Not long after the city gate opened, Ge Hong from the Warriors Gang and Lao Wu lined up in the queue entering the city.
Today, Ge Hong and Lao Wu dressed up as a farmer father and son. They both carried a large load of dry firewood on their shoulders, and it looked like they were going to the city to sell.
The soldiers at the city gate glanced at the two of them and let them go without even asking. Farmers like them who came to the city to sell firewood didn't know how many farmers they would see in a day.
Ge Hong entered the city easily and arrived at a street corner near Wenyun Street as agreed.
Not long after, "Steward Zhou" appeared.
Xu Zhengquan did not recognize Ge Hong and Lao Wu at first. He was still looking around on the street corner when someone behind him tapped him on the shoulder.
Xu Zhengquan turned his head and glanced, and found that it was a farmer selling firewood, so he waved his hand impatiently and said: "Go, go, don't bother me..."
After saying that, Xu Zhengquan moved his eyes away and continued to look at both ends of the street.
"Butler Zhou, it's me."
Suddenly, Xu Zhengquan heard a familiar voice coming from behind him.
As soon as this voice entered his ears, Xu Zhengquan shivered unconsciously. He quickly turned around and exclaimed: "Help...it's you, look at my eyes..."
Xu Zhengquan hurriedly apologized, and at the same time he discovered that there was a young man standing on lookout two or three feet away. He was the fifth man he had seen that day.
Ge Hong didn't say much, put on his bamboo hat and said: "Butler Zhou, please take us to find a door..."
Xu Zhengquan immediately nodded and bowed: "Okay..."
Ge Hong was about to turn around to pick up firewood, but when he saw Xu Zhengquan's attitude, he stopped and whispered: "Steward Zhou, are you always so humble when buying firewood?"
Xu Zhengquan was stunned for a moment, then understood what Ge Hong said, so he straightened up in a hurry and said loudly: "Ahem, I want all your firewood, come with me..."
Ge Hong frowned, picked up the firewood and said at the same time: "Steward Zhou, that's too much..."
Xu Zhengquan felt embarrassed and thought to himself, I am not an actor, so why should I be so serious?
So, Xu Zhengquan led Ge Hong and Lao Wu to Wenyun Street. The door they wanted to identify was Chai Yan's house.
When he was not far from Chai Yan's house, Xu Zhengquan slowed down his pace. He carefully looked at the front and back of the street, and whispered to Ge Hong beside him: "Here, it's the house in front, No. 21."
Ge Hong silently wrote down the house number, and while observing the gate and exterior wall of Chai House, he continued walking forward while carrying firewood.
After the three of them walked away from Chai Yan's house, they turned into a deserted alley.
Xu Zhengquan turned around and warned: "Gang leader, you'd better not do anything on this street. There are many high-ranking officials living on Wenyun Street!"
"What high official?" Lao Wu asked curiously.
Xu Zhengquan began to list: "On the 20th, it is the residence of the Commander-in-Chief of the Department of Wude; on the 28th, the residence of the Minister of Justice; on the 36th, the residence of the Minister of the Ministry of Finance..."
Ge Hong didn't want to hear any more, so he interrupted: "...Okay, we know what to do..."
Xu Zhengquan quickly shut up.
Ge Hong took a peek at Chai Yan's house from the alley, turned around and asked, "When I catch the person, how will I hand him over to you?"
Xu Zhengquan said: "There is a small forest on the mountain behind Tianji Temple. There is no one there at night. We can meet there after dark."
"The mountain behind Tianji Temple..." Ge Hong repeated, nodded and said: "Okay, when the time comes, I will hand over the money with one hand and the person with the other!"
Xu Zhengquan clasped his fists and said: "The gang leader, my master is waiting for your good news, take your leave..."
After that, Xu Zhengquan disappeared from the other end of the alley.
Lao Wu asked: "Brother, what should we do now?"
Ge Hong thought for a while, picked up firewood and walked out of the alley, saying, "Follow me!"
The next moment, a father and son selling firewood arrived not far from the gate of the firewood house.
The two men put the load of firewood on the ground and squatted under the corner. They used selling firewood as a cover to start watching.
It was very cold in the morning, and the two of them huddled behind the load of firewood, almost forming a ball, but the two pairs of eyes under the bamboo hats were still staring intently at the door of Chai's house.
Suddenly, Ge Hong asked Lao Wu: "Maochun, after this new year, you should be twenty-five..."
The full name of Lao Wu is Guan Maochun. He is from the same village as Ge Hong. He is 18 years younger than Ge Hong. There has been no one in his family since he was a child. Later, Ge Hong saw that this young man was good and recommended him to join.
Knights. Therefore, Guan Maochun has always been the person in the Warriors Gang who listens to Ge Hong the most.
Guan Maochun responded with a smile: "Uncle Ge, you still remember my birthday. If you don't mention this, I will almost forget it..."
When the two of them talked alone, Guan Maochun always called him Uncle Ge Hong, and Ge Hong also called him Maochun affectionately. However, in front of others, they still called him Maochun according to the agreement during their sworn vows.
Ge Hong also smiled: "It's easy to remember your birthday. It's the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, and you happen to be the fifth child. It's hard for Uncle Ge to remember it."
Guan Maochun tightened his collar and suddenly asked: "Uncle Ge, do you miss home?"
"My family is gone, what's the use of thinking?" Ge Hong's tone was calm, as if he was talking about someone else's business.
After saying this, Guan Maochun couldn't answer the question and fell into silence.
Ge Hong turned to look at him and bumped him lightly with his elbow: "Are you homesick?"
"I think..." Guan Maochun nodded melancholy.
"Alas!" Ge Hong sighed and said, "Maochun, actually Uncle Ge also thinks about it, but there's no point in thinking about it. Our village has been killed by the beasts of Piz Country. The more you think about it, the sadder it becomes.
..."
Guan Maochun buried his head and said: "Uncle Ge, I understand everything you said, but...but I still want to..."
Ge Hongxin said, so why don’t I?......
After being quiet for a while, Ge Hong changed the subject and said: "Maochun, where do you think we will go to drive horses after we earn this money?"
"I...I don't know, what do you think, Uncle Ge?" Guan Maochun had no idea.
"Let's go to the south. Uncle Ge can't tell exactly where it is. Anyway, let's go south first..." Ge Hong said.
Guan Maochun asked in confusion: "Uncle Ge, why is it the south?"
Ge Hong smiled and teased: "Maochun, I heard that the girls in the south are more juicy than the others. Don't you want to marry a juicy girl and then have a few fat boys?"
When it came to women, Guan Maochun felt a little embarrassed and said: "Uncle Ge, why are you dragging me with you? In fact, you want to marry a pretty girl as your wife, right? Haha, Uncle Ge, you are not ashamed.
ah......."
"Who can say that you are not ashamed?" Ge Hong blushed and reached out to pat the edge of Guan Maochun's bamboo hat.
But after Guan Maochun picked up the bamboo hat, the smile on his face became even brighter: "Uncle Ge, why are you still doing it? I just said it casually..."
"Hey! You little brat, you're so proud..." Ge Hong stretched out his hand again, pretending to teach Guan Maochun a lesson.
While they were joking, a man in green clothes and a black hat appeared in front of the firewood load.
"Hey, firewood seller, how can you sell these two loads of firewood?" The man in the black hat looked rather contemptuous of the two of them. He looked like he was a servant of a wealthy family on this street.
Ge Hong couldn't stand such an expression, so he didn't bother to raise his head and just said: "Twelve taels per load!"
The man in the black hat was taking out the money. He was stunned when he heard the price, and then shouted: "Ten taels? What kind of firewood are you talking about? What's wrong with the gold and silver?"
Guan Maochun said lukewarmly: "If you can't afford it, don't buy it!"
The man in the black hat was really choked, and after a while he said angrily: "You two country bumpkins, you are so poor! Why don't you go and grab it?"
After that, the man in the black hat walked away angrily, still cursing as he walked.
Guan Maochun glared at the man's back and said angrily: "Uncle Ge, if it were normal times, I would have taught him a lesson!"
Uncle Ge's face remained calm: "What's so good about this kind of person? Keep staring."
Guan Maochun nodded, and after his anger subsided, he asked Ge Hong: "Uncle Ge, we have never seen the man named Chai Yan. What if we recognize the wrong person later?"
Ge Hong said: "Probably not. Didn't Butler Zhou say that there are only three people in Chai Yan's family, an old man who is the housekeeper and an old woman who is the cook. Chai Yan is a young man in his early twenties and is very easy to recognize."
As soon as he finished speaking, there was a sound at the door of Chai's house.
"Uncle Ge, look, someone opened the door..."
"Lower your head, don't let anyone notice us!"
Ge Hong also discovered it, and immediately told Guan Maochun to lower their bamboo hats together, and secretly observed from the gap between the firewood loads...