The snow was falling harder and harder. From a long distance away, Ruan Xiaoer could only judge by the sound that the person who made the sound was his brother Ruan Xiaoqi, so he stopped the oar in his hand and shouted back:
"Is it the seventh brother? Is this the fifth brother on board? There are distinguished guests on my ship. Don't gossip and come and see me!"
When the man on the boat heard the sound, he immediately exerted his strength. The two rowing poles made of birch trees only made a cross stroke in the water. .
The boat made its way through the wind and snow, and parked nearby, only ten feet away. Before the boat could stand still, two men on the boat shouted, "What distinguished guests are on board?"
After saying that, he jumped up. Zou Run only felt the boat beneath him shake slightly, and two strong men suddenly appeared in front of him.
When he looked up, he saw one of them wearing a black hat, a gray cloth jacket, and a raw cloth skirt tied around his waist. The raw material was:
The jaundiced face is covered with strange flesh, and the exquisite eyes protrude. He has a long, light yellow beard on his cheeks and black spots on his body. It's as thick as pig iron, and it's suspected to be made of stubborn copper. Don't talk about the evil priest of the Yue Temple, he is really an upright man in the world. In the village, it is called Living Yama, and there are five true ways of being born in the world.
The other person wore a tattered turban on one side. Although he wore a heavy and worn-out raincoat on the outside, inside he wore an ordinary thin piece of clothing. It was half-opened in the snowy weather, revealing a green leopard tattooed on his chest. .
Zou Run thought to himself that this person must be Ruan Xiaowu, the short-lived Erlang, and the younger one is undoubtedly Ruan Xiaoqi, the living Yama.
Before Ruan Xiaoer could speak, Zou Run stood up easily in the bumpy cabin, solemnly arranged his clothes, and bowed his hands to the two of them.
"He is so handsome in water skills. No wonder there are rumors in the world that the standing Tai Sui Ruan Xiaoer, the short-lived Erlang Ruan Xiaowu, and the living Yama Luo Ruan Xiaoqi are the three dragons in Liangshan Boli. When I saw them today, they are indeed worthy of their reputation."
Ruan Xiaowu saw that although Zou Run was dressed as an ordinary person in the world, he had a noble face and a sense of dignity in his movements. He had just stood up on the unstable boat without any difficulty. It was obvious that he also had water skills, and he felt respect in his heart. So he responded politely.
"The words about the distinguished guest and the slight name are just the favor of heroes in the world. They should not be taken seriously. Forgive me, but the distinguished guest is by no means an ordinary person. May I ask what your name is?"
Ruan Xiaoer hurriedly introduced, "Fifth brother and seventh brother, please don't be rude. This is the King of Xiao Qin in Dengzhou, the head of Zou Run and Zou Dazhai."
Ruan Xiaowu and Ruan Xiaoqi were both shocked when they heard this. They didn't understand why the little Qin King, who had been in the limelight recently and was famous in the world as the New Year was approaching, suddenly appeared in the Liangshan River.
The two people hurriedly responded to the ceremony on the boat and apologized. Ruan Xiaoqi even apologized and said: "Xiaoqi didn't know that Master Zou was here in person, but his words were so conflicting. I hope to beg for forgiveness."
Zou Run turned sideways and did not receive the gift. He chuckled and said, "Seventh brother is serious. We are all heroes in the world. How can we care about these things? Zou Run feels guilty in his heart. I have taken the liberty to come here this time, and I will disturb you a lot."
Ruan Xiaoqi is a talkative person and can't hold back his words. Seeing Zou Run start the conversation, he was about to ask Zou Run what his purpose was, but Ruan Xiaoer stopped him.
"Xiaowu Xiaoqi, I don't know the etiquette. The master of Zou Village is a distinguished guest that is worth a lot of money. There is no place to talk in a boat on the water. Let's swing the boat and go to the hotel on the water pavilion to sit down first before talking. Not too late."
Ruan Xiaowu and Ruan Xiaoqi finally woke up and hurriedly returned to the other boat.
The two boatmen followed in the lake. After a while, they rowed to a place where there was water all over. There was a high dock in the water, with a water pavilion and pavilion on it. The three boats were pulled up to the water pavilion, the ropes were fixed, and they went ashore together. Everyone entered the hotel. The heavy snow has not stopped at this time, there are few guests in the pavilion, and there are private rooms on the second floor.
Everyone went upstairs and sat down together, and asked the waiter to raise the brazier, and Ruan Xiaoer taught him how to quickly serve good wine and food. While the food was being served, the group of people all told stories about rivers and lakes, talked about fists, feet, guns and sticks, and had a great time chatting.
Not long after, the bartender brought a bucket of wine, and the waiter put out six large cups, laid out six pairs of chopsticks, put down four kinds of vegetables, and then brought in a large pot of fatty beef and a pot of fresh fish soup.
This is already the best meat and wine dish in this hotel, but Ruan Xiaoer is more careful and thinks more. He is thinking that Zou Run is the master of a village, and he must have rich clothes and fine food on weekdays, for fear that he will not look down on him. , poured a bowl of wine before lunch, held it in both hands, stood up and said:
"Master Zou Village has come a long way. I live in a poor and remote country and I am not very filial. I would like to greet the distinguished guest first with a bowl of water and wine, and then I will welcome the wind."
Zou Run smiled when he heard the words, and stood up while holding the wine bowl, "As for the second brother, I am lucky enough to meet my three brothers today. The table is full of food and wine, which shows the hospitality. It is even better than when I was in the village. The food here is much better, thank you for the hospitality, and please take a drink."
After saying that, he drank it all in one gulp, showed the bottom of the bowl to San Ruan, laughed and sat down. Ruan Xiaoer also finished his drink, but he was a straightforward man and thought that Zou Run only said this to save his face, so there was still a bit of disbelief and embarrassment on his face.
Seeing this, Zou Run stretched out his chopsticks and picked up a large piece of greasy beef. He put it into his mouth, tasted it for a while and then swallowed it. He said with emotion: "I haven't eaten beef for a long time, but I am lucky to come to Jeju." You can try new things along the way and eat them to your full stomach, it’s so delicious.”
As soon as this statement came out, even Ruan Xiaowu and Ruan Xiaoqi looked disbelieving. In their opinion, Zou Run had such a great reputation in the Green Forest and was the leader of a village. This beef was not as much as they wanted to eat. How much to eat? Could it be that he was acting in front of the three of them?
With this thought in mind, the three brothers looked at each other, each feeling unhappy in their hearts, and their faces became cold.
Fortunately, Zou Run was very smart this time and could read people's faces. Seeing that the three of them didn't believe it, he hurriedly explained: "The master of my village has a strict order. The meat of the village is mainly chicken, duck, fish, pork and mutton. When the leader , down to the minions, no one should kill the cattle rashly."
Hearing this, San Ruan's face became even more confused, and he hurriedly asked why. Zou Run explained solemnly, "Although Zou is now involved in the green forest, he has never forgotten his background as a farmer. Cattle are the most precious treasure of farmers. They can not only help farmers till the fields, but also carry heavy loads and pull goods. Carts. There has always been a saying that one cow can top three Han dynasties. If you kill the cattle purely for food and drink, it is really against your conscience, so you should not take them. This is one of them."
"There is another one. There is an island under Zou's command, which can accommodate thousands of people. They farm on the island and are short of many people, especially cattle. This is not an isolated case. In the endless sea, there are countless islands, big and small. A few. According to Zou's knowledge, far away in the depths of the East China Sea, there is a large island, which is as big as two counties! The people along the coast of Dengzhou have suffered from the harsh rule of the court for a long time, and most of them were born in deep water and heat. Zou has always had a wish , I want to move all the poor people to this island, allocate fields to each household to cultivate cattle, provide good governance, and teach them to live and work in peace and contentment, so that they will no longer be persecuted and oppressed by corrupt officials in the court."
"How magnificent!" San Ruan blurted out at the same time as his eyes lit up.
Before today, the ambition of the three brothers of the Ruan family was just to find a hero who was generous and righteous, could love and respect them, and then get together to do something great. And this so-called great cause, the imagination of the three brothers is nothing more than occupying the mountain and becoming the king, getting together with the brothers to perform chivalry and righteousness, eating meat in a big bowl, drinking in a big bowl, weighing gold and silver on scales, and wearing hoodies. clothes.
This was already the limit of what they could imagine, but when they heard Zou Run's words today, it could be said that thunder broke through the sky, and an unprecedented idea and way of living appeared in their hearts.
Compared with the great ambitions of the past, what is the difference between them? It is simply a paradise and a hell! The three of them could not hide their excitement, and they felt as if the blood in their bodies was on fire.
