" Zhangtou continued.

The questioning policeman paused. He had also paid attention to Jiang Huai. After all, with Jiang Huai's background, if he had some silver hidden on him, the amount of money would definitely be quite a lot. Especially since he had just started on the road and had never suffered such hardship before, in order to ease the pain, Jiang Huai would definitely improve his situation if he could use the silver.

Even if the other party knows that they should not show their wealth at this time, there will still be moments of hesitation and confusion.

But he had been observing for so long, and now thinking back, this young man from a noble family was obviously very thirsty, but he never bought water once. He only drank water when he came across a water source on the road. Combined with Jiang Huai's eager expression when other prisoners bought water, the conclusion was very simple. The other party was penniless. If he had some money, he would not be so tight on money.

The jailer cursed in a low voice and understood why Zhangtou had done that before. He couldn't extort any money from Jiang Huai. If they had replaced him with an ordinary prisoner, they could have vented their anger, but in Jiang Huai's situation, they couldn't do anything too harsh on him.

You can't get close to it, nor can you stay far away from it, so just treat it coldly.

…

Jiang Huai didn't hear the two soldiers' discussion. He held the kettle tightly in his hand and felt that he had more energy to walk.

However, this energy gradually weakened as the road ahead became longer and longer, and the soreness in my legs and feet continued to increase. Fortunately, the ground had not yet heated up in the morning, so my feet did not suffer too much.

Jiang Huai suspected that if he could put it back on in a few days, based on the walking experience he had gained in the past few days, he could consider participating in a race walking competition. He couldn't say whether he could win a prize, but he could persist in running the entire race.

Especially today, perhaps in order to catch up with the progress, Jiang Huai felt that the jailer walking at the back was moving faster, urging the prisoners to walk faster.

If Jiang Huai hadn't had a good rest yesterday, he would have been unable to hold on.

Fortunately, at this speed, the soldiers couldn't hold on for too long. When the sun was at its hottest, Zhangtou finally said he wanted to take a break.

As soon as the words fell, many prisoners sat down directly. Even under the scorching sun, they had no way of walking a few more steps to a cool place. They just wanted to rest for a while.

The soldiers did not sit down immediately, but drank water first, then filled their empty water bottles, and then found a place to rest under the shade of a tree.

Jiang Huai had been thirsty for a long time, and when he saw the water, he couldn't wait to go over. But last time, he just followed the crowd and didn't ask for help. Now, Jiang Huai guessed that he was the only one who wanted to drink water, so who should he look for?

Jiang Huai subconsciously thought of Zhang Tou, but soon remembered what Zhang Tou had said, that Xiao Jingzhao was responsible for guarding him, so he should go find Xiao Jingzhao.

Although he had never worked there, Jiang Huai remembered one thing: if an employee went to the leader's office without going through the proper channels, he might be resented by his superior. His current status was even lower than that of an employee, so he still had to be careful.

The most important thing is that Jiang Huai felt that Zhang Tou was not easy to talk to, so unless necessary, it would be better not to show up in front of him.

Jiang Huai was just about to see where Xiao Jingzhao was, but when he turned around, he found that he was standing behind him, staring at him with his dark eyes.

A trace of doubt flashed through Jiang Huai's mind, but he didn't think much about it. He just thought that this was Xiao Jingzhao's first time as a prisoner escort, so he was cautious.

"Sir, I want to go over and have a drink of water." Jiang Huai said carefully.

Xiao Jingzhao listened in silence, his expression unchanged. He tilted his head slightly to look at the other person he was guarding, signaling Jiang Huai to go and come back quickly.

Jiang Huai didn't expect Xiao Jingzhao to be so happy. He trotted to the stream, drank a few sips of water to quench his thirst, and then ate the pancake with a mouthful of water.

Jiang Huai thought of the meal he had at the post station and swallowed his saliva. Although that meal was much inferior to modern meals, it was much more delicious than the pancake in front of him.

Jiang Huai shook his head vigorously, trying not to think about it anymore, as he would not be able to eat if he thought about it anymore.

As he turned his head, he caught a glimpse of Xiao Jingzhao not far away. Jiang Huai suddenly noticed that Xiao Jingzhao didn't seem to have a water bottle on him. If he remembered correctly, he didn't seem to see Xiao Jingzhao drinking water on the road.

Is it because I came in such a hurry that I didn’t bring a water bottle?

Jiang Huai didn't think much of it at first. After all, he couldn't possibly give his kettle to Xiao Jingzhao. But as he lowered his head to chew on his pancake, he thought about what happened that morning. Whether he could get the kettle depended entirely on Zhang Tou's willingness. If only someone could help him put in a word...

"Sir, it's so hot, you should drink some water."

Xiao Jingzhao was lost in thought when a kettle suddenly appeared in front of him.

Xiao Jingzhao turned his head and met Jiang Huai's sincerely concerned gaze.

Jiang Huai did this for his own reasons.

While Xiao Jingzhao doesn't have a water bottle, he sends him some water to try to curry his favor. If it works, that would be great. If not, he will just have to fetch water one more time. If it gets even worse, Xiao Jingzhao will snatch the water bottle away, which is not a completely unacceptable loss. At the same time, he can also use this opportunity to see whether the jailer guarding him is the good person he imagined.

If possible, Jiang Huai actually wanted to use something practical to bribe the police, but since he was penniless, he had to think twice before trying to please the police.

Xiao Jingzhao looked at Jiang Huai silently. He hadn't had any water for the whole morning and he was indeed thirsty. He had seen Jiang Huai fetch this water from the stream with his own eyes and he had even taken a sip himself. It was impossible that he had drugged him.

Xiao Jingzhao took the kettle, took a sip, and then drank it in big gulps.

Jiang Huai heaved a sigh of relief. The other party's willingness to take the water was a good sign. Seeing Xiao Jingzhao finish the pot of water, Jiang Huai went to the stream to fetch water without further instruction.

The road to exile was boring and monotonous. Any unusual movement would attract the attention of others, not to mention that because of the kettle incident today, Jiang Huai had already been the focus of the entire team.

Although Jiang Huai's movements were not loud, his every move was still seen by others.

The prisoners were originally jealous of Jiang Huai for getting a kettle, but when they saw that he actually wanted to please the police by fetching water, they immediately laughed out loud.

"Does this brat think he can curry favor with the officials by fetching some water?"

"Perhaps the official will be flattered by his attentiveness?"

"He really thinks the official is as stupid as the postman. Don't let him get his kettle robbed."

"Haha, who knows. He's a noble man, so maybe he will be blessed like that."

"Lucky? I'm so lucky to be exiled!"

…

The prisoners who spoke like this were basically the ones who had mocked Jiang Huai in the morning. Even though the mockery in the morning was hit back in their faces, these prisoners still did not change. They just thought that Jiang Huai was lucky last time and the postman he met was too stupid to take advantage of him. It was impossible that the postman this time was also stupid.