"It's not easy to make money. The key is the right time, place and people. As long as you have this opportunity, plus I have an idea, I guarantee that you will make a lot of money. Now it's just words, but when we get to the camp, I will find a chance to broaden your horizons." Song Jiaren lifted the door curtain and looked outside. The road was flat and unobstructed. The branches and leaves on both sides were burnt yellow, with no green leaves. There were many fallen leaves piled on the ground, and the horse's hooves made a crisp sound on them. The cold wind blew in her face, and she couldn't help but shiver.
Gu Zhen covered her legs with a blanket, fearing that she would catch a cold and get sick. She had only just recovered from her last illness with great difficulty. "Then I'll be in for a treat."
Song Jiaren lowered the door curtain and retracted her hands into the blanket. "Don't worry."
After a day of bumpy ride in the carriage, Song Jiaren could no longer sit still. Her waist and legs ached. "When will we arrive?" Wasn't Luobian City said to be not far from the camp? It was already dark and they still hadn't arrived. Her butt was sore from sitting and her legs were swollen.
Gu Zhen lifted the door curtain and called Changfeng, the coachman, and asked with a frown, "What's going on?" The carriage had been stopped for some time.
Changfeng looked a little uneasy and said, "Your Highness, the road ahead is blocked by a huge rock and we can't get through. I'm sending people to move the rock, but it's too big and even the combined strength of several people can't move it even a little bit."
Gu Zhen got off the carriage to check, and Song Jiaren followed him. Not far away, the guards discussed how to move the boulder.
"Don't move! Robbery!" A loud shout came from the top of the mountain. A group of tattered bandits came down from the top. They were slovenly and unkempt. The leader was holding a machete and said, "This way..."
"I built this road and planted this tree. If you want to pass through here, you have to leave some money to buy your way through! Big brother, we are one family, can you please give me some convenience?" Song Jiaren stepped forward to block His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and said this clichéd robbery talk, complaining in her heart, couldn't he come up with something new in his words.
The leading bandit was stunned, his lines were snatched away, so what did he say?
A skinny bandit came up from behind and said, "Brother Bian, it seems like he's one of us. Do you want to exchange secret codes?"
Bian Dalei nodded. If the code matched, it should be his own "Tianwang Gaidihu".
Song Jiaren calmly said, "Chicken stewed with mushrooms."
"Damn, Brother Bian, we're really one of us." The skinny monkey shouted excitedly.
Bian Dalei also laughed happily, "Brothers in the back, put down your knives, they are one of us! Don't hurt your family members by mistake!"
Gu Zhen remained calm, but he was actually confused. Could it be that she was not a beggar, but a bandit?
The guards looked shocked. Their wives were actually bandits?!
Bian Dalei returned to the mountain village with a group of "his own people". A few simple, dilapidated houses were built on the top of the mountain. The cold wind was howling on the bare ground all around. The women and children in the yard were washing clothes and cooking, while the men went out hunting to make a living and earn money.
"The way you are dressed..." He felt suspicious. Although they matched the secret code, they were obviously well-trained soldiers.
Song Jiaren's eyes were blurred with tears. She grabbed the sleeve of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and sobbed, complaining, "Brother, don't look at me wearing gold and silver now. It's all thanks to my husband. I was originally a bandit on a distant hilltop. I didn't expect to be surrounded by a group of masked men. I ran away desperately and met an exiled official. He saved me and gave me a stable home. We were all exiled to the camp."
So that's how it is. Bian Dalei has always been a man who values friendship and loyalty. At this moment, she brought back sad memories for him. He burst into tears, missing his wife and children who had passed away, and was filled with grief.
"Don't worry. Since we are one of you, we must not do anything unjust. The village is simple, so you can make do with it for one night. Tomorrow I will personally take you to the camp."
Gu Zhen nodded in acceptance of his kindness, and heard the woman next to him making an obscene sound from her stomach.
"Gurgle." Song Jiaren chuckled, "I'm hungry."
Bian Dalei waved his hand generously and called the skinny monkey over, "Go prepare some food."
"But, Brother Bian..." The skinny monkey hesitated and stammered. They didn't have any good food to entertain the guests. They couldn't even fill their own stomachs. They had no choice but to go down the mountain to rob. If they didn't get some silver to buy food, they would have to eat tree bark. It was okay for the adults to go hungry for a few meals, but what about the old people, children and women in the village?
Bian Dalei also thought of this, his eyes dimmed. "Just bring out whatever you have. We can't let the guests go hungry."
The skinny monkey walked away with a sad face, and the smile on Bian Dalei's face became very forced. He blamed himself for being too concerned about his reputation. If he had left the food to the children, they could have eaten it for a while.
Looking at the eggs and dry food on the table, he became more and more reluctant to let these guests who came from afar eat them, and stared at them eagerly, unable to take his eyes off them.
Song Jiaren didn't think too much about it. She picked up the egg, peeled it and started eating. The guards also picked up the dry food and started eating. Gu Zhen didn't move, but just said that he was not hungry. There were many people and they ate little, so they only ate half full. Song Jiaren looked at the empty table, raised her head and looked at Bian Dalei who was swallowing his saliva.
Why does he look so hungry and greedy?
I just asked him to eat with me, but he said he wasn't hungry.
His Royal Highness the Crown Prince also said he was not hungry. Could it be that they were going to secretly eat something delicious at night?
The guards barely made ends meet, and the skinny monkey led the group to find a place to rest. Song Jiaren and Gu Zhen were also arranged to stay in a simple house, which was said to be the best one in their village. It was leaky everywhere, and there were still holes in some places after being patched up.
Song Jiaren was not full in the first place, and was woken up by hunger in the middle of the night. She sighed and struggled a few times but failed to remove the Crown Prince's arm from her waist, and instead woke him up.
"Go to the toilet?" His Royal Highness the Crown Prince asked in a sleepy and hoarse voice.
Song Jiaren sighed, "I woke up hungry and wanted to find something to eat. I can't sleep on an empty stomach." She stood up and put on her coat and cloak. She turned around and saw that the Crown Prince was also dressed. "Are you hungry too?"
Gu Zhen looked at the sky outside. Which woman could be as brave as her? How could she dare to go out alone in a strange village? Or did she not trust him, so she was trying to be brave in everything?
"I'm hungry, let's go."
It was a dark and windy night, and the village was hushed and panicked. Gu Zhen and Song Jiaren wandered around but couldn't find which house was the kitchen. Song Jiaren was so hungry that she was upset and said, "What should I do? There's nothing to eat."
Gu Zhen looked at the woods behind him and listened carefully for the rustling of saxaul. He took Song Jiaren to a corner and said, "Wait here for me. I'll go get some game for you."
Song Jiaren stretched her neck to look at the dark woods in front of her and the pale houses behind her illuminated by the moonlight. She felt sympathetic and said, "I'd better go with you. What if you are afraid of the dark?"
Gu Zhen raised his eyebrows, worried that he was afraid of the dark?
Oh.
In the dark night, the moonlight illuminates the dead branches into strange-shaped dead trees, and the fallen leaves on the ground make a "crunching" sound when stepped on.
"Shh, don't move, don't make any noise."
Song Jiaren stopped, stood there motionless, and held her breath.
Gu Zhen slowly pulled out the dagger from his waist and with a "whoosh", he hit a hare at an extremely fast speed.
Gu Zhen put away the dagger and took the rabbit to the well to skin and clean it.
Song Jiaren looked at the lifeless hare, its gray fur being ripped off by ruthless hands. It stared with its big eyes and refused to close. "The rabbit is so cute, how could you be so cruel!"
Gu Zhen paused in his cleaning and said angrily, "Are you going to eat it or not?" This was the first time in his life that he had to clean up his prey. The ninja felt uncomfortable and his hands felt cold. The icy well water repeatedly washed the blood from the rabbit. His hands were numb from the cold. She was still saying, "The rabbit is so cute, how could he bear it?"
Oh, if she hadn't said she was hungry, why would he come out hunting in the middle of the night!
Heartless woman!
A small fire was built, and the rabbit was cut into several halves and skewered on branches to roast. The flames were red, and soon the surface of the rabbit meat was sizzling with oil, and the aroma of the meat wafted out.
Song Jiaren took a deep breath and said, "It smells so good~"
Gu Zhen snorted and laughed, "Rabbit is so cute, how could I bear it?"
Song Jiaren thought of what she had just said and said with a wry smile, "Hehe, how could that be? Rabbit smells so good, it would be a shame not to eat it."
Gu Zhen broke off the roasted rabbit leg and handed it to her, "Eat it."
The rabbit legs are crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. The meat is firm and the aroma of meat fills your mouth when you take a bite. Song Jiaren hums with satisfaction and her lips are covered with oil.
I don't know when a little girl came over. She had a small oval face, a pointed chin, two thick and straight eyebrows and a pair of big round black eyes. There was a hint of stubbornness on her face, her hair was messy, her clothes were dirty and torn, and her wrists and ankles were exposed. She looked at the chicken leg and obviously wanted to eat it but didn't open her mouth to ask for it. She just squatted beside and watched.
"Kid, do you want to eat?" Song Jiaren asked her while eating a chicken leg.
The little girl shook her head and said, "No."
Gu Zhen broke off another rabbit leg and handed it to the little girl. Her big black eyes suddenly opened wide and looked at the meat in his hand, which smelled delicious.
The little girl licked her lips, swallowed her saliva, slowly reached out her hand and carefully took the rabbit leg, put it under her nose and smelled it, tears appeared in her slightly narrowed eyes, and she took small bites to savor it carefully.
It's like I've never eaten meat before.
"Eat slowly, there's more." Song Jiaren saw the little girl eating so seriously, as if she were eating some kind of delicacy. Then she looked at herself eating with relish, and felt a bit like a cow chewing on a peony.
After eating a few bites, the little girl took the rabbit leg and left. Gu Zhen and Song Jiaren finished eating the remaining rabbit meat, put out the open fire, and went back to sleep after eating and drinking their fill.
But I don’t know how many people in the village smelled the barbecue in their dreams and were so greedy that they felt hungry in their dreams.
The next day, Shouhou and Bian Dalei sat listlessly at the dinner table, facing a bowl of rice porridge with almost no grains and dry and hard steamed buns, and they had no appetite.
"Brother Bian, did you smell the meat last night? I was so hungry that I even dreamed about meat." The skinny monkey had an empty stomach and took a bite of the steamed bun, which hurt his teeth.
Bian Dalei didn't sleep well either. His face was dark blue and he was panting heavily. He didn't eat anything last night and went to bed on an empty stomach. He had to endure hunger in his dreams. Looking at the soup and dried steamed buns in the bowl, he had no appetite at all. Looking at the hungry and thin faces of his brothers, he felt sad and hated himself for being an incompetent village leader who couldn't even get enough to eat.
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