Duan Jingzhu said with dissatisfaction, "Be more careful next time!"
Li Bai said, "It's only because your hair is yellow that it's not so conspicuous. If it were the Red-Haired Devil Liu Tang, it wouldn't be as simple as a wooden tray."
Duan Jingzhu said, "Luckily, Ghost Face Du Xing didn't come, otherwise we would have had to use a kitchen knife directly."
I put my hand on Li Bai's shoulder and said, "Brother Taibai, are you really awake this time? There's one more thing I need to ask of you. We want to find all the old folks from our Yucai Academy. Those who served in the same court as you are on our shoulders."
I handed him the medicine I had prepared for Wu Daozi, Yan Zhenqing, and Lu Yu. Seeing that we were about to leave, Li Bai hurriedly said, "Don't go! I still want to treat you to a meal!" He then shook the small deck of cards in his hand. Dong Ping grabbed a handful and threw them out of the carriage, then stuffed a few pieces of gold into Li Bai's pocket, saying, "From now on, you'll pay for meals in cash. Poets already have bad reputations; you're making things even worse."
After saying goodbye to Li Bai, I said to Zhang Qing and the others, "Brothers, I'll take you back to Liangshan now, then I have things to do at Yucai."
Zhang Qing said, "No need, just take us directly to Wu Sangui's place, we'll freeload off that old hag!"
As I drove, I chuckled and said, "Then remember this: if his shameless gang challenges you to a competition, give Old Wu some face."
Upon arriving at Wu Sangui's Zhou Palace, the old man was drilling his troops. He had already sent 50,000 soldiers to the Qin Dynasty to help the fat man build the Great Wall, leaving only a handful of men stuck in the drill ground. After exchanging greetings with the heroes, Old Wu discussed with me, "Where are we going to hold this unnecessary full-moon celebration?"
I said, "What do you mean?"
Wu Sangui patted his chest and said, "Come to Yunnan! The climate is so nice!"
I remained silent for a long time after thinking about it, when Wu Sangui asked anxiously, "What's wrong? Do you think your Third Brother can't entertain you here?"
I laughed and said, "No, it's too far from here. If we set up here, Zhao Kuangyin and Zhu Yuanzhang would complain. Besides, it would be too much trouble for people from the Qin and Han dynasties to come over."
Wu Sangui said, "At worst, I'll reimburse them for their travel expenses and ask Liu Bang to give me a 40% discount."
"We'll see when the time comes."
By this time, the three bandits had already become close with Old Wu's men, shouting and clamoring to have a drinking contest. This time, they were probably evenly matched.
Back in the modern world, I bought everything Baozi needed, then went to Yucai High School for a stroll. Seeing nothing else to do, I planned to ask Liu Laoliu and the others to open the military path and take me directly back to the Qin Dynasty. However, neither of the two old charlatans was home, and no one answered the phone. I was in a hurry to get back, so I drove my beat-up van around the open area of the neighborhood, hoping to stumble upon the military path by accident.
It's strange, more than a year after the earthquake, not a single house here has been sold. We have plenty of wealthy people around here, and frankly, this villa in Qingshui Jiayuan is quite good value. But this gave me a perfect opportunity to let loose. I was having a good time driving around when I suddenly noticed a Peugeot parked on the side of the road, quietly watching me. At first, I didn't notice it, but after driving around a couple of times, I finally caught a glimpse. I slowed down, and my eyes fell on the person inside—a woman dressed impeccably, impeccably… dressed, Chen Kejiao.
I stopped the car, and Chen Kejiao walked over with a smile, saying, "Mr. Xiao, you had a lot of fun."
I said awkwardly, "Just call me Brother Qiang."
This time, Chen Kejiao actually stopped going against me and called out with a smile, "Brother Qiang."
I sized her up. The woman was still in her business attire, her chest full and her demeanor sharp. However, her complexion was much better than before; it seemed her business had been doing well lately. Come to think of it, we'd been through thick and thin together, and our reunion had developed a certain tacit understanding. It was a bit like old rivals who'd fought half their lives, and a bit like old lovers who'd seen it all before—three parts awkwardness, seven parts naturalness, in short, a little ambiguity. I bet if I didn't already have a baby, we could have turned it into a 100-episode melodrama, full of clichés and dramatic twists, the kind where we were head over heels in love but ultimately didn't end up together…
I asked with a laugh, "Is there something you need? You're not here to collect the service fee yourself just to save on labor costs, are you?"
Chen Kejiao magically produced a stack of documents and handed them to me: "Sign this."
I was immediately overwhelmed. Dealing with this woman, you have to be extra careful whenever paper is involved. As one arms dealer said, a savvy businessman wouldn't refuse to sell weapons to his country's adversaries; similarly, a good real estate developer wouldn't sell houses to their savior at a loss…
I gripped the contract tightly, examining it carefully, and said absentmindedly, "What are you up to now? I have no intention of buying another house." My caution was merely superficial, because I knew that if this woman really wanted to scheme against me, she could still do it even if I signed a contract of servitude!
Chen Kejiao laughed and said, "Don't look at it. You can really rest assured this time. Doesn't it say so on the paper? It's a property transfer contract. I'm just the middleman."
I glanced at the contract after hearing her say that, and lo and behold, it was a windfall! The contract stated that Party A, He Tiandou and Liu Laoliu, were willing to unconditionally purchase all 62 villas in the Qingshui Jiayuan villa complex and gift them to Party B, Xiao Qiang. The payment and goods had been made; now Chen Kejiao's task was to get me to sign and confirm my acceptance of this gift.
I muttered to myself, "What are these two old swindlers up to now?" I knew He Tiandou was rich, but such a direct gift really left me scratching my head.
Chen Kejiao asked, "So, are you going to sign it or not?"
I hurriedly said, "Sign! Why not sign?" I don't know what those two old charlatans are up to, but not taking advantage of an opportunity right in front of me is definitely not my style.
Chen Kejiao handed over a pen and casually said, "That's right, what can't a father and son talk things out?"
I had just written a "grass radical" when I suddenly looked up and exclaimed, "What father and son?"
Chen Kejiao laughed and said, "You don't need to hide it from me anymore. Mr. Liu Laoliu told me that you are his illegitimate child." Then Chen Kejiao added, "I never expected that you had such a rich father."
I instantly went berserk, looking up to the sky and cursing, "Liu Laoliu, you old bastard!"
Chen Kejiao quickly advised, "Well... Brother Qiang, I think it was wrong of him to abandon you when you were young, but he must have had his reasons. Isn't he trying his best to make amends now?"
I shouted, "I am his ancestor for eight generations!"
Seeing that her attempts to persuade her were ineffective, Chen Kejiao cautiously asked, "So, are you still going to sign this document?"
I said fiercely, "Sign! If you sign, I'm a son; if you don't, I'm a coward!"
Chen Kejiao chuckled and said, "Sometimes I really admire your... uh, rationality."
I handed the contract back to her: "Won't you come up and sit for a while?"
Chen Kejiao smiled slightly: "Another day. You're a rich person now, so I suggest you change your car. I just did a quick speed test for you, and it was over 200 miles per hour. If you keep driving like this, you'll probably flip over if you bump into a dragonfly."
I chuckled and said, "How can I compare to you?"
Chen Kejiao turned and got into the car, then suddenly turned back to me and said, "Oh right, Mr. Liu Laoliu said he left the things you wanted in his garage."
I asked curiously, "What is that?"
"That's hard to say—from what I see, your father treats you very well."
The more she said that, the more I hated her, and I secretly vowed that next time I saw Liu Laoliu, I would beat him to a pulp. After Chen Kejiao left, I opened He Tiandou's garage, and it was empty. I looked around but found nothing. Suddenly, I looked up and realized that the wall directly opposite the door was dark—those two old bastards had set up a road here!
I drove into Bingdao grumbling, still unable to understand why the old charlatan had given me so many houses. If it was because he felt he had caused me so much trouble over the years and wanted to express his apology, wouldn't it have been simpler to just give me the money directly?
Before long, I returned to the Qin Dynasty and saw a bustling scene at the entrance of the Xiao Mansion, with carriages coming and going. My servants were busy as bees, and several conspicuous golden carriages were parked in the courtyard. I grabbed Ersha, who was passing by, and asked, "Kezi, who's here?"
Ersha said, "Everyone who's supposed to be here is here." With that, he shook me off, stretched out his hands from a distance, and walked towards Li Shimin, who had just arrived at the door, saying enthusiastically, "You've come?"