Chapter 39
Wine is a good thing, but it's not the right thing to drink in the middle of the day. Considering that he had things to do in the afternoon, Ye Jia naturally didn't drink. Yu Shi felt very sorry. After trying to persuade Ye Jia a few times, she failed and had to give up: "Forget it, let's drink again in a few days when the family is not busy."
Zhou Jingchen could only stay for one meal each time he came back, and the lunch break was not long because he still had to practice in the afternoon.
"Yun'an, what is the current situation with the horse bandits?" Those criminals massacred two villages and killed more than 300 people. This is no small matter.
Back in Beijing, reports of casualties on the border were in the tens of thousands. Unaware of the suffering of the people living there, Yu Shi hadn't found the numbers appalling. Now, experiencing the situation, she understood the suffering of the people. If bandits were to come every now and then, ordinary people would have no hope of survival. "Has the North and West Camps not given any explanation? They're garrison troops guarding the border, after all. They deserve an explanation for three hundred lives, right?"
Yu's question was the most pressing concern for the family. What was the attitude of the group of troublemakers stationed there? Would they ever be able to live in peace in the future? Ye Jia put down his bowl and chopsticks and asked Zhou Jingchen about the situation at Yejiazhuang.
Zhou Jingchen didn't explain the rules of the garrison. He simply said, "By the end of this year, I'll find a way to wipe out these bandits."
Yu was stunned by his words. At first, she thought the garrison would be sending troops soon. Then, after a moment's reflection on Zhou Jingchen's words, her expression suddenly grew tense. Her grip on her chopsticks suddenly clenched, and she wanted to say something. But mindful of the others at the table, she swallowed the words that were on the tip of her tongue.
"Yun'an, you..."
Zhou Jingchen didn't explain in detail. Avoiding Yu's gaze, he turned to Ye Jia and whispered, "The situation in Yejia Village isn't too bad. There were two days of chaos, but things returned to normal. Yejia Village is a large village with a large population. The forty-three people who died were just unlucky enough to run into fleeing bandits in the back mountains. Jia Niang, Fifth Sister, don't worry, my father-in-law and his family are fine."
Ye Jia nodded, and Ye Wumei, whose face was almost buried in the bowl, raised her head.
"Three days later, the North Camp will receive orders to suppress the bandits."
After a long time, Zhou Jingchen suddenly blurted out this sentence, which frightened Yu.
Yu knew Zhou Jingchen had enlisted for military merit, but she was still afraid to let her son go to the battlefield. Sure enough, the next moment, Zhou Jingchen said, "As the captain of the cavalry battalion, I have received the mission."
"Do we need cavalry to suppress bandits?" Yu Shi didn't know much about warfare, but she subconsciously tried to find an excuse to argue that this was inappropriate. "Cavalry is the most valuable type of soldier, right? The imperial court puts so much effort into training a group of cavalry, so why does the Northern Camp need cavalry just to suppress a bandit?"
"Mother, this is an order from our superiors." Zhou Jingchen said lightly.
Seeing that Yu was getting anxious, Ye Jia glanced at the expressions of the mother and son and hurriedly advised, "Mom, there must be a reason for the garrison's arrangement. Those horse bandits all have horses, and they can ride fast horses to attack us. How can ordinary infantrymen catch up with the four legs of a fast horse? I guess this village massacre has angered the higher-ups, and the garrison is determined to suppress the bandits. After all, without the cavalry, these horse bandits cannot be completely eliminated..."
Of course, Yu knew this; it only took a moment of reflection to understand. But that's what mothers are like. Reason is reason, and the life of one's child is one's own. At this moment, no matter how delicious Ye Jia's stir-fried lamb was, she didn't even find it fragrant.
Yu picked up her chopsticks and put them down again. She wanted to say something but it didn't make sense. She suddenly grasped Ye Jia's hand, glanced at the others at the table, and quickly changed the words on her lips to: "So, then, will Yun'an go home at night for the next three days? The base is right next door, so it'll be convenient for you to come in and out. Yun'an, why don't you come home and rest for the next three days?"
Ye Jia's eyelids twitched. How could Zhou Jingchen not understand Yu's thoughts? He said helplessly: "Mother, the battle is imminent, so I must train in the camp."
"It's true that training should be hard, but..."
Having said this, she glanced at Ye Jia, who quickly released her hand and sat aside.
Yu: “…”
The meal was a somewhat oppressive one; neither Ye Wumei nor Old Man Sun dared to breathe. Afterward, Ye Wumei took her bowl and chopsticks to the well to wash. Zhou Jingchen called Yu and Ye Jia out. Old Man Sun drove the ox cart, and the group headed to the town's East Street.
When he returned for dinner today, besides telling them he was leaving to fight bandits, he also introduced someone to Ye Jiayu. The proprietress of Liyuan Lane in town. Dongxiang Town had a brothel, but here it was more elegantly called Liyuan. It wasn't a Liyuan where opera was performed; it housed a group of prostitutes who worked with the stationed military officers and the traveling caravans.
Although they are engaged in the low-class flesh trade, they are also the most well-informed group of people in this border area.
Zhou Jingchen truly knew Ye Jia's secrets. Even though they didn't see each other often, he could always guess what Ye Jia was thinking. Knowing Ye Jia was worried about being out of touch, he made the introduction: "Don't underestimate prostitutes. They're the most well-informed people in this little place."
Yu was a little uncomfortable with her son introducing a prostitute to her, but Ye Jia did not feel that way.
Indeed, the place with the best local news is naturally the place of entertainment.
There weren't many inns in Dongxiang Town, only two or three between East and West Streets. Each room was limited, and the small inns could only accommodate a dozen or so people a night. Ye Jia had previously wondered where all the large caravans that passed through Dongxiang Town rested at night. Now, he suddenly realized: perhaps these men, licking blood on the edge of a knife, chose to settle in the land of gentleness.
The proprietress of this Liyuan Lane is called Cheng Linfang, a woman in her forties.
You could vaguely see her youthful beauty. Now that she was older, her eyes were drooping, giving her a rather fierce and fierce look. But when she spoke, her voice was cold and crisp. When she smiled, her eyes curved slightly, and her whole demeanor suddenly became much more approachable and gentle. It was unknown how Zhou Jingchen had met her, but Ye Jia felt that her attitude towards him was quite respectful.
The two sides chose to meet in a teahouse. Yu was initially a bit unhappy. But when she met Cheng Linfang and Zhou Jingchen mentioned the Cheng family, Yu's expression froze for a moment. When she looked at Cheng Linfang again, her eyes suddenly reddened.
Watching from the sidelines, Ye Jia could roughly guess that this Cheng Linfang must have some connection to the former Jingwang Mansion or the Yu clan. Consider the ways women in ancient times fell into prostitution: besides being abducted and sold, the only other way was to be convicted of a crime. The vast majority of those who ended up in the northwestern frontier as prostitutes were those whose families had committed serious crimes and were exiled. Families whose crimes weren't punishable by death but could not be pardoned were enslaved for generations, with men and women becoming prostitutes.
Cheng Linfang looked at Ye Jia for a long time and said nothing else. She only promised Ye Jia that if he encountered any problems in the town, he could go to Liyuan Lane to find her.
Ye Jia thanked him, and Zhou Jingchen was about to take them back. He had to return to the camp for training that afternoon and couldn't stay out long. Yu glanced at Cheng Linfang and whispered to Zhou Jingchen to take Ye Jia back first. She wanted to talk to Cheng Linfang.
Judging from the appearance, Yu Shi and Cheng Linfang must have a past relationship. Come to think of it, the two seemed to be about the same age.
Zhou Jingchen nodded and helped Ye Jia onto the ox cart.
After being tossed around like that, Ye Jia was so preoccupied with business that she forgot about the awkwardness of last night. As they pondered their own affairs, they sat close together on the oxcart. The cart swayed, and Ye Jia hadn't noticed at first, but then she realized her arm kept rubbing against Zhou Jingchen. Thinking the cart was quite large, she moved to the side. After a while, her elbow nudged Zhou Jingchen's chest again.
Ye Jia glanced over, and Zhou Jingchen stared back at her innocently. She wondered why it was so crowded, and moved a little to the side.
After a while, his arm still rubbed against Zhou Jingchen vaguely.
She turned her head, and Zhou Jingchen lowered his eyes. Their eyes met, his clear, quiet phoenix eyes staring at her questioningly. Ye Jia frowned and looked down at the distance between them. Oh my god, they're close together again. She then propped herself up and prepared to sit a little to the side...
"Boss, sit still."
Actually, Ye Jia's movement wasn't very noticeable, but perhaps he sat on the edge so that his weight was tilted to one side, making the oxcart unstable. Old Man Sun felt the cart was not moving smoothly, looked back, and said, "If you move any more, the cart will overturn."
Ye Jia: “…”
Only then did she take a closer look at the ox cart. Zhou Jingchen had moved from the right side to sit in the middle of the cart without her noticing.
After turning back to meet their gazes several times, the atmosphere became strangely tense. Ye Jia was someone who couldn't be provoked; once provoked, she would easily start to attack. With a slightly reddened cheek, she rolled her eyes at Zhou Jingchen and taunted him sarcastically, "Husband, are you a bitch?"
Zhou Jingchen: "... 弡?"
"This oxcart of ours is a chessboard, right? You can move the chess pieces anywhere if you have them in mind. Why are you moving in a straight line without saying a word?"
Zhou Jingchen: “…”
This was the first time Zhou Jingchen had experienced such a bizarre way of cursing, and he was actually shocked. He didn't know what to say for a long time, and his face turned red. He was born with a fair complexion, the kind that can't be tanned or aged, and the redness on his face was particularly obvious.
Originally, Ye Jia was cursing in response to being hit hard, but his face turned red, and Ye Jia's face also turned red.
Two people's faces turned red as the car arrived in front of Zhou's house.
Rui Jie'er had gone out on some errands, so she'd been accompanying Ye Wumei. Back when she was at the Ye family, she'd often looked after her nieces and nephews, so she was quite adept at raising children. Today, she was the only one at home, looking after the house with the two grandchildren and three children from the Sun family. The ox cart stopped, and Ye Wumei led Rui Jie'er out to greet them. Diandian rushed out of the house with a whoosh.
Old Man Sun looked back at the two men, still somewhat puzzled. He looked up at the sky, which was rarely covered by clouds, then at the two people who got off the car one after the other, and muttered, "Is the sun too strong today? Why are your faces so red?"
Ye Jia didn't care why his face was so red, he squatted down, picked up Dian Dian and left.
Zhou Jingchen stood by the door and watched people run into the house. He glanced at Old Man Sun and said calmly, "It's really hot. I'm going back to the camp. When my mother comes back soon, Uncle Sun will tell her."
After saying that, he took something out of his arms and gave it to Old Man Sun: "This is for Jianiang." Then he turned and left.
When Yu returned, of course, Zhou Jingchen was nowhere to be found; he had already returned to the camp. Yu's eyes, swollen as walnuts from crying, must have been the result of her tears. She returned to her room, washed her face, and, cuddling Rui Jie'er, she simply stared blankly, lost in thought. Ye Jia suspected the scene had perhaps brought back memories, a feeling of sympathy for her fellow creatures.
But Yu adjusted quickly. After a nap, she emerged full of energy again. Ye Wumei, who was home alone, had already cleaned the pig's head and set it aside in the back kitchen, awaiting braising. Yu finished cleaning the leeks and went to braising the pig's head. Ye Jia did some calculations and decided to buy everyone in the family new clothes. With the warm weather, old clothes were no longer wearable; they needed to be replaced with thinner ones.
Ye Jia's decision was approved by the whole family, even Old Man Sun was smiling happily.
The old man, even at this age, had lived in rags for years. All the family money went to medicine and doctors, and to keep his wife healthy, he hadn't changed his clothes in five or six years. His grandchildren suffered with him, and to this day, his four-year-old grandson has never worn a single new piece of clothing. He wears only discarded items, patched up, and dressed little better than a beggar.
"I'll go find someone to buy cloth tomorrow after I close the stall." Ye Jia smiled, "Next time, we'll make a pair of shoes for each of us."
Ye Jia's decision was driven by the heat, making thick clothing impossible. Secondly, after meeting Cheng Linfang today, an idea had struck her. Rouge and powder were most often used by prostitutes. The sixty or so pieces of scented soap Ye Jia had made earlier in Libei Town had long since dried up. She'd been so busy with her work that she hadn't considered selling them outside of her rouge shop. A sudden inspiration had struck her: should she try selling her scented soap in Liyuan Lane?
Selling to rouge shops was considered wholesale supply, leaving them with a margin. Selling to prostitutes didn't require that; selling directly to the customers allowed them to raise the price. It wasn't more expensive than the big rouge shops in Dongxiang Town, but it wasn't much cheaper either.
Ye Jia turned around and told Yu about this.
Yu wiped her hands and laughed. She walked around the kitchen a few times, praising Ye Jia for his quick thinking.
How could she be considered smart? She was clearly obsessed with money. Spending her days thinking about ways to make money, wasn't she more preoccupied than others? Ye Jia smiled, "But Mom, we're not familiar with Liyuan Alley. We need to find some time to go in and see if we can do business there. If we can, who would be the best person to talk to about this deal? After all, it's not good for us to go in and out too frequently, as it could easily lead to accidents. We can only find someone to sell it on our behalf."
Ye Jia didn't know as much about Yu's business affairs, so he thought what he heard made sense: "I really should ask clearly. I have an appointment with your Aunt Cheng. She will come to our house for dinner in a few days. I can ask her then."
"Aunt Cheng?" Ye Jia raised an eyebrow. How could the relationship progress so quickly?
Yu blinked, having forgotten that her daughter-in-law didn't know about this. It was hard to explain the past too clearly, so she could only say what she could: "Your Aunt Cheng was a miserable person. She and my mother were from the same hometown, and we had known each other since childhood. But her family fell into poverty and trouble early on. We hadn't seen each other for many years, and they had changed so much that we didn't recognize each other. Only after chatting today did I realize that she had fallen to this place in the northwest..."
Ye Jia had guessed it long ago and wasn't surprised. She nodded and asked, "When will Aunt Cheng come over?"
"Maybe wait four or five days."
After Yu finished speaking, she thought of Zhou Jingchen and looked around but saw no one. "Where's Yun'an? We haven't finished talking yet, where is he?"
"Gone." Ye Jia turned away, "He left right after arriving home."
Upon hearing this, Mrs. Yu stamped her feet in anger: "Even older girls are not as pretentious as him, this pretentious blockhead!"
Ye Jiamu listened to her scolding with a stern face, and wisely did not respond.
When they finished discussing the matter, Old Man Sun had already packed up the leeks. Sun Jun, the eldest grandson of the Sun family, had recovered much from his injuries. He was able to stand up now, but his face was pale from the severity of his injuries. He was sitting obediently on a small stool by the well, helping his grandfather pack up. Seeing Ye Jia come out, he quickly called out "Sister."
"Call the boss!" Before Ye Jia could say anything, Old Man Sun immediately stopped him, "This is the boss!"
Sun Jun was startled, his dark eyes staring at Ye Jia for a long time, and he called out "Boss" in a weak voice. Ye Jia actually didn't care what they called him. He walked over and rubbed the child's head, but was stopped by Old Man Sun: "Boss, Brother Zhou just asked me to give you something."
He wiped his wet hands and took the thing out.
Ye Jia took it with a puzzled look. He opened it and found a simple and easy-to-understand sentence inside: "Give me an answer when you return from suppressing the bandits?"
Although it was a simple sentence, it was like a huge rock thrown into a deep pool, stirring up a thousand waves. Ye Jia's heart suddenly lost its rhythm, and then began to beat violently.
When Yu came out of the house, she saw that Ye Jia looked unhappy. Her cheeks were red, and she was holding something in her hand and looking at it. Before she could see what it was, she saw Ye Jia crumpling up the paper and stuffing it into her sleeve. She felt a little strange and asked what was wrong. But her daughter-in-law seemed to be frightened. She said dryly that it was nothing and went to the kitchen with the leeks.
"What is Jianiang looking at?" Yu asked the old man Sun who was still squatting.
How could Old Man Sun know? He couldn't read. But he had lived so long, and when he was young, he had put a lot of effort into finding a partner, so naturally he knew a little about the affairs of men and women. He felt like laughing and said subtly, "The young master wrote her a letter."
Old Man Sun had never worked for anyone before, so he really didn't know what to call this family. At first, he'd just called Ye Jia the Dong family, but now that they were living here, he couldn't just call everyone the Dong family. If they were all called the same, wouldn't it be hard to tell them apart?
But Yu Shi didn't notice his distress. She said "Oh," blinked, and smiled. A smile immediately formed on her lips, and she thought that even a wooden lump wasn't so wooden after all. She happily went to help in the kitchen.
The next morning, Ye Wumei and Ye Jia set up the stall again.
There was no other way. The breakfast business wasn't as prosperous as the pork head, so they were focusing their efforts on the pork head. Yu's knife skills weren't great, so she couldn't help. Ye Wumei had to go.
Ever since Ye Jia mentioned paying her, Ye Wumei has been working harder than anyone else. She's been working at home since she was little, but no one pays her no matter how much she works. Not only is she not paid, she can't even eat well. Her parents constantly try to convince her that men are the backbone of the family and deserve the best food and clothing. If she dares to show any emotion, not only will her father scold her, but her mother will also accuse her of not understanding loyalty, filial piety, and etiquette.
How would Ye Wumei know anything about loyalty, filial piety and etiquette?
She only knew that in the Ye family, women were naturally inferior to men and deserved to be treated like slaves. But with her sister, there were no such rules. Women could eat as much as men wanted. She didn't have to hide in the kitchen to eat. She could sit at the table and pick up the meat dishes on the table with her chopsticks.
"Sister," Ye Wumei felt that after following her third sister, although she did the same work every day, she ate well, slept well, and didn't get scolded. She was very happy. "What do you think, when the weather gets hotter, can we sell the cold noodles we used to eat together?"
The last time she ate that noodle, she could still remember it for days. Even now, she was drooling when she thought about it: "It's refreshing, craving-satisfying, and can also relieve the heat."
When she mentioned it, Ye Jia also remembered it. He had been so busy lately that he forgot about it every day. Speaking of which, cold noodles sell best when the weather is hot. It happened to be a hot day like this, which was a good time for business: "Okay, if you are busy, you can make some to take with you. But these cold noodles are only delicious when they are cooled with well water. The taste will be much worse when they are heated."
"No matter how small a mosquito is, it's still meat." Ye Wumei is now more lively. "Every bit of money earned is a bit of money earned."
The sign was erected only after the two of them arrived in town. As soon as the breakfast stall was set up, people immediately arrived and waited. Xishi's stall was now quite famous in Dongxiang Town. It wasn't the chive and egg pancakes that made it famous, but the pork head.
The best beef and mutton in town weren't as delicious as hers. Even the wealthy, willing to spend money, after trying the pig heads from her stall, decided that nothing else could go better with wine. They'd had other people make pig heads before, but they couldn't recreate the flavor of her stall. By then, they'd understood one thing: Xishi's pig heads were unique, and only this stall had the best.
The two sisters were frying pancakes, and some customers who were ready would chat with them. Ye Jia quickly sold about fifty pancakes, and suddenly someone pushed past the people waiting in front of the stall and stood in front of the sign, staring at the words on it.
“Is this the Xishi stall?”
The man unexpectedly turned out to be literate and asked Ye Jia, "Shopkeeper, is your stall related to the Xishi stall in Libei Town?"
"We moved here from Libei Town." Ye Jia was making pancakes while talking to him. "There were bandits in Libei Town, and our business couldn't continue. So, our family moved to Dongxiang Town."
As soon as Ye Jia opened his mouth, the man looked at Ye Jia's face.
Honestly, even though the people in the northwest are known for their toughness, it's not appropriate for a man to stare at a woman like that. Ye Jia was stared at for a while and was about to speak when the man suddenly slapped his thigh and shouted, "Finally, I found you, Boss Ye! Do you remember me? I'm the owner of Linglong Rouge Shop. You used to come to our shop to sell scented soap! You even left me a letter. Do you still remember?"
Ye Jia had initially felt a bit offended by being stared at, but now she was immediately pleasantly surprised. She quickly made way for Ye Wumei, asked her to take over making pancakes, and called the man aside to talk.
Ye Wumei is very good at cooking and can make pancakes better than Ye Jia.
The man followed Ye Jia to the side and told Ye Jia the whole story in a clear and concise manner.
It turned out that the scented soap Ye Jia had left for the shop had sold out in less than ten days. The shop was selling well, and many people came to ask for it. The owner of Linglong Rouge Shop wanted to quickly find Ye Jia to get more stock, but he happened to catch up with the bandits attacking Libei Town.
Business people are always well-informed. The bandit incident caused panic among the people, so things were delayed for a while. Finally, when the situation over there was calm, he was about to send someone to inquire, but the bandits attacked the village again and massacred the people. It was delayed again and again, and it has been delayed until now. Now people have asked, and they don’t know if there is a Xishi stall in the tile market in Libei Town. They said it moved away long ago.
"Who would have thought you'd moved to Dongxiang Town? I've been searching for you for ages, but when I look back, I find you're right there, in the dimly lit area!"
Ye Jia didn't expect that this person could recite poetry, so he responded with a smile: "This is also fate."
"Isn't it? Since we've met today, why don't we take some time to go to the teahouse?" The host spoke briefly, introducing himself. His surname was Wu, and he was the eldest son of the Wu family, a major landowner in town. Many of the shops in town were owned by his family. A true young master, he said, "I'd love to discuss a long-term partnership with you. Last time, we asked for a contract, so why not do it today?"
Ye Jia had been waiting for him to come, so he naturally agreed. However, the stall was still busy at the moment, and it was unclear whether Ye Wumei was busy enough to come alone. After thinking about it, Ye Jia asked Old Man Sun to go to his house and said, "Bring mother over."
Wu Shaodong had been looking for her for quite some time, so he naturally didn't miss a moment. He accompanied Ye Jia and waited for Old Man Sun to bring Yu over.
Fortunately, they lived not far away, a quarter-hour walk there and back. Yu arrived shortly after and began working on the stall with Ye Wumei. Ye Jia then went to the teahouse with Wu Shaodong to negotiate the sale of the scented soap.
This young master is a sincere man, and he's also very honest in his dealings. The price I offered Ye Jia last time was just a trial, but with such a strong sales performance, I naturally decided to raise the price. This time, Ye Jia's scented soap comes in several flavors: osmanthus for around twenty yuan, gardenia for around twenty yuan, and a unique almond flavor. With these three flavors, the price naturally depends on the cost.
Wu Shaodong was honest, and Ye Jia was also sincere in his business dealings. After a few exchanges, the two men settled on a price of one liang and two qian per piece. Wu Shaodong signed the contract on the spot, demanding a minimum monthly payment of 150 yuan. He wanted all three scents, with delivery and payment due on the fifth day of each month.
Ye Jia signed and stamped his hand on two copies. Wu Shaodong also signed and stamped his hand, then took the thirty-liang deposit.
"Take this deposit back first." Perhaps seeing Ye Jia's awkward situation setting up a stall in town, he guessed her family must be struggling financially. He gave her the deposit first so she could have the money to buy the materials. "We're a little pressed for time this month, so this contract will take effect next month."
Ye Jia naturally nodded and reached a cooperation with Wu Shaodong with a smile.
By the time she returned from the teahouse, Xishi's pancake stall had almost sold out. Ye Jia happily bought a large bag of snacks. Yu Shi and Ye Wumei knew from her expression that the deal was done. They were also delighted, their smiles brightening as they sold breakfast. "Looks like we can have a drink when we get home today?"
As soon as she finished speaking, Yu thought of Zhou Jingchen not being at home, and she immediately became furious: "Yun'an, you idiot!"
Ye Jia: “…”
If Zhou Jingchen is stupid, then everyone in the world is stupid.
But forget it, I'm in a good mood now that I've made some money, so whatever I say is right. The family was in a jubilant mood in town, while back in Beiying, they were getting ready to leave. They were supposed to be suppressing the bandits in three days, but because their superiors were pressing them, they had to leave early.
Because the bandits were relatively few in number, the team naturally had a small contingent. Including the cavalry, there were only about 300 men in total. Led by a troupe leader, they marched north from Dongxiang Town to Hongshan, crossing Lake Balkosh and aiming to reach the northwestern border of Dayan in five days.
In ancient times, many dynasties had cavalry and scouts mixed together.
Scouts, known as "scouts" in the military, were often sent out to survey the terrain and identify potential dangers before setting up camp. In Dayan, scouts were often used alongside cavalry, even earning the nickname "Tangbao Cavalry." Zhou Jingchen, a new cavalryman, stood out as a uniquely skilled cavalryman, possessing both literary and military prowess. Even though he was favored by his superiors, he was still chosen as the Tangbao Cavalry for this bandit suppression mission.
Regardless of whether he had surveying experience or not, this time he had to lead a team to cross the defense line and conduct a survey.
Zhou Jingchen stood on his horse, smelling the salty, fishy air. His eyes darkened as he gazed at the endless wilderness. He ordered the team to split into three smaller groups, each to survey from three different directions. "Everyone, gather here in half an hour."
Across the border is an unowned grassland, deep within which live many nomadic tribes. This is where the bandits hide.
These bandits were not united. Aside from two large caravans numbering over a hundred, the rest were scattered. Most bandits operated independently, valuing their plunder as a skill, and some engaged in bandit-on-bandit espionage. This lack of unity meant that banditry was largely insignificant in earlier years. Only in recent years have extremely vicious groups emerged, looting and slaughtering people in their wake.
As Zhou Jingchen thought about this, a face popped up in his mind. That person had a pair of emerald green eyes. He laughed silently. If he remembered correctly, the leader of the largest caravan seemed to be a mixed-race alien with a pair of emerald green eyes.
I wonder where his fourth brother-in-law is now?
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