mtl008 Chapter 153 Cleverness
Chapter 153 Cleverness
Wang Jinlai realized that it would not work just relying on their cleverness this time, so they decided to go back to the city first, study it out, and then set off again. The two of them carried their loads and walked back, returning to the county town in the evening.
As soon as I entered the city gate, I heard someone shouting angrily:
"Wang Jinlai, stop right there, Wang Jinlai~"
For a moment, it was impossible to tell who was shouting or who was being called. Anyway, the two names were very similar. They looked at each other suspiciously, put down their burdens, and turned back at the same time.
Wang Ping'an jumped off a donkey cart like a refugee, and ran straight towards the two of them. The driver behind him shouted:
"Hey, I haven't paid for the taxi yet, sir."
Wang Jinlai was puzzled, looked at Wang Pingan in surprise, and spoke hesitantly:
"Why are you here?"
Wang Jindong even exclaimed: "Butler Wang?!"
Wang Pingan had already rushed to the two of them and said at the same time:
"Please pay the fare for me first!"
Then he stumbled and sat down on the side of the road and asked, "Is there anything to eat?"
Wang Jinlai took out 10 sesame cakes from his backpack for the journey. The two men wanted to ask more questions, but Wang Ping'an was choking and pounding his chest. Wang Jinlai quickly handed over the cowhide water bag and helped Wang Ping'an to pound his back and relieve his irritation.
Wang Jindong was standing nearby, and upon seeing this, he said:
"Please wait a minute. How long have you been hungry?"
After hearing the question, Wang Pingan looked at the two of them, tears were about to flow, and he shook his head and said:
"It's hard to describe in words!"
He waved his hands, ate a pancake in two or three bites, and then took a break. Wang Jinlai and Wang Jindong carried the load, one on each side supporting Wang Pingan, and were about to leave. The driver became anxious and shouted:
"Hey! The guy in front, you haven't paid yet!"
Wang Pingan quickly pushed the two away, turned around, clasped his fists to the driver, and apologized:
"I'm sorry, I was so happy when I found you that I forgot about it. Please forgive me."
Then he pointed at Wang Jinlai and said, "He paid for the ride."
Then he explained to Wang Jin:
"I'll tell you two in detail later. Hurry up and pay the fare first. It's half a dollar."
"What?" Wang Jinlai exclaimed.
You have to know that a housekeeper like Wang Ping'an only earns half a dollar a month. How can it cost so much to hire a small donkey cart? The more I think about it, the more wrong it seems.
The driver was unhappy:
"Why are you shouting? He took this bus to Xunnan. Is that expensive? I took him because I felt sorry for him. Otherwise, I wouldn't have taken him so far!"
After hearing this, Wang Jinlai and the other man did not pursue the matter any further. They thanked the driver profusely, paid the fare, and sent him away.
The two men helped Wang Ping'an back to Tongfu Inn, and the three of them booked a room in the Di category.
There was a bunk bed at the front of the room. According to the waiter, it was a room for five people. Wang Jinlai spent forty taels of silver. Wang Ping'an made a lot of "tsk tsk tsk" sounds as if he was cutting meat.
Later, he said, "This is such a waste. They spend so much money and don't know how to save money."
Wang Jinlai automatically blocked out this inappropriate advice. He handed the cloth to Wang Pingan, who had already taken off his torn robe and sat on the bunk bed, smelling the unpleasant smell in the room.
"Alas!"
No matter how strong the smell was in the room, Wang Jinlai did not let the two open the door, but only reminded them quietly:
"We three didn't recognize you! We just happened to rescue you from the road."
Wang Pingan stared at him in confusion:
"You dare not recognize me, I will go back to the mansion..."
Wang Jinlai grabbed Wang Ping'an's hand that was pointing at him, put it on the bed, and asked:
"What on earth are you doing here? Tell me something."
Wang Ping'an wiped his face several times with a cloth and changed the water twice before he could finally clean his face. Then he leaned against the wall and told his story.
First, I left the city and took a horse carriage to Nanning County. I wanted to save some money, so I stayed in a dormitory.
But for some reason, I got up late the next day. It was noon when I got up. Everyone in the house had left long ago, and my package was nowhere to be found. Only these things were left on me.
Fortunately, the silver bills hidden in my lapel were still there, and the copper coins hidden in my belt were not lost. From then on, I never dared to be careless again.
He sold his robe, exchanged it for a tattered one, hired a donkey cart, but he didn't dare exchange it for silver notes for fear of being targeted again.
He only gave the driver a deposit and negotiated a high price. He rode in a small donkey cart all the way, enduring hunger and finally arrived in Xunnan County. Fortunately, he saw the two men when he entered the city gate.
The more Wang Jinlai listened, the more he felt that the young lady was wise. She had thought of everything before leaving the house and reminded him to be cautious. Fortunately, he had strictly followed the young lady's instructions along the way, otherwise he might have suffered the loss.
Wang Ping'an suffered a great loss because he lived with strangers and spent little money!
After Wang Ping'an recovered, he sat on the bed, pointed at the two men and told them his wife's intentions, reminding them not to cause trouble, to return safely, etc.
Wang Jinlai and Wang Jindong looked at each other, said nothing, and remained silent.
The young lady's meaning was somewhat different from this, so they both kept silent and did not argue. Wang Ping'an thought that the two of them understood.
Wang Jinlai asked:
"Butler Wang, are you going with us?"
"I'll go with you and I'll have to supervise you two. If anything happens, then..."
"Alas! I don't know who had an accident on the road. We almost couldn't make it to Xunnan County."
Wang Jindong reminded Wang Pingan, and the three of them began to argue. After the argument, both sides calmed down, discussed and decided to set off together tomorrow.
The next day, the three of them hired two mules to pull the cart, and rode at full speed along the mountain road towards Wenjia Village.
After two days of contact, Wang Pingan found that Wang Jinlai was very thoughtful and seemed to have prepared everything.
According to the young lady's initial prediction, Wang Jinlai knew that the three were still some distance away from the village, so they all got off the mules and found a secluded valley. After discussion, the three decided that Wang Jinlai would pretend to be a peddler and go into the village to look for people, while Wang Ping'an and Wang Jindong would meet them in the woods.
In this way, when the villagers of Wenjia Village came back from the fields in the afternoon, they saw the peddler they had not seen for a long time. The peddler was not very old, shaking a small wave drum and shouting as he walked:
"There are needles and thread for sale, and oil, salt, sauce and vinegar for sale..."
The fresh and pleasant shouting reached the ears of the villagers. When the peddler saw the women in the village, he called them warmly and asked if they wanted to buy this or that. In a short while, he was surrounded by women and children.
Wang Jinlai was dealing with everyone. He looked among the crowd of women who were picking things, but didn't find any members of the Wen family.
So he took the initiative to raise the price of his goods, and soon more than half of the people around him disappeared.
I finally looked up and found that I had chosen a good spot! This was a threshing ground, not only open but also on high ground.
While wiping the sweat off his face, Wang Jinlai observed the layout of the village. The enclosed village was built along the mountain steps. The courtyards of the villagers were neatly arranged.