Chapter 213 Chapter 213 It’s cold, time to eat hot pot
The houses in Dashan Village are relatively neatly built, in rows and rows, much neater than those in Dali Village. At least they are not scattered here and there.
To solve this problem, in the early years they lived far apart, and if they encountered a thief at home, no one would hear them even if they shouted at the top of their lungs. Later, they lived close to each other, and if something happened at any house, they only had to shout and everyone would hear them, so the thieves did not dare to come often.
But thieves didn't dare to come, and occasionally there would be some scoundrels who came to hang out, so the villagers were very wary of outsiders. When Qin Run came back from outside, he saw someone standing in the vegetable garden across the road. Everyone looked at him, because he was from another village. When the villagers who had not heard the village chief's words just now looked at him, there was a hint of inquiry and vigilance in their eyes.
"Uncle, aunt...this is Run'er from Dali Village. His husband is Doctor Xu. They came here to visit today." Lin Qing followed Qin Run and said hurriedly when he saw everyone looking at him.
When Lin Dahai came back from the town, they all came to see him. Moreover, the villagers who helped to send Lin Dahai to the town that day all knew who Doctor Xu was. Once they returned to the village and told everyone about it, everyone naturally knew.
It turned out to be Doctor Xu's family. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, it turns out to be Doctor Xu's family. Oh, Run'er, I'm so sorry."
"It's okay." Qin Run walked out of the yard and stood outside to chat with other villagers. Later in the conversation, Qin Run asked, "Is corn usually grown here?"
"Yeah, what else can we grow besides corn?"
Speaking of food, an auntie was also worried. "When we first came here, the animals on the mountain were afraid of people and didn't dare to come down the mountain. But now, not to mention other people, even the sweet potatoes in the fields are often eaten by mice and squirrels, and occasionally wild boars come out, destroying a large area of the sweet potatoes in the fields."
"Wild boar?" Xu Yunfan heard this as soon as he came out and immediately became curious, "Are there many wild boars here?"
Xu Yunfan's words stunned the villagers who had focused their attention on him because of his words.
Wow, where did this guy come from? What did he eat to grow up? Not only is he good-looking, but he is also so tall.
Doctor Xu looked very tall. Although he was thin, his body was not frail, but rather perfectly proportioned.
"Ahem..." Seeing that everyone was silent for a long time and was looking at Xu Yunfan, Lin Dahe couldn't help but remind him.
"Wild boars don't usually come down the mountain. They only come out to destroy crops during the harvest season. They are very ferocious, with thick skin and flesh. It usually takes several men to subdue an adult wild boar. Once you are stabbed by its two fangs, there will be at least two holes in your body." Lin Dahe said angrily.
Xu Yunfan nodded. "A grown wild boar is definitely not something a man can subdue. Village chief, please call all the villagers over."
It was mid-December, and the fields were not busy at all. Only a few people were still tending to the crops, waiting to plant vegetables for the winter.
Lin Dahe asked a few children to go over and shout, and soon everyone came over.
When everyone arrived, Lin Dahe repeated what Xu Yunfan had said in a loud voice.
As Lin Dahe finished speaking, the whole scene was filled with silence.
Very quiet.
No one spoke, and no one reacted for a long time.
Are they hallucinating?
The men in their village have gone out to look for work, but apart from carrying heavy bags at the town's dock, they can hardly find other jobs.
But the job that they thought was difficult to find was actually delivered to the village one day and handed over to them. Even though they had no experience, this person was willing to give them time to adapt and learn.
Such a big surprise, who wouldn't be confused after hearing it?
A little later, an old man, leaning on a cane, walked up to Lin Dahe and asked in a trembling voice, "Doctor Xu, is what Dahe said true? Are you really going to hire us to work?"
"Yes."
"You see, not all the villagers in our village can do every job, but I can guarantee that we are willing to do all the dirty and tiring work."
Xu Yunfan nodded again, "I see. For my job, if you have some experience in the early stages, are willing to learn, have patience, and can sit still, I think there won't be any problems."
"Run'er is my husband. Since I'm a teacher, I won't have much free time in the future. So, I'll come with him in the early stages of this matter. There will be other people working with you in the future. If you have any questions, you can ask them. Do you still have any questions now, or is there anything I didn't explain clearly that you don't understand?"
"No, Doctor Xu, we heard it clearly."
Xu Yunfan: "Run'er, take out the contract and tell everyone what it contains. Now, let's hire one from each household, and then tomorrow you can go to the blacksmith shop in town to order the tools."
"Okay." Qin Run took out a stack of deeds from his backpack and explained the contents of the deeds to the villagers one by one. Some villagers didn't understand, so Qin Run explained patiently and patiently.
Xiaobao was surrounded by several children and stood behind the fence. He stared at Xu Yunfan with his big eyes, tilting his head in deep thought, not knowing what he was thinking.
Xu Yunfan, who was waiting nearby, recalled seeing a large pond in Dashan Village when he was in the mountains. "Village Chief Lin, do you raise fish in the village pond?"
"Yes, there was no pond there before. It was only a few years ago that we all worked together to dig it out."
Lin Dahe was embarrassed to say that due to poverty, some families in their village had almost forgotten what meat tasted like. Even if the men occasionally had time to go to the mountains to hunt some game, they often returned empty-handed. How could this go on? So everyone decided to dig a fish pond and raise some fish, so that each family could share some during festivals. That would be considered as having a meat dish to offer to their ancestors.
Because the villagers dug the grass together, and they were united, there were almost no major conflicts. Usually, when a family went to work in the fields and passed by the fish pond, they would carry a bundle of grass over. The fish in the pond would eat well and naturally grow fat.
Xu Yunfan thought for a moment and asked, "Can you take me there to have a look?"
"Sure, it's not that difficult."
Lin Dahe took Xu Yunfan to the fish pond not far from the end of the village. As soon as they arrived, Xu Yunfan heard the sound of fish jumping out of the water and then jumping back in. A quick look showed that the fish must weigh at least three or four pounds. Looking at the bubbles on the surface of the fish pond, it was not difficult to see that there must be quite a few fish in it.
Fish is too cheap, and the mountain village is far away. If you want to make some money by selling fish, you know without thinking that this is not feasible. The fish will be in your stomach before you even carry it to the town.
When we bought the fish fry that year, the whole village pooled money and hired someone to deliver them on horseback.
Xu Yunfan asked Lin Dahe what kind of fish were raised in the two-acre wide fish pond, and Lin Dahe told him everything.
The two-acre fish pond has good water quality, fertile soil, and the fish are fed frequently. Xu Yunfan guessed that the fish production is about 5,000 to 6,000 kilograms. With so many fish, the villagers may not be able to eat them all.
Before his tools are made, he could consider letting the villagers earn some extra money for the holidays and winter.
The weather is getting cold, it's time to prepare hot pot.
How can you have hotpot without meatballs and fish balls?
When I think of hot pot, the hot pot base, and all kinds of meat and vegetables, when the time comes...
To make hot pot base, you need a lot of butter and other things. If you follow the Qi family's way, it won't be a big problem. After harvesting a few acres of corn fields, Xu Yunfan asked Fang the hunter and Sun Mu's family to grow vegetables for him. The supply of vegetables is probably enough.
Xu Yunfan was worried. Damn it, he had to make a big profit again. If he didn't make money, he would be struck by lightning.
No, I have to talk to Qin Run first when I get home tonight.
While Xu Yunfan was thinking about the plan, Lin Dahe had already asked people to catch two big fish and insisted that Xu Yunfan and his friends have lunch before leaving.
The villagers were very welcoming and took out all the eggs that they had saved for the New Year at home, intending to make a sumptuous lunch to entertain the guests.
Xu Yunfan and Qin Run tried to refuse, but it was impossible for them to stay for lunch as they had to rush back.
On the way back, Xu Yunfan still carried Xiaobao on his back. When they came, Qin Run's backpack was only half full, but when they went back, the whole backpack was full. Even he and Xu Yunfan were carrying several large bags of mountain products in their hands.
Most of these mountain products are dried bamboo shoots, mushrooms and the like. Perhaps in the eyes of others, these things that can be found casually in the mountains and are readily available are not worthy of being presented on the table, but these are the only things that the villagers in the mountain village can show off.
Xu Yunfan accepted them all.
He just politely refused a few words, but finally couldn't resist the enthusiasm of the villagers and accepted them all.
When Sun Wu came to pick them up, he saw the two men leaving empty-handed and returning with full loads. If he didn't know the character of Xu Yunfan and his wife, he might have thought they were robbing.
"Run'er, are we going back to the village now?"
Xu Yunfan looked down at his watch. It was already 3:30 in the afternoon. "It's still early. Let's go to town first."
Sun Wu: "Just right, Yunfan, Dean Jiang is looking for you. I don't know what it is, but he looks a little worried."
Xu Yunfan chuckled and thought to himself, according to Jiang Lanfang's character, he would never come to the temple unless there was something important. He probably wouldn't even think of him if there was nothing else. "Oh, then I'll stop by the academy later."
Hearing this, Qin Run took off the straps from Xu Yunfan and said, "You go to the academy, I'll take care of Xiaobao."
How could it be inappropriate for Xu Yunfan to bring a child with him when he went to the academy to discuss something?
When he arrived at the academy, Xu Yunfan went directly to Jiang Lanfang's study. Before entering, Xu Yunfan knocked on the door. He thought Jiang Lanfang was there, but Jiang Lanfang was not there. Instead, it was Jiang Yunshen who was there.
Jiang Yunshen responded and came in. He was not surprised to see Xu Yunfan. "You're here. Wait a minute. My uncle is still busy. He will be here soon. Sit down first."
Xu Yunfan sat by the coffee table. Seeing Jiang Lanfang engrossed in his reading, he didn't intend to disturb him. However, Jiang Yunshen spoke first, "I heard that you offended Zhao Niansheng the last time you went to Beijing?"
"How do you know this again?" It's true that good news doesn't travel far, but bad news travels a thousand miles. How could what happened in the capital spread here so quickly?
Not really!
Jiang Yunshen: "How could I not know? Qi Xiu Ze and the other four in the academy are not the only ones from the capital. I could have found out with a little inquiry. And you know, you are very famous in the capital now. I have heard about the fireworks incident. Tell me, why did you have to provoke that stingy guy when there are so many people to mess with? He is the most stingy person and can't stand the slightest loss. Believe it or not, he will not give you a good face and give you a good beating. Just for this matter, he can secretly target you for the rest of his life."
"No, is Zhao Niansheng such a vindictive person?"
Jiang Yunshen sneered, "Of course not, don't you know that you can judge a person by his appearance but not by his heart? That guy looks harmless and speaks softly, but he has a very vicious mind."
I still remember that a few years ago, a guy in the capital had an argument with Zhao Niansheng. It was obvious that Zhao Niansheng was in the wrong and his tongue was not as good as the other party's. He lost face on the spot and Zhao Niansheng was so angry that his face turned blue. After that, the matter seemed to be over, but they didn't know that Zhao Niansheng was very vindictive.
Just two years later, on the eve of the boy's wedding, he went out for an ordinary outing and was put in a sack and beaten. His leg was broken, and the boy's marriage was naturally called off.
"That guy's father was an official after all, so naturally he wouldn't just let it go. But in the end, it became a big deal, but in the end, it was nothing more than a fuss."
"So, the man who sent people to beat my brother was Zhao Niansheng. Oh my god, isn't his father a fourth-rank official?" After the words fell, Xu Yunfan remembered that although his father was only a fourth-rank official, his uncle was Jing Mingze, not to mention that the Jing and Qin families were now going to marry.
Jiang Yunshen: "I heard from the students in Class C6 that you are good at martial arts, but Run'er and your two brothers-in-law don't know how to do it. An'er and the others go to and from school every day. If..."
"You mean, Zhao Niansheng might take revenge on me?"
Jiang Yunshen asked back, "What do you think?"
Thinking of Zhang Jing's words, Xu Yunfan shook his head and smiled bitterly, "His people have already come once, but were called back by someone I know."
Qin An and Qin Mu followed Sun Wu and Aunt Qin to and from the academy every day, and it was indeed easy for them to be intercepted on the way. Now there was another child in the family, and he came to the school. Xiaobao was taken care of by Qin Run, and the two of them, one big and one small, were the easiest to be bullied.
"You can't stay with them all the time," Jiang Yunshen suggested to Xu Yunfan, "Why don't you go to the pawnshop and have a look?"
Xu Yunfan: "Diamond shop? You want me to buy a few men to take back? Is that okay? If you don't know how to fight, you'll just be a serving boy."
"In that case, why don't you pick a few people who are good at martial arts? Although there are usually very few such people in the brokerage industry, but..."
Jiang Yunshen leaned out of the study window and took a look. Seeing that no one was around, he lowered his voice and said, "I heard that this time, a group of martial servants who were secretly trafficked from the neighboring country came to the brokerage business."
The so-called military servant is a man who is skilled in martial arts and has served as a bodyguard in the past.
These people are different from ordinary warriors. Most of the men in the escort agency know some martial arts. Some have learned it seriously, and some are just learning it halfway. Therefore, people who know martial arts can only be called warriors. The martial servants, like the secret guards, are talents who have been selected and professionally trained since childhood.
"That's impossible, Principal Military Sergeant? Even if they committed a crime, they would be beheaded immediately. Why would they be sold here?"
Jiang Yunshen shrugged. "Who knows? These warriors are from the Great Shang Kingdom. The information I received cannot be wrong. If such people are used well, they will be a great help. If they are not used well, they will just invite wolves into the house. It all depends on your thinking."
What do you think?
Of course, just do it and it's done.
Xu Yunfan stood up immediately and said, "When your second uncle comes back, tell him that I have to leave now because of an emergency. If you have anything else, we can talk tomorrow."
…
The manager of the dental clinic has been having a terrible headache lately.
He originally thought that he could make a fortune by secretly bringing back these warriors, but he didn't expect that it would be easier to invite them than to send them away.
Look, there are more than a dozen martial servants chained in cages. Their bones are very hard. Not only do they look ferocious, but they are also good at fighting. Many masters have come to see them and want to buy them to be house guards. As a result, these martial servants are still unwilling, saying that if you want to buy them, you have to buy them in batches of more than a dozen. Otherwise, they will never leave.
Listen, they are still bargaining. Do they really recognize their situation?
However, the manager scolded and beat him, but he just gritted his teeth and said nothing.
When Xu Yunfan, who had stated his purpose, was brought over, the steward was whipping the group of martial servants.
More than a dozen warriors sat in the cage, showing no fear, letting the whip fall on them as if they didn't feel any pain.
However, Xu Yunfan could see that these people were just gritting their teeth and holding on.
Xu Yunfan asked jokingly, "Hey, what's going on? Why is the manager so angry?"
"Master Xu, what are you doing here?" The steward stopped whipping and said with a sullen face, "It's all because of these ignorant bastards. They really think they're still in the Shang Dynasty. They actually dare to make demands on me."
Xu Yunfan: "I heard that you have a group of special talents here, so I came to take a look."
Hearing the voice, more than a dozen martial servants looked up at Xu Yunfan in surprise. When they saw Xu Yunfan again, they were still a little stunned.
Whenever the masters came before, they would ask the steward where the new goods were. No one ever treated these people who were locked in cages like livestock as human beings. After they were stripped of their status as slaves, in the eyes of these people, they were no longer human beings, but goods, goods whose life and death were controlled by them. But they were human beings, and who didn't want to be treated as a human being and have dignity?
That's why they were surprised after hearing Xu Yunfan's words.
The manager was very kind to Xu Yunfan. There was nothing he could do. Everyone in Qinghe Town knew that Xu Yunfan had four brothers backing him up. As a manager of a pawnbroker, he couldn't afford to offend them. "Master Xu, are you planning to buy someone?"
"What nonsense is that, manager? Otherwise, why would I run away from you and have fun?"
Xu Yunfan's words were harsh, but he spoke in a joking tone, sounding as if he and the steward were on good terms. The steward was also pleased to hear this, "Master Xu, how many are you planning to buy? The other day, Young Master Zhou and I reserved three, and Young Master Li reserved four... Now there are only two left."
"Reservation?" Xu Yunfan was a little puzzled. For this place, you could just pay and take people with you and leave directly. Why did you need to make a reservation?
The steward noticed Xu Yunfan's confusion and told him about the martial servants' uncooperativeness. Xu Yunfan walked around the cages and looked at all the dozen martial servants. "You don't want to separate?"
This is surprising.
"No."
"Why?"
"We don't want to kill each other and become the entertainment of others. Even if we die, we can die at the hands of the enemy, but never at the hands of our brothers."
There is another point that the leader of the martial arts leaders did not mention. Although they seem to be fine now, the injuries on several of their companions are not light. If they are together, they can help out when the time comes.
Xu Yunfan turned to look at the steward, "What do they mean?"
"The young masters of the Zhou and Li families bought martial artists from me, not to use them as guards or servants, but to fight with them..."
After the steward explained it, Xu Yunfan realized that the human fighting he was talking about was the same as bullfighting and cockfighting, but there was one difference, that is, once it started, it would be a fight to the death.
A dozen or so warriors may sound like a lot, but it’s actually not that many.
When he goes to Beijing, if the fact that he is Xiao Heng's brother-in-law is exposed, these people will definitely come in handy.
Xu Yunfan: "Reservation? That's against the rules. Before coming here, Lao Xie and I all learned about your rules. It's always been a one-handed payment and the person's handover. How can you say reservation? Manager, please don't bully me. I'm a newcomer and try to confuse me."
"Oh, Master Xu, this...how dare I?" The steward weighed the pros and cons and asked, "Master Xu, are you buying all of them?"
"I do have this plan, but I have to see if they're willing. This kind of thing has to be mutually agreed upon." He squatted down and asked the dozen or so warrior attendants, "Will you come with me? Let me make it clear, I'm just a humble servant. My business is just getting started, so it's going to be tough, and I have a lot to do."
"Yes." The leader of the warriors narrowed his eyes suddenly. The suppressed gloom in his eyes dissipated, and his eyes instantly became sharp. He replied again in a sonorous and powerful voice, "We are willing. Please grant us your blessing, Master."
Rather than being trapped in a cage and beaten like animals, it is better for them to follow this man who treats them as human beings. They have been transferred many times along the way and have suffered a lot and seen human nature. If this man treats them well and does not treat them like animals, their lives will be his in the future.
Xu Yunfan looked at the leader of the martial arts servants quietly for a while. Seeing the other party's determined eyes, Xu Yunfan smiled with relief. If this group of people had bad intentions, they would be courting death if they bought it back. Fortunately, the other party did not let him down.
After weighing the pros and cons, the manager decided that he would rather offend Young Master Zhou and his men than offend the brothers of Xie Baizhou and his men. After some bargaining, Xu Yunfan paid a sum of money with a painful heart, took the indentures of more than a dozen people, and asked the leader of the martial arts servants to follow him, while the others waited on the side of the road.
With the indenture in hand, they dared to give it a try.
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