Misty Rain of the Old Times

Chapter 301 An unexpected encounter

After listening to the story for a while, Chen Xuan roughly understood what was going on.

This place is called Dujiazhuang, with more than a hundred households. As the name suggests, most of the people here have the surname Du, so it is not small for a village.

There is a Mr. Du in the village. He is the richest man in Dujiazhuang. Most of the land here belongs to his family. The reason for this family property is that Mr. Du’s father passed the imperial examination and the villagers all registered their land under his name.

This is how the richest man Du’s family started their business. Unfortunately, Old Master Du died of illness before he could get a job.

Things like fame and honor cannot be inherited, and with the passing of Old Master Du, taxes still need to be paid truthfully.

Under normal circumstances, if something like this happened, the once prosperous family business would be ruined, not to mention that Mr. Du did not have much talent to pass the imperial examinations.

But now Mr. Du has a good business mind. Relying on the initial accumulation and some connections of his father, he has made his business flourish. Not only has he maintained the prosperity of his family business, but he also married a beautiful bride more than ten years ago, and today he lives an enviable happy life.

Although Mr. Du is called Master, he is actually only in his early thirties. Now that his father is gone, he naturally becomes Master, just like Chen Xuan. Su Roujia still calls him Master all the time, but he is actually only eighteen years old.

Speaking of which, the Du family is also a kind-hearted family. They often help their fellow villagers. Whenever someone comes to them in urgent need, they will generously lend money or food.

Something happened here recently. During the crop filling season, a pair of wild boars appeared in the mountains and wantonly destroyed the crops. In particular, they gave birth to a litter of piglets. The destruction became more and more rampant. If allowed to continue, it would greatly affect the harvest.

Normal wild boars could be dealt with by hunters in the wild boar farm, but the pair of wild boars that appeared recently were extraordinary, much more ferocious than tigers and leopards. They were over ten feet long, with thick skin and flesh, and their surface was covered with grease and mud, as if they were wearing a suit of armor. They were difficult to be hurt by swords, not to mention the bows and arrows of ordinary hunters. When they rushed forward madly, they were enough to knock down houses.

Their appearance caused panic among the people, and there were even several incidents of injuries. Two people in the village were killed by wild boars. If they were not dealt with, they would not even dare to go out to work in the fields.

When this happened, Mr. Du spent his own money to spread the news and invite people from the underworld to come and eliminate the evil. He offered a high price of one hundred taels, which was really a lot. You must know that the waiter of Deweilou in Yang County only earned three cents of silver after working hard for a month.

Money can move people's hearts. The three people Chen Xuan met came to get rid of the evil after hearing the news.

They had indeed gone into the woods before, but they were looking for traces of wild boars.

People in the Jianghu weren't as carefree and romantic as they sounded. Unless they took the wrong path and their strength reached a certain level, there were only a few ways to make money: guarding people's homes or taking on bounty-laden missions, like what Liang Ren had done...

After hearing the whole story, Chen Xuan, who had already dismounted, asked curiously, "Did you find any traces of the wild boar?"

"No, the wild boar is hiding in the mountains. Although its activity tracks are everywhere, we have just arrived and started looking for it as soon as we took the job at Du's house. But it is not easy to find it in a short time. Moreover, it has been heard to be extremely ferocious, so we have to act with caution." The man with a resolute face smiled awkwardly.

After talking for a while, the bearded man said anxiously, "Young Master, if you are alright, please leave here quickly. If you run into those wild boars, you are so delicate and fragile that you will be in great danger. We have to work hard too. There are other people who are also looking for wild boars. We can't let them get there first. 100 taels of silver. If you can get this job done, we brothers and sisters can all live happily for the next few months."

"I'm sorry to have wasted your time. Please feel free to come. My name is Chen Xuan. Nice to meet you. May I know what to call you?" Chen Xuan said with a smile and a bow.

The woman bowed and said, "Don't be afraid of being laughed at, young master. The three of us are sworn brothers and sisters. We usually look after each other and stand together when things go wrong. We don't have any reputation, but we arrogantly nicknamed ourselves the Three Heroes of Qingyuan. Big Bearded Tiezhu is the eldest brother and wields a stick. The second brother Wanning wields a knife. I am the third sister Zhu Fang and I know some boxing, kicking and hidden weapons."

"Nice to meet you," Chen Xuan bowed again. In fact, he had seen their approximate strength at a glance when he was in the inn. They all practiced some internal strength, but it was very superficial, not as good as Zhao Erhe in the past. They were at the bottom of the world, better than those who only knew how to use brute force, but limited.

Bearded Tiezhu said dissatisfiedly: "Third sister, you have finished your words. What can we say? I can introduce myself. It is not easy to promote the reputation of our Qingyuan Three Heroes."

"Haha, I'm sorry to have embarrassed you, it's getting late now, you'd better leave quickly, we have to continue our work," Wan Ning said apologetically.

As they were about to go back into the woods, Zhu Fang turned around and said, "Little brother, we're just over twenty miles out of Qingyuan. There are no towns for another thirty or forty miles, and the road is dangerous. I suggest you stay at the farm for a night before setting off again. Mr. Du's family is a humble family, so I don't think they'll turn you away if you visit them. That's all I have to say, I hope you'll consider it carefully."

"Thank you, everyone, please be careful," Chen Xuan nodded.

"We know our limits. Goodbye..."

After they re-entered the woods, Chen Xuan looked at the sun that was about to set, and then looked at Dujiazhuang not far away. If he rode faster, with the speed of the black horse sent by Mrs. Gao, he could reach the next town before dark. But he was not in a hurry. After thinking for a while, he decided to stay overnight in Dujiazhuang.

So we led the horse along the country road towards Dujiazhuang. It must be said that this summer evening in the countryside was quite a unique experience.

Farmhouse smoke, the sound of a shepherd's flute... it's a nice experience every now and then, but with the wild boar attack, the village's usual tranquility has been disrupted. "A wild boar over ten feet long? That's like a tank. No wonder they paid a gang of thugs to take it out. It's just a piece of cake," Chen Xuan thought as he approached the stake.

He had little interest in the fighting and killing in the martial arts world, but when it came to something that concerned the livelihoods of ordinary people, he was not going to stand idly by. This was the main reason why he stayed here.

When he arrived at the village, the people here seemed to be accustomed to the arrival of a stranger like him. After all, Mr. Du had issued a reward, and people with weapons often came here in the past few days. At most, they would look at them curiously, and no one would come forward to talk to them. After all, for ordinary people, people in the martial arts world are not so easy to get along with.

Life is already difficult for ordinary people, so Chen Xuan decided not to disturb them and went straight to Mr. Du's house.

As the richest man in Dujiazhuang, you can definitely go to the most eye-catching building. No need to ask, it is a courtyard covering a large area. It seems that Mr. Du’s business is really booming.

When Chen Xuan arrived at the door of the Du family, a man dressed as a servant was escorting a gunman out of the door. The two men passed by each other and nodded slightly.

When they were a little further away, the gunman muttered to himself, "It's bad luck! Another one's here to steal my business! I've got to hurry up!" "But does that delicate young man have the courage to kill a pig? Don't let the sight of a wild boar scare him to death..."

Chen Xuan was delighted by this, thinking that there was competition in every industry. There were actually people who were willing to do the job of hunting wild boars for 100 taels of silver.

Before Chen Xuan could even come to greet him, the thirty-something Du family servant bowed and said, "I wonder if this young master is here to pay a visit or to ask for the reward?"

From the attitude of the Du family servants, it can be seen that the rumor that the Du family is humble seems to be true. Of course, it is also possible that the other party is treating people differently based on their appearance. After all, the clothes Chen Xuan wears and the horse he leads are not something that ordinary people can afford.

Chen Xuan stepped forward and said, "I am honored to be here. I am not here to visit you, nor am I here to offer a reward. I am just late for my journey and would like to stay at your house for one night. I wonder if you could be so kind. If this is any inconvenience, I apologize for disturbing you."

"This... please wait a moment, sir. How about I go and ask the master and then give you an answer?" The other party said with some difficulty.

He was just a servant and couldn't make the decision. In fact, he had already politely refused. After all, if he received everyone, the Du family would become an inn.

Chen Xuan smiled and said, "That's fine. Whether it succeeds or not, it's all my fault for disturbing you. I won't force you to do anything."

"Sir, please wait a moment. I'll be back soon." The other party nodded and turned to leave.

After all, I am still a nobody. If I bring up my relationship with the Gao family in Yang County, will the other party invite me in first and then ask for instructions?
Thinking happily in his heart, while waiting, Chen Xuan looked towards the distant mountains and had already determined the location of the two big wild boars. They were really big ones, so he would go back and deal with them.

Before the person who went to report came out to reply, Chen Xuan saw out of the corner of his eye a well-dressed woman walking towards him. She had a voluptuous figure and a beautiful face, followed by two maids. The woman was holding a child in each hand, a boy and a girl. The older boy was about ten years old, and the younger girl was seven or eight years old. They were talking and laughing.

Seeing this, Chen Xuan's eyes became a little dazed, as if he had suddenly returned to more than ten years ago.

The woman came over holding two children. When she passed by Chen Xuan, she smiled gracefully, nodded slightly, and walked towards the gate of the Du family. Instead, the maid behind her blushed and glared at Chen Xuan.

Seeing that the woman was about to leave, Chen Xuan asked, "Sister Qinghe?"

Hearing this, the woman paused, turned around and looked at Chen Xuan with a look of confusion, a little excitement, and a little caution. "Excuse me, sir. Have we met before? Where did you hear the name Qinghe? It was my name when I was a girl. I haven't used it for more than ten years. If there is any misunderstanding, please explain it clearly."

While she was speaking, the two children holding hands looked at Chen Xuan curiously.

Chen Xuan was pleasantly surprised and said, "It's really you, Sister Qinghe, you don't recognize me? It's me, Chen Xuan."

After a moment of trance, Qing He was immediately excited beyond belief, his eyes reddened, and he subconsciously took a step forward and asked, "Xuan Ge'er? Are you Xuan Ge'er?"

"It's absolutely genuine. What's the matter, Sister Qinghe, do you think someone is impersonating me?" Chen Xuan laughed immediately.

Shaking her head, she looked at Chen Xuan and said in disbelief, "No, I'm just a little surprised. Xuan'er, why are you here? It's been so many years since we last met, and you've grown so big, but I didn't recognize you. Is everything okay at home?"

As she spoke, she surveyed the surroundings anxiously, "Where's the young master? Is he here too?"

Chen Xuan had been Gao Jingming's servant, and the two were almost inseparable. Since Chen Xuan had appeared here, it was normal for her to ask Gao Jingming if he was here...

(End of this chapter)