Chapter 16
Lu Ren went to Yang Bin's home first.
He had just finished his meal and was playing chess with his niece Yang Tao in the yard to relieve his boredom. Yang Bin's sister-in-law, Yang Lie's wife, was sitting at the door, mending a quilt for the winter with a smile on her face.
The family was having a great time.
Yang Lie was on duty today and was not at home.
Lu Ren walked in quietly, stood behind his little niece Yang Tao and observed for a while.
The situation had been completely controlled by Yang Bin, and Yang Tao was at a disadvantage everywhere.
The little girl was thinking very seriously and didn't notice that there was an extra person behind her.
She picked up a black chess piece, hesitated for a long time, and was about to put it down.
A familiar and annoying voice came out of nowhere.
"If you do this, you will lose."
Yang Tao turned back subconsciously, a hint of anger appeared on her tender and fair face.
"Why are you here?" She stood up and pushed Lu Ren:"Get out of my house quickly, my father said, you are not allowed to come in!"
""Xiao Tao, don't be rude!" The woman sitting at the door scolded, but there was not much blame in her tone.
She had heard of Lu Ren's bad reputation, but he was a colleague of her husband and brother-in-law after all. They would see each other every day, so there was no need to make the relationship too stiff.
Yang Bin also stood up in time to persuade his little niece, and at the same time looked at Lu Ren and asked:"Are we going to set off?"
Lu Ren looked at the chessboard and smiled:"No hurry, it's not too late to leave after the game."
The uncle and nephew sat down again, and Lu Ren acted as a military advisor to Yang Tao.
Although she was reluctant in her heart, Yang Tao made a few moves under Lu Ren's prompting, and found that the situation was turned back a little, and there was a vague posture of equal strength.
Yang Tao's confidence increased greatly, picked up the chess piece, tilted her head, and blinked her big watery eyes again and again:"Mr. Lu, where are you going next?"
Lu Ren didn't know whether to laugh or cry:"What a polite little girl! If you don't want to call me uncle, you can call me Brother Lu."
Yang Tao pursed her lips and called out reluctantly,"Brother Lu"
""You are so good." Lu Ren smiled and touched her head, then pointed to a place on the chessboard and said,"Play here."
Yang Tao didn't have time to care about Lu Ren's offense, and dropped the chess piece with excitement.
Yang Bin looked at the chess game in front of him and frowned deeply.
After a long time, at the urging of the little girl, he slowly stood up:"I lost."
He said to Lu Ren.
Without Lu Ren's guidance, this stupid girl might not win even a hundred games with him. After learning chess for more than half a year, Yang Tao defeated her uncle for the first time, and her surprise was beyond words.
Just as she was about to express her gratitude to Lu Ren, she found that he and his uncle had disappeared at the door...........
On the street, Lu Ren walked in front, and Yang Bin followed behind with a horse-drawn cart carrying goods.
"You bought so much food and fruits. Are you going to give them to the villagers of Heitu Village for emergency relief?"
Lu Ren did not answer. He turned and walked into a rice shop and bought dozens of kilograms of rice, piling them on the heavy cart.
The shopkeepers of each store were scared and thought that Lu Ren was going to sell on credit again. As a result, he actually settled the bill this time and paid off the previous debt.
Lu Ren looked at the full cart of goods and said,"It's almost done. Let's go."
On the way out of the town, the two met an acquaintance, Wu Xin.
This person had just returned from outside the town, and it was just an ordinary encounter.
The two parties nodded and passed by each other.
However, Wu Xin noticed the large amount of rice, flour, fruits and vegetables on the cart, and a hint of confusion appeared in his eyes.
Soon, he caught up, and he took the initiative to ask,"You.........Where are you going?"
Yang Bin just wanted to ask him about Heitu Village. He had never mentioned such obvious doubts to anyone. What was his intention?
Before he could speak, Lu Ren stopped him and said to Wu Xin:"Go to Heitu Village. The villagers there are almost starving. We have to help them, right?"
After that, he asked Yang Bin to continue on the road.
Wu Xin stopped where he was, staring at their receding backs with deep eyes.
After a long time, he raised his lips contemptuously, and a sneer appeared on his face.
"Ignorance"..........
At dusk, a golden afterglow casts a shadow on the country road leading to Heitu Village.
Two figures pull a carriage and move slowly.
Along the way, Yang Bin gradually figures out Lu Ren's true intention.
"I understand, you want to use these grains to lure out those field mouse spirits who are pretending to be ghosts!"
Lu Ren smiled indifferently and gave a fair evaluation:"It seems that you are not stupid enough."
When they arrived at Heitu Village, the sky was dark, and dim lights were lit one after another in each household.
The two followed the route they took during the day and found Wang Fugui's home.
On the road, some villagers discovered the two unfamiliar faces. When they were about to drive them away, they saw the grain on the carriage and were quite tempted, so they followed all the way here.
Lu Ren ignored the greedy eyes around him, stepped forward and gently knocked on the wooden door:"Is Brother Fugui at home?"
Soon, a response came from inside the house.
""Here they come."
Wang Fugui knew it was the voice of the two officials he had met during the day, and he ran out to open the door.
"My Lords, it's so late. Why are you here?........"
Lu Ren pointed at the carriage parked at the door and said with a smile:"I see that your family is running out of food, so I sent some food over."
Wang Fugui leaned out in surprise and took a look at the carriage.
"Oh my god! So much food?!!"
Not only rice, but also flour, fruits, vegetables and other foods.
Even before the strange things happened in the village, the family never had so much surplus food!
Wang Fugui was flattered and was about to kneel down and kowtow to express his gratitude.
Yang Bin grabbed him and said,"Brother Fugui, it's just a small token of my appreciation. No need to thank me. Hurry and move the things into the yard."
""Oh, OK, OK! I'll move right away!"
Wang Fugui walked to the front of the car, but found that many villagers had gathered around the house, all staring at him with ill intentions.
He suddenly felt uncomfortable.
Every household in the village was living in difficult conditions, but he suddenly got so much food that a family of three could not finish it even if they ate it for two or three years.
Such a huge gap would inevitably lead to jealousy and even hatred.
Although Wang Fugui was a rough man, he was not ignorant of the ways of the world.
He looked at Lu Ren with some embarrassment:"Sir, how about we......Or should we share the food with everyone?"
Lu Ren had expected this decision.
Wang Fugui was a simple and honest man with no bad intentions. How could he enjoy the food by himself and watch his fellow villagers suffer and starve?
"It is your freedom to share or not. I will not interfere. But it is too late now. Let's wait until tomorrow."
Wang Fugui thanked him repeatedly and made a promise to his neighbors:"Everyone knows who I am. This batch of grain was sent by a kind official. I will never hide it. I will share it equally in front of everyone tomorrow."
After hearing this, the villagers' cold eyes eased a little and turned away.
Lu Ren and Yang Bin helped Wang Fugui move a cart of grain, fruits and vegetables into the yard.
"My two officers, please stay and have dinner together before you leave."
"No, we have something else to do."
Lu Ren and Yang Bin did not stay any longer..........
As the night deepened, the lights in the village gradually went out.
Two dark shadows sneaked into the village.
They hid in a spot that had been scouted in advance and secretly observed every move of Wang Fugui's family.
Lu Ren had deliberately made the noise of delivering food known to everyone.
In this way, the group of field mice would definitely get wind of it and steal all the food in the car under the cover of night. It was not until the second half of the night that Lu Ren's eyelids, which were forced to stay open, suddenly twitched.
Yang Bin was sleeping soundly on the ground at this time.
Lu Ren thought for a moment and decided not to wake him up, and followed him alone.
Although Yang Bin practiced martial arts, he had just entered the proficient stage and had not even reached the level of minor success.
With him around, it would be easy to be restrained.
Without hesitation, Lu Ren, holding a steel knife in his hand, silently moved towards the yard of Wang Fugui's house.