7 Chapter 7
◎Accident◎
On the third day, Xiao Muyan no longer went to the stall with Jiang Jingyun.
Although the round trip was a bit difficult, after walking with Jiang Jingyun for three days, Xiao Muyan felt relieved when he saw that Jiang Jingyun could barely cope with it and was even more comfortable with doing business. Now was the time when the prey was fat and the meat was plentiful. After being delayed for two days, it was time for him to get back to his own business.
After briefly explaining everything to Jiang Jingyun, he went up the mountain alone the next morning.
Only Jiang Jingyun was left, going back and forth diligently every day to sell his wares.
I sold it like this for ten days in a row.
One morning, when Jiang Jingyun arrived in the town, he found that there were already people hawking goods on the street, and there were many people around them.
When I looked closer, I found that he was selling snails and braised food just like him, and his prices were even cheaper than his, with snails only ten cents per portion and braised food twenty-five cents per portion.
When the hawker saw Jiang Jingyun, he avoided her gaze and looked a little embarrassed.
Jiang Jingyun didn't think there was anything wrong with it. It was expected. Stir-fried snails were not difficult to make. Anyone who had tasted them could guess the approximate ingredients and could cook them almost the same.
Fortunately, people did not have the habit of using spices at that time, and they would never have thought that several ingredients used by Jiang Jingyun are still being used for medicinal purposes in pharmacies. So even if the cooking method is somewhat similar, the taste will still be slightly different due to the inconsistency of the ingredients.
People who don’t care much about the taste will of course choose a cheaper price, but gourmets who have been in contact with delicious food for many years can still taste the difference in taste, and these people don’t care about the price difference. So, although he lost some customers, Jiang Jingyun's business did not become very bad. The only trouble is that as more and more people follow suit, Jiang Jingyun’s cost of buying pig offal has increased a lot.
"It seems that I still need to think of some new dishes..." Jiang Jingyun said secretly.
At this time, he was just thinking about the new style and did not realize that the real danger was coming.
After selling all the braised food, it was already 15:00 in the afternoon.
Jiang Jingyun bought what he needed as usual and then rushed home. It’s a bit late today as we sold out. If I don’t go back soon, my kids at home will start to worry again.
After leaving the city gate and walking towards the mountain for less than a quarter of an hour, he was stopped by three unkempt, ruffians on a remote and deserted path.
Jiang Jingyun stopped and looked at the three people in front of him with a vigilant expression, "Brothers, what are you doing..."
The one who looked like a skinny monkey among the three twirled his fingers, and opened his mouth to reveal a mouthful of yellow teeth. "Brothers, we haven't been very lucky recently, and we are a bit short of money. I see that you earn a lot every day, so I want to borrow some money to spend..."
Jiang Jingyun glanced at the opposite side. Although the three people seemed to have emptied their pockets due to the alcohol and meat, he weighed the matter in his mind. He thought that he might be able to escape if he fought to the death, but it would be even better if he could get rid of them with money. After all, money can be earned again, but people are gone for real. He thought for a moment, put the bamboo basket on his back on the ground, and kept his body on guard at all times: "I wonder how much the three gentlemen want to borrow?"
"He asked how much he wanted to borrow? Hahahahahaha..." The three of them looked at each other, and then laughed wildly at Jiang Jingyun, as if he had asked a very stupid question.
The thug who looked the strongest among them said rudely, "Of course it's all. Give me all your money!"
"Boss, the food this kid sells every day is very profitable. Why don't we ask him to hand over the recipe? We can sell it and make a lot of money." The dwarf next to him looked up and down greedily, as if looking at a piece of fat meat to be slaughtered.
"Yeah." The boss responded, staring at Jiang Jingyun fiercely, "Did you hear me? Hand over the money and the prescription, and I will spare your life. Otherwise, hum..." As he spoke, he shook his wrists and pretended to surround him.
Tsk, it looks like today won’t end well. Jiang Jingyun secretly cursed his bad luck as he forgot to check the almanac before going out today.
He raised his hand to stop the people from approaching, "Don't worry, big brothers, I'll take out the money right away!" Then he took out a handful of copper coins from his pocket.
Seeing the money, the three hooligans' eyes lit up instantly, but they said disdainfully: "Is that all? Don't try to play tricks, or I'll let you see the methods of the grandfathers!"
"I don't dare, I don't dare." Jiang Jingyun responded verbally, and slowly squatted down, touching his shoes with his hands, and explained with an embarrassed look on his face, "Hey, I was afraid that the money would be stolen, so I hid some in the soles of my shoes. Wait a minute, I'll take it out."
The three of them seemed a little disgusted, stopped a few steps apart, and urged, "Hurry up!"
"Oh, oh, that's good." Jiang Jingyun said perfunctorily. He secretly grabbed a handful of mud on the ground while touching his shoes. "This is all the money I have. Here you go!" Then he threw the copper coins mixed with mud in his hand on the faces of the three people and ran away.
"Ouch, my eyes..."
Listening to the wailing of the three thugs behind him, Jiang Jingyun didn't even turn his head and tried his best to get into the mountains.
The gangster boss spat out the mud in his mouth and kicked the skinny guy next to him in the butt, "Hurry up and chase him, we can't let him get away!"
Jiang Jingyun relied on his familiarity with the mountain roads from his daily walks, and occasionally used vines to trip up the pursuers behind him. He ran around in the mountains in a panic. After an hour, he finally got rid of the three thugs. He finally stopped to catch his breath, and suddenly a dark shadow flashed by...
******
"Jiang Jingyun, where are you?"
"Fifth brother...Fifth brother, where are you?"
"Nephew, I heard Uncle Ying's voice."
"Brother, where are you?" Jiang Jinglin held a torch, his eyes were red, and he had obviously been crying, and his voice was choked with sobs when he called out.
Uncle Jiang, who had come out with them to help look for people, patted Jiang Jinglin on the back and said, "Don't panic. Maybe something delayed him. Your brother has been told by a Taoist priest that he is blessed with a long life. He will be fine."
"Maybe he got lost in the mountains after getting dark. I'll go ahead and look for him." After saying that, Xiao Muyan started walking into the mountains.
When I came back this afternoon, I saw that the door to the next door was not open. I thought that Jiang Jingyun might not have come back yet, so I didn't care. Unexpectedly, when it was almost evening, the sister-in-law of the Jiang brother next door came knocking on the door and said in a panic that their eldest brother had not been seen yet. Only then did he realize that something was wrong.
The more people there are to look for someone, the better. He told Jiang Jinglin to run to his uncle's house to call for help. Xiao Muyan picked up the backpack he usually brought to the mountains and went out to look for someone.
When everyone reached the foot of the second mountain, they met Jiang Jingyun, who was covered in mud and limping back with a wooden stick.
When Jiang Jinglin saw Jiang Jingyun, he couldn't hold back his tears and rushed towards him, "Brother, why did you come back just now... wuwuwu..."
"Hey, hey...don't pounce!" Jiang Jingyun quickly dodged his brother's pounce to avoid further injury.
Xiao Muyan went over to support him, then looked down at his legs, frowning, "What's wrong with your foot?"
"What's wrong with my nephew?" Uncle Jiang heard that he was injured, and hurried over. Seeing Jiang Jingyun's red and swollen ankle, he asked, "How did you sprain your ankle? Does it hurt?"
"Oh, don't mention it. On the way back, I encountered a robbery gangster. My money was robbed. They also wanted to steal my prescription." Jiang Jingyun had a bitter face. He felt unlucky just thinking about it. "I finally escaped, but was startled by a rabbit that suddenly jumped out. I accidentally fell and sprained my ankle."
It was already dark by then, and he almost lost his way in the wooded mountains. Fortunately, he saw a fire far away from a high place, and he followed the light back.
Xiao Muyan squatted down with his back to Jiang Jingyun, "Come up, I'll carry you back."
Jiang Jingyun looked at the broad and strong back in front of him and was stunned: The life-saving grace, the unconditional helping hand time and time again, if his gender was changed, he would have to marry her, right?
The person in front squatted for a while, and when he found that there was no movement behind him, he turned around and looked at him.
Jiang Jingyun finally reacted and quickly leaned over to him, put his hands on his shoulders, leaned in close and whispered, "Thank you, Brother Xiao."
The breath brushed past my ears, and my skin, which had become a little dark due to years of exposure to the sun, gradually turned red.
Jiang Jingyun didn't notice.
He turned his head and looked at his brother who was walking closely beside Xiao Muyan. "Don't cry, I'm fine. I was careless this time. Just wait, I'll learn a few moves from Brother Xiao, and then I'll beat those bad guys to a pulp."
"Yeah." Jiang Jinglin choked up and wiped his tears with his sleeve, "I want to learn too. I'll help big brother beat them."
"I'll learn them all," Jiang Jingyun agreed readily. It’s good to learn a few tricks so that you won’t be bullied easily and it can also strengthen your body.
The two of them didn't even bother to ask Xiao Muyan who was present, and they decided on the matter on their own. Anyway, Xiao was so kind-hearted that he would definitely not refuse. At worst, he could just pester them and make more delicious food as tuition.
The future martial arts master, Xiao Muyan, remained silent the entire way.
After dropping the man off at Jiang Jingyun's house, he turned around and went back to his own home, leaving him sitting there confused: Are our two students so scary? Run so fast.
Never mind.
He looked around. In the past, the two little ones would have clingingly surrounded him and asked about his well-being, especially the little sister, who might have even cried and asked for a hug.
How come I don’t see anyone today? It's too late and you're already asleep?
Uncle Jiang and his family followed him back. Seeing him looking at home in confusion, they suddenly remembered, "You were not at home, and the two little ones were scared, so they have been taken to our place. Your aunt is watching them at home, don't worry." Then he looked at the sky and said, "It's so late, they must have gone to bed, let them come back tomorrow."
It was getting late, and since Jiang Jingyun was fine, they went back first.
Jiang Jingyun thanked his uncle's family. A group of people had been running around for him all night, and he wanted to treat everyone to a meal. Although you cannot hold large banquets during the mourning period, it is still possible to have a meal with your family.
At first, his uncle refused to agree. He kept holding his uncle's hand and refused to let go, insisting that he would not let them go back until his uncle agreed. Jiang Da finally agreed after being unable to bear it.
After seeing off his uncle and the others, he was just about to tell his second brother to close the gate when he saw Xiao Muyan coming back with a basin of water in his hand.
"Your feet need ice, but it's hot now and there's no ice. I have a well at home. The water is icy and cool. You can use it to apply ice to your feet."
"Thank you, Brother Xiao," Jiang Jingyun said a little embarrassedly, soaking the handkerchief handed to him by his second brother in the well water, "I always trouble you."
"It's just a matter of convenience. Don't mind it." After watching Jiang Jingyun apply the medicine on his feet, Xiao Muyan took out a small porcelain bottle from his arms and said, "This is the wine I often use for injuries. Take it. When you get up tomorrow, use it to rub the blood stasis on your ankle vigorously so that it can heal quickly." After saying this, he thought of his second brother who was still young and didn't have enough strength or skill. Jiang Jingyun himself was not convenient, so he added, "I'll come again tomorrow morning."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
