"Now that you mention it, I just remembered," I said, noticing a hint of disbelief mixed with admiration in Lai Zi's eyes. "Are they all really that good?"
"If we're talking about a direct confrontation..." Laizi glanced at the 300 tent with lingering fear, "they definitely can't win, but we still have to be careful about them resorting to dirty tricks from behind."
"I'm a law-abiding citizen, what do I have to be afraid of them for?"
The leper nodded hurriedly in agreement, then muttered to himself, "If you're a law-abiding citizen, then I'm a virgin."
"What did you say?"
"Ah, it's nothing. I just said I have some things to take care of..." Lai Zi hurriedly said.
Could yesterday's reconnaissance be related to them? Lai Zi mentioned that some of these old guys run martial arts schools.
I think it's time to break things off with Liu Xuan. He's like a rotten tooth in my mouth. On one hand, I don't like him, but on the other hand, I have to protect him because if I let those guys from Liangshan help me pull it out, they'll pull out my gums too.
Just as I was thinking this, the guy seemed to sense something and called me. He sounded very formal and said, "Xiao Qiang, it's time for us to settle things. How about we meet at Tingfeng Teahouse at 3 pm? Don't bring anyone. Can you do that?"
"That's great, let's do it that way."
He repeated, "You're not bringing anyone? If you're bringing that big guy, I won't see you."
It seems Xiang Yu's fame has spread far and wide. I told him I definitely wouldn't accept the offer, and he hung up the phone.
If you can't take the big guy, you should at least take two small ones, right? Dealing with someone like Liu Xuan, being too honest is just making things difficult for yourself.
But who should I take? All the heroes are tirelessly searching for him, and we can't even let them know about this. Xiang Yu is too conspicuous, and he doesn't seem to care much about my affairs. Should I take Ersha? To be honest, I'm not confident. He's someone whose thinking is often punctuated by ellipses; even if someone were to dismember me in front of him, he might not even react. The thought of taking him to meet those recruiters sends shivers down my spine.
Looking at it now, the best option is to take 300 with us. If Liu Xuan was the one who scouted the camp yesterday, it can't be said that they have nothing to do with it. Most importantly, Xu Delong is a man of principle, and I trust him.
It's mealtime now, and 15 people out of 300 are specifically responsible for cooking. They're like a mess hall. The stoves they built with bricks are quite professional, with iron pots the size of bathtubs on top. One person stands on each side, using an iron shovel to cook a large stew. Yan Jingsheng is leading the rest of the group in an appetizer activity before cooking: telling jokes.
Of course, he spoke, and the soldiers listened. Everyone sat on the ground, and Yan Jingsheng stood in the middle, saying enthusiastically, "A person went to interview 100 penguins, asking each of them what they did every day. The first 99 penguins all answered: eating, sleeping, and playing with beans. When he came to the last penguin, he found him very sad. When asked why, guess what he said?"
The soldiers looked at each other and whispered among themselves: What are penguins? — We don’t know — Teacher Yan mentioned them, they seem to be a kind of animal — Can animals talk?
Seeing that the atmosphere wasn't very lively, Yan Jingsheng coughed and said to himself, "Then the last little penguin pitifully said, 'I am DouDou.' Hahahaha, isn't that funny?"
The soldiers looked at each other and chuckled awkwardly. Only when Xu Delong called out "Dinner's ready!" did the atmosphere become lively. The soldiers stood up together, saying, "Let's eat!"
Yan Jingsheng stood there pitifully like Dou Dou and said to me, "These students seem to lack only a sense of humor."
His joke didn't even make me laugh. It wasn't that the joke itself wasn't funny, but it made me think of other things: what exactly were those 300 people doing here? Were they waiting specifically for Qin Hui to come?
It's not hard to imagine that one day, a team of 300 suddenly gains an extra person, and then for the next 300 days, their lives consist of eating, sleeping, and beating up Qin Hui. And that extra person's name is... Qin Hui!
That's terrifying!
Because I hadn't eaten yesterday, I was starving. I grabbed a bowl and joined the soldiers, eating heartily. The food was surprisingly delicious. I devoured a steamed bun in a few bites when Song Qing, leading four strong men, brought over two large barrels of wine. He came over and said, "I feel bad eating your food every day. This is wine brewed by my own brother. I'm offering it to you all as a small token of my appreciation." I took my bowl and ran over, saying, "Brother Song Qing, is 'Three Bowls Before You Pass the Hill' ready?" Song Qing said, "This is only a semi-finished product. It's just enough to drink. The real 'Three Bowls Before You Pass the Hill' will take at least three months, but my brothers can't wait that long."
Sure enough, the heroes of Liangshan were drinking and shouting around dozens of large wine barrels. If Yang Zhi were here, he would probably be reminded of a painful memory: if he hadn't given in to his men's demands, he wouldn't have lost the birthday gifts because of his greed for wine.
I scooped up a spoonful and put it in my mouth. It was fragrant, delicious, and slightly spicy. The wine flowed down my throat and into my stomach, instantly soothing and warming my entire body. I couldn't help myself and drank several more spoonfuls. Song Qing smiled and said, "Brother Qiang, enjoy your drink. The wine is good, but don't overindulge."
Seeing that 300 was still focused on eating and completely unmoved by the fragrant wine, I called out, "Come and try some too!"
Xu Delong shook his head slightly and said, "We are not allowed to drink alcohol normally, unless there is a major victory and we receive the marshal's order, in which case every five people may drink one jiao (a unit of currency)."
"Five people drinking for one cent? Is that enough? Anyway, we don't have anything to do today, and your marshal isn't here, so drink as much or as little as you want."
Xu Delong shook his head again, saying, "I'll have someone carry the wine back to them after you finish drinking." So stubborn! Yan Jingsheng greatly admired Xu Delong's approach.
I was really reluctant to part with the wine, so I asked Lai Zi to find me a 5-liter plastic bucket to fill with water and put it in the motorcycle bed. Meanwhile, the Liangshan bandits started singing and dancing after drinking, while Yue Fei's army ate in silence. There's just a difference between bandits and elite troops.
After dinner, I told Xu Delong about my upcoming meeting. He also wanted to know more about the reconnaissance mission, so he asked me, "How many people do you need to bring?" Then it dawned on me—right, I couldn't bring all 300. That would have been enough of a deterrent, but we'd be in deep trouble. Sending 300 people into a fight—no wonder the government would intervene.
I thought about it. Last time, Liu Xuan brought eight people to cause me trouble, and they were easily dealt with. This time, he'll be prepared and will probably bring at least twenty. I asked Xu Delong, "On average, how many of our soldiers can each fight?"
"That depends on the enemy's military capabilities."
"Someone like me might be slightly better than me."
Xu Delong looked me up and down and said, "Oh, you mean the common people?"
So, in his eyes, my brother Xiaoqiang is just an ordinary citizen.
"To be conservative, we can take on 10 at the same time, or even more if you don't care—we've never bullied the people, so we can't say for sure."
"So, according to you, I only need two people to deal with 20 people?"
Xu Delong said firmly, "Enough—Li Jingshui and Wei Tiezhu, step forward!"
Two young soldiers stood up abruptly and shouted, "Yes!"
"We're sending you to follow Xiao Zhuangshi. Your mission is to protect him, obey his orders during this time, and take the initiative if necessary, but you must not harm anyone." See how thoughtful that is?
"yes!"
And so, I rode my motorcycle, with Wei Tiezhu on the back and Li Jingshui in the back, to meet Liu Xuan.
Upon arriving opposite "Tingfeng Teahouse," I called two people down while I observed the teahouse. It was a three-story building, with the teahouse on the third floor. Because it was a commercial building, it was much taller than typical residential buildings. The problem now was how to get these two people inside. They didn't have phones and couldn't be called upon at any time, and someone like Liu Xuan, who had some influence, would definitely clear the area when discussing business; pretending to be tea drinkers wouldn't work either.
Li Jingshui listened to my concerns and said, "We'll wait for you on the roof. Just smash the cup as a signal and we'll rush in to save you."
Wei Tiezhu said, "Well, just two ropes will do."
I went into a hardware store by the roadside and bought two ten-meter ropes, which I gave to the two of us. Looking at my watch, it was almost time, so I said, "Let's go in. Hopefully, the entrance to the rooftop isn't locked."
Li Jingshui said, "You go by yourself, we can go up from the back."