Chapter 59: The Young and Emotional Guo Fengxiao

  In the Lu Zhi government, a group of teachers and students were entangled in whether to get rid of Zhao Xing or not. At this time, Zhao Xing, who was sitting in a carriage, swaying back and forth, met a great god-level cow person.

  The horse carriage was heading towards the Middle East Gate near Horse Market, Zhao Xing was poking his head out, happily admiring the "Red Lantern District" scenery of Luoyang, when the horse carriage was blocked by a young drunkard. The coachman, Zhuang Ding, had already gotten off the carriage and was about to drag the drunkard aside, but was stopped by Zhao Xing.

  There's a saying: "Don't bully poor young people." Zhao Xing deeply understands this. He recalls that when he was struggling, anyone who could lend him a helping hand would be like delivering charcoal in the snow, far more valuable than others adding flowers to his brocade after he had made it big. That's why Zhao Xing never looks down on or feels disgusted by those who have fallen on hard times; instead, he has some sympathy and pity for them.

  Zhao Xing and Zhuang Ding helped the drunk young man into the carriage, but he was still muttering to himself: "Yi Meng, wait for me, Guo Jia will definitely redeem you one day!" Just as Zhao Xing was busy, his hand shook and almost threw the young man out of the carriage.

  "Today, I finally caught one!" Zhao Xing exclaimed excitedly, catching his breath as he sat into the carriage. He thought to himself with great satisfaction. This time in Luoyang, Zhao Xing's greatest wish was to recruit a few intelligent and strategic talents back to Shangdang. Currently, he had enough thugs at his disposal to last for quite some time, but there were only a handful of clever minds like Jia Xiang, which was clearly not enough! The city of Luoyang was full of all sorts of people, making it the perfect place to cast a wide net and catch big fish!

  The carriage creaked and groaned all the way back to Zhao Xing's residence, where everyone lifted down a drunken Zhao Xing and a fast-asleep Guo Jia.

  "Take good care of this man and make sure he doesn't get away!" Zhao Xing said, hiccuping from drinking, but speaking very resolutely to Li Jin Si.

  Although Li Jin thought it was strange that his brother wanted to bring back a drunk and disheveled scholar, he always carried out Zhao Xing's words firmly. Li Jin sent Gu Jia into a good guest room, which happened to be next door to Zhao Yu, the chili pepper sister. This arrangement, which was originally unintentional, later became a romantic affair. But that is a story for another time, and will not be told for now.

  But on the second day, Zhao Xing, who was still sleeping soundly in the room with Hu Yan'er, was suddenly awakened by a loud wailing cry from outside. "Ah, female hero, spare my life! I'm innocent, ah, ah, someone's coming, lives are at stake..." Only to hear Guo Jia shouting for help loudly in the courtyard.

  "You rascal, I'll beat you to death! Even that lecher Zhao Xing doesn't dare to mess with me, and yet you, a worthless scoundrel who came out of nowhere, dared to sneak a peek at me changing clothes! I'll kill you..." The courtyard again echoed with Zhao Yu's menacing curses.

  "Hehe, husband, your sister scolds people without forgetting to bring you along!" Hu Xiang'er, who had woken up, snuggled into Zhao Xing's arms, using a strand of fragrant silk to tease his cheek, and said with a hint of mockery.

  Zhao Xing helplessly rubbed his nose, too angry to speak. Alas, Zhao Yu was nice to everyone, but for some reason, whenever she saw him, it was as if she had eaten gunpowder and something would inevitably happen, making people wonder. Zhao Xing really couldn't do anything about her, who made himself the cheap brother nowadays?

  "Yu'er, don't be naughty! Mr. Guo is a distinguished guest invited by your uncle, don't annoy the guest!" Li Jin thought comforted her from the side.

  "Hum, Xiaoyu, you're talking nonsense! My brother-in-law is not a pervert and doesn't have any thoughts about you!" Xǔ Wǎnlín said with puffed cheeks.

  It's getting noisier outside, Zhao Xing can't pretend to be a turtle anymore, so he has to get dressed and get out of bed. After washing up, he pushed the door open and came to the courtyard.

  Looking at the movements of everyone in the courtyard, Zhao Xing couldn't help but laugh out loud. He saw that Zhao Yu was holding onto Guo Jia's ear with one hand and pulling a broom with the other, while Li Jin Si had firmly grasped the head of the broom. Guo Jia was looking at Xu Wan Lin with a flattering expression, but Xu Wan Lin was pretending not to see him, mocking Zhao Yu with a smirk on her face.

  "Rain, stop it at once! Don't provoke Brother Guo!" Zhao Xing hastily stepped forward to intervene.

  "Hmph, you rascal! There's not a single good man out there, except for my brother!" Zhao Yu said, and then kicked Guo Jia in the butt before storming off. After Zhao Yu left, Xu Wenyin hummed the tune that Zhao Xing had taught her recently, "Who is gazing up at the moon..." with a smug expression on her face, and also walked away. The courtyard was left with only three men, and suddenly became quiet.

  "Shangdang Zhao Xing has met with Brother Guo!" Zhao Xing politely bowed forward.

  "Yesterday, I got drunk, but fortunately, Zhao brother helped me back to the mansion. Otherwise, I would have fallen down on the road with no one to ask...". Guo Jia said with a bitter smile, as if recalling something that pained him.

  "Brother Guo, don't be anxious. If you really like Miss Wei Meng, I, Zhao, have some means and will help you fulfill your wish!" Someone started to habitually cast a net.

  "No need to trouble you, Brother Zhao. Yesterday was just a drunken nonsense. The women in the brothel are only smiling for money, how many of them are truly loyal? As for buying their freedom with money, I will never do such a thing." Guo Jia, now sober, showed his maturity and calmness.

  "Brother Guo is indeed a master of making a scene! " Zhao Xing made a not-so-clever joke, but unexpectedly provoked Guo Jia.

  "Hearing rumors from the streets, Brother Zhao rose to prominence with empty hands, opening Drunken Immortal Pavilion from Shangdang to Jinyang, and now he's making a name for himself in Luoyang. Just the other day, he was even appointed as General of Pacifying the North by the current Emperor. It seems he'll soon be on par with He Jin, who rose from being a butcher. Truly a joyous occasion!" Guo Jia said with a proud face, but actually meant to mock Zhao Xing for being just a wine seller who became a general, no better than He Jin."

  "Thanks to the Emperor's favor, I'm so flustered!" Zhao Xing could only patiently deal with Guo Jia, "Although I, Zhao, am not talented, I do know that being loyal to the imperial court and caring for the people is better than indulging in the pleasures of brothels and winehouses like Brother Guo."

  "Hey!" Zhao Xing's few words had made Guo Jia's face turn bright red with rage, and he looked like he was about to explode.

  "Is Brother Guo not convinced? If you are not convinced, do you have the interest to follow me back to Shangdang and see how the people in Changzi County under my jurisdiction live in peace and prosperity? See how the children in Wohu Village understand books and reason! The sage said: 'When successful, help the world; when poor, cultivate oneself!' I don't know what Brother Guo can accomplish by drinking and whoring every day!" Zhao Xing gave Guo Jia a strong dose of medicine.

  "General Zhao's scolding was quite severe, I've learned a lesson! Since the general has praised your eldest son as if he were a great and prosperous state, I, Guo, really must go and take a look!" Guo Jia said with half resignation and half defiance.

  "Good! Brother Guo, you can stay in my courtyard for a few days. After the Luoyang matter is settled, follow me back to Shangdang!" Zhao Xing's heart was already bursting with joy and he almost laughed out loud. Sorry about that, Cao Hei Zi, brother is digging at your corner again!

  After finishing the stick, it's time to give Guo Jia sweets. Suddenly, a table of good wine and dishes has been placed on the living room dining table. Zhao Xing pulled Guo Jia, followed by Li Jin Si, and Liu Ji Li who happened to have something to ask, sat down together for lunch.

  "Brother Guo, I don't know why my sister was so unreasonable with you just now?" Zhao Xing rarely gossiped, but he was indeed very curious. Guo Jia was really reckless and daring to flirt with Zhao Yu, that motherly dragon.

  "Alas, it was an unintentional mistake. I woke up this morning and didn't know where I was, so I went out to take a look around. When I returned, I forgot which room was mine, but I relied on my memory to push open the door and enter. Who would have thought that I entered the wrong room? And coincidentally, I ran into Miss Zhao while she was dressing up, causing a misunderstanding!" Guo Jia said with lingering fear.

  After listening to Guo Jia's words, Zhao Xing and Li Jin Si exchanged a glance, both of them enduring the urge to burst out laughing. Alas, poor Guo Jia!

  "I don't know what Brother Ji is looking for today?" Zhao Xing quickly changed the subject.

  "Liu Jili was fortunate not to shame his orders, and had already exchanged twenty million stones of grain, but the number was really too large, how could he transport it back to Shangdang?" Liu Jili said, seeing that Zhao Xing did not intend to avoid Guo Jia.

  Guo Jia was initially surprised to hear that Zhao Xing had bought 200,000 dan of grain in one breath. He couldn't help but wonder what Zhao Xing was going to use such a large amount of grain for. 200,000 dan is equivalent to approximately 5,000 tons of grain today. If it were to be transported by ox cart, one ton of grain would likely require two carts. Just imagine, 5,000 tons of grain would need at least 10,000 carts.

  As soon as he thought of the day when he left Jiguan, the soldiers and officials on the road who pretended to be bandits, and Yuan Yi, the governor of Henan, might take action against him, Zhao Xing could only think about the route for transporting grain. If it was really impossible, he had to find a place to store it on the south bank of the Yellow River first, and then transport it north after thoroughly resolving the Jiguan problem. Thinking of this, Zhao Xing's brow relaxed, and he came up with a plan.

  "Following your brother, send the grain to Hongnong County. The magistrate of Hongnong County is acquainted with me and can be asked to arrange a place for storage. You can continue to purchase grain without worrying about the problem of grain transportation." Zhao Xing said.

  "That's great!" said Liu Jili.

  "Does General Zhao not know what he is plotting by selling such a large amount of grain?" Guo Jia finally couldn't help but ask.

  "Brother Guo must have heard of Changhe Daqu, which is the wine we are drinking today. Now the emperor is very fond of this wine, if we don't collect more grain to brew wine, how can we meet the needs of the palace?" Zhao Xing found a plausible excuse to brush it off. In fact, brewing wine doesn't need that much grain, it's less than one-tenth, and the rest, after being packaged by Zhao Xing, was sealed and stored in the mountain cave!

  "Brother Guo, you can rest assured and stay here for now. If you need anything, just ask Jin Si!" Zhao Xing, who had eaten his fill, patted Guo Jia's shoulder warmly and hummed a little tune as he prepared to leave.

  "Brother Zhao, please stay for a moment. I don't know what the young lady's name was this morning... um... what is her name?" Guo Jia asked with some guilt.

  "It's really easy to change the world, but it's hard to change one's nature! This guy is also a landlord who remembers eating but not being beaten!" Zhao Xing scorned Guo Jia in his heart, "Her name is Zhao Yu, she is the younger sister of my sworn brother Zhao Yun. Brother Guo, if you are interested, I can help you two get together!" Zhao Xing said with a mischievous smile.

  Li Jin thought he couldn't take it anymore and quickly pulled Guo Jia out. Letting this pretty boy Guo Jia pair up with Zhao Yu, it's a wonder if someone won't end up dead!

  Tonight is a peaceful night. Sincere wishes to all book friends for peace, health and happiness! May my words bring you a smile in the cold winter!