The red rope tied outside Linjiang Restaurant in Lingbao Town was the secret code for Xu Ling and the scalded man to meet.
For two days in a row, Xu Ling went to the restaurant to check, but the red rope was still hanging outside the window. However, there were not many ships at the pier today, and the discussion from the people at the next table came to my ears: "Have you heard? Wei Xuanfu sent his troops to the river to suppress bandits early this morning!"
When Xu Ling went back on the third day, the red rope was gone. He knocked on the door of the private room on the east side of the second floor, and the familiar voice of the scalded man came from inside.
"come in."
Xu Ling pushed the door open and entered. There was a charcoal stove in the private room, and wine and vegetables were placed on the table. The scalded man sat there drinking dullly. When he saw Xu Ling coming, he looked him up and down.
"Are you hesitating? Do you want to do something for someone?"
Xu Ling smiled, sat down opposite him, grabbed the wine bottle, and poured himself a drink, "Your arm is injured? Then don't drink."
The scalded man narrowed his eyes instantly, and his already ugly triangular eyes were even more frightening.
"It's Chinese New Year, why don't I catch up with you and catch up on old times?"
"When did I get old with you?"
"Old Wu, you are such a noble and forgetful person. People often say that a friend in need is a friend indeed. I will give you a piece of cake and you will save me from fire and water. The two of us have had that brotherly love for a long time. Now you say this The words are really chilling.”
The scalded man sneered twice, "Who is Old Wu?"
"Aren't you nameless?"
Scalded man: "..."
He picked up the wine glass with his right hand, drank it all in one gulp, and then put the glass down with a snap, but his eyes never left Xu Ling's face.
The scalded man was extremely ugly, and his eyes were shrunk due to the scalding and tightening of the surrounding skin. He looked straight at the person, which really made people feel chilled.
Xu Ling was not afraid of him and drank calmly.
The scalded man laughed and said, "You're so strange. Sometimes women don't sound like men when they chirp, but sometimes they sound like men."
Xu Ling cursed in his heart, thinking to himself that this ugly thing was pretty good at seeing people.
"I didn't come to you this time to ask you to scold me, but I have something important to discuss with you." Xu Ling interrupted his gaze and directly told the news he had learned, "The Wei family asked the Xuanfu envoy to arrest him. You, it seems, didn’t catch it, but it’s not easy for you to win, right?”
The scalded man's left arm was placed under the table without moving it. He was probably someone who saw Xu's signal and came to ask for help in a hurry after the fight.
"You're just a propaganda envoy, what can you do to someone??"
"Hmph, you are such a tough talker! Let me ask you, can the money you robbed from the county government and the spices you robbed from the Wei family be exchanged for food and weapons?"
"I'm afraid there's no chance at all!"
Xu Ling knew that Scalded Man and his men were hiding on a small desert island protruding from the water in the center of the river. There were reefs nearby, making it easy to defend but difficult to attack.
But no matter how good the terrain is, the Xuanfu envoys can starve to death and burn the man and his party without fighting and only blocking. How can they fight with no money and no food?
"I'm not here today to make some sarcastic remarks to you. I want to cooperate with you. You give me the silver and spices, and I'll exchange them for food for you. It's not just food, but also armor and weapons. It's just a matter of time. After that, you have to do something for me."
The scalded man still looked at Xu Ling and did not agree immediately, as if he was trying to figure out his intentions.
Why would a person as timid as Xu Ling want to help him?
"Don't think that I have any intention of harming you, we are just using each other!"
Not only was it an impulsive act for the Scalded Man to rob the prison and kill the official, he was probably thinking of the next one or two steps, but he couldn't think of a further step.
Although the Yong Dynasty is now in ruins, the skinny camel is bigger than the horse. The scalded man wants to go against the government. He has no money, no one, and no land. What can he use to rebel?
It's like a joke!
Xu Ling only figured this out after the scalded man found him.
How desperate do you have to be to think of asking him to help launder money to buy food?
It was precisely because he saw that the scalded man was strong on the outside but fucked on the inside that Xu Ling delayed it again and again.
But now that he was short of people and money, he came up with the idea of scalding the man.
Xu Ling analyzed the current situation for the scalded man and talked about his plans after the matter was completed.
Xu Ling planned to "cleanse" the scalded man temporarily and find him a serious career. If it were before sex with Xuan Fu, I'm afraid the scalded man wouldn't be happy at all. But Xu Ling heard someone say that Wei Wuxia's expression was not good when he brought his troops back yesterday, and he was afraid that he was not asking for a favor.
Xu Ling said that Xuanfu was still too impatient and only wanted to attack hard. Even if he changed his strategy, he would probably lose a few soldiers. However, the information between the two parties was not equal, and Wei Wuxia probably didn't know how empty the Scalded Man's granary was.
It was because of their snipe and clam fight that Xu Ling, the fisherman who set the mountain on fire, was able to persuade the scalded man.
Scalded Man: "A certain person can kill people, but he can't do anything good!"
Xu Ling sneered: "What I asked you to do is a bad thing!"
He attached his ears to the scalded man and told him some of his plans.
After a while, the scalded man raised his head, his expression was startled and uncertain.
He looked at Xu Ling as if he were looking at a ghost.
He had already seen in prison that Xu Ling was a smart man, but he was a bit stupid.
Unexpectedly, Xu Ling became worse than him!
Xu Ling smiled and said, "What do you think of my idea?"
"Taking fuel from the bottom of the cauldron, you have a vicious mind."
"That's it. The brothers who follow you all want to make a living, right? Who in the world doesn't want to make a living? Give others a bite of food, and others will call you brother and care about others for the rest of their lives. If you have food to eat, others will have to call you daddy. If you are gone and others don’t have enough to eat, then someone will do everything possible to protect you instead of just wanting you to die. Being able to kill is not considered powerful, but killing without blood is true. ability."
Xu Ling sat next to the scalded man with a smile, scratched his neck and said, "Brother Wu, drink!"
The scalded man silently picked up the wine glass and drank it all in one gulp.
For a whole day, Xu Ling kept brainwashing the scalded man, persuading him to leave Lingbao Town temporarily and wait for the Xuanfu envoy to leave before making a comeback.
It's just that after returning to Lingbao Town, the Scalded Man can change his identity and is no longer the Jiang bandit that everyone calls for beating.
It wasn't that the scalded man wasn't moved, but why should he believe Xu Ling?
"What if you lied to someone?"
"Old Wu, don't worry. I'm just a businessman who is bent on profit. I don't want much. You want the right to live, and I want to support my family. Neither of us can live without the other. Why did I lie to you?"
No matter how much the scalded man hesitated, he gradually relaxed under Xu Ling's colorful persuasion.
What's more, he was already desperate and was afraid that if Wei Wuxia attacked the mountain again, the wealth he had finally accumulated would be lost.
In desperation, the scalded man had no choice but to agree to Xu Ling and leave Lingbao Town with him to go elsewhere.
