Misty Rain of the Old Times

Chapter 235 You poisoned me!
The night wind blew gently, making the campfire flicker, and sparks flew away from time to time. There was no need to worry about causing a forest fire in this desert Gobi.

Zhao Qingluan hugged her knees by the campfire, her eyes drifting to a place not far away and occasionally swallowing her saliva. Two dry biscuits were roasting on the campfire in front of her. They were not burnt, and Liang Ren was constantly turning them over.

"Miss Zhao, when you go out, it's not like being at home. Everyone has to sleep in the open air. It's good enough to have something to eat. The naan bread is already baked. Come, have some and drink some water to make ends meet," Liang Ren chattered, handing over a piece of baked bread.

Zhao Qingluan felt that this sounded familiar. She had heard something similar a few months ago. She decided to just deal with it when she was out.

But why is there such a big difference when dealing with the same thing?

Last time it was that rich young master, with maids serving him at his beck and call, he was so comfortable. But this time, that guy must be grilling meat, why does it smell so good?
After several months of experience in the underworld, she suffered a lot of hardships in reality. She didn't suffer any big losses, but she suffered a lot of small losses. She also matured a lot, and her eyes became less clear and more steady.

The world of martial arts is a big melting pot, and it is a great place to train people. Some people are unknowingly stained, while others can still keep themselves clean. There is no doubt that Zhao Qingluan has not been polluted much.

Zhao Qingluan swallowed her saliva and took the pancake with difficulty. She took a bite of it and followed the fragrance in the wind. It was a little hard and cottony. She bit and pulled it twice before tearing off a piece. After chewing it twice, she smiled at Liang Ren and said, "Thank you, Brother Liang. You can eat too."

It's no wonder that Zhao Qingluan has calmed down a lot. If it were when she just left home, she would have definitely been unable to control her legs and rushed forward just by the fragrance carried by the wind. As people of the world, they don't care about trivial matters. But now she can't act that way to be familiar with others.

"Ha, it's my duty. You're welcome, Miss Zhao." Liang Ren smiled and rubbed his hands after hearing that. He picked up a piece of pancake and took a bite. He ate it ravenously, but his eyes were wandering as he always felt that it was not fragrant enough. Why didn't he notice it before? It was all that guy's fault!
Although the dry biscuit in her hand was hard to swallow compared to the aroma of barbecue carried by the wind, Zhao Qingluan, who had experienced hardships and hunger, still forced herself to eat. After eating half a biscuit, she felt a little full. She couldn't help but look at Liang Ren and said in confusion, "Brother Liang, how long are you going to stay with me?"

Liang Ren said confidently: "Of course I will go wherever you go until I escort you home."

"I told you don't have to worry about it. I'll go home by myself after I have fun. Why don't you listen?" Zhao Qingluan said dejectedly. Her saliva had dried up, but this guy just wouldn't listen. He was sticking to her like a dog-skin plaster. He was so kind to her, which made Zhao Qingluan lose her temper.

After finishing one pancake in a few bites, Liang Ren took out another one to bake, but he said, "I accepted the commission from Mr. Zhao to take you home. I have already received 20 taels of silver in advance, and I will have to pay 200 taels to send you back. There are not many such easy jobs."

You can't even beat me, yet you're still escorting me. I don't know who's protecting whom. I think you're just after my family's money, as if you picked it up for free. When I get home, you can collect the money with peace of mind, right?

So many people took up my father's commission, and you were the one who met me and got me.

Zhao Qingluan almost rolled her eyes. It was not like she had not said these words before, but Liang Ren was thick-skinned and it was useless.

The more he thought about it, the more speechless he became. Zhao Qingluan didn't even eat the remaining half of the cake. She was full, no, she had had enough.

It's not that she hasn't thought about getting rid of Liang Ren, but that guy is like a dog's nose and always finds her. It's outrageous. But Zhao Qingluan asked herself, she really learned a lot of experience from Liang Ren during this period of time.

However, when asked about his ability to find people, he refused to tell us. He said that it was his specialty, a skill he used to make a living, and it was passed down to males, not females, and he kept his mouth shut.

Seeing Zhao Qingluan standing there in silence, hugging her knees in a daze, Liang Ren looked in Chen Xuan's direction, thought for a moment and said, "Miss Zhao, is it because the aroma of the barbecue has aroused her cravings and she can't eat anymore?"

"Brother Liang, don't do anything rash. You don't even know him, so don't make things difficult for yourself." Zhao Qingluan immediately became alert and took precautions, knowing full well how thick-skinned this guy was.

Liang Ren grinned, stood up, patted his butt, walked towards Chen Xuan and said with a smile: "Watch me, I will make sure Miss Zhao has some delicious barbecue later."

"You...ah..." Zhao Qingluan wanted to stop him, but he had already walked over. He immediately covered his face and thought to himself, here we go again, do you think everyone has such a good temper?

While he seemed to be enjoying the barbecue leisurely, Chen Xuan was paying attention to every little movement around him.

From their simple conversation, we can roughly guess how they got together. Liang Ren coveted the Zhao family's money, so he turned into Zhao Qingluan's bootlicker, and coaxed her home as if it were free money.

Seeing him walking towards him, Chen Xuan thought to himself, he is still so straightforward. Oh no, he is here to grill meat for me!
When he got closer, Liang Ren also swallowed his saliva secretly, rubbed his hands and said familiarly: "Brother, what are you baking? It smells so good."

Chen Xuan almost kicked him when he heard that, and almost heard it as "Brother, you smell so good."

So he looked up and said with a smile: "Three taels"

"Ah?" Liang Ren was stunned and didn't understand.

Turning the barbecue, Chen Xuan held up three fingers and said, "I'm offering you a piece of barbecue for three taels of silver. Isn't that too much? I bought these ingredients at a high price, and they also have secret seasonings. You can't get them anywhere else. Just smell how delicious they are."

As he spoke, he deliberately picked up the barbecue and shook it, and Liang Ren's eyes followed suit.

The materials bought with three taels of silver are ten times more than the normal price. So if I sell a little more for ten times that amount to make back my investment, is that too much? Not at all. If this sucker comes up, who else can I rip off? This is because we know each other. It's not a forced sale. It's a matter of mutual consent. Others don't have that kind of luck.

His eyes followed the barbecue around, and Liang Ren immediately shook off the temptation. He glared and trembled as he said, "Why don't you go grab it?"

"Look at what you said, brother. Robbery is illegal," Chen Xuan said with an expression that said, "Don't accuse me wrongly."

Liang Ren was dumbfounded. Oh no, he had met his match, and there was someone who was even more shameless than him.

Three taels of silver, that’s three taels. If I take a black job myself, I only get ten taels for a piece of barbecue!
I accepted the commission from Mr. Zhao. Although I was given 20 taels of money in advance, I spent more than one-tenth of it on the barbecue.

After hesitating for a moment, he looked back at Zhao Qingluan, who was staring at him eagerly, and then at Chen Xuan, rubbing his hands, he said, "Brother, can you give me a discount? My daughter is really craving this." When did you become Zhao Qingluan's follower? And Zhao Qingluan was staring at me eagerly for the barbecue, she was obviously worried that I would beat you up.

Picking up the barbecue and smelling it, Chen Xuan made a gesture of invitation and said, "No bargaining, otherwise please go back."

They were just acquaintances, not even friends, so Chen Xuan had no pressure to cheat. At the beginning, he asked for three taels of silver for two pieces of wood on the boat. Isn't his barbecue more valuable than those wooden boards?

Anyway, these gangsters are used to spending money lavishly, so of course I have to follow the crowd.

That's too much, too stingy. If you weren't young and I needed your help, I would have fucked you a long time ago.

Liang Ren secretly complained in his heart, thinking that if he could make Zhao Qingluan happy, maybe she would agree to go home. Then he could make two hundred taels for just one trip, which would be a huge profit.

So he gritted his teeth and took out a piece of silver, tore off three taels, handed it to Chen Xuan and said, "Give me a piece, I want to see how delicious it is. If it's not delicious, I will come to you to settle the bill. I want a big piece."

Oh, you really took out money. Chen Xuan immediately took it and put it in his arms. He handed over the smallest piece, estimating that it was about 300 grams of roast beef and said, "This is it. Do you want it?"

"You... okay, I'll bear it. Good job, brother. I admire you." Liang Ren endured it again and again, gave a thumbs up and said this, then turned around and left with the barbecue.

After turning around, he had a smug smile on his face, puffed up his face and pretended to be rich. He came to the fire and handed the barbecue to Zhao Qingluan and said, "How is it, Miss Zhao? I didn't lie to you, did I? I'm not bragging, my social skills are unmatched. The barbecue is here, eat it while it's hot."

As he said this, he averted his eyes with difficulty and swallowed his saliva, thinking that this thing only smelled good and must not taste good.

In fact, he himself didn't believe it. How could barbecue that cost only three taels of silver not be delicious?
Zhao Qingluan watched the whole process. Liang Ren had obviously suffered a great loss but he still pretended to be calm and tried to please her. No one except his family treated her so well. She was a little touched. It was simply the feeling of being treated well by someone. After all, Liang Ren's appearance, age and strength were far from her standards for choosing a partner.

Zhao Qingluan took the barbecue, took out a knife and cut it into two pieces, handed one piece to him and said, "Brother Liang, you eat too."

"This is for you. Others gave it to me because they thought I was a good person. You... well, okay, I'll eat it." Liang Ren wanted to pretend, but when he saw Zhao Qingluan's attitude that said, "If you don't eat it, I'll attack you," he couldn't help but take it.

"Well, Brother Liang, you should eat it while it's hot," Zhao Qingluan said with a smile. He took a small bite, his eyes widened in disbelief, and his face turned red. It was not because it was so delicious, but because it was so spicy.

Liang Ren took a big gulp, and his face immediately turned red. He jumped up and yelled in the direction of Chen Xuan, "Good boy, you took so much money from me, and you actually poisoned me!"

Zhao Qingluan, who was guzzling water, looked at him speechlessly and said that it was a gift from someone else.

Originally, many people nearby who smelled the fragrance were eager to make a move when they saw Liang Ren succeed, but after hearing his words, everyone backed off.

Chen Xuan glanced at him, picked up a piece of barbecue and took a big bite. It had been a long time since he tasted this.

Meimei ate the barbecue and curled her lips at Liang Ren and said, "If you don't know how to enjoy it, don't accuse others. Just tell me whether it tastes good or not."

"It's delicious, but you really didn't poison it?" Liang Ren nodded subconsciously.

Without looking at him, Chen Xuan continued eating and said, "Why would I eat something poisonous?"

"If you didn't poison me, why do I feel dizzy?" Liang Ren said staggeringly.

Chen Xuan was stunned, thinking to himself, "Are you so bad at eating spicy food? Are you dizzy and short of breath because of this little bit of spiciness?"

Then he looked up and saw him and Zhao Qingluan, who were still holding the barbecue, fell to the ground with their eyelids rolled back.

"Who is this? I fell for this shameful trick again," Zhao Qingluan muttered before fainting, which obviously brought back bad memories.

It wasn't just the two of them. Chen Xuan looked around and saw people falling down one after another in the darkness of night around Tuoling Town. When some people realized something was wrong, it was already too late.

Chen Xuan: “…”

This is none of my business. Someone is really causing trouble.

Then he saw many seemingly unrelated people standing up one after another, and heard someone chuckle: "Our Forbidden Martial Arts Department's sleeping pills really work. Now we can easily capture the criminal."

Are the people in the court also so uncouth?

Well, I guess they just do whatever is convenient for them and don't care about rules and morals with people in the underworld.

……

(End of this chapter)