Upon hearing that he was a military general, Xiang Yu nodded politely to Erpang and then prepared to go upstairs. Erpang hurriedly dropped his biscuits: "Xiang Yu, I want to fight you!"
Xiang Yu turned around, looked at Erpang with a puzzled expression, and then looked at me. I pointed at Erpang: "This is He Tiandou's man."
Xiang Yu glanced at Erpang a few more times and said, "I have nothing to do with He Tiandou anymore. If you want to fight, find someone else."
This is something I expected. Is Xiang Yu the kind of person you can lead by the nose? The Hegemon-King of Western Chu was arrogant and looked down on everyone else. The title of "Number One Warrior" was nothing but a pile of shit in his eyes. If he was in a good mood, he might nod at you politely; if he didn't want to talk to you, he wouldn't even bother to hit you, even if you offered your face. So, I wasn't worried at all when He Tiandou said he wanted to fight Xiang Yu.
Seeing that Xiang Yu was about to leave again, Erpang raised his voice and shouted, "Hey, I'm Lu Bu!" Although they had lived through a lifetime, he was probably still not used to being ignored like this.
Xiang Yu snorted without turning his head: "What is Lü Bu?" I snapped my fingers: You hit the nail on the head.
Seeing that Xiang Yu was just a few steps away from going up the steps, Erpang quickly reached out and hooked his arm around Xiang Yu's shoulder. Xiang Yu didn't turn around, but grabbed Erpang's hand and pulled him forward, intending to throw him over his shoulder. Erpang lowered his waist and gathered his energy, and with a crack, two floor tiles broke.
I was heartbroken, so I slammed my hand on the table and yelled, "You two, go fight outside!"
The two of them stopped fighting and looked at me...
I tidied up my things and calmly said, "How about I go outside?"
Erpang arm wrestled with Xiang Yu and said, "You don't have to fight me, but do you not even want to see Yu Ji anymore?"
Xiang Yu abruptly released his grip: "What did you say?"
"Our boss said that as long as you beat me, he will definitely help you find Yu Ji."
I quickly said, "We've found Yu Ji."
Erpang stared into Xiang Yu's eyes and said, "You can decide for yourself. Let me remind you, it's hard to say whether the so-called Yu Ji you found is actually the real one, but our boss guarantees that we will definitely help you find the real Yu Ji."
Xiang Yu's expression changed: "What do you mean?"
"It doesn't mean much. Our boss seems to be more professional when it comes to finding people."
Xiang Yu resolutely asked, "How do you intend to fight?"
I cried out, "Brother Yu, you can't agree to that!"
Erpang said, "Of course we fight on horseback. Do you think people like us are supposed to fight like infantrymen, tearing each other apart on the ground?"
I interjected, "But we don't have any horses!"
Erpang glanced at me and said, "Xiaoqiang, our boss said he's giving you money and selling wine for you, not helping you get rich." Erpang wrote a number on a piece of paper and handed it to Xiang Yu, "Contact me when you buy the horse!"
After Erpang left, I asked Xiang Yu, "Why did you agree to him again? Didn't you say you didn't want to find Yu Ji anymore?"
Xiang Yu stared at me intently and said, "Do you think... Zhang Bing might not be Yu Ji, and we made a mistake from the start?"
I innocently said, "I asked you to confirm it several times. You said that she looks like Yu Ji, from her appearance to her habits and even her gait."
Xiang Yu murmured, "I said I'd give up because I was afraid of disappointment. If I could really find A Yu, why wouldn't I? No matter what, I must win this battle first." With that, he grabbed me and started running outside. I yelled, "What's wrong with you?"
"Come with me to find the horse!"
Once in the car, I rubbed my arm and said, "Think carefully about what you'll need for fighting on horseback. Let's get everything we need at once."
"Besides the horse, just give me a 130-pound iron spear."
"Where's the armor? Can you even wear Mulan's?" Asking was pointless; Mulan's armor would probably look like tight-fitting underwear on Xiang Yu.
Xiang Yu said, "Armor is unnecessary. In one-on-one combat, there's no need to protect against arrows, and you don't need your men to use your armor to identify the commander's movements—most importantly, that fat man can't hurt me!"
I said, "Don't be careless. That fat man is indeed one of the top warriors in the centuries after you. I never won against him before I was 13." This last sentence was superfluous. Xiang Yu laughed loudly and said, "Why should I fear such a petty villain?"
...If Erpang is a villain, then what am I? Damn it!
I scratched my head and said, "Iron spears are easy to get, there are blacksmiths among the students' parents at Yucai, but where can we get horses? As for good horses, British, German, and Turkish horses are all good, but it would take at least three months to buy them. Besides, I've never done this kind of procedure before, and I don't know how the customs duties are collected."
Xiang Yu said with a dark face, "Stop talking nonsense. Where is the closest place with horses to us?"
I shrugged: "Then it has to be called a park, but..."
Xiang Yu patted the carriage seat and said, "Hurry up, hurry up!"
Chapter Fifteen: The Steed Never Goes On
I'm probably more familiar with horses than most people. Back then, one of my neighbors in the compound owned a horse that they used for selling vegetables. Every day, it would be harnessed to a cart and go out on the street, and it would get all sizzling in the summer. Many people born in the 80s should have seen those horse-drawn vegetable carts on the street.
My closest encounter with a horse was when I was nine years old. I rode one in the park and took a picture. I was a little scared, so I pouted, looking like I was about to cry. I have an innate fear of these tall animals with hard toes, because even fierce felines look cute when they hide their claws.
I am familiar with the racecourse in the park – I came here to take pictures when I was a child. The difference is that when I was a child, you could only take pictures here, but now you can ride horses around, although the circle is less than 30 meters long.
There were only two horses in the open space, with a camera tripod beside them. The old man guarding the area vaguely resembled the uncle who took my picture when I was a child. Even more strangely, the two horses also looked like the same two I rode when I was nine years old…
I went over and asked, "Grandpa, can I ride the horse?"
The old man became excited when he saw the guests: "You can ride it, of course you can ride it. This is a genuine Mongolian horse, it runs like the wind."
I doubt what he said is true. I've heard that Mongolian horses are small but powerful, and those two horses were as skinny as dogs. If you draped some fur over them, chained them up, and took them out, people would probably believe you were Tibetan mastiffs.
I said, "So, are you renting this horse or not?"
The old man looked at me and asked, "How much money are you offering?"
I said, "Two horses, I'll give you a thousand a day."
The old man beamed: "Rent!"
Xiang Yu crossed his arms and examined the two horses, hesitatingly asking, "I think it's risky. Can we really ride them?"