Chapter 25 Officers and Soldiers: “How come you don’t go crazy when you’re drunk?…
"Here! Quick! They're catching up!"
Under the dim sky, the woman's sharp cries, gasps, and footsteps resounded throughout the forest. Birds and beasts cried miserably, flapped their wings, and fled in all directions.
The bushes behind her were chasing her like a man-eating monster. The woman gasped for breath and hugged a tree. Looking back, she saw that the dark bushes had no end in sight.
"Have you seen... them? Didn't they... follow us?" She asked the man beside her.
Xie Zechuan was much stronger than Zhou Tinglan, but he looked particularly miserable. He covered his right arm and gasped, "No...no."
There were rustling footsteps in the distant bushes. Zhou Tinglan noticed it keenly. Her pupils shrank slightly. She grabbed Xie Zechuan and shouted hoarsely, "Hurry! They're coming!"
The two men turned around and continued to run forward, with torches flickering not far behind them.
"Damn it, I let you two escape. Brothers, catch up with them!" Curses appeared behind the two of them.
Dark clouds were rolling in the sky, and a light rain started to fall in the mountains and forests. The soil was slippery with water, and Zhou Tinglan staggered and almost fell.
"Lan'er!" Xie Zechuan quickly picked up the person, preventing Zhou Tinglan from falling directly into the mud and water.
"Let's go." The two of them supported each other and walked forward.
Suddenly, there was a bright light in front of them. They looked at each other and tried to move forward, but suddenly stopped.
Zhou Tinglan looked out at the bottomless cliff. The fallen rocks on the edge disappeared the moment they fell. She swallowed her saliva.
She was panicking. Would it really be okay if she jumped down like this? What if she died?
The movement in the forest was getting closer and closer. Zhou Tinglan gritted his teeth and thought, since we are already here, let's jump.
Closing her eyes, she grabbed Xie Zechuan's hand and jumped off the cliff.
The night wind from the mountains stung her cheeks.
The fall stopped abruptly, and the two landed steadily on a tree protruding from the cliff.
Zhou Tinglan opened her eyes and felt relieved. She looked up at the cliff and saw faint flames on the edge.
"Let's go." She stood up, grabbed the branch and found it was quite strong.
The two climbed up the branches on the cliff wall towards somewhere below the cliff, and finally fell into a cold pool of water.
When they swam ashore, they found several people waiting at the bottom of the cliff. Upon seeing them, one of them hurriedly handed them a cloak he had prepared and said, "Come and warm yourself up. The water is icy cold at night and it's easy to catch a cold."
The firewood in the fire made crackling sounds. At this time, the empty bottom of the cliff seemed particularly warm. The wet clothes were dried. Zhou Tinglan held a water bag in her hand. She pulled out the cork and drank some hot water, squinting her eyes in comfort.
Xie Zechuan reached out and touched Zhou Tinglan's hand. Seeing that it was no longer cold, he looked at the others and said, "Xiao Ruo, what's the situation on the cliff now?"
Xiao Ruo was the waiter at the post station. He curled his lips, muttered softly, and didn't want to pay attention to Xie Zechuan.
Seeing this, the person next to him patted him on the shoulder and said, "We just received news from our brothers on the cliff. As you said, there is indeed a dark shadow following us."
Sure enough, Zhou Tinglan thought to herself after hearing this, and then she said, "Tomorrow you will tell the person you are meeting that we have fallen off the cliff and died, and ask for the hire money."
"Of course. Don't worry, we are the only ones familiar with the surrounding forests. They would never discover this place under the cliff."
Zhou Tinglan nodded to indicate that she understood.
Recalling yesterday, she urgently stopped the other party and said that she had a way to help them get the mercenary money. It was not a delaying tactic. Zhou Tinglan was ready to stage a scene with the people in the village where she escaped and they chased her, which led to today's chase.
At that time in the room, the other party picked up the knife on the ground again, pulled a chair over and sat down, placing the knife on his knees.
"I don't know what the young lady is talking about, what method can help us earn more money?"
Zhou Tinglan pointed at the knife in his hand: "Can you show it to me?"
"What are you going to do?" He looked at Zhou Tinglan warily and threatened, "I advise you not to do anything now, otherwise you will see the consequences!"
The tip of the knife turned and pointed at Zhou Tinglan. Xie Zechuan held Zhou Tinglan's hand and stared at the knife in the other's hand.
"I'm not trying to escape," Zhou Tinglan said helplessly. "There are only two of us and we're not familiar with the surrounding area. I want to see the swords because I'm a swordsmith, and the way to make money is in the swords."
"Really?" The other party was skeptical, but he still didn't let go of the knife. He shouted to the person next to him, "Xiao Ruo, give them another knife."
"Why give them knives?" Xiao Ruo was unwilling, but he still slowly picked up a hatchet from the corner and threw it at Zhou Tinglan's feet: "See, it's really..."
Zhou Tinglan picked up the hatchet and discovered that the knives here were surprisingly duller than those in Beijiang City. She immediately understood what was going on.
"How many knockoff knives like this do you have?"
"Not much, but not a few either. Miss, are you planning to take our people from the village to sell knives?"
Zhou Tinglan chuckled. It seemed that they finally realized it.
"That's right. Although these knives of yours can be used, they are not easy to use. Is what I said true?"
Xiao Ruo stood by and nodded as he listened, but then realized that he was being influenced by Zhou Tinglan's words and hurriedly shook his head.
Zhou Tinglan laughed in his heart when he saw this.
"They're not very useful sometimes, but everyone in town uses these, and there's no other knives available."
"I can forge better knives. When the time comes, you can set up a small knife stall in town. Selling the knives will provide a new source of income."
The other party pondered for a moment, then said, "We can do as you say, but first we need to verify whether the knife you forged is really better than the ones sold in town."
Zhou Tinglan patted his chest and assured: "No problem!"
Afterwards, the people in the mountain village found a simple forging furnace for Zhou Tinglan to forge the sword.
Xiao Ruo stood at the door: "Let's forge ahead."
Xie Zechuan frowned, somewhat dissatisfied with his attitude. Zhou Tinglan comforted him and whispered, "Our most important task right now is to get rid of those hiding in the shadows and forge a good sword."
"Let me help you."
Fortunately, Zhou Tinglan had successfully improved daily utensils in Beijiang City. She skillfully melted down the original knives to extract forging materials. Soon, a new type of improved cooking knife appeared on the table.
The simple forging furnace in the town isn't as good as the one in Beijiang City, Zhou Tinglan thought. She picked up the kitchen knife and threw it to Xiao Ruo: "Try it, isn't it much better than the original one?"
Xiao Ruo glanced at Zhou Tinglan, picked up the kitchen knife and exclaimed: "What a good knife! It's really much better than those chipped kitchen knives!"
Zhou Tinglan looked at Xiao Ruo who was sitting across from the fire. He was fiddling with a branch, just like he had with the knife yesterday.
She stood up and said, "Let's go back to the village. It's harder for them to see us at night."
Everyone agreed that it was feasible, so after packing up their belongings, they headed towards the top of the cliff.
**
The next day, Xiao Ruo stood in front of the stall, holding a kitchen knife and shouting, "Come and see! This is a new kitchen knife. Not one hundred and ninety-nine, not ninety-nine either. Now it's only two taels of silver. You won't be cheated or fooled! Come quickly!"
"Brother Xiao, what's the point of what Miss Zhou taught me?"
Xiao Ruo slapped him with his palm: "What's the point of worrying about it? Just keep shouting!"
However, many people in the town just stopped by the stall for a while but did not buy a single knife.
Zhou Tinglan, with a veil on her face, sat behind the stall and felt that this was not going to work. She called Xiao Ruo, who was sweating profusely from shouting on the street, and lowered her head to talk to him.
Xiao Ruo was suspicious: "Miss Zhou, are you sure this method will work?"
"You'll know if it works if you try it."
The sound of gongs and drums suddenly rang out on the street. Xiao Ruo, holding a drumstick, beat the drum rhythmically: "Look, look, a new and improved kitchen knife!"
He and several other brothers from the mountain village beat drums and gongs, sang and danced in front of the stall, attracting many curious people on the street.
Xiao Ruo took the opportunity to recommend to them: "Auntie, you are really getting younger and younger. If you want to look younger, take a look at my knife. I guarantee you will be full of energy in the kitchen."
"Auntie, hey, did you buy some fresh food to nourish our nephew? Look at this knife of mine, I'm sure my nephew will enjoy the meal even more if you use it."
“…”
Zhou Tinglan pointed directly at Xiao Ruo who was running around on the street: "Xie Zechuan, you see Xiao Ruo is learning quite quickly."
Xie Zechuan smiled and said, "Of course Lan'er taught me well."
"Stop talking nonsense."
A man was standing in the alley across from the stall. He peered over at Zhou Tinglan and the others. Seeing Xiao Ruo selling knives, he snorted, "Seeking attention."
Seeing that there was no other situation, he turned and ran into his shop on the street.
The number of kitchen knives on the stall gradually dwindled. Xiao Ruo, who had been selling them all day, sat down exhausted behind the stall. He said excitedly, "Miss Zhou, the kitchen knives you forged are selling really well. There's only one left!"
At this moment, two aunts arrived at the stall at the same time: "I heard that the kitchen knives here are good, I want to buy a knife."
Xiao Ruo looked at the two aunts who were in a dilemma and said, "Aunt, there is only one left at the stall today. Who of you is willing to give way?"
When the two aunts heard Xiao Ruo's words, their faces immediately became excited.
One of the aunts pointed at the other and said first: "My family sells fish, so we need a kitchen knife more than your family sells tofu. You will need the same one tomorrow!"
"Well, why don't you say you'll come tomorrow?"
“…”
The two aunts started haggling over the price in front of the stall, neither of them was willing to give in, and they even ended up fighting.
The noise alarmed other people on the street, and they all came forward to separate the fight.
Xiao Ruo also squeezed in and shouted loudly: "Aunts, stop fighting, stop fighting!"
Suddenly, someone among the people shouted, "Officials are coming! Everyone, get out of the way!"
Upon hearing this, the people dispersed, leaving behind the two aunts and Xiao Ruo who were still arguing.
"What happened?"
Xiao Ruo hurriedly stepped forward to explain the whole story, and finally pretended to be pitiful and said: "Sir, I really don't know. If you say this, which aunt I give it to will offend people, I will!"
"Let me see the kitchen knife."
Xiao Ruo didn't dare hesitate and quickly handed over the knife. Unexpectedly, the soldier took a look at the knife and sighed, "It's a good knife. Don't you know that you have to pay for setting up a stall here?"
Zhou Tinglan frowned as he listened. Did he run into some local government tyrant?
"I don't know, sir, what do you think of my knife?
Xiao Ru simply imitated her aunt's behavior and cried, "Sir, please be kind. I have elderly and young children at home, and they are all waiting for me to sell the kitchen knives and earn some money to take home!"
As he cried, he hugged the officer's legs and cried even louder.
The people around him couldn't bear the pain of Xiao Ruo's tearful wailing. They pleaded with the officers and soldiers for mercy: "Sir, you see how miserable he is. Please spare him this time."
The officer said impatiently: "Okay, okay, I will confiscate the knife. You can set up a stall, but don't make trouble next time."
After saying that, he muttered quietly: "How can there still be such poor people? Tsk, how annoying!"
Xiao Ruo pretended not to hear anything. He smiled and sent the soldiers away. He helped his aunt, who was slumped on the ground, up and said, "Aunts, you can come earlier tomorrow. The stall welcomes you."
After the aunt left, Zhou Tinglan and others went to a nearby blacksmith shop to buy a lot of new forging materials, and then headed towards the mountain village.
After returning to the village, everyone was shocked after counting the money they had earned today. After deducting the costs and the money spent on the forging materials, there was still quite a bit left.
At this moment, Xiao Ruo completely admired Zhou Tinglan. Miss Zhou is such a wonderful person!
In the following days, Xiao Ruoru continued to sell knives as he did today, with remarkable results.
Now, everyone in the town knows that there is a small stall selling knives, and the knives it sells are very useful.
The people in the village were overjoyed. At night they set up a table in the yard and filled it with special dishes.
Xiao Ruo even dug out a jar of wine from under a tree in the village courtyard. He casually placed it in front of Zhou Tinglan and said, "Miss Zhou, I was wrong before. I apologize. From now on, no matter what you say, I will never change my mind. This is the wine from my private collection. Please, Miss Zhou."
Someone saw Xiao Ruo take out the wine, stepped forward, hooked his shoulder and said: "Brother Xiao, you are so generous, you dug out all this wine!"
"Go away, get out of here!" Xiao Ruo waved the man away and looked back at Zhou Tinglan.
Zhou Tinglan looked at the wine jar and suddenly recalled the time in Beijiang City when she blacked out due to drinking. She smiled awkwardly and said, "Xiao Ruo, I won't drink any more. The fire in the post station wasn't our fault. I accept your apology."
If she gets drunk and acts crazy in the village, she will be extremely embarrassed!
Xiao Ruo was about to urge him to drink, but Xie Zechuan, who was sitting next to him, suddenly said, "Xiao Ruo, Lan'er isn't feeling well, I'll drink with you."
"good!"
After Xiao Ruo finished speaking, he stepped on the chair next to him, raised his glass and cheered, "Brothers, let's toast to Miss Zhou and the others!"
The revelry in the village continued until midnight. A large number of people were sleeping in the courtyard, some of them holding jars of wine, their hands unconsciously waving in the air, muttering, "Drink... I can still drink."
Zhou Tinglan sent Xie Zechuan back to the side room. Looking at the man with a red face, he poked him and said, "You drank so much, and you don't know how to control yourself."
The drunk man looked well-behaved. Zhou Tinglan poked his face with a playful smile on his face: "Tell me, how come you don't go crazy when you're drunk?"
She suddenly had an idea and smiled evilly, "I got it."
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