The Golden Crow rises and falls again.
Towards evening, the team from Weiyuan Escort Bureau finally saw Ma Tou Town.
This is a town different from the mainland. It has no city walls or tall buildings. All the houses are all one-story and arranged in a disorderly manner. It does not look like a county town. It is clearly a small town.
The city gate is also extremely simple. There is only a beam between two logs, and there is a horse's skull on the beam, without any words.
Sitting on the flatbed truck, Wang Cheng felt as if he had returned to Mixi Town.
"Hey! Don't look at it, my benefactor. It's not simple here. There are masters of the world, rich families, and foreigners. Anyway, there are all kinds of people."
Zhang Lao San came up to Wang Cheng and said in a lewd way: "This is a great place! It's your first time here. Lao San will take you around later."
"Is it the same as Huangyuan County? I guarantee that I will never forget it for the rest of my life?" Wang Cheng blocked his mouth.
Zhang Laosan's smile suddenly froze on his face, he slapped his face, and said: "Look at my brain, the scar is so healed that I forget the pain."
Wang Cheng shook his head. If he and Zhang Laosan had not entered the landlady's door that night, they might have been here long ago, and what happened next would not have happened.
That experience...well, I will never forget it in my lifetime.
Zhang Laosan thought that Wang Cheng was dissatisfied with him, so he hurriedly swore to the sky: "My lord, Third Brother, I promise you that I will deliver this escort to the master's hand, and Third Brother will leave the next day!"
Wang Cheng ignored him and said: "Enter the city!"
From a few hundred meters away, Ma Tou Town seemed small, but when I got closer, I realized that it was really big.
Entering the city, the smell of urine from horses, cattle, and sheep hit his face. For Wang Cheng, whose sense of smell was as sharp as a dog's nose, it was a disaster.
He tore off a piece of cloth and covered his nose, and then he felt better.
It was almost six o'clock in the evening, but the red sun still hung high in the west.
Ma Tou Town is still lively and bustling, and the dirty streets are full of people.
Horse trading can be seen everywhere, and horses of various coat colors are dazzling to see.
Zhang Laosan led the convoy very slowly, and from time to time a horse dealer would come up to sell his horse to him.
"Are there so many horses?" Wang Cheng was a little surprised. It was the first time he saw such a scene.
Zhang Laosan said: "Hey! There are more horses than people here. Which house doesn't have dozens or hundreds of horses? At our place, a horse costs at least one hundred taels of silver. Here, you can get it with just ten taels of silver. Buy one."
"Ten taels of silver per horse?" Wang Cheng was really shocked.
At six yuan per gram of silver, ten taels of silver could be exchanged for three thousand yuan. How could one buy a horse with such a small amount of money?
"Of course you can't buy any good horses with this little money, and good horses are not sold here. They are all controlled by the local wealthy businessmen!" Zhang Laosan explained.
"Master, this is a fine horse that can travel eight hundred miles a day. If you like it, I'll give you a hundred gold pieces, no! Fifty gold pieces will do!"
Another vendor led a big red horse and stepped forward to sell.
"Canglang!"
Zhang Laosan pulled out the big knife that was placed on the horse's back and said angrily: "Get out! Get out of here! Are you all fucking blind? I'm an escort, and I have a horse farm at home. Do you want your lame horse?"
The hawker sneered twice, shrunk his neck, and quickly led the horse away.
Zhang Laosan snorted coldly, turned around and said to Wang Cheng: "You have to be more ruthless when dealing with these people, otherwise they will stick to you like dog-skin plaster, and there will be no end."
Wang Cheng didn't say anything. He also disliked these people. Although they won't hurt you, they will delay your work.
Sure enough, after Zhang Laosan showed his knife, the horse vendors did not dare to get closer.
The convoy was finally able to travel normally.
In addition to horse sellers, there are also many cattle and sheep sellers on the street, and there are even people sellers.
A dozen people in rags, with ropes tied around their necks and straws stuck in their hair, were placed on the shelves like animals.
Wang Cheng couldn't see this the most, so he took out a piece of gold, threw it to the trafficker, and said, "I bought them!"
The trafficker looked at the gold ingot, which weighed at least two ounces, and his half-pockmarked face suddenly became extremely excited.
"Is it enough?" Wang Cheng asked.
The trafficker took a bite of the gold ingot, and when he saw that it was real, he banged his head like he was pounding garlic, and said, "That's enough, that's enough!"
"Where is their contract of sale?" Wang Cheng reached out to the trafficker and asked for it.
Although the deed of betrayal does not sound good, it is a symbol of their identity. It records their birth, age and other information. Only with its presence can they have an identity.
If the deed of sale is accidentally lost, they will become refugees without household registration. Whether in Dazhou or other countries, refugees are no different from animals, or even worse than animals. No one cares about their life or death.
The trafficker quickly took out a stack of paper from his arms, and ran away with the gold in his mouth, for fear that Wang Cheng would regret it.
When Zhang Lao San saw this, he looked confused and said: "My dear, why did you buy so many slaves? If you have anything to do, just ask me, Lao San, and I will definitely handle it for you."
Wang Cheng's next sentence made him even more confused. He said to a dozen slaves: "From now on, you are no longer slaves, you are all free."
More than a dozen people raised their lifeless faces, their eyes dull, as if they couldn't understand what Wang Cheng was talking about.
Zhang Laosan understood, and said half-jokingly: "My dear, you have too much money and can't spend it, right? Why don't you give it to Lao San?"
"Get out!"
Wang Cheng scolded him calmly, jumped off the flatbed truck, thrust the bundle of bonds of sale into the hands of a shorter slave, and said to them: "Take this contract and go home." .”
More than a dozen people finally believed that this was not a dream, and each of them snatched the bond of sale from the short slave and ran away.
"My dear friend, are you serious?" Zhang Laosan found it difficult to understand Wang Cheng's actions.
Call him naive and ridiculous, but he also shows intelligence beyond ordinary people; call him a womanly person, but he is so brave and strong that it makes people feel terrible.
What kind of person is this?
Wang Cheng didn't explain anything. He said "Let's go" and jumped back to the flatbed truck.
Zhang Laosan shook his head secretly and continued to lead the convoy forward.
After a few hundred meters, the convoy turned left into an alley and stopped in front of a mansion.
Zhang Laosan looked at the mansion and said with relief: "Damn it! It's finally been delivered!"
He really experienced too much along the way, and it was more thrilling than any of his previous dart walks. If Wang Cheng hadn't taken action, he would have been on the run long ago.
He solemnly saluted Wang Cheng: "My dear friend, I'm a rough man and I can't speak nice words. Without your help this time, the third child and his family will have to work as cattle and horses for others. From now on, As long as you need the third child for something, just say it. If the third child frowns, damn, have you given birth to a son..."
"alright!"
Wang Cheng quickly blocked Zhang Laosan and said, "Since the escort has been delivered, it's time for me to leave."
As he spoke, he jumped off the flatbed truck and left without looking back.
Zhang Laosan watched Wang Cheng's figure gradually disappear into the alley, and did not regain consciousness for a long time.
"Boss, everyone has left." A brother came up to him and said.
"I know he's gone!"
Zhang Laosan retorted, and then said in a complicated tone: "Tell me, am I too petty?"
"What do you mean?" the man asked,
Zhang Laosan said: "There was once a huge amount of wealth in front of me, but I didn't cherish it. I didn't regret it until I lost it. The most painful thing in the world is this."
"I don't understand!"
"Of course you don't understand the damn thing. If you did, it would be your turn to take the position of head escort!"
…
After leaving the alley, Wang Cheng came to the street again. After walking a few steps, he suddenly turned around and grabbed someone immediately.
This man was only a little over 1.4 meters tall. He was wearing rags, his hair was as messy as a chicken coop, and he didn't even have a pair of shoes on his feet.
"It's you!"
Wang Cheng recognized this person as the short slave he had bought previously.
I didn't take a closer look before, but now I got closer and realized that it was a little boy of twelve or thirteen years old.
Due to malnutrition, the little boy was thin and small, with only skin and bones left on his thin arms. Only his eyes looked a bit clever.
Wang Cheng put a hand on his shoulder and said, "Why are you following me? Didn't I let you go?"
"Plop!"
He knelt on the ground, banged his head on the ground, and cried: "Please don't drive me away, I will do anything, just let me be by your side."
"stand up!"
Wang Cheng lifted him up from the ground, looked into his eyes and said, "Remember! Don't kneel down to others casually!"
The little boy seemed very scared and kept nodding.
Wang Cheng released his hand on his shoulder and said, "Tell me, why are you following me?"
"I...I don't know where to go." The little boy burst into tears.
"Where are your parents?" Wang Cheng asked.
The little boy said: "I don't have parents, they are already dead."
Afraid of being driven away, he knelt on the ground again and cried: "Please! Don't drive me away!"
"alright!"
Wang Cheng lifted him up from the ground again and said, "I don't need to drive you away..."
When the little boy heard this, his eyes suddenly shone and he said, "Thank you, my benefactor! Thank you, my benefactor!"
Wang Cheng touched his head and said, "Don't call me my benefactor."
"But the fierce bearded man holding the knife just now called you my benefactor!" The little boy was puzzled.
"I don't call my benefactor, you can call me..."
Wang Cheng stopped, thought for a moment, looked at the little boy, and smiled: "You can call me master."
"Master?" The little boy looked at him eagerly, unfamiliar with this vocabulary.
Wang Cheng nodded and said: "Yes! Master! From now on, you are my disciple."
"Okay! I have a master! My bastard has a master!"
The little boy was like a little sparrow, jumping around with excitement.
Wang Cheng, on the other hand, had a dark streak. He finally made up his mind to take on a disciple, but ended up taking on a bastard. So who was he as a master?
